Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge

[capn]

We hunted unit 7 over the weekend. My son killed a doe with a long, difficult shot the first evening right at dark, and we never saw another deer despite hunting hard the next two days. Covered a lot of ground and there really was very little deer sign. The other hunters I talked to that were experienced hunters also noted how little deer sign there was. There was ample hog sign but they were only moving at night. Never heard or saw any sign of turkeys. There were 10 kids on the unit 7 and only 3 deer killed. Most never saw a deer.

In orientation, they said that their deer counts were significantly lower than hill country counts and they weren't lying. They average an annual harvest of 30 deer per year... and that is all three hunting segments combined. I don't know how many people that is, but I know that there were a BUNCH of kids in orientation and they said many weren't there yet due to school. Would have expected 30 deer just during one weekend.

The scenery was unreal and the hiking was awesome. That made it well worth the adventure with my son. The hunting was poor, and honestly we could do better at any east Texas WMA... we just wouldn't have that amazing scenery in the back drop. I'd go back with my kids to hike and explore. I would not go back for an adult weekend as it's a low percentage hunt and not worth the expense of a road trip.

[BassCathcer]

Thanks for the numbers Capn. Very helpful. I'm heading out to scout unit #12 thursday. Maybe I'll find something worth reporting. Can't find anything about 12.

[Cjwall88]

Youth hunt unit 7

We hunted unit 7. First afternoon we hunted at cone H. We saw one buck and plenty of scrapes and rubs. Got there early on Saturday and got the box blind. My daughter shot a huge buck that we tracked for hours before finally losing blood. Very disappointing. But got back to blind around noon and sat til dark. Saw about 15 hogs and passed on em. Right at dark a mature doe came out and she got her first ever deer. Very exciting. Very hard place to hunt but with the memory we will hope to get drawn next year.

[FF36]

Talked to a Ranger today, He said Youth weekend one got a 11 point on Unit 11 and on Unit 2 a 9 point was taken, lots of does as well. I'm the only one on Unit 10. Looking forward to tomorrow to enjoy the hunt.

[FF36]

Saw nothing today. 20mph winds and 89 degrees.... miserable. Did find out that that area is only a 25 percent success rate hunt. Moved my blind tonight so hopefully tomorrow will play out. Cooler temps but still the same wind...

[potbelly01]

Saw nothing today. 20mph winds and 89 degrees.... miserable. Did find out that that area is only a 25 percent success rate hunt. Moved my blind tonight so hopefully tomorrow will play out. Cooler temps but still the same wind...

How was the the rest of the hunt.


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[FF36]

How was the the rest of the hunt.


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Bust for me. I left around noon on Saturday. I had to leave Sunday morning for out of town Thanksgiving and watching the weather the cold wasn’t going to be there until Sunday and with the winds and how hot it was I knew the odds were slim so I left to get things ready to go out of state for the Holidays. Found good signs. I’m sure others took deer Sunday but not me. Enjoyed my time. Watched a few hawks do work on field mice and things was pretty place to be.


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[justletmein]

In orientation now. Anybody else here?

[potbelly01]

In orientation now. Anybody else here?

How was the hunt.


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[justletmein]

How was the hunt.

Found a couple trails so dropped the wife off on one and took my son up to the NW boundary and hunted there. Wife had some turkey cruise by 50 yards or so but didn't want to mess up her spot so passed on them. Son and I didn't see anything. Right at about sunset the other hunters from our area who were way down in the SW portion drove in past my wife and hung up a deer from a tree to clean it about 200 yards down from her. I don't think they knew she was there though.. I think we'll move to a different spot tomorrow.

[potbelly01]

Found a couple trails so dropped the wife off on one and took my son up to the NW boundary and hunted there. Wife had some turkey cruise by 50 yards or so but didn't want to mess up her spot so passed on them. Son and I didn't see anything. Right at about sunset the other hunters from our area who were way down in the SW portion drove up and hung up a deer from a tree about 200 yards from where my wife was sitting. I think we'll move to a different spot tomorrow.

That’s a good that y’all are seeing some game. What unit are y’all hunting in. Maybe you can hang one from the tree tomorrow.


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[justletmein]

Hunting number 1, put some good boots on the ground there's not many deer in here. Wife shot at a nice buck this morning 10 mins after legal time, standing off hand shot. I heard it hit sounded great, met up with her and looked about 2 hours no blood. Went back to the scene of the crime and found a bullet hole in a cactus pad and a big blasted branch. Im thinking that branch must be what I heard. I was about 800 yards away with my son.

[ahlongslide]

I just got drawn for the first general hunt this year. I don’t know which area though. Reading through this thread was kind of a downer, haha. Seems like I should go with a rifle.

[ahlongslide]

So when/how do I find out which unit I'll be in?

[C-dubyah]

Good info in this thread, thanks for bringing it back to life. But yes, kind of a downer...