Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Garner State Park Axis Deer Hunting??

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Originally posted by WTJim View Post
    Word is Garner SP Supervisor sees the hunts as a major inconvenience because he is mandated to do them. Garner SP generates its money from camping and day use fees....experience is sub-par at best...

    I'll make the experience as good as I can. All I want to do is kill an or some axis.

    I'm not letting anyone rain on my parade.

    Comment


      Good luck man, I put in for that hunt and would have the same outlook as you. Keep us updated, or start a new post with your results!

      Comment


        I have never hunted garner state park but I drive right by the park several times each summer. There are plenty axis out there. Hopefully you have a good time and get to fling an arrow or three.

        Comment


          Originally posted by Freight Mover View Post
          I think this is the way a lot of state park hunts go.

          I have been on 2 this year and they were similar. I will still go back, my son had a blast and it was good practice for him and he got up close to the deer, even though the are semi tame.

          I look at these as a meat hunt.
          Exactly. Take it for what it is and you'll be better off.

          Me and some friends got drawn for Brazos Bend back in '09 and had a blast. One of my buddies hunted a blind the second afternoon that was smack dab in the middle of a black-topped road at a three-way intersection. He said he just kept twlling himself "they're senderos. They senderos. They're senderos."

          Comment


            No rain here. You asked for information so I passed some along. Hunt is what you make of it, good luck.

            Comment


              Originally posted by WTJim View Post
              No rain here. You asked for information so I passed some along. Hunt is what you make of it, good luck.

              Sorry if I implied you were the rain maker. Not at all what I intended.

              That's not the first time I have heard that about him. He can't dampen my spirits! I'm super pumped about having a chance to kill some axis.

              Thanks.

              Comment


                Originally posted by salth2o View Post
                Resurrecting this thread because I am headed there January 13-15 for the exotic hunt.

                Any tips on what to bring is appreciated. Do the blinds have chairs? I'm bringing a camp chair just in case.

                What other essentials will I need that are outside the normal hunting stuff I am bringing?
                I would def take a comfortable portable chair and shooting sticks. Other than that you hunt out of a blind, they pick you up and drop you off. I took chafhay and I had a few stop at it. My first area was ok, I put chafhay way in the back (150 shot) away from the feeder(80 yards away). I got one axis doe to stroll through and stop there. She was real skiddish and so I don't think she would have come to the feeder. Take something to bait with and put piles far back away from the main areas. That's how I shot mine. Goodluck

                Comment


                  Originally posted by WTJim View Post
                  Word is Garner SP Supervisor sees the hunts as a major inconvenience because he is mandated to do them. Garner SP generates its money from camping and day use fees....experience is sub-par at best...
                  I have also heard that but I have to say I met and personally talked to the supervisor throughout the hunt and never received that vibe. Everyone was very nice and helpful, they want you to shoot axis. Matter a fact the reason they had an archery exotic draw at Garner this year was because he requested it. For some reason tpwd took it away at some point and didnt really say why. Half way through we were given the option to redraw blinds with whoever wanted to switch. I thought that was cool. All in all we had a great hunt and would do it again anytime.

                  Comment


                    How many axis were harvested? How many hunters? Thanks

                    Comment


                      If I remember correctly we had 20 hunters and around 17 axis killed. Some people saw many at their blinds, others saw none so I think it's just luck of the draw.

                      Comment


                        I hunted at the Guadalupe River State Park and got a axis doe to come to some molasses I poured out. The deer and axis did not eat any of the alfalfa I put out but did eat some of the corn.

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by furtrapper View Post
                          I hunted at the Guadalupe River State Park and got a axis doe to come to some molasses I poured out. The deer and axis did not eat any of the alfalfa I put out but did eat some of the corn.

                          Just plain ol' molasses from the grocery store?

                          Comment


                            I lucked in to a gallon of black strap molasses a a garage sale for 2 dollars and I poured it out in 3 locations around the blind and had a four point and an axis doe come to it, I took them both. Don't think I would use it at a deer lease but on park hunts where the deer a fed by the onlookers,. It worked for me!

                            Comment


                              Just got back from the youth hunt at Garner with my two kids. We had a great time, and I'll say that all of the negative reviews I have read about staff and the experience were completely wrong. Shooting lanes and shooting times are strict, but I understand why. You don't get to trail your animals if they fall out of sight of your blind but that's pretty common and I felt that the staff had plenty of experience and desire to track animals. There were a couple of mistakes made by hunters and I felt that the staff handled them in a very common sense manner. They definitely want the axis off and aren't crazy about the whitetail harvest right now because their whitetail numbers are pretty low. I felt like the staff and volunteers were GREAT with the kids and very personable. Hunting is from pop ups that have chairs in them and feeders with defined shooting lanes that you can not shoot outside of. It was really no big deal. They have some a frames up to clean animals but no cover over it and not on cement. Cleaning animals in 38 degree rain sucked but we made it work and the staff was helpful of those with little experience cleaning deer.

                              The bad part is that deer numbers are low and they are not coming to bait at all. There were only 9 animals killed by 21 kids and several never saw a deer the entire weekend. I think it was 5 axis and 4 whitetails. After last years hunts they had government shooters come in and wipe out the axis so numbers are way down. Add in the fact that everything is still green and you have some tough hunting. Still plenty huntable numbers of axis but they just don't need to move much with green grass and less competition for food. I felt like baiting was a waste of time and money but that could change later this month. Everyone that killed said they were just passing thru for the most part and ignoring feeders and bait. I did heavily corn the shooting lanes, especially along deer trails, and that seemed to work to get them to stop long enough for a kid to shoot.

                              On the plus side, my kids got 3 of the axis and I called my daughter off another one. They both killed spikes and my daughter killed a stud buck. My son shot the only axis he saw all weekend, but my daughter was in the hot blind and we saw axis every hunt except for one. My son saw a giant whitetail buck outside of his shooting lane and a handful more whitetails, my daughter never saw a whitetail all weekend. We had a great weekend in some terrible weather and left anxious to go back.

                              Hope this helps others hunting later this month!

                              Comment


                                Got any pics? We would love to see the stud buck!!

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X