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Protecting Public Land Hunting Rights in Texas - a Corp of Engineer land discussion

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    Protecting Public Land Hunting Rights in Texas - a Corp of Engineer land discussion

    What issues are prohibiting or inhibiting your access to hunt Corp of Engineer managed properties near you?

    Last year I posted asking questions about what exactly protected our public land hunting rights in Texas. That post and the discussions involved can be found here


    But with that said, there are many different types of management going on in the state of Texas currently, those mostly being national forest service, Texas Parks and wildlife and Corp of Engineers. I’m sure there are others such as BLM.


    Thankfully, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers has a Texas chapter that has taken an active role in stepping up to help address some of these challenges. I can directly link my first Public land turkey this May to some of their efforts because without BHA, a spring turkey hunt never would’ve been allowed in one particular area.

    I have had the chance to talk to a few people involved with BHA and one of the strategies they want to focus on (for the time being) is what exactly is inhibiting access to hunting on the Corp of Engineer properties you hunt.

    So in the interest of this post, please keep this discussion centered on Corp of Engineer properties.

    I know for example some of the ones I have mentioned are:

    - Lake Lavon deer hunting/cancelling hog hunting during deer season
    - limiting or closing off certain CoE areas to hunting (IE: hog only areas, areas near new development)
    - Outdated practices for picking up permits in person or via mail rather than electronically when they have inconvenient weekly hours

    Please post the issues facing your areas, ESPECIALLY if you feel that they have not been addressed. The main focus for BHA is access to hunting land, especially when you consider that lack of access is the number one reason for people not hunting or preventing new hunter recruitment.

    Thank you for all your comments and questions!

    #2
    I’ve never understood why parts of stillhouse lake under COE control that had hog problems and tons of deer were not open to selective hunting instead of birds only.


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      #3
      Can you bowhunt the area around lake Texoma on the OK line?


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        #4
        If so, are any permits needed?


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          #5
          Originally posted by HighwayHunter View Post
          Can you bowhunt the area around lake Texoma on the OK line?


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          No permits needed. Just be aware of your county regulations as they can be differ by county.

          Any other areas that don’t allow hunting? I forgot to mention Lewisville only allowing a wounded warrior hunt and Ray Roberts being hog only.

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            #6
            Lake Somerville. There are some waterfowl opportunities, Nails Creek and Yegua are accessible by APH. But they control a lot of additional land with deer and pigs that is closed to public hunting.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Kirby86 View Post
              No permits needed. Just be aware of your county regulations as they can be differ by county.

              Any other areas that don’t allow hunting? I forgot to mention Lewisville only allowing a wounded warrior hunt and Ray Roberts being hog only.


              So if I wanted to drive up and bowhunt what county would be most accessible?


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                #8
                Originally posted by hrdwrkncwby76 View Post
                I’ve never understood why parts of stillhouse lake under COE control that had hog problems and tons of deer were not open to selective hunting instead of birds only.


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                Its the people that live on the land bordering the corp land, they don't want deer hunters, it has nothing to do about the biologist saying the deer population can't sustain it, same reason grangers draw is limited more than it has to be. You can throw Belton in there too, there is corp land that deer hunting is not allowed but you can hunt the fort hood property that borders belton. Anyone who drives through morgan point can tell they have a deer overpopulation issue.
                Last edited by bossbowman; 07-12-2018, 11:15 PM.

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                  #9
                  Protecting Public Land Hunting Rights in Texas - a Corp of Engineer land discussion

                  Originally posted by HighwayHunter View Post
                  So if I wanted to drive up and bowhunt what county would be most accessible?


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                  No offense but telling folks where to go hunting is not really the intent of this post. There is a lot of information readily available if you’re willing to do the research. I would highly recommend looking at OnX maps which will give you public land areas and boundaries to private.

                  The focus is more on places that are restricted, specifically those being Corp of Engineer property. Corp of Engineer property can choose to allow or not allow hunting solely based on the sentiments of the Corp office manager, be they pro or anti-hunting.

                  Hopefully this can help to compile a list of properties and increase overall access to places that are currently closed to public land hunting.
                  Last edited by Kirby86; 07-12-2018, 11:17 PM.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Kirby86 View Post
                    No offense but telling folks where to go hunting is not really the intent of this post. There is a lot of information readily available if you’re willing to do the research. I would highly recommend looking at OnX maps which will give you public land areas and boundaries to private.

                    The focus is more on places that are restricted, specifically those being Corp of Engineer property. Corp of Engineer property can choose to allow or not allow hunting solely based on the sentiments of the Corp office manager, be they pro or anti-hunting.

                    Hopefully this can help to compile a list of properties and increase overall access to places that are currently closed to public land hunting.


