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#1 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Well my buddy and I got drawn for the Archery deer hunt at Matador Oct 16-20th and it is our first draw hunt for either of us. I have never even been up around that area so was hoping some of ya'll had some good tips on what to expect. I read some past threads and it looks like spot and stalk and then set up if you find some good sign ( trail, scrape, rub ) or water. Was curious about terrain, ground blinds or climbers/ladder stands. Also any good spots to eat
![]() Anyone else get drawn by any chance? Thanks guys! To say I'm excited would be an understatement! |
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#2 |
Ten Point
![]() Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Killeen texas
Hunt In: Fort hood, any were else I can access
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I've never been but congrats. Pending second draw here.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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#3 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Ttt
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#4 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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morning bump
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#5 |
Pope & Young
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Frisco
Hunt In: Texas and Arkansas
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I hunted it in 2013. When I get some time tonight, I'll shoot you a PM on my experience.
You won't have trees that you can climb, at least anywhere that I was on Matador so leave the climber at home. |
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#6 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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#7 |
Six Point
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Parts unknown
Hunt In: In your stand when you are gone
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Gun hunted the Matador a few years ago, be prepared to cover a lot of ground. the grass the yr I hunted was waist high in most areas which made hard walking. The place if very snaky but we did not see a snake. Stay in Childress if you are staying in a hotel/motel. We didn't see many deer and we covered a lot of ground and glassed for hours. good luck
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#8 |
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2016
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if you get 1st choice pick on areas go for lone canyon or the other canyon next to it.. we drew archery in 2011. hard hunt never got close enough to any mulie bucks. tons of wt deer mostly does you see. lot of land to cover 28k acres. plenty places for pop up blinds, look for where they cross the roads on the ridge saddles. they have 2 camps there one for generators other for quite tent camping. there are some giant hogs there also.
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#9 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Olney Tx
Hunt In: Young/Archer Co.
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Good luck
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#10 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Thanks for the info so far, is not sure what compartment we'll get yet or if we get to pick. We will be bringing a trailer and generator to stay in as well. Any good places to eat in Childress or surrounding areas? Will be making the drive from Katy also
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#11 |
Pope & Young
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Frisco
Hunt In: Texas and Arkansas
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PMs sent.
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#12 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Anyone know where I can get some good maps of the area?
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#13 |
Pope & Young
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Frisco
Hunt In: Texas and Arkansas
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I had an ap on my Iphone that worked really well. No guesswork as to where I was at on the map.
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#14 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Brookeland
Hunt In: Jasper/Angelina Counties and Redmesa, CO
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Not to hijack but didn't want to start another thread. My son and I drew the anterless hunt. Dec. 16-20. Any info you guys can share would be appreciated!
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#15 |
Pope & Young
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Frisco
Hunt In: Texas and Arkansas
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#16 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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#17 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Wondering if anyone has any tips on where I can find a really good map of the WMA?
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#18 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: BCS
Hunt In: Robertson co
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Hopefully the PM's have helped you. A bow hunt at this place will be a huge task, maybe not as much as mine at Black Gap but tough. You will want to go back. Not for the food in the area though. We stayed in Paducah at the Hunters Lodge. Crash/wash/cheap.
You will learn what dust is. We gun hunted and both killed nice bucks. We chased lots of "sign" and ended up lucky. All areas are good there. You will have an adventure. |
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#19 |
Eight Point
Join Date: Feb 2016
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I'll tell you one thing. DO NOT eat at the k bobs steakhouse in Childress. Dang near crapped my pants multiple times after eating there once. So did everybody else with me
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#20 |
Four Point
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Killed a 153 and dad shot a 140 out of the Ox pasture back in 99.
Awesome place and huge Mulies in there as well. |
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#21 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Abilene
Hunt In: West TX, DEEP South TX and NM
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Congrats on the draw, I would love to hunt deer on Matador! However, I have hunted pigs on the Matador and it was awesome. I saw quite a few mule deer and whitetail, as well as some javelinas. However, I am pretty sure that javelinas are not legal in that county...Anyway, as far as deer hunting goes, the terrain is extremely diverse. There are small rolling hills with little to no cover in some areas, there is the river valley, that is fairly open, and up top it is somewhat dense with junipers and little draws throughout (this is where I found the pigs and less deer btw). Almost all of the mule deer I saw were out in the open rolling hills. Good luck, I am sure you will have a blast!
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#22 |
Four Point
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Idaho Falls Idaho
Hunt In: Entire Mountain West, South Texas
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When we had the Caprock Canyon mule deer hunt two years ago, we came right by Matador on out way down to see friends in Uvalde. It looks like beautiful deer country and we would really like to draw there someday. The pics I have seen show some great deer.
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#23 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Thanks guys! To say I'm excited would be an understatement. We plan to hunt hard and cover lots of ground. We will be pulling a camper and generator too and by looking at the food reviews looks like we'll just bring our own and grill every night, lol
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#24 |
Non-Gender Specific
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midland, TX
Hunt In: Motley County, Eastland County, and Brewster County
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krausejmk,
I sent you a "vistor's message" due to having less than 15 posts. :/ |
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#25 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Thanks! I cant seem to find where the visitor messages are so i will send you one and see if that works. If not feel free to post randomly on this thread to get your post count up, lol
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#26 |
Four Point
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: TX Panhandle
Hunt In: TX Panhandle
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I hunted last year's Archery Whitetail draw at the Matador. Success rate is very slim. Hot weather conditions were prevalent so not a lot of day time movement. I hunted the Shorty pasture. My advise would be to setup a brush blind near a game trail and be there way before day light and dusk to wait it out. Hike and scout during midday hours. I did spooked few whitetails on the river bottom. Glassing midday didn't turn up much activity. The deer are there in good numbers but i think are just more active at night. Watch out for Rattlesnakes! I seen a few. Good luck! Here are a couple photos I took last year in the Shorty Pasture.
