Mustang Creek Ranch

I can spot a rookie outdoorsman from a long way off. It’s easy. New clothes that are perfectly matching and pressed, shiny new boots, a gun case with no scratches and then there’s the new gun. They may try to hide their inexperience by saying they had just bought this new gun and haven’t shot it yet. But once they shoulder it and fire, the inexperience is really obvious. Most of the folks I spend time with outdoors are veterans of our sport. They know how to prepare for a trip and there is little I need to do to assist them. But this day would definitely be different.

My partner for today’s fishing and hunting trip arrived right on time. I could finally put a face to a name. As we greeted each other I thought to myself, this guy is a rookie outdoorsman. But we were at the Mustang Creek Ranch. It is the right place to change that and more importantly get to know each other in such a way that this business relationship was on solid ground.

I had been dealing with this man for more than 5 years on the telephone but we had never met. We had done several business deals. Looking back, I should have tried to actually meet him years ago. Today’s business world is always changing and I realized that if I didn’t try to get to know this person better, then the security of keeping the account was poor.

My business associate is an office professional and he has done little hunting or fishing but has always asked me to tell him some of our stories when we talk. I knew he was interested in the outdoors and learned that prior to college he had spent quite a bit of time in the field and on the water. But it had been more than 30 years since he had enjoyed the rise of a covey of quail of the vicious strike of a bass.

The central Texas Mustang Creek Ranch caters to situations like ours. On the more than 2000 acres, they have some of the countries best upland bird hunting and some good bass fishing action. Owner, Bill Grace provides hunters of all experience levels with an outdoor adventure that is sure to please. This day would be spent hunting for pheasant and chucker. Then we would be treated to a Texas sized lunch. Afterwards, we would spend a couple of hours discussing business in their private lodge.

After gathering our gear we headed to the field and watched the pointers work. A group of chucker rose and we dropped three. My partner was elated. No sooner than we reloaded another group rose and two more birds fell. The dogs eagerly retrieved our birds and we moved on. It just kept getting better as my partner was having more fun than I ever thought he would. He was out of his business environment and had let his guard down. He was now a victim of the inescapable enjoyment the outdoors brings.

Four hours after we started, we took photos of the hunt and ate lunch. Meanwhile, the birds were cleaned and prepared for us to take home. We visited about business that had nothing to do with our professions. Kids, childhood memories, politics and more were topics of conversation. It would have taken me a lifetime to build this type of relationship with my client. But the outdoors has a way of speeding things up personally. It allows quality time to let your guard down and also really know someone. You can tell a lot about people from spending only a few hours together outdoors.

Our meeting was to go over a contract proposal that had been held up for “approval”. But in the first five minutes of the meeting this deal was inked and it was for a longer period of time than I had asked for. We concluded the meeting and went back to enjoying the package trip at the Mustang Creek Ranch. After shooting a couple of rounds trap on their custom range, we bass fished in the gin clear waters of the creek.

By mid afternoon my client was tired but he was happy. He said he hadn’t had this much fun in a single day since he was a kid. While many folks use a golf course to entertain their clients, more and more people are starting to use outdoor adventures like this to help build business relationships. Not only did I establish a stronger business relationship, but I also gained a personal friend. He has now invited my family to his house to enjoy the birds we had taken. For more information on the Mustang Creek Ranch call (254) 966-5084.