LRGV Schaleben Tract - Archery Deer

[caalexander4]

So I couldn't find a thread for this so here it goes. I drew for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Schaleben tract archery deer hunt. I am going on the 11/18-21st hunt. There is only one hunt before this from what I can see and it is only a few guys.

Has anyone else hunted this unit before and have recommendations on gear, amount of water to bring etc? I hunted the Laguna Atascosa hunt two years ago and was successful on the rifle and archery hunt so I am pretty pumped to get back down that way and hopefully arrow a nilgai.

[Phorizt]

So I couldn't find a thread for this so here it goes. I drew for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Schaleben tract archery deer hunt. I am going on the 11/18-21st hunt. There is only one hunt before this from what I can see and it is only a few guys.

Has anyone else hunted this unit before and have recommendations on gear, amount of water to bring etc? I hunted the Laguna Atascosa hunt two years ago and was successful on the rifle and archery hunt so I am pretty pumped to get back down that way and hopefully arrow a nilgai.

From what I understand it has only been hunted once before which was last year when they had to move a few guys over there from another of the LRGV units.


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[careybirdwell]

I hunted it last year. Hopefully they cleaned up some walking trails, because most of the road had weed & grass that was over 2-3ft tall. They did clear some of the fence lines and had the 2 oil field roads to the south was clear. The water hole to the very north looks great, but the grass was so high you would almost walk in it before you saw it and the mosquitoes would eat you alive. There is a nice tanks on the south end that is big & has ton of tracks around it. I did a lot of walking my few days there. I took a light foldable chair, my rifle, about 6 bottles of water, and some beef jerky & nuts and backpacked it all in. I sat from sun up to sun set. I ended up not killing anything, but I did see several Nilgai, Hogs, only 1 whitetail ( buck that was shot by another hunter)

This is the thread on the hunt

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=788648

[caalexander4]

I hunted it last year. Hopefully they cleaned up some walking trails, because most of the road had weed & grass that was over 2-3ft tall. They did clear some of the fence lines and had the 2 oil field roads to the south was clear. The water hole to the very north looks great, but the grass was so high you would almost walk in it before you saw it and the mosquitoes would eat you alive. There is a nice tanks on the south end that is big & has ton of tracks around it. I did a lot of walking my few days there. I took a light foldable chair, my rifle, about 6 bottles of water, and some beef jerky & nuts and backpacked it all in. I sat from sun up to sun set. I ended up not killing anything, but I did see several Nilgai, Hogs, only 1 whitetail ( buck that was shot by another hunter)

This is the thread on the hunt

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.c...d.php?t=788648

Thanks! This is kinda what I was guessing it would look like but I wanted to check. Hopefully its been cleaned up a little bit. I am going to be down the day before to scout it out but kinda wanted to be prepared ahead of time for it. Do you think its worth bringing a tripod to setup over a tank?

[Rounder]

So I couldn't find a thread for this so here it goes. I drew for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Schaleben tract archery deer hunt. I am going on the 11/18-21st hunt. There is only one hunt before this from what I can see and it is only a few guys.

Has anyone else hunted this unit before and have recommendations on gear, amount of water to bring etc? I hunted the Laguna Atascosa hunt two years ago and was successful on the rifle and archery hunt so I am pretty pumped to get back down that way and hopefully arrow a nilgai.

I drew the weekend before your hunt so will be hunting 11/11-14th and will be happy to share any information with you that may help your hunt. I drove around the refuge a month or so ago and looks to be pretty grown up and I am expecting it to be a pretty tough archery hunt. If I can swing it with work I am going to try and make it down Wednesday before the hunt to scout around and game plan but I may be using Thursday to do some of that as well.

I am taking some hang on steps and stand just in case I find a good spot to hang it. With the grass being so high, even being a few feet off the ground may help with visibility.

[BOW BANDIT]

The grass should be very tall, it has rained there in good amounts so that should be considered. Hunt high off the ground and hope that the walkers don't ruin your hunt. They are all over.

[caalexander4]

I am taking some hang on steps and stand just in case I find a good spot to hang it. With the grass being so high, even being a few feet off the ground may help with visibility.[/QUOTE]

Good luck with that! I am in the same boat debating if I can find the time off to scout the Wednesday before.

[BOW BANDIT]

Finding a place to hang a stand will be difficult. I have always used a medium size tripod, in that area, you will find black ebony trees there that are tall and that provide great cover, just care full with the torns as they are some of the most agresive torns that can be found in the area trees.

[Rounder]

So I couldn't find a thread for this so here it goes. I drew for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Schaleben tract archery deer hunt. I am going on the 11/18-21st hunt. There is only one hunt before this from what I can see and it is only a few guys.

