Laguna Atascosa 2018

[Tiburon1]

Originally Posted by DannyGarcia

I would figure rifle there would had more animals on the board, i wonder if people didnt hunt all 3 days or might be no shows. Well i will see how hard it is with a rifle come next week. Practice up to 300 yrds i might be able to push it to 400 but only in a desperate situation for a blue bull.

I wonder if they still say there is fallow in the property and its legal to shoot? Did anyone see any by any chance?


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If you are hunting nilgai in units 2 &/or 3 where it is open that might be necessary. My longest shot of the five I shot in the prior year was 60 to 80 yards with the closest at about 20. Three out of the five were running shots and none of them afforded me with an opportunity to get a rest. I would concentrate more, depending on how you are going to hunt (stalking vs sitting), on reflex shooting than long distance shooting. Additional non-solicited advise would be to aim for the white patch on their throat if he/she has spotted you and is facing you. The guy who was with me on the hunt last year shot a bull at first light that was facing him in the brisket (ignoring the advise) and he pulled his shot just a tad. He tracked blood for well over 500 yards and it was clear he hit the meat of the left shoulder. He did not recover his bull. Weekend before last I had another hunter who pulled the same thing on a cow (not at Laguna Atascosa) and we tracked blood on the left side of the trail for several hundred yards. You will either kill it and there will be zero tracking or you will miss it and there will zero tracking. Best of luck.

[Kolpin10]

Originally Posted by DPerez905

Well the guy I told that took my info didn’t realize when I told him that I had shot two not one. And that’s because I told him twice and my wife was like I don’t know if that understood you right. By looking at the board now he obviously didn’t hear me right. I told him the first one was 250lbs and the second was about 350.


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Under the current regulations for all deer and Nalgia that you kill you have to bring in the hide, head, and legs of each animal for tick inspection. When you bring it in they fill out a harvest log with your name permit number, license number, and fill out a harvest tag to identify the hunter and loaction the animal was killed in case they do find fever ticks. Then they stick each hide, head legs in a bag for TAHC to inspect later.

[DPerez905]

Originally Posted by Kolpin10

Under the current regulations for all deer and Nalgia that you kill you have to bring in the hide, head, and legs of each animal for tick inspection. When you bring it in they fill out a harvest log with your name permit number, license number, and fill out a harvest tag to identify the hunter and loaction the animal was killed in case they do find fever ticks. Then they stick each hide, head legs in a bag for TAHC to inspect later.

Yeah I do understand that part as it was in the orientation. But when I talked to the guy that took my info he never asked for exact locations of the animals just what unit it was in. I also wasn’t very excited about walking another 6 miles just to go skin two nilgai out for them to check their hides. We brought what we could for them to do their tick inspection.


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[Freight Mover]

Originally Posted by yanta61

Is anyone else hunting this weekend?

My son and I are
We just got here to camp this afternoon


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[MooseontheLoose]

Originally Posted by DPerez905

Only problem with going in so far is when you do shoot one is getting out in a timely manner. The employees cannot help with recovery due to the furlough so you are on your own just like my wife and I were 3 miles in when I shot those two. I think that furlough has a lot of hunters rethinking their plans since there will no help. Therefore reducing the harvest totals.

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This was spot on for me. I was hunting solo and at orientation they emphasized no less than 15 times not to expect any kind of help and that we were on our own to pack the animals out. The only time they could help was in the event of an emergency situation. Not a huge deal, but multiple others that I know or spoke with that have been on the hunt in the past have all been able to get assistance from staff when retrieving nilgai with vehicles, especially when one gets killed in the evening. Nobody wants to be there all night waiting for you to pack it out.

I originally had a plan for Saturday to go on a long hike back in 2 and see what I could find. Hunting solo, with 80 degree temps, no assistance available, and the fact that they said they wanted the entire hide for inspection for successful hunts, I didn't feel I could take anything short of a small WT and pack it out in time without risking losing meat. Definitely could not have done a nilgai back in there.

They said there's fallow deer in there and we had the green light on them, but I didn't see any or hear of any being seen. When I came back to the check station one evening, I told them I saw a few deer. They thought I said fallow at first and were very shocked. After I clarified they said something along the lines of them being extremely rare and only a few have even been seen. I wouldn't plan on seeing or hunting them.

FYI to those with upcoming hunts. the bugs aren't terrible, but they're still there. I sprayed down my base layers with Permethrin and never had any issues with ticks, but I have about a dozen chigger bites on my legs. I spent all day Thursday - Saturday out in the brush, so it wasn't bad, all things considered. Mosquitoes and gnats were out when the wind wasn't blowing but they weren't too bad.

[DPerez905]

I originally had a plan for Saturday to go on a long hike back in 2 and see what I could find. Hunting solo, with 80 degree temps, no assistance available, and the fact that they said they wanted the entire hide for inspection for successful hunts, I didn't feel I could take anything short of a small WT and pack it out in time without risking losing meat. Definitely could not have done a nilgai back in there.




I agree with Moose


Yes I would not recommend going in very very far due to the fact that if you shoot something late evening there’s no help. That’s not a place where you can leave your animal over night either with the heat and coyotes. Best bet is to quarter the animal and put on game cart. If you don’t have a cart I would just pack as much of the meat as you can in your pack because when you get back there’s a good chance there will be buzzards on the carcass. We had them circling over before we had even got the second one cut up. Only way I would go in far is with a game cart or wagon of some type with a group of 3 or more so you have help.


