El Potrero Ranch is owned by David & Eline Haunschild. The ranch consists of 130+ acres of South Texas brush conveniently located just a little over 8 miles South if Kingsville, Texas. Since 2001 it has been developed for participants in the Coastal Bend Wildlife Contest and has produced a number of winning images.
El Potrero is bordered to the North by the King Ranch and to the West by a 500 acre property managed for wildlife. Currently there are two prepared photo sites, one designed for morning photography and one for afternoon. The morning site is a scavenger/raptor site and provides excellent opportunities to photograph vulture, caracaras, and sometimes Harris’ hawks. The afternnon site consists of a small pond, (approx. 6×12 ‘) set in a mound allowing convenient water level photography. This site is ideal for photographing songbirds and small mammals. Over fifty species of vertebrates were observed visiting this site from March through June of 2009. These species included forty two species of birds, eight species of mammals, and five species of reptiles and amphibians. The pond is also attractive to numerous invertebrates and provides excellent opportunities for macro work.
El Potrero Ranch has two stock tanks, and several head of cattle which can provide photographic opportunities. The cattle are grazed on pasture, free of chemicals, herbicides and commercial fertilizers. They are never fed grains and are not given any antibiotics or hormones of any kind. For more information on the grass fed beef you may contact David at (361) 455-2647 or via email at [email protected]
Hugh Lieck is the photo site designer and guide on the property. Hugh has a bachelors degree from Texas A&M in wildlife management, lives in Kingsville, and is as active nature photographer. He has had numerous winning images in the Rio Grande Valley Land Fund Wildlife Photo Contests and in the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contests. Hugh has been 4th place grand prize winner in the Coastal Bend Contest twice and 5th place grand prize winner once. Hugh knows the property well and can help visitors find subjects of interest. Hugh can also evaluate the probability of photographing a particular subject before a visit. Please feel free to contact him t (361) 595-5001 or via email at [email protected]
