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Colorado Bend SP Youth Hunt

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    Colorado Bend SP Youth Hunt

    Got a youth hunt next weekend for my boys. Our previous drawn hunts have been box hunts but this one is by compartment. I assume we will be able to set cup anywhere in the compartment. Only a weekend hunt. Any tips or advice for helping choosing a nice spot on these compartment style hunts? Both boys have hunters Ed; can my oldest setup by himself in the same compartment or will we all three need to stay together? I have a pop up that says it'll fit three. Also corn is allowed but must be labeled as aflatoxin less than 20 ppb. Any idea where to pick any up locally?

    #2
    Hunted there with my 2 boys a couple of years ago. You are correct, no permanent stands. Compartment only. Most only have parking along the edges of the compartments and you need to walk in to the hunting areas. One down side from our hunt was they had multiple parties in each compartment. (I think they took up to 15 hunters and only had 6 compartments). I basically had to coordinate with another "group" on hunting locations within the compartment. Just needed to talk (via phone) every day to make sure we weren't getting too close to each other. I'm assuming it's still the same way.

    Plus side is we saw deer and managed to take a doe and a small buck during the hunt. Basically just scouted the compartment and looked for "open" areas, spread a bunch of corn and set up pop up blinds. The park is EXTREMELY THICK. Our compartment was near the river and had very few open areas. Longest shot was only about 80 yards. Good thing was the deer eventually found the corn and offered us shots. We didn't see any deer at the start of the hunt but once they found our corn, they kept checking the area. The compartments near the front of the park seemed to be a little more open than the ones closer to the river.

    Legally your other son can hunt by himself but sometimes the "Hunt Coordinator" wants each youth supervised. I'd give the park a call to discuss. Guys running the hunt were good guys and really helpful and friendly. They wanted the kids to be successful.

    Most commercially sold corn is less than 20 ppb aflotoxin so most feedstores/Academy corn will be OK.

    A really pretty park and your boys will have a good time. Best of luck.

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      #3
      I also was drawn for a hunt there on Dec 7,8,9th. I had a few questions myself. Was there showers in the campground? Who decides what compartments we get? If we get there early will be able find out what compartment we will be in so we can do some early scouting? Any tips for a successful hunt will be appreciated.....

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        #4
        We stayed in a hotel in Lampasas but I do not believe they have full shower facilities in the main campground. Camped there many years ago and if I remember right, they only have an outdoor "rinse off" type shower for folks who were splashing in the river.

        When we were there, the staff assigned the compartments based on size and number of hunters in each party. They didn't assign until after orientation so no early scouting. They did cut us loose early on the first day (around noon) and we spent several hours walking and scouting before setting up popups and corning areas. Trails are EVERYWHERE so hard to pinpoint hot traffic areas for deer.

        The staff member who showed us our compartment gave us some suggestions on areas to hunt. Specifically he pointed out the few "open" areas within the compartment. My recommendation is focus on open areas (even if they are near a road) and get corn on the ground. Most deer we saw were skirting the edge of open cover so we spread corn along the edges. Also I would pick a couple different areas in case one isn't producing. What we saw was once the deer found the corn, they kept coming back. May be worth trying scented (apple) corn to draw deer quicker.

        A bunch of deer in that park. Didn't see any large bucks but should be plenty of targets available. On our hunt, every kid had an "opportunity" at deer. Unfortunately one kid missed, several couldn't get off a shot, or just passed on a smaller buck. Good luck.

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          #5
          Thank you for the feedback... We pulled an archery tag only so I hope we can get close enough to make it happen. And as for the apple corn... all over it. Thanks again for the tips.

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            #6
            I will be there 1/16-18. So any info would be great.

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              #7
              I will let you know how it goes for us and try to leave some for ya...lol

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                #8
                when I'm hunting a compartment, the 1st day I will corn 3 spots. I hunt one and run cameras on the others. After the morning hunt I pull and review pics and pick evening hunt location. At this point I stop corning the spot with the least activity and pick a new spot to corn. I keep repeating until my hunt is over.

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                  #9
                  Thank you for the tips.... I am going to buy some cameras now.... Did you use this method in Colorado Bend SP or just other public hunts.

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                    #10
                    Not on Colorado bend, but have used it at chaparral, enchanted rock and several day leases.

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                      #11
                      bought a camera last night and will be using this method... thanks again

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                        #12
                        If you can, bring a decoy and doe urine. But, don't spread urine too close to the corn. Deer scent will bring them in quicker. I know many successfully stories by using decoy on a short hunt trip, even I do not use it much myself.

                        My trick for this kind of short w/o pre-scouting hunt is: first, I will do a satellite map analysis at home, so I know the area briefly; after I get the assigned compartment, I will do a scouting and find out the open spot adjacent to wood and has the most deer tracks. Spread one 40lb bag of corn on a large range which I can have a clear view, few corn close to the tree line and lead them to the middle of open. No matter where you put corn, make sure I can see it. Sometimes, deer comes out later, you don't have much time to finish the job before the legal time ends. The corn will be good for few days, they cannot finish it up in one or two days, but I do bring a second bag for backup. I don't put corn at multiple spots where I cannot see all of them at one sit. The compartment assigned to us won't be very large, so put corns on multiple spots will reduce my chance. I have hunted on several different parks, so far it works and there was no need to change to another spot. Only once, I changed the spot during hunt, but it was at an animal refugee camp, baiting is not allowed.

                        I hunted Colorado Bent few years ago. Lots of deer, every time I was out I saw deer. But, I didn't harvest any. I let a doe go since I was waiting for big buck in the first afternoon. The second day morning, 6-7 deer were earlier than me to be my spot, so they were all gone after I sit. But saw a deer few hundreds yards away after light, it didn't give me a chance to shoot, I pushed a deer few times in the wood while did another scouting, no chance to make a shot. Didn't see any deer during legal time in the afternoon, but almost hit a deer when I drove out not more than 100 yards from where I parked. The third day morning, a "big" buck showed up within 60 yards. **** it, I missed . Put scope on a high magnification and deer was too close. Of cause, I was buck fever . I was sad and packed up 2-3 hours before noon. Again, while I drove out, a huge buck and doe were spooked along the road, not very far from where I parked. <G> I have packed my gun and ammo. After I parked and pull the rifle out, they ran into the wood. Chased them for a while, but still could not see them, but heard their movements. Don't want to run into other hunter's territory, so I finally gave up. It was not a successful hunt, but it was a very interesting trip. Won't forget it for a long time.

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                          #13
                          Wow, that sounds like you seen a lot of deer.....I hope I get a few opportunities like that. It will even be more challenging since I am limited to archery only. Do you happen to know what compartment you were in or maybe just how the compartments were split up?

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                            #14
                            Archery hunt would be more challenge, since you have to bring them in much more closer. I don't know how to call the compartment, it was in an area which there is a gate in the park. The road leads to the water and you can hike to a water fall as well. But, in general, close to water may be good. Well, you do archery hunt, I think close to camp site may be good for you as well. I camped in the park, the deer came to my picnic table looking for food, yards away from me, no frightening. If you are looking for big boy, you may want to go to a remote deep wood.

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                              #15
                              mooney_ag
                              My grandson also got drawn for this weekend, hope to meet yall out there.
                              Bring rain gear !

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