Y.O. Ranch : Africa in Texas
In the 1950s, the San Antonio Zoo had a banner year for breeding. The extra exotic animals were taken to Y.O. Ranch, where today you may enjoy them on the daily tour. If you would like to get close to a giraffe, an ostrich or a zebra, Y.O. Ranch is the place to be. Other animals on the ranch include waterbuck, impala, ilk, gazelle and springbok.
Have you always wanted to be a cowboy? Learn how during summer camps or you can join one of two cattle drives per year. Y.O. Ranch has the largest herd of registered Texas Longhorns in the world.
Featuring “best fair chase” hunts, versus canned hunts, Y.O. Ranch is a trophy-hunters paradise. Of course, you may hunt your trophy with a camera as well.
The Y.O. Ranch has 20 RV sites ($30). Or, you may also want to rent one of the rooms in the 1880s style log cabins with great stone fireplaces and period furniture. Whether you RV or stay in a cabin, you may take your meals at the Y.O. chuckwagon.
There are so many activities at Y.O. Ranch, that you will need to visit the Y.O. Ranch website to view them all. The activities are as diverse as the life of the founder of Y.O. Ranch, Charles Armand Schreiner.
In 1852, Charles Armand Schreiner moved with his family from France to San Antonio, Texas. Schreiner grew up to be a Texas Ranger and a Confederate soldier. Schreiner took part of the US Army’s great experiment with camels in Camp Verde, Texas. He became a merchant, banker and served in various public offices. He ran cattle and raised sheep, putting Kerrville on the map as “mohair center of the world.”
By 1900 the Charles Schreiner Company owned more than 600,000 acres of land extending continuously from Kerrville to Menard. The YO Ranch, purchased in 1880, became headquarters for the Schreiner Cattle Company, and the Live Oak Ranch, now forming portions of the YO, was headquarters for the sheep operations.
The rest is history.
