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Lonehollow Whitetails Stoking The Fire Within The Deer Industry

By: Gail Veley

Grant Garner’s watch reads 6 a.m. when an alarm sounds. A few axis bucks have just “taken the bait” and walked into a trap he set the night before. Oh, yes. Right on schedule. Garner, Manager of Lonehollow Whitetails in Lampasas, Texas, quickly turns his attention to the next thing on his schedule. Tagging babies followed by meeting with a hunting lodge contractor and afterwards, onto write a check to the ranch housekeeper. This is not an unusually busy day for Garner. This is a typical day. Sometimes he doesn’t know where all his energy comes from. But Garner does know this. The industry “fire” started years ago when Lonehollow’s prized breeding bucks Gladiator, Gladiator XL and Gladiator

3 were in their prime, is still ignited inside of him.

Years of hard work, combined with breeding for CWD resistance, finds Lonehollow showcasing several breeding bucks including Champion, Tribute, Resistol, Blitz and more. “It’s starting to feel like Lonehollow is back!!” Garner, 38, said. “Gladiator was the fire that the industry needed then. The entire industry benefitted from him. Now we feel we have what the industry needs today. CWD resistance.” Resistol, a two-yearold whose pedigree includes Brain Freeze and Gladiator XL, possesses CWD resistant SS markers. While he has yet to grow his two-year-old rack “we anticipate he will be quite large,”

Garner said. Garner along with those who have partnered on Resistol, including MVP Whitetails, Blessed Bayou, Prime Acres, 3S Whitetails and ZFG Whitetails, agree that Resistol “checks all the boxes,” Garner added.

Champion, a three-year-old clean typical, also possesses CWD resistant SS markers and extremely high GEBV scores. “That’s how he got his name,” Garner said. “We knew we had a champion with him.” Those who have partnered with Lonehollow on Champion including Highroller Whitetails, Big Rack Ranch, P-Bar Whitetails and Keeper Ranch, feel his genetics will carry longevity within the industry. Tribute, a clean typical out of Gladiator XL, along with Blitz, share a bright breeding future as each of them carry an S allele at the 96 codon and have very good GBEV scores. Currently partnered with Highroller, Tribute’s sons are living proof he will also remain an industry favorite. “All of our current breeding bucks were extremely sought after this past fall, and we are excited to see what each can do for farms across the country,” Garner said.

“We are so grateful to everyone who has supported us and continues to do so,” Garner said. “At the end of the day, our focus at Lonehollow is