Choke Canyon North Shore

[wes]

Got drawn for Archery Choke Canyon North Shore. 12/31-1/3. Anyone hunted there? Any tips you want to share?

[Mudbug]

I went on a dove hunt on the north side of choke canyon I do know 1 thing there are some monster deer there! Sure wish that was a deer hunt instead!

[Blank]

I had the archery permit in Jan 2018 by myself. Really fun hunt, and will see lots of deer and hogs. Since I came down from Idaho I just brought my pop-up blind and it worked fine. If the temps had been warmer, it might have been nice to have a tripod also. During the hunt, the temps dropped to the lowest they had been in years (18-20 every morning). Hard to sit thru the day, so bring a sleeping bag or blanket into the blind with you, to wrap up in. There was still some secondary rutting going on and I saw deer thru the entire day. With the 13" minimum spread, a lot of the bucks were close to legal, but not quite. The big ones are definite shooters, and there is not question about them.

The hunt briefing is at the Daughtry WMA office, which is a long way from the CCNS hunt area. Because of the distance, they let you check out by phone each night so you don't have to drive back and forth. I stayed in Three Rivers in a motel, which was nice because I was only 15 minutes from the dam and my hunt area. When you get checked in, a TPWD guy will take you back and show you the areas, you will get assigned and issued an electronic key card to unlock the gates when you enter and leave. it must be turned back in at the Park office when your hunt is over.

The hunt area is broken up into 4 compartments, of 400-700 acres each, and the old asphalt road goes right thru the middle of it. You are encouraged to hunt all day, and not mess up other hunters by driving in and out a lot. Really thick and brushy with some senderos and paths cut thru the brush. I took the first compartment, since I was by myself and it has a power line running right thru the middle of it. There was another single guy who took #2, and two guys each took # 3 and #4. We did not want to shoot any does, and there were two bucks shot and lost with none recovered. While seeing a bunch of pigs, I did not want to shoot any. I left there and went to the deer leases in Uvalde and Brackettville, where I could do that with rifles.

It is a fun hunt, and an excellent opportunity to see and take a big deer...

[cwbrown]

Rifle hunted the North shore in 2018, the brush is so thick you can hardly crawl through it. Hunt pastures 3 or 4, they are in the back so you don’t have to worry about someone driving through.

Only put corn in 3-4 spots and have cameras, pm me for more info!

[brokeno]

One of the youth hunters killed a 160 plus buck last year. His dad told me they say a better deer than that but couldn't get a shoot. Corn, corn, corn. I've been told that the leased hunters on the back fence line dump 1000's of lbs of corn out right before theses hunts to draw the deer off the wma's. Corn is your friend.

[bossbowman]

I javi hunted there, corn the tree/brush lines and wait they come crawling out, you should be able to shoot one out of a pop up blind

[wes]

Thanks for the input. There are 2 of us on our card. PM headed your way Chad.

[wes]

anyone else have any info on Choke Canyon NS?

[WinslowBoy]

My son got drawn for the antlerless/spike gun hunt about 5 years ago. As stated, property is divided into 4 compartments. For our hunt, only 2 groups showed so we had compartments 3 & 4. Compartment 4 is all the way at the end and has the lake surrounding it. He ended up shooting 2 does that trip. We also didn't have to worry about anyone driving through our compartment on their way out.

Blank had a good write up of the hunt. We actually were allowed to corn on the main road because we had the last 2 compartments and we had several good bucks feeding in the open during the hunt. You don't have crawl into the thick stuff to find them.

If I remember right, there were actually a couple of decent sized trees where you could have put a lean-to or hid a tripod in pretty well. We did a ground blind and brushed in well and saw deer on every sit. If you put corn out, you should see deer and/or pigs.

My recommendation.... don't overthink it. Find a couple good spots with trails, brush in your blind REALLY well and throw out corn. Concealment is probably more important than location. LOTS of critters in that brush.

[DPerez905]

My wife and I got drawn for north shore gun either sex. Pretty excited about it. Looking for info on this place. I’ve fished the lake a lot but never been able to draw for a hunt until now. Is it a walk in or can you drive a vehicle? Thanks in advance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[futureagg]

My dad and I were drawn for Gun Deer Management Choke Canyon Calliham Unit. 12/31-1/3.

Interested in this as well


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[climatecrisis]

You should be able to drive your vehicle in but certain areas might be a little thick. Bring a handsaw and lots of corn. The biologist do feed those deer corn. They want you to kill something. Ask where they are feeding and throw out a lot of corn. I have hunted Daughtrey. Full moon and really hot, but still pretty cool. Get to check-in early. If you have an apple product, google will take you to another location that is not the check-in. Get proper directions to the office. PM me if you have any other questions.

[bossbowman]

You should be able to drive your vehicle in but certain areas might be a little thick. Bring a handsaw and lots of corn. The biologist do feed those deer corn. They want you to kill something. Ask where they are feeding and throw out a lot of corn. I have hunted Daughtrey. Full moon and really hot, but still pretty cool. Get to check-in early. If you have an apple product, google will take you to another location that is not the check-in. Get proper directions to the office. PM me if you have any other questions.

This is no lie, they will clean up 100 lbs overnight like nothing

[bignick612]

I gun hunted here last year with 2 other friends in my group and we took compartment one on the advice of the biologist. As mentioned earlier there is a nice power line clearing going through this compartment. We never had any luck in the clearing but there was tons of deer sign in it. I think a pop up blind would suit you well if you can find a decent small clearing.My group was able to get a hog and a doe in just 2 days of hunting. Overall its a fun place to hunt and is challenging due to the thick brush. There are quite a few deer and hogs out there.

And those asking about driving they gave us a key card to allow us access over the dam into the hunting area. There is one road that takes you to all compartments. I was told I could drive down the power easement if I wanted to but with all the mesquite I didn't risk it. It will be really tough to get off the road for the most part With it being so thick in there.