Caprock Canyons near Turkey, TX

[Tunner]

Anybody know if there is any public hunting land up in this area? Part of it is a state park (I think) so I didn't know if it was protected or anything, but my wife and I drove through that area this weekend and there were deer everywhere... just wondered.

[Flint knapper]

It's by draw only!

[Shane]

Caprock Canyons is a State Park, so no hunting - except for the TPWD drawings, like Flint knapper said. There are a few aoudad and lots of mule deer. It's beautiful country.

I've hunted a neighboring ranch before, and we used to lease a ranch a few miles around the caprock from there back in the '80s. Ran cattle and got to hunt too. I miss that place bad!

I saw the biggest muley I've ever seen alive at Caprock Canyons about 10 years ago - actually 50 yards outside the park on a wheat field. He was easily over 400 pounds on the hoof - literally dwarfed every other deer in the field, and there were over 100 deer. I grew up around cattle, and my dad and I both are good at judging live weight. We both agreed he was 400-425. He was a big typical 4x4. DEEP forks with 12" tines, at least. He was well over 30" wide - probably 35"-36". And tons of mass. I watched him for 30 minutes at 50-75 yards from the pickup, and I had forgotten my stinking camera.

It was about a week after the season had ended, and the rut was in full swing. He was one awesome buck. The local game warden had been watching him closely, and he told me that there were two others that year that were almost as big as that one. He was definitely a buck that even folks in Nevada or Arizona or Wyoming would have been proud of.

I have a picture or two of a couple more 30-inchers up there, but they're dark and too far away to tell much about them. Of course, bucks that big are few and far between. But they're there every now and then.

Oh...there are some big bass in Lake Theo in the Park, if you like fishing.

[Tunner]

Thanks for the information... I gotta say, that is some pretty country right there. We didn't see it going b/c it was dark, but on our way back down 86 when we came off that hill and it opened up into those canyons, my wife and I were stunned... never been that way before, but definitely worth seeing.

[Shane]

That's E.A. Birdwell's place coming off the cap on 86. The ranch we used to lease is south of him a couple of miles. There are lots of different kinds of beautiful places in Texas, but that country right there is my personal favorite.