Public land questions

[jbonney1986]

So I’ve been cowboying most my life outside of the military, anyways my life has changed quite a bit in the last year and I don’t have access to ranches and land to hunt anymore so I was thinking about hunting public land. I have never done this before and was wondering what everyone’s thoughts were. I know there will be tons of different opinions so I’ll take them all and try my best to make my own decision, but I hope there’s some out there that have a lot of experience with public land who can give me advice, the ups and downs, tips, best places to look, best public land, best way to avoid hunters and areas with a lot of pressure. I know living in Texas I’m sure it’s tough but I’m all ears....I live in Fort Worth area so I know about the LBJ Grasslands but am gonna look at others places as well, thanks in advance

[brokeno]

Yep tpwd drawings are getting almost impossible to get selected.

[jbonney1986]

Yep tpwd drawings are getting almost impossible to get selected.

So it’s a draw system?

[huntindude]

Pretty much you have 3 options. The best hunting is through the draw system but it’s dang hard to get drawn (I’ve been drawn on 2 hunts in 6 years of putting in for about 20 a year) the other is national forest in east Texas. I’ve never done it but you can be successful if you are willing to outwork the next guy and some big deer get killed there every year. The 3rd is other federally owned property such as Aransas NWR. They do a draw but draw a ton of hunters and the hunting can be quite difficult. (Haven’t personally done this either)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Texas Grown]

National Forest service
Army Corps of Engineers
TP&W draw system
And used to be USFW Refuges.
There are also some river system hunts that mostly go unheard about (till now ) for a reason.

[toomuchsun]

luck of the draw.

[MLank]

U can also look into Oklahoma or Arkansas public land

Additionally, if you could take off chunks of days at a time, out west could be a bargain.

[jbonney1986]

Man, so hunting is pretty much becoming a land owners game...I just can’t afford it anymore, leases and all. I appreciate the information y’all

[huntindude]

Man, so hunting is pretty much becoming a land owners game...I just can’t afford it anymore, leases and all. I appreciate the information y’all

Yep. Texas is something like 98% privately owned, so public is pretty tough


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saddle Tramp]

Every place will be crowded. Del Rio is good Big Sam is Okay but timing is everything. You can go out of state and over the counter hunt for a lot less than any lease or day lease in Texas. We try to get 3 or 4 guys and go in together its cheaper and helps in packing out kills. Meredith is a tough Muley hunt but fun.
But IMO out of state is your best bet.

[30-30]

Buy the $48 “Annual Public Hunting Permit” and they will send you a map booklet with all the tpwd-run wildlife management areas, seasons, bag limits, etc.

[IkemanTX]

^^^^
Yep. The APH permit will open a lot of properties to you, army corps offices will often times do limited permits to hunt the backs of lakes, and Oklahoma is an option at $300 per method of take.

I personally hunt north Texas and up into oklahoma. Public deer are a different breed of smart, so get ready to put a lot of work in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbonney1986]

I’ll look into Oklahoma...anyone got anything they can tell me about that state?

[CEO]

I've only hunted public for a few years. Been able to find big deer in the Sam and Angelina, only seen another Hunter once. The OnX app has helped me a lot with peace of mind.

My issue is I always have more scouting days than hunting days. I can locate some good bucks in the area but don't usually get a chance to kill one.

[Duckologist]

All I hunt is public land but I am in Louisiana where we have an abundance of public land. Texas has very little that is not a draw system. Getting away from people is pretty easy as most people don't go much further than 100 yards from the road. Scouting is key. Have several places to hunt depending on the wind. Our wind is primarily north or south. On any given property I have several north wind spots and south wind spots. If someone is one of "my" spots, no biggie, go to a different spot. Also look outside the box. I hunt a spot that is close to a road, folks just drive right by it and pay no attention to it. I can watch vehicles driving by from my tree. It's a south wind evening spot and I was only able to hunt it twice last season but I killed a deer on both hunts. The first hunt I set my buddy up in there as well and he was also successful. Just think of where folks love to hunt and then go check spots that folks won't touch. Around here the mentality is that if they can't climb a tree they ain't hunting it. There is some awesome ground hunting places that no one even considers because they can't hang a stand.