Has anyone else hunted this unit before and have recommendations on gear, amount of water to bring etc? I hunted the Laguna Atascosa hunt two years ago and was successful on the rifle and archery hunt so I am pretty pumped to get back down that way and hopefully arrow a nilgai.

I just got back from this hunt yesterday and wanted to pass along some information. I wasn't able to shoot anything but I still had a great time trying to figure it out. I hunted on the north side along with two other guys and another guy set up down south. There were only 4 of us that showed up to hunt (8 were drawn).

This tract is super thick for the most part and the parts it is not thick, the grass it almost waste high and also super thick to walk through. There were 3 of us that mainly hunted on the north side and there is quite a bit of nilgai sign on that side of the tract (I probably marked 10 different poop piles) but the hunting for the most part for us was slow. I had one real opportunity but the nilgai were about 75 yards away and I spooked them sneaking in on them. I never saw a whitetail even with all the walking I did which I still cannot believe but we didn't see many deer while sitting on the stand in general.

One cow nilgai was shot (by a TBH'er....congrats again Aaron) but that was it for the weekend.

You have to walk (for the most part) where the tract allows you do to do so as you cannot just work your way along as the crow flies. I tried one afternoon when moving my gear to a new spot and it was not a fun walk. I think I walked almost 25 miles over the 4 days (half day scouting Wednesday and last hunt for me was Saturday morning).

I brought a pop up but never got it out as you were not allowed to cut brush to brush it in and I figured I could just hide better in the brush. I also took a hang on stand just in case but there were not a ton of trees to hang it on which I knew going in, but packing that thing in with steps just wasn't going to work for me. If you had some kind of packable fold up tripod I think that would be awesome as it would get you off the ground to see a little more over the brush/grass.

As far as water, I carried in 2-3 bottles every time I went in as I knew I was going back to the truck for lunch and could grab a few more.

We talked to the US Fish and Wildlife officer after the first morning hunt (he was super nice and helpful) and he said we could also park in the Sal Del Ray parking lot which is on the west side of the Schaleben. I parked there the last two hunt days and just hopped the fence to make my walk in and out shorter.

I have tons of spots marked on OnX that I could send to you or take screen shots and send them that way if you want. Let me know what questions you have and I will be happy to try and help.

Good luck this week!

[caalexander4]

Thanks for the information! Work is being crazy so unfortunately I wont be able to scout. I am planning on showing up at light so I can see where everyone else is parked and make my way in after that. I have a pretty light weight tripod I may try to work with though depending on how far in I stop. I am really wanting to take a javelina if I can. I know everyone says they smell but it would be a first for me.

[BOW BANDIT]

Thanks for the information! Work is being crazy so unfortunately I wont be able to scout. I am planning on showing up at light so I can see where everyone else is parked and make my way in after that. I have a pretty light weight tripod I may try to work with though depending on how far in I stop. I am really wanting to take a javelina if I can. I know everyone says they smell but it would be a first for me.

The tripod is the best option out there, Good luck.

[caalexander4]

The tripod is the best option out there, Good luck.

Thanks! Hoping it goes well for me.

[Phorizt]

Thanks for the information! Work is being crazy so unfortunately I wont be able to scout. I am planning on showing up at light so I can see where everyone else is parked and make my way in after that. I have a pretty light weight tripod I may try to work with though depending on how far in I stop. I am really wanting to take a javelina if I can. I know everyone says they smell but it would be a first for me.

If you want a javelina try the pipeline on the south end. I saw some right inside the north gate and a couple about 1.25 miles into the north end also so they are all over but only saw them when I was walking around. Luckily w only 4 of us on the first hunt we all knew where everyone was so we didnt interfere w anyone hunting and could still move around some. I shot a javelina in the pipeline on the south end. Unfortunately he was at 41 yards right before dark and bolted right when I shot so I hit him too far back and he went straight into the super thick brush and I couldnt find him. But you could pretty easily set up along that pipeline and sneak into shooting range along the edge if they come out. Just make sure you’ve got a great shot on it. It they make it into the brush it is not gonna be any kind of fun trying to get to it.


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[Rounder]

Thanks! Hoping it goes well for me.

How’d it go out there this weekend?

[caalexander4]

How’d it go out there this weekend?

So the first day was a wash out. Just pouring all day. I got within 50 yards of some Javelina but couldnt make a shot through the tall grass. Friday was pretty slow. Nothing really moving. I took off Friday afternoon to make it to a wedding. Overall it wasnt too bad for how much time I actually spent out there. It probably wont be a place I put in for again but it was fun.