Visit prized hunting, fishing resorts in new season of 'Luxury Hunting Lodges': 'Disney of the Outdoors'
Fox Nation’s Katie Pavlich explores the nation’s most luxurious outdoor wonderlands in the newest season of “Luxury Hunting Lodges of America,” giving viewers a firsthand look at the most exclusive and highly sought-after hunting and fishing properties nationwide.
Pavlich kicks off season three with her visit to Cibolo Creek Ranch in Marfa, Texas. Nestled on 30,000 acres in southwest Texas, this rustic, 19th-century property is shrouded in history and provides guests — who stay in historic forts — with various activities including tours, shooting activities, hunting, and horseback rides.
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“There was just so much history to where we were staying. It’s not just like you’re staying in some nice place, it actually means something,” Pavlich told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “And just the decor… it just felt very authentic to me. I’m from Arizona, so I know Southwest very well. And Cibolo Creek just seemed very authentic.”
“We… rode horses around at sunset, and we went aoudad hunting, which was incredible and was absolutely amazing. I had to hike up an actual cliff to get it down. That was a rush for sure.”
California’s wine country wouldn’t typically come to mind when thinking of areas nationwide that house the country’s most prized hunting lodges, but as Pavlich explores firsthand, Wing and Barrel Ranch in Sonoma defies those norms.
The members-only retreat marries the fine wine and cuisine of Northern California and the great outdoors — featuring a variety of wing-shooting activities that leave members longing for more.
“They require that if you want to have your wine from your winery in their lodge, then you have to be part of the sportsman’s community,” Pavlich explained. “You have to be a hunter yourself. You have to be someone who likes to clay shoot or… shoot a shotgun. They don’t just let anyone come in because it’s a popular place for… high-profile people.”
Pavlich then packs her bags and heads to Missouri to visit Big Cedar Lodge, a world-class outdoor resort burrowed in the Ozarks. It is the ideal wilderness escapade for nature lovers, filled with several state-of-the-art golf courses and fishing adventures.
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Bass Pro CEO Johnny Morris has made the property an angler’s dream, and Pavlich experiences the unique lodge resort, the grandiose accommodations and all it has to offer firsthand during her visit.
“Johnny Morris is the Walt Disney of the outdoors, and it was very clear that that is true when you go to Big Cedar,” Pavlich said. “It’s a huge, family-friendly place where they have things for adults to do, things for kids to do, but everything is outdoor-based. So they have golf, but they also have the trail that we went on that you’ll see in the episode where you go through this cave, and you can bring your kids in a golf cart. They have this amazing bowling alley that’s themed underwater, and they have fishing and all these outdoor activities.”
“It was definitely more accessible, I would say, to the everyday person,” Pavlich continued, touting Morris’ lifetime commitment to conservation.
On her travels, Pavlich also learns what it means to help local species thrive by partaking in “predator management” at Brush Creek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming.
“It’s crucial for the local wildlife because if predators get out of control, whether it’s coyotes, or lions, even wolves, then the local deer population, elk population, goes down significantly and that creates a problem and an unbalancing of the ecosystem, but it also is super important for ranchers to manage predators because predators go after their livestock, and of course, that’s their living,” Pavlich said.
Horseback riding, archery, float fishing, barrel racing, pistol and rifle shooting, ice fishing and paintball are just a handful of activities to choose from at this breathtaking winter wonderland.
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“There was just so much history to where we were staying… It actually means something.”
Pavlich puts her boots on and treks back to the Lone Star State to pay a visit to Champion Ranch — a remarkable hunting lodge and resort located about two and half hours northwest of Austin.
The ranch features exotic animals that are typically native to places like Africa, Asia, the Middle East and beyond. Some of those animals include the addax, Afghan urial, Alamo whitetail, Arabian oryx, and the Armenian mouflon among a series of others.
“The lodge itself was something I’ve never seen before. It’s a massive four-story warehouse, essentially where the entire inside is taxidermy and like cabins inside the main lodge, and just incredible animals from all over the world,” Pavlich said. “So they have different sections that you can look at, North America, Africa, South America.”
“So that was just kind of a mind-blower to see them put together this insane warehouse full of these different kinds of animals,” she continued.
In addition to partaking in Texas-sized trophy hunting, guests’ families can participate in a variety of nature-loving adventures including a photo safari, bass fishing, campfires and swimming.
But Pavlich’s adventures don’t stop there.
The Fox Nation host travels to the Last Frontier to wrap up the season, where she is able to partake in world-class fishing on her own private island at the Talon Lodge and Spa in Sitka.
She told Fox News Digital this was one of her favorite visits yet.
“You go into the lodge and there’s this open space, and you can see all these bald eagles eating the catch from the day, the leftovers from the boats,” she said. “And you can see the sea otters swimming around, and you can see a volcano in the distance, and all this wildlife and the sunsets, and there’s this 360 view. And then they have this amazing spa and also open air, but they have heaters. So it’s warm, and it just makes you feel small in a way, because it’s just so vast and spectacular.”
Pavlich participated in both freshwater fishing and deep sea fishing — an experience she said made Alaska unique from the rest of the angler experiences.
She noted that after wrapping season three, she only has three states left on her list to visit — Mississippi, Alabama and Kansas.
Perhaps fans of the show will get to watch Pavlich explore them next season. Until then, Fox Nation subscribers can stream Pavlich’s latest adventures now.
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