Last edited by Hi-Lonesome; 08-24-2017 at 09:43 AM. |
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#27 |
Non-Gender Specific
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midland, TX
Hunt In: Motley County, Eastland County, and Brewster County
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Try this again...
![]() My deer lease of 12 years is about 6 miles due west of the Matador WMA. Like statements from the others, don’t expect any trees to hang a stand and plan on glassing all day. I’ve killed 4 nice mule deer bucks in the last 7 years with my rifle and I could have shot all of them with my bow. The mule deer in the panhandle are less skidish than what I’ve hunted in the TransPecos. That being said, I’ve spent a ton of time on the highest points glassing until I found them laying down or grazing and they were fairly easy to sneak up on. Unfortunately, GoogleEarth may have the best map (looks like it was last taken in 05/2016). Also, there’s a decent little café in “downtown” Matador. Good luck and I’ll certainly be following your hunt through the forums. Taylor |
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#28 |
Non-Gender Specific
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midland, TX
Hunt In: Motley County, Eastland County, and Brewster County
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#29 |
Pope & Young
![]() Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: TX
Hunt In: TX
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I hunted the furtherest NE corner, and saw more than most, but is was later in the year and there were green fields already planted...
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#30 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Thanks for the info everyone. Hopefully I'll have service there and if so I will try and keep up with a live hunt.
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#31 |
Six Point
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: McKinney, TX
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Following this thread also. My brother and I lucked out and were also picked on the secondary draw for GDA on Dec. 16-20.
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#32 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Brookeland
Hunt In: Jasper/Angelina Counties and Redmesa, CO
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#33 |
Six Point
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: McKinney, TX
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#34 |
Eight Point
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Texas Panhandle
Hunt In: Panhandle
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Lucky dawg!
Depends on what you want to do, but cool thing about that country is opportunity to hunt spot and stalk on mule deer. That don't come around often for most folks. I would suggest west side. Samson, West Aermotor, Sisk Pen, East Aermotor, Lone Canyon, in that order. Find a high point looking at some topography with good visibility up and down a canyon and opposite slope. Sun at back. Go for max vis while staying hid. Stay put. Don't shy away from open country. Most guys chase thick brush, don't. Arrive well before daylight with lunch and water. Good binos and spotting scope for antler restriction. Don't trust just your eyes. They're really hard to see if in shadow but shine like new penny when hit with early AM or late PM sun. Stay put till you see something worthy of stalk. Watch him long enough to determine direction. Pick a landmark where you should be able to find him again, get there quick using topo as cover. Relocate him, determine direction and get in front to set up intercept. Watch wind, blah, blah, blah, you get the routine. If you see him bed, woohoo! But not likely in that country. Go fast when you can, molasses when you must. Swap location for late afternoon sun at back. Or since stalking daylight may be limiting, you could sit on a fence crossing, a saddle, or water hole if hot and dry. I never saw any deer sitting with only visibility of bow range, but know a few guys that did. Just not my thing especially in such beautiful open country. Finally, resist urge to sit on hill above river. Will definitely see deer, but once you get down there you don't have a prayer of getting on them. Getting excited talking about it. Highly suggest posting a live hunt. Please, please please! |
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#35 |
Eight Point
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Texas Panhandle
Hunt In: Panhandle
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In case you didn't find map.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt...g/search.phtml Download aerial photo on phone. Then download app called Avenza. I don't know if the pdf aerial is georefrenced or not. Has to be to work with Avenza. |
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#36 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Sep 2017
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I was selected for Matador on the 16th as well and looking forward to it; less than three weeks now!
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#37 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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#38 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Sep 2017
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#39 | |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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I was wondering about that. We will be in the area that allows the generators. Have you ever hunted here before? |
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#40 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Sep 2017
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#41 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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#42 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Sep 2017
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#43 |
Pope & Young
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Frisco
Hunt In: Texas and Arkansas
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If it was like it was four years ago, you don't select your units until the orientation. In 2013 we had permit numbers (mine was #1) and we went in that order.
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#44 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Sep 2017
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Thanks Grizzman; you are correct. I followed back up and and confirmed; we will select compartments according to drawing order on Monday. Only advantages to arriving earlier is to set up camp and socialize.
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#45 | |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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We will be there around noon Sunday probably. I was hoping they would let us scout Sunday afternoon but it's. if looking like it. |
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#46 |
Six Point
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Springtown
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I've been there several times and always thought if I had the chance, I'd go to the south fenceline in the South Middle....I've seen some great mulies and whitetail bucks there. I'd take the road that goes down the "middle" of South Middle, turn west and pick one of the first 2-4 ridges and be sitting there at first light and spend some time glassing.
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#47 | |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Thanks for the info! Hopefully I'll get a chance to do just that |
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#48 |
Ten Point
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cypress
Hunt In: Victoria, Tx
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Almost time for this hunt!
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#49 |
Four Point
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Rockwall, TX
Hunt In: Ratcliff, Menard, Harper, Mountain Home
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Jealous! Good Luck!
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#50 |
Nubbin' Buck
Join Date: Sep 2017
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