                    Yeah I did some research that’s how I reached the point of even being able to hunt up there. I can tell from the vague wording of what I read I’ll have to make thirty phone calls to have a five minutes conversation about hunting on those properties in what counties. This county to county change up on the same tract of public land is ridiculous.


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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Kirby86 View Post
                      No offense but telling folks where to go hunting is not really the intent of this post. There is a lot of information readily available if you’re willing to do the research. I would highly recommend looking at OnX maps which will give you public land areas and boundaries to private.

                      The focus is more on places that are restricted, specifically those being Corp of Engineer property. Corp of Engineer property can choose to allow or not allow hunting solely based on the sentiments of the Corp office manager, be they pro or anti-hunting.

                      Hopefully this can help to compile a list of properties and increase overall access to places that are currently closed to public land hunting.
                      I think the elephant in the room here is Lavon, they don't have to open it all season but there is no reason not to have a hagerman style archery hunt there. The hunting coordinator there is either anti hunting or the bordering landowners have him in their pocket. Richland Creek WMA is a similiar situation on size vs opportunity but it's not corp land so doesn't apply here.
                      Last edited by bossbowman; 07-13-2018, 07:05 AM.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Kirby86 View Post
                        No permits needed. Just be aware of your county regulations as they can be differ by county.

                        Any other areas that don’t allow hunting? I forgot to mention Lewisville only allowing a wounded warrior hunt and Ray Roberts being hog only.


                        Lewisville used to allow deer hunting, I’m not sure why they stopped.

                        One comment I have with the way TPWD does the hog hunts on Ray Roberts is that they close the season from September 1st to the middle of January. I assume this is in response to the possibility of someone trying to poach deer and not giving them the excuse of “I was just hunting hogs”. If that’s the case I think it’s silly to make an activity doubly illegal.

                        Personally, I’m usually chasing other critters during that time, but it’s still a limitation that could be rolled back.


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                          #13
                          In Houston, we have Addicks Reservoir, and George Bush Park. These area's were created to hold back water, and release in a controlled manner in order to keep the ship channel full year round. The entire area is off limits to hunting, even though between the two of them, I think they are over 140 square miles. 90% of the year its bone dry in there, and perfectly accessible.

                          What is holding us back is we are not allowed to hunt them at all. I am a member of BHA, and am going to see what can be done in the Houston area. But until I read your post yesterday, I had never thought about it. There are some big bucks in there, and zero homes.

                          Thanks for starting this thread.
                          Last edited by WItoTX; 07-13-2018, 07:18 AM. Reason: Corrected area

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                            #14
                            Protecting Public Land Hunting Rights in Texas - a Corp of Engineer land discussion

                            Originally posted by bossbowman View Post
                            I think the elephant in the room here is Lavon...

                            Agreed. But the argument for many of the lakes that do not allow bowhunting at all is that a) there isn’t a huntable population or b) they’re worried about some sort of negative interaction between hunters and non-hunters/landowners.

                            Unfortunately the squeaky wheel gets the oil with a lot of these offices, and a homeowner raising a complaint is going to get more consideration in some places rather than some a hunter asking questions. But that’s the entire reason for things like BHA who give us actual representation. Because whether landowners or non-hunters realize it or not, it’s public land and it belongs to all of us.

                            There are too many studies and examples of public places such as universities and neighborhoods allowing bowhunting with little to no negative interactions or impact to use it as an excuse. Many of the lakes only allow piecemeal opportunities because they have to give a nod to the idea that bowhunting can be a viable management tool. Bowhunters aren’t ever going to decimate a deer population as many of y’all know!

                            But at the same time, while many places do a good job of managing the land their responsible for, some Corp of Engineer places put wildlife management very far down on their list of priorities.
                            Last edited by Kirby86; 07-13-2018, 07:24 AM.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Kirby86 View Post
                              Agreed. But the argument for many of the lakes that do not allow bowhunting at all is that a) there isn’t a huntable population or b) they’re worried about some sort of negative interaction between hunters and non-hunters/landowners.

                              Unfortunately the squeaky wheel gets the oil with a lot of these offices, and a homeowner raising a complaint is going to get more consideration in some places rather than some a hunter asking questions. But that’s the entire reason for things like BHA who give us actual representation. Because whether landowners or non-hunters realize it or not, it’s public land and it belongs to all of us.

                              There are too many studies and examples of public places such as universities and neighborhoods allowing bowhunting with little to no negative interactions or impact to use it as an excuse. Many of the lakes only allow piecemeal opportunities because they have to give a nod to the idea that bowhunting can be a viable management tool. Bowhunters aren’t ever going to decimate a deer population as many of y’all know!


                              Bringing up neighborhoods reminds me. It might help if some of these properties that are slow to allow access required IBEP certification. That may help smooth the decision with managers and adjoining landowners.

                              I know that’s another step, but if one is serious about hunting and wants opportunity in a major metro area they are probably going to need to do some “extra” work...


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