Laguna Atascosa 2007

[SneakyPhil]

Went out today and looked at unit 2. We weren't impressed. Not much brush and what is there is too thick. Saw one large boar, one large sow with two smaller hogs and 3 aligators. Mosquitoes will be good this year unless we get a good cold spell. Anyone else make it out there?

[onthetake]

I used to hunt area 2 alot, mostly because very few people hunt area 2. I never had another hunter walk through my set up when hunting area 2. Having people walking through my set up used to bother me alot more than it does now. I guess you get used to it after 12 years of hunting public land. Area 2 has some nice bucks but there are not that many deer in Area 2.

[stxhunter]

I visited unit 2 late on saturday but didnt see anything. Yesterday I visited unit 2 and saw 2 deer, maybe 2.5 yrs old, nothing real special. There were hog tracks everywhere. Are we allowed to walk into units 1 or two when its not scouting time?

[SneakyPhil]

Hey stx were you with a buddy? I taked to two guys late saturday on my way out of 2. I was on a bike.

[tom_tom]

Hey you guys, me and couple of my Aransas hunters are making this hunt for the first time this 1st hunt. We live up here in N.E. Texas so we got a long drive ahead of us. Maybe we can catch up with some of you and get some tips on where to hunt? and believe me, I have been hunting the Aransas hunt for over 30 years (1st year in long while that we decided to skip Aransas for this hunt) and we fully understand the "other hunters moving in on you" deal after or during the 1st day.... so we certainly don't want to do that. But we can't get there until Saturday, so we will have to go in during the hunt. But maybe we could meet some of you and ya'll could help us and point us in a good direction, a direction that has some good deer in of course please. We will be in my white 07 4x4 Tundra Crewmax. Maybe I could get a cell number from someone and give you a call when we get there. We would greatly appreciate it. Where should be go first? Thanks for help.

[stxhunter]

yea sneaky I think that was me you saw on the way out. After you left I was wondering if that was you or not because of the hat. This is our first time to hunt and I'm prety sure it will be a tough hunt. Supposedly my friends uncle knows where to go so we didn't do much scouting.

[stxhunter]

tom tom, I would like to help you out, but I dont know the place much myself.

[blue goose]

I am gonna try Horse Island myself.

[blue goose]

ONTHETAKE, That new renovation to Rio Vista Park looks cool. I used to bass fish a lot on that river and pulled some killer big ones out the ponds on the university.

[SneakyPhil]

Stx,

That was me you guys talked to. My dad was the guy walking his bike out a few minuets behind me. Ill be going out again Sunday.

[tom_tom]

What phase of the rut are the deer in usually, in the 1st week of Dec. down there?

[onthetake]

Blue Goose, I don't fish the river much anymore, I spend most of my time offshore fishing in the summer. It is hard to go back to fishing for bass after catching the monsters offshore. Horsehead has quite a few deer and some really nice bucks. You really need to have a back up plan though because if it rains they will close the road leading to area 8, 3 and 5. It really gets miserable when it rains down there. That mud is very sticky. There are a couple of roads that stay rideable in all but the worst soaking rains.

TomTom, I have hunted Aransas as well. I prefer Laguna. Every year I see at least one buck over 140 at Laguna which keeps me going back. The mosquitos are not as bad as Aransas but the ticks and chiggers are much worse. To hunt Laguna you should also have a bike (unlike Aransas). You cannot drive around Laguna like you can Aransas so a bike is a must to get in and out in a timely manner. You cannot go in before 0500 in the morning and you have to check out every day before 1 1/2 hours after SUNSET. You can easily run out of time if you are hunting very far from the road. Aransas is definitely more hunter friendly. Where you be staying?

[tom_tom]

onthelake; thanks for the info, we are staying at my hunting buddy's time share condo on s.padra about 20 miles south. I've been working on my bike, do you have a picture of yours that you could post to show how you have it set up? are 4 ft stands better than 6ft stand? what about the rut phase, will it be post rut the 1st week of dec?

[stxhunter]

I highly doubt it will be post rut. I have a lease south of Benavides and the rut is the second week of December. The rut at the refuge is probably around the same time as my lease if not a week later.

[blue goose]

ONTHETAKE Yeah access there really sucks, there are lots of roads in the refuge that could be used as long as its dry. The rut on the coastal plains is done. We'll be hunting the tail end of the rut. The southern coastal plains rut peaked during the week of Halloween. According to TPWD website.