FEATURE: Conserving Asia’s Wildlife on Texas Soil

AS A HEAVY RAINSTORM cleared away from the rocky landscape, the hillsides came to life.

Birds sounded in the distance as a light wind blew through the falling leaves, creating a sense of expectancy that is so familiar and exciting to hunters.

The sounds of hooves pounding rock echoed below me and soon after an Armenian mouflon ewe came running out of a small cluster of trees. Behind her was a massive ram with heart-shaped horns that swept farther back than typical mouflon horns, but looked equally impressive.

The beautiful white saddle patch highlighted a formidable frame on what is one of the world’s smallest wild sheep. However, they lack nothing in the beauty and strength department.

This wasn’t in the Caucasus Mountains of the species’ native Azerbaijan, but at the FTW Ranch located near Barksdale, Texas in the southwestern corner of the Edwards Plateau.

Nestled at an elevation as high as 2,200 feet, this 12,000-acre ranch is stunningly beautiful and is widely known for its SAAM Hunter Training Program.

The FTW was founded in 1996 and according to owner Tim Fallon is dedicated to making hunters better, supporting our nation’s military, and preserving endangered species from around the world.

“Hunters have been at the forefront of conservation efforts all around the world,” Fallon said. “From the comeback of elk, bighorn sheep, and wild turkeys in America to restoring and conserving much of Africa’s great game herds, hunters have been leading the charge.”

So, instead of only offering standard exotic hunts at the FTW Ranch, Fallon said he wanted to “pay it forward.”

“There are species that are no longer huntable in their native lands because they are threatened or hunting is not allowed in those countries for various reasons. We wanted to create viable herds of these animals here in America and allow hunters an opportunity to pursue them, but most importantly make sure these species carry on.”

Armenian Mouflon: The Armenian mouflon, a native of Azerbaijan, lives mostly in open rough terrain at medium or high altitudes. There they inhabit rocky hill country, lowland and highland steppes, rocky semi-deserts, grassy slopes, and alpine meadows. According to Fallon, they spend the summer at the highest elevations, right below the permanent snow.

“In winter, they move lower and may come into the valleys. They live in small or large herds. In the summer, the older males live singly or in separate groups and live up to 18 years.”

Turkomen Markhor: Markhors are super agile wild goats with incredible, spiraling horns. According to Fallon, markhors survive on the steep, arid hillsides of the Himalayan Mountains in Central Asia, including the countries of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

“In the summer months, they can be found as high as 13,000 feet above sea level, foraging on grasses. In the winter, they avoid deep snow.

The name “Markhor” is a combination of two Persian and Pashto words: “Mar” means snake and “Khor” means eater.

Iranian Red Sheep: The Iranian red sheep is a small, beautiful wild sheep that lives in one of the most secluded places on the planet. These sheep are a naturally-occurring hybrid of the Trans-Caspian urial and the Armenian mouflon.

European Mouflon: Mouflon were one of the first exotics introduced into Texas and over the years, finding true mouflon stock has been challenging. Many sheep have been hybridized with others and are more “mouflon-type” sheep than true European mouflons.

The FTW has some incredible European mouflon rams that show these animals, which have been dispersed everywhere from Texas to Hawaii are a world-class trophy.

Hog Deer: According to Fallon, Axis porcinus, the hog deer has a native geographic range throughout India, including the Himalayan foothill zone and Southeast Asia, including Burma and Thailand.

They are called “hog deer” because they look hog-like as they run. Appearing like a sika deer at first glance, they are really unique deer that are reported to be one of the only deer that can successfully mate with an axis.

Western Caucasian Tur: These Azerbaijan natives are the crown jewel in Fallon’s conservation collection.

Acquired in 2022, his small, breeding herd is the only one like it outside of zoos. He has high hopes for establishing something special with these animals.

“They are truly remarkable, and we are proud to have them here on the FTW Ranch. They are big animals with impressive horns. Although they are not as well-known as other species we have, they are highly respected by hunter-conservationists who know of them,” Fallon said.

The ranch also has breeding programs for Trans-Caspian urials, Dybowski sika deer, and Nubian ibex along with hunting for standard exotic ranch offerings such as fallow deer, blackbucks, and axis.

“I’ve been blessed to hunt many species all around the world. Seeing situations where hunters were not really prepared at all for what they were about to face was the inspiration for the SAAM Hunter Training Program. We have been able through a lot of hard work to produce better, ethical hunters,’ Fallon said.

“It’s also exciting to be able to have a safe haven for species like tur and markhor here at the ranch. We’re proud to be able to highlight the hunter’s role as conservationists and also make hunters’ dreams come true.”

I’ve been blessed to visit the FTW Ranch on two occasions while covering The Wild Sheep Foundation’s Women Hunt events. 

Capturing images of tur, red sheep and Armenian mouflon was exciting and gave me an insight into the heart of their conservation program. It isn’t for show. It’s for forwarding the cause that hunters have led for the last hundred-plus years.

If what I captured images of is any indication, there will be a good crop of red sheep and Armenian mouflon in the fall.

The Texas Hill Country has long been a safe haven for exotic wildlife. At the FTW Ranch, it is intentionally being used as an ark of sorts for threatened Asian wildlife and celebrating the role of the hunter-conservationist.

—story by CHESTER MOORE

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