South Llano state park

[TXOUTLAW]

Yep, my son had first pick and he drew the blind that has had the most action so far this year but that didn't translate into any action for us on day 1. We saw an axis spike and several axis does, small whitetail bucks and a few whitetail does, several turkeys. It looks very promising however so we're anxious to see what tomorrow brings.

Sounds exciting good luck to him

[Bowtech Shooter]

Any reports. Hopefully cleaning

[gburk]

My boys got skunked today down by the river. Just saw two little forkhorns and a pig that didn’t stop. Neighbors were firing guns; not sure if that was a factor. Nice 9 pt taken today and ScottFW has some good news to share when he gets around to it.
Change of scenery requested and granted for tomorrows final sit. Rules of engagement modified to brown and down… Hopefully they’ll do some good!!

[Bowtech Shooter]

Good luck in the morning. Figured the river would be good for axis. We saw more wt on the other side of the road past where we checked in

[sierracharlie338]

Good luck guys


Sierracharlie out....

[gburk]

Thanks for all the well wishes guys but it was not meant to be. Aside from the one doe he missed he had a couple forkhorns come out but he held off on those until today. Today, in a different blind away from the river, nothing but birds. We had a good time though, met some great folks, and my son left that hunt hungrier than he came. In the context of a hunt like this with assigned blinds there is only so much you can control, so it was a good life lesson. Proud of his persistence but also want to spend some time and clean up the trigger work a bit after that bad shot on doe.

Is this hunt overrated? I think that’s a fair question. Probably is for a two day youth hunt at this point in the season after all the hunting that’s already gone on. I’m sure if you timed it right in the right blind you could really have some fun.

[Bowtech Shooter]

Any axis get taken?

[ScottFW]

There were maybe 3 axis taken including this one that my son shot. We were amused that the buck fought enough to break off such small antlers.

Overall, it was a good hunt but we were certainly a little disappointed that we didn't have an opportunity on a trophy axis or whitetail which certainly exist in a place like this. The park is beautiful and it's enjoyable to meet other hunters from across the state.

Several takeaways from the hunt:

1. We spread out lots of corn and alfalfa but if you're going to get an opportunity on a trophy-quality animal in two half-days and one full day, there's going to be a significant amount of luck involved. Especially when the hunt is not during the rut for any animal.

2. There is evidence of a large pig population which the hunt director said have gone mostly nocturnal. We saw one while we were driving in the back (south) part of the property but that was it.

3. Bring cover scent. The blinds are permanent structures and you're subject to whatever the wind is doing. We were busted several times by both whitetails and axis. This was the 5th hunt that the park held this year and the animals were spookier than I expected for a state park.

4. Most of the action is going to be near the north end of the park near the river. We hunted a blind in the south end on the last morning (#16) and it's so thick back there that unless you're actively feeding you're probably going to have to get real lucky. The blind was in a very small open area so the deer are going to be right on top of you so controlling your scent will be important.

5. The park staff are professional and do a great job which has been my experience on several TPWD hunts. They actually keep stats on each blind so you draw with the knowledge of what has happened on previous hunts. We're lucky to live in a state that provides these draw hunts and does such a good job with them.

gburk, anything to add? Does this sound about right?

[gburk]

^^ Good summary I'd say

The one blind my boys were in down by the river had a good wind, but blinds are relatively tight down there and you're supposed to shoot a certain direction, and whether or not it aligns with the wind is uncertain - so some scent control wouldn't be bad in those cases. My boys said there was someone in orange pussyfooting around out there, and not too far offline from where they were baiting and possibly shooting. So that wasn't great- I think you said you saw the same in the adjacent blind. At least they were in orange, I guess?

Agree, staff and volunteers were great.

Was thinking with some night vision you could have a great time out there.

I think they should consider some kind of rotation on blind assignments, it would introduce a bit of logistical overhead but the disparity of animal traffic across the blinds is rather unfortunate. I don't think anyone hunted all day on Wednesday, so it wouldn't have cramped anyone's style.

[gburk]

And congrats again to your son on the kill! Will keep an eye out for Godley baseball this spring, hope they do good.

[Texas Grown]

Congrats to your son, Scott. You can see the flame glowing in his eyes with that smile.

[ScottFW]

Congrats to your son, Scott. You can see the flame glowing in his eyes with that smile.

Thank you. He really enjoys it and this is by no means his first rodeo. I just hope his love of the outdoors continues!

[Slick8]

Any reports from this week's exotic hunt?

I'm headed there Monday and curious as to what to expect?

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[sierracharlie338]

Any reports from this week's exotic hunt?

I'm headed there Monday and curious as to what to expect?

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

I gotta put in for these next year! I wish I was still hunting LOL


Sierracharlie out....

[WS_AG]

I'm heading there next week too.