Aransas NWR 2017

[houstonhunter2]

Appreciate the info guys... is a 6' tripod a big advantage? Any recommendations on one?

[RifleBowPistol]

Yes, a 6' tripod would be about perfect. Most of the areas down there have some typical big oaks. But there are areas with very dense scrub oak. Those typically are covered with lots of acorns. The deer will typically work their way through areas with scrub oak, eating acorns off of the trees and ground. Some of the scrub oaks are very dense and 1 1/2 ft. tall, to maybe 2 ft. tall, then others are 6 to 8 ft. tall. You can find areas where there are tall oaks, with a opening in the tall oaks, that has scattered scrub oaks. I have found those are areas where the deer will typically go to, to feed. They will also feed on other small bushes, eating the leaves. I got away from tall tripods a long time ago, realized I was getting silhouetted too often. A short tripod, gets you up over the short brush and tall grass, but does not cause too much of a silhouetting problem. I find some oaks, with limbs hanging down that are dense with leaves or shorter oaks that are dense with leaves, from about 3 to 4 ft. from the ground to at least 12 ft. high. Then try to find a place, where I can stuff my tripod in a area where I have dense oak surrounding me. I found a perfect spot to stuff my tripod, over looking a bunch of 1 1/2 to 3 ft. high scrub oak that was covered with acorns. I saw doe every time I sat in that spot. I would have doe well within bow range, for an hour to two. Typically four to seven doe. Never saw any bucks. I tried setting my tripod up on a sendero at one point. That area was many acers of 6 to 8 ft. high dense oaks, very dense, not many openings in the brush in that area. I figured something would eventually cross the sendero. I only saw a coyote there. That and a funnel cloud right over my head, then the rain came down hard and the wind started blowing hard. I could hear multiple critters moving around in the brush on either side of the sendero but they never came out in the open. I knew I was being silhouetted in that spot. That was only the second trip we had ever taken down there for rifle hunting. We had hunted place for many years, bow hunting farther south closer to the water, but only rifle hunted twice. I figured setting up on a sendero, something would have to cross eventually and hopefully I could get off a shot, before it cleared the sendero. I never saw anything but the coyote there. The oaks around me did not have many acorns. I was pretty sure the critters moving around in the brush near me, were small pigs.

Years ago, when we bow hunted the place in October, we hear bucks fighting a few times. In areas where there are very dense clumps of 5 to 8' tall scrub oaks, that were covered with lots of acorns. Then there were lots of open areas around those scrub oaks. Basically made like a huge maze. You could easily walk around, in short grass, through the clumps of scrub oaks. The openings would not be anymore than 30 yards across, typically only 10 to 20 yards across. You could wonder through that stuff for a good ways. There was always lots of deer sign in those areas. Trying to decide where to hunt was difficult, we typically, just walked those areas. In those areas, is where we heard bucks fighting on a few occasions.

There are guys that would go down there every year and were successful most every year. The areas vary greatly in the refuge. It's not 36,000 acers of just tall oaks. There are areas with tall oaks, that having many clearings in between the oaks, typically you can find small water holes in some of those clearings. Then other areas there are tall oaks, and it looks like a jungle, with lots of old grape vines covering the oaks and briers, covering the ground and the trees. You can have that for large area. Then other areas there are large open grassy areas. Typically the grass is 1 1/2' to 2' tall, commonly with clumps under the grass. From old burnt grass. They start controlled fires out there regularly, to keep it from getting over run with the very thick stuff. You will likely find areas that have been burnt. They post up info that the Indians used to do burns to get clear out the thick stuff and get more grass to grow. So the government does the same think. They do controlled burns in different areas regularly.
In the areas where there are larger open grassy areas, typically you will have numerous oak motts. Those hold some deer. There are two or three canals that go through the place. Typically the canals, go to small lakes. We found one canal one time. that looked like a river, looked like it was probably 6' deep. Looked like a good place to hunt, but we found that back in the 80s, when we were trying to see as much of the place as possible. We forgot were we found that canal. I know of some other canals, that lead to some other small lakes. Those are definitely in part of the area, that is only open for bow hunting. Not sure about the bigger canal and lake.

If you had a lot of time and got out and walked a lot of that place, there is some very interesting stuff there. The areas along the intercoastal and St. Charles bay, can be quite different from what you will find farther inland from the water. You really need to spend as much time out there as possible scouting, before you hunt. Even the area that they allow for rifle hunting is huge and varies quite a bit. If you get to bow hunt the place, the area you can hunt is much larger and the vegetation varies quite a bit more.

All of this info, is from the past 30 years of hunting on that place. It changes a little hear and there, but not much. They have cut some new roads in the past 15 years or so. All of the old roads that were there 30 years ago, are still there, but there are definitely some new roads, that opened up access to areas we had never seen before. Many of those new roads, were in the area, you can rifle hunt. We also found new roads in the areas that are only open to bow hunting. But all of what I have seen, was before the hurricane hit. I have no idea what it looks like now. I am betting there are a lot of trees down, limbs broken and a lot of the bigger oaks are missing leaves. Now the short scrub oaks, possibly still have leaves and acorns, don't know have not been there since the storm.

