Chaparral

[Fixedblade]

My daughter gun hunted the chap last year (the youth gun hunt for either sex). We seen does, buck and javelina almost every hunt. We were allowed to bait. I will be hunting the chap next week during the gun hunt. Cant wait.

What pasture(s) did you hunt Kactuskiller? Did the bowhunters hunt both the west and east sides. During the youth gun hunt we were only allowed to hunt the east side of the chap. What stage is the rut in there?

[huntinfishinman]

Was there this past week. Saw some decent bucks and a couple of does. Shot a slick 8 on the last day of the hunt.

[JEW]

I was there it was a tough hunt , good job huntinfishinman. Had a Blast..

[KactusKiller]

Yes you will be able to choose from the entire ranch for the rifle hunt. I saw alot of
spikes but not alot of does which is part of the reason it was a slow hunt. We saw very little rut activity but seamed like most of the mature bucks were cruising for does. Best advise I can give is hunt all day, the best times for us seemed to be 9-11am and 3-5 pm. If they have a good strong cold front it should get them going but like I said the moon and wind(or lack there of) were our biggest problems.

[Fixedblade]

Thanks for the info.

[HER-MAN]

Any new reports?

[KactusKiller]

I am hearing the current rifle hunt is really slow but that is to be expected when the temps are this warm in January.

[Fixedblade]

Were back from the Chaparral WMA. A friend and I hunted the either sex gun hunt that ran from Jan. 16-20. The warm weather seemed to keep the bigger bucks from moving a bunch. We hunted all day every day of the hunt. We started off in the West Blocker pasture Monday afternoon. West Blocker is over 1300 acres, plenty of room for two of us. Seen some small bucks and a handful of does each day. The key to seeing bucks we found was to find fresh scrapes and hunt them. We hunted from the blinds already in place and pop-up blinds that we brought.

We decided to relocate to another pasture on Wednesday afternoon (halfway through our hunt, we had nothing to loose by switching). We ended up hunting the North section of South Jay; the Headquarters pasture and pasture no. 8. In South Jay we seen the most bucks and the rut seemed to be in full swing. Seen several single does being chased by 3 and even 4 bucks. My friend killed a slick 6 pt cull buck (no brows). He was aged at 3 ½ yrs old and was scored at 76 in. The best deer I seen the entire hunt was in South Jay, a 4 ½ yr old 8 pt that would score in the 120’s. With my “go big or go home” motto he will live to be seen another day.

The most deer I saw were in the Headquarters pasture. Hunted it twice from the ground seen a lot of does and a handful of bucks. Seen one buck that crossed the sendero at 25 yds that looked like a great deer but had no clue what he was because he crossed very fast.

We stayed in the RV Park located just East of the check station. We had a great time and gained some knowledge on how to hunt the Chap

[HotRod Hunter]

Fixedblade
Thanks for sharing it sounds like yall had a good time though.

[KactusKiller]

Were back from the Chaparral WMA. A friend and I hunted the either sex gun hunt that ran from Jan. 16-20. The warm weather seemed to keep the bigger bucks from moving a bunch. We hunted all day every day of the hunt. We started off in the West Blocker pasture Monday afternoon. West Blocker is over 1300 acres, plenty of room for two of us. Seen some small bucks and a handful of does each day. The key to seeing bucks we found was to find fresh scrapes and hunt them. We hunted from the blinds already in place and pop-up blinds that we brought.

We decided to relocate to another pasture on Wednesday afternoon (halfway through our hunt, we had nothing to loose by switching). We ended up hunting the North section of South Jay; the Headquarters pasture and pasture no. 8. In South Jay we seen the most bucks and the rut seemed to be in full swing. Seen several single does being chased by 3 and even 4 bucks. My friend killed a slick 6 pt cull buck (no brows). He was aged at 3 ½ yrs old and was scored at 76 in. The best deer I seen the entire hunt was in South Jay, a 4 ½ yr old 8 pt that would score in the 120’s. With my “go big or go home” motto he will live to be seen another day.

The most deer I saw were in the Headquarters pasture. Hunted it twice from the ground seen a lot of does and a handful of bucks. Seen one buck that crossed the sendero at 25 yds that looked like a great deer but had no clue what he was because he crossed very fast.

We stayed in the RV Park located just East of the check station. We had a great time and gained some knowledge on how to hunt the Chap

Ive been four times and gained knowledge every time I am there. It tends to humble you unless you catch the rut just right with favorable weather. But you can't wait to try and get back the next year!

[Czechoholic]

Were back from the Chaparral WMA. A friend and I hunted the either sex gun hunt that ran from Jan. 16-20. The warm weather seemed to keep the bigger bucks from moving a bunch. We hunted all day every day of the hunt. We started off in the West Blocker pasture Monday afternoon. West Blocker is over 1300 acres, plenty of room for two of us. Seen some small bucks and a handful of does each day. The key to seeing bucks we found was to find fresh scrapes and hunt them. We hunted from the blinds already in place and pop-up blinds that we brought.

We decided to relocate to another pasture on Wednesday afternoon (halfway through our hunt, we had nothing to loose by switching). We ended up hunting the North section of South Jay; the Headquarters pasture and pasture no. 8. In South Jay we seen the most bucks and the rut seemed to be in full swing. Seen several single does being chased by 3 and even 4 bucks. My friend killed a slick 6 pt cull buck (no brows). He was aged at 3 ½ yrs old and was scored at 76 in. The best deer I seen the entire hunt was in South Jay, a 4 ½ yr old 8 pt that would score in the 120’s. With my “go big or go home” motto he will live to be seen another day.

The most deer I saw were in the Headquarters pasture. Hunted it twice from the ground seen a lot of does and a handful of bucks. Seen one buck that crossed the sendero at 25 yds that looked like a great deer but had no clue what he was because he crossed very fast.

We stayed in the RV Park located just East of the check station. We had a great time and gained some knowledge on how to hunt the Chap

Thanks for the report. Every time you hunt that piece of heaven, you learn something!! I've hunted there numerous times for archery. Still waiting for the first rifle hunt. Have 21 preference points for rifle.

[PSEBRONCO]

I'm working just north of the chap and it looks like its going to be a great year down here. I've never seen it so green and I've seen some nice growth on the ranch I'm working. Keeping my finger crossed to get drawn.

[Sniper John]

What on average is the peak of the rut in that area?

[PSEBRONCO]

Your guess is as good as mine. Last year it was early January. Just depends on the weather.