Since I was a kid, I had dreamed of owning a ranch in Texas. Only the most wealthy families owned ranches in Texas, and it was my greatest desire. Everyday I worked with this goal in mind. After working extremely hard for better than 15 years, I met the most wonderful and beautiful lady, Denise Flores, and we were married to live happily ever after and build an empire together.

I teamed up with Denise and we dreamed and planned special goals, the ranch was the most exciting of all. On July 5, 1998; the dream came true and we purchased the Rancho Del Sol, the most beautiful property you can imagine nestled high in the blue hills near Fredricksburg, Texas. Most Texans agree that the "Hill Country" is the most beautiful and the most picturesque part of Texas. A born Texan’s dream has come true. The ranch already had several special parts, such as a charming ranch house, high game proof fence, a set of corrals, a seven acre field, and some exotic wild game as well as a good deer herd with some south Texas bloodlines. My mind buzzed with electrical impulses, so many things to do in making Rancho Del Sol the best and nicest ranch in the west.

Where do I start and how much will it cost? Rancho Del Sol’s greatest asset turns into my greatest problem! The animals that came with the ranch were at capacity and eating us out of house and home. No one should be able to lose hundreds of thousand of dollars on their dream to come true! I decided to bring in local experts such as Hunting Guides, Feed Experts, Contractors, Cowboys who play "Game Managers," but they really just want to line their pockets with rich city peoples hard earned money. Those local experts sold me a "Line of Bull." They could have made 100 episodes of "Green Acres." They told me that my deer herds were "culls," and they needed to crop off the poor quality right away so the "culls" would not breed the herd and create more "culls." In the meantime, the females were producing twins, and my herd was doubling every year! The feed bills were out of hand and since the hunting experts were only shooting "culls," little income was coming in. We were headed for sure disaster!

The turning point! A friend told me about The Laredo Hunt Club, and its Chief Veterinary Consultant, George W. Vogt D.V.M. and urged me to call George and see if he could advise me on my dilemma. I took his advice and called George, a retired veterinarian, who has worked with deer herds and wild life for more than 40 years. I invited George up to the ranch to help advise me on what to do! It took Dr. Vogt only a few moments of looking at my deer and exotic animals to make a professional statement which I quote, "Michael, you are sitting on a gold mine and don’t know it." "You need to run this ranch, not let it run you." "It won’t take much to make Rancho Del Sol one of the top hunting ranches in the world!"

I was amazed at Dr. Vogt’s sincere confidence in outlining a plan to make Rancho Del Sol a winner. I really was not interested in making a lot of money, but having great animals of high trophy caliber, healthy, happy, and well. Dr. Vogt really didn't want money, except for expenses, perhaps some used equipment, and for me to donate his part to help Orphan Kids, Safari Clubs, CCA, Disabled Kids, and worthy Charities. I assured him that I would do this and he wisely and unselfishly perfectly advised me. Dr. Vogt took several soil samples, as well as bone samples such as Antlers, jaw bones, leg bones to be analyzed. Dr. Vogt’s plan is simple, see exactly what is missing in the soil and bones by chemical analysis, compare to great antlers and add the nutrients in the feed.

He helped formulated his special Feed "Antler-X," to get my animals to grow their potential in great antlers. He advised me on planting food plots, how to market my trophy animals for as much as five times more than the cowboy hunting guides paid for "Culls." He assured me that my animals were fine, great, and how to move them up in Quality while we trimmed the herd down to size by getting rid of surplus animals. He even convinced me to change a storage room, as well as the helps house into a charming guest ranch house, which is very comfortable to our guests and paying hunters! Just what the Doctor ordered! No more smokers and drinkers in the main house.

Now, we are on the right track, I am happy with my herd, the antlers are getting bigger and bigger each year. A great turn around in less than 3 years has occurred. It is amazing how doing certain things right, not necessarily costly can change things for the better. Happy days are here again! It’s working like a charm. The solution was really simple! We just needed to see the big picture. Few if any have Dr. Vogt’s credentials or experience, and he is driven to "Leave the deer herds of the world better than what they were before." An awful big life long assignment.

Today, three years into the program, my phone rings off the wall with inquiries of hunters willing to pay top dollar (up to $7,500 for a deer), and we are almost booked full, and starting to book for years ahead. The repeat clients will soon completely take all the futures production. The most amazing feature is the transformation in the antlers, 20% to 40% more mass, 40% more points, my hybrid elk grew Four-Points where before there was only One-Point. The road to sweet success is very bright.