As for the deer, most of the deer out there are going to live a full life and die of natural causes, or get eaten by gators. I can tell you the gators do get their fair share of deer. I figured the gators mainly got pigs, but years ago, there was a pond with a windmill next to it on the main road going in. There were two gators in that pond. After hunting a couple of days, we noticed the gators had something floating in the water. We went and checked it out, it was a deer. We checked on them over the next few days, as the deer started to disappear. I would say it took them about four days to eat the deer. There were two gators about 6 to 8 ft. long in that pond.
Basically, there are quite a few old deer out there. I have never seen older deer farther inland on the place, you can bet they are wise and the brush is very dense. So very low chance you will see one. But they are there. The younger deer are not hard to find. Closer to the water, we found many nice bucks, I don't think those deer see near as many people and some of those areas are more open. Either way, we found quite a few big deer closer to the water on both sides of the place. But I know there are big older deer inland, but those are not going to be easy to hunt.

Then as for pigs, there are a lot of small pigs running around all the time. There area also quite a few very big pigs out there. Again, we usually found the bigger pigs near the water, when bow hunting. We saw one pig out there, one morning driving in. That **** thing had to weigh close to 400 lbs., it was over 3 ft. tall and did not give a **** about people in trucks. It trotted out in the road, in front of us and trotted down the road, for a 1/4 mile or so, caused a traffic jamb. We were trying to get to our hunting spot, way south on the refuge and the pig trotted along in front of us for a good 1/4 mile slowing us down, which slowed down all of the hunters that were behind us. That was about 5:00 AM one morning. We have found many 200 lb. pigs and larger.

[MetalMan2004]

Thanks very much for the good info Riflebowpistol!

From what I’m hearing and the pictures I’ve seen I’m guessing my climbing stand won’t be of much use to me out there, correct?

[RifleBowPistol]

Thanks very much for the good info Riflebowpistol!

From what I’m hearing and the pictures I’ve seen I’m guessing my climbing stand won’t be of much use to me out there, correct?

Nope, unless you find a telephone pole. Then you won't be where the deer are.

[RifleBowPistol]

Ok, here are some more pictures. Some of them are from a few of years ago, then some from about five years ago and then some of them are from close to 30 years ago.

There are pictures of some of the marshy areas, the ones with the funky sky are from a few years ago. That area, was a lot of oaks mostly 6 to 8 ft. right around me, with oaks in the 20 to 30 ft. tall range farther from me. Then there are some pictures of some of the grassy areas, with oak motts off in the distance. You can see some burnt out oaks that made up some oak motts years ago. Then two of the pictures are of a couple of the canals we found years ago. Then a pig out in a marshy are. I don't have any good clear pictures of the stuff we actually hunted in.

Then I threw in a couple of pictures of the two gators, that got the deer years ago. You can see both gators in the first picture, then in the second picture, I want to say I got a picture of what was left of the deer after about thee days and a vulture, that was wanting to get in on the feast, but the deer was out in the water.

That last picture of the canal, is of a canal, we used to find schools of big reds in. That canal goes out to St. Charles Bay. The reds make their way up in there looking for stuff to eat. The first time we found reds up in there, there were some red leaves floating on the water. We saw fish swimming just below the surface and assumed they were gar, because we regularly saw spotted gar in those canals. But we then watched some of the fish, popping the red leaves off of the top of the water. A short time later the school swam right up to us and we were able to see it was a school of reds. All over 20 in., one was a tagged red. Probably nine fish in the school.
A few years later I hunted over a small lake, that the same canal, goes to. I hunted in a oak tree overhanging the lake. There was a bunch of mud, cattails and deep grass at the end of a heavy trail that went to that lake. The trail and the mud was solid pig tracks. So I found a tree to get in, where I would have a shot at anything that came down the trail or stopped in the mud. The tree was overhanging the water about 20 ft. I sat in the tree for most of the afternoon. At some point around 4:00 in the afternoon, I heard a bit splash and assumed it was a pig, that jumped in the water, but about 10 minutes later a monster gator floated out of the cattails on the other end of the lake. I then suddenly got very nervous about falling out of that tree. I relaxed after a while kept my eye on the gator and watched the trail for pigs. While looking around, I noticed fish swimming in the lake. Eventually they came right up under me. Turned out to be another school of reds, again all legal fish. Wished I had my rod and reel to do some fishing from the tree, while I was waiting on the pigs. I bailed out of that tree before sun down, I did not want to be climbing down that tree after dark and be right on the bank of the lake and not be able to see where that **** big gator was. That and I had to walk a ways around the lake, right along the edge of the bank, because the brush, was dense right up to the bank of the lake. When I did start moving back down the tree to get out of it, the gator did see me and went under. So I knew what that meant. He was coming over to see if he could get dinner. So the hunter became the hunted. I got the hell out of there.

[RifleBowPistol]

..

[MetalMan2004]

Good luck this weekend to those of you who got first season! Be sure to let us know how you do!

[Pnut529]

Pnut529

We've used Thermacells when bow hunting down there. They work good if you're sitting on a tripod, ground blind, etc. not going to help much if walking.

[jason86]

Leave in two days, guess I meet to start getting stuff together.

[RifleBowPistol]

Let us know what the place looks like, maybe some pictures. Would like to see the place after the storm, hope it's not too bad.

Good luck.

[johnnyanguyen]

Got drawn for this weekends hunt and headed down early Friday morning to scout. Hope I don’t get eaten alive by the bird sized mosquitos..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jason86]

Let us know what the place looks like, maybe some pictures. Would like to see the place after the storm, hope it's not too bad.

Good luck.

I Will, I am headed down this evening to scout in the am! Still haven't packed a thing yet....oops.

[fish4food]

Good luck!
In for reports. Going in December.

[jason86]

Skeeters, skeeters, skeeters

[RifleBowPistol]

Skeeters, skeeters, skeeters

Yep. No pictures? So what does the place look like, what do the trees look like.