2011 - 12 Granger WMA Postcard Hunt

[bioyak]

How many doe were taken last year, Trey?

totals for last year over all the hunts were:

9 bucks (including spikes), 9 does and no hogs. - got corrected - there were two does shot during the postcard hunts. trey

[surfin Pete]

Perhaps it didn't get recorded, but I know there were two doe brought in to the checkstation last year for the postcard hunt. I brought one in and when I put the jaw into the bucket for recording age, there was another jaw there, so I know there were at least two killed.

And thanks for all the hard work you at TPWD do to provide quality public hunting opportunities. It does not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated!

[bioyak]

I sort of remember that now that you say it - probably got lost in the shuffle of Derrick sort of transitioning into the Area Mgr. slot - Like I said earlier he is "the guy" now. TREY

[Bubbabowhunter]

totals for last year over all the hunts were:

9 bucks (including spikes), 9 does and no hogs. - got corrected - there were two does shot during the postcard hunts. trey

That's not a lot of deer. I'm sending in a postcard and hopefully we can get these numbers up this year!

[Mister Bubba's bulletman]

....no compartments will be assigned.

I think that's a good decision.

When Chief and I put in last year we didn't know we'd both have surgery and be so lame we could barely walk.

The road crew at the spillway ended our hunt before it started.

This year's parameters will allow for healing up and mobility issues to some extent.

I hope we get drawn again.

[MIKE_Drenalin]

[QUOTE=bioyak;4027781]We killed none last year - this is all about removing more doe deer. I don't see it being much different than a bunch of guys chasing hogs around the place year around. The Area gets a lot of pressure anyway. I have always tried to maximize public hunting opportunity as my highest priority. My second goal is to do the hunts as safely as possible and the third is to do all that with high regard for management of the resource. “Taking care of the locals” is not a priority; in fact I really go beyond what is necessary to make sure everyone gets a fair shake. I hope we can let everyone who applies this year go hunt. Fact is though that people who are local usually spend more time in the woods at Granger – hopefully that will translate to more deer harvested. Last year the folks who were from a long way off barely hunted – that looked good for hunter opportunity’s sake but was really lacking in the “put some does on the ground” category.

Another reason we are going this route is because we don’t have the man power to do a bunch of drawn hunts. 2 years ago when we had a youth rifle and 2 antlerless/spike rifle hunts we managed to kill 8 nubbin bucks and 6 does on those hunts (actually none were harvested on the youth hunt). We spent about 12 man-days putting on those hunts and closing the area down. Those hunts, from a biology standpoint (removing does and balancing our sex ratio), accomplished very little.

This thing is more of an art than a science and we are always trying to make things better for the hunters under the system we have to work under.[/QUOTE


I know it is easy to sit back and say this now but if you needed doe taken out only then the youth hunt should have been anterless only and should have been conducted in Jan. so it's clear whether they are anterless or not. I do know that Austin sets the hunt dates normally so that could still create a problem.

As far as the nubbin bucks not being taken again I would have to say good luck. I have been on numerous public hunts and it never surprises me that people just shoot and see what they have killed once it's on the ground. I have actually seen someone that had considered himself a outfitter (logo's on his truck everywhere) shoot a illegal deer while on a hunt. The buck was suppose to be 16 inches not 8 inches. Guess he got excited cause it had nine points!!!

Thank all of you for your time in making these hunts possible but no matter what you do some fool from somewhere will still find a way to screw things up!!!

[txwiley]

Granger Changes

I just saw on Wikipedia that Granger WMA is closed to waterfowl hunting until further notice.

[bioyak]

Wiki pedia

Just talked to Derrick - evidently anyone can post anything there - Consider this your "further notice" - duck season is back on (he simply deleted it). TREY

[txwiley]

thank you Trey

[LemmeOut]

So I am new to bowhunting in general so hunting on public land for anything other than dove is new as well and I have a question. Do you have to shoot to qualify for these hunts.

Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G

[basscast]

You might get more people if you didn't have orientation on opening weekend of archery season, plus a long way to drive for some for a short orientation, just sayin

[bioyak]

You might get more people if you didn't have orientation on opening weekend of archery season, plus a long way to drive for some for a short orientation, just sayin

We can make orientation longer if that will help

Sorry, just kidding - We actually wanted to do it the day before the season, but somehow that got lost between final edits and the book's publication. We will be doing the stand-by draw and orientation on the next monday morning. Not sure what happened but the books narrative is pretty messed up - but we are trying to work within what it states rather than trying to get the word out to thousands of people what we originally intended.

Johnny had to do the orientation like 30 times last year to accomodate everyone who could not make the orientation - lets just say we learned our lesson and there will be only one mandatory orientation followed by one stand-by draw and orientation.

[bioyak]

So I am new to bowhunting in general so hunting on public land for anything other than dove is new as well and I have a question. Do you have to shoot to qualify for these hunts.

Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G

That would be ideal - but TPWD has never gone that route. just practice and be ready please. TREY

[trouttracker]

I am also new to this and was wondering i the APH was worth it. Also if you win the card draw does it mean you get to hunt there all season.

[bioyak]

I am also new to this and was wondering i the APH was worth it. Also if you win the card draw does it mean you get to hunt there all season.

You can hunt there all year now - the catch is that normally deer would not be on your list of legal species while hunting with the Annual Public Hunting Permit (APH). If you get drawn for the post card hunt and go through the orientation you will be issued a permit for the open deer season that would enhance your list of legal species to include does and spikes. You will also be issued a special MLDP "type" tag to use on the hunt - you will NOT be using the tags off your license - in fact that would be illegal and the Game wardens will be patrolling looking for possible violations. After you use the tag - you bring the deer in to the checkstation and will be issued another tag (up to 3 deer total).

The only time you wold not be able to hunt is when we close the area for the 4 draw either-sex archery hunts. We close the area (Pecan Grove, San Gabriel and Willis Creek units)to all users during the Archery/Crossbow Draw Either-sex hunts). The only unit that never closes is the Sore Finger Unit. So technically you could still hunt deer in that Unit (even when the rest of the area is closed). That being said, The Sore Finger Unit is not known for having a bunch of deer in it - it's pretty wide open.

The draw hunts (closed dates) are:

Nov. 14-18
Nov. 28 - Dec. 2
Dec 12-16
Jan 2-6

These are all Monday through Friday hunts - so the area will not be closed on any weekends which allows for maximum public use opportunity. "Maximum public use" means hunters, fishermen, hikers bird watchers etc.