Inks Lake / Longhorn Cavern

[OldRiverRat]

I drew the Gun Deer Either Sex hunt for Jan 2-4. Anyone have any advice that has hunted there? I searched and only a few threads with info.
any quality bucks?

[WinslowBoy]

Did the doe/spike hunt there a couple years ago. Typical hill country - Saw a ton of deer but only one decent buck. Lots of does/spikes and small bucks. I think there are some decent deer around, just need to be patient. We were banging away at all the does so the big bucks were probably a little skittish.

As far as the hunt, they take you to/from the stands every time. Most are in fairly open areas they have brush hogged and for our hunt, they were actually pre-baiting the stand areas. Chris, the guy who runs the hunt is a great guy. If you aren't seeing what you like, ask him and he'll probably move you to a different area. They generally have some extra stands they hold back in case folks want to move. Stands are 4X4 (if I remember right) covered boxes on the ground with bench seats. Bring a cushion, or separate chair for comfort.

At least on our hunt, the 2 guys who hunted at Longhorn Caverns didn't see nearly the number of deers those at Inks Lake SP did. Not sure if that is always the case though.

The camping/picnic/lake area stays open during these hunts. All the hunts take place across the highway or away from the camping area. For this hunt, we stayed in one of the small cabins they rent at the park. Very convenient. Chris even swung by to chat with us one night during the hunt. Kept asking us questions about what they could do better on the hunt. He really wants everyone to be successful.

[OldRiverRat]

Thanks for the feedback
Sounds like a worth while hunt


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[WinslowBoy]

You definitely shouldn't have any trouble putting some meat in the freezer if the big bucks don't show up. The year I hunted there, the guy in the stand next to me shot his 2 does by 3 pm on the first afternoon. He had them cleaned and packed up before we even got back in from hunting. Hope you see a good one though....

[cy100]

Just came back from Youth hunt with my son. It is a 3-days hunt, but we give up the 3rd day. Thing is changed at Inks SP. Chris does not work there any more. Inks Sp is one of my favorite public hunts when Chris ran the program. The guy who is in charge the hunt now does not do a good job this time. My son and I spend 1.5 days by 2 afternoon and 1 morning hunts. We didn't see any deer close to the feeder. Every hunt, we sit there 4-5 hours. I know there are tons of deer around, all other kids saw deer morning and afternoon all the time. The blind they assigned to us is not a good setup, in my opinion. It may be a good one before, but another hunter shot 2 deer a week ago, they didn't let it settle down and put us there right after. And the feeder is wide open to park road. I wanted to change to a backup location in the last day. If it is my hunt, I won't ask. It is my son's first hunt, I would like him to have at least one shot. The guy who ran the hunt program refused my request to move to a backup location. The reason he gave to me was to be fair for others. He is the man there, I don't argue with him. But I do not buy in, esp. this is a youth hunt. To help next generation builds up interests to this game is more important for me. I have hunted multiple parks, never have this experience. I would scratch Inks SP off from my next public draw.