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[Kolpin10]

Originally Posted by DPerez905

Yeah I do understand that part as it was in the orientation. But when I talked to the guy that took my info he never asked for exact locations of the animals just what unit it was in. I also wasn’t very excited about walking another 6 miles just to go skin two nilgai out for them to check their hides. We brought what we could for them to do their tick inspection.


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So you say you understood the hunt requirments and that the hides, heads, snd legs were required to be brought in, you just chose not to follow the regulations because you did not want to walk back and skin them out. If you do not want to follow the regulations then dont put in for the hunts. They stated the regs in orentation, in writing, and in a text to the hunters and every other hunter that i saw was succesful and brought out what was required.

You know guys like you is what give hunters a bad name, good for the grip it and grin picture and to write about your "kills" on the internet but when the work comes you bail.

I hope one of the guys that is on the comming hunts show your post to the LEO's down there and one of the fed boys comes and pays you a visit.

[DPerez905]

Originally Posted by Kolpin10

So you say you understood the hunt requirments and that the hides, heads, snd legs were required to be brought in, you just chose not to follow the regulations because you did not want to walk back and skin them out. If you do not want to follow the regulations then dont put in for the hunts. They stated the regs in orentation, in writing, and in a text to the hunters and every other hunter that i saw was succesful and brought out what was required.



You know guys like you is what give hunters a bad name, good for the grip it and grin picture and to write about your "kills" on the internet but when the work comes you bail.



I hope one of the guys that is on the comming hunts show your post to the LEO's down there and one of the fed boys comes and pays you a visit.

I’m not saying I didn’t bring anything from my kill. I did bring parts of the carcasses like the man that gave our orientation asked for. They have proof that I DID bring parts of the carcasses for their tick inspection. I did not bring the WHOLE hide though. So technically I did follow the regulations thank you.


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[Bowhunter1994]

Originally Posted by Kolpin10

So you say you understood the hunt requirments and that the hides, heads, snd legs were required to be brought in, you just chose not to follow the regulations because you did not want to walk back and skin them out. If you do not want to follow the regulations then dont put in for the hunts. They stated the regs in orentation, in writing, and in a text to the hunters and every other hunter that i saw was succesful and brought out what was required.



You know guys like you is what give hunters a bad name, good for the grip it and grin picture and to write about your "kills" on the internet but when the work comes you bail.



I hope one of the guys that is on the comming hunts show your post to the LEO's down there and one of the fed boys comes and pays you a visit.

Oh hush. We were out there less than a month ago and the game warden told us : you all DO NOT have to bring hide out. The tick people can say what they want, but you aren’t going to get a ticket. Sure they will rag on you but it’s like I told them, you can go get the hide yourself if you want it that bad, they will leave you alone.
YOU WALK MILES A DAY, makes zero sense to pack out a hide for no reason unless your gonna mount it ( a bull)



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[DPerez905]

Originally Posted by Bowhunter1994

Oh hush. We were out there less than a month ago and the game warden told us : you all DO NOT have to bring hide out. The tick people can say what they want, but you aren’t going to get a ticket. Sure they will rag on you but it’s like I told them, you can go get the hide yourself if you want it that bad, they will leave you alone.
YOU WALK MILES A DAY, makes zero sense to pack out a hide for no reason unless your gonna mount it ( a bull)



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Thanks for clearing that up!!!!


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[Jspradley]

Originally Posted by Bowhunter1994

Oh hush. We were out there less than a month ago and the game warden told us : you all DO NOT have to bring hide out. The tick people can say what they want, but you aren’t going to get a ticket. Sure they will rag on you but it’s like I told them, you can go get the hide yourself if you want it that bad, they will leave you alone.
YOU WALK MILES A DAY, makes zero sense to pack out a hide for no reason unless your gonna mount it ( a bull)



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The warden/rangers specifically told us we had to bring as much of the hide out as we possibly can.

From my experiences down there it seems a few of the rules vary greatly depending on who is making them up from day to day

[glen]

We were not there and packed my kids nilgai our. Could not imagine carrying the hide and bones out on our backs. 2nd one he shot was about 500 yards from road where we had a cart. We did bring hide out for a rug.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Kolpin10

Under the current regulations for all deer and Nalgia that you kill you have to bring in the hide, head, and legs of each animal for tick inspection. When you bring it in they fill out a harvest log with your name permit number, license number, and fill out a harvest tag to identify the hunter and loaction the animal was killed in case they do find fever ticks. Then they stick each hide, head legs in a bag for TAHC to inspect later.

Sorry, you're wrong. I was there less than a month ago and made the board. They asked us to bring as much back as possible. There was no regulation that you have to take EVERYTHING back.

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[m10]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Sorry, you're wrong. I was there less than a month ago and made the board. They asked us to bring as much back as possible. There was no regulation that you have to take EVERYTHING back.

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2nd that!

[Bowhunter1994]

Originally Posted by m10

2nd that!

3rd that!!
Those of you saying you “ have too bring hide back “ show me a ticket they wrote you for not hauling the hide back.


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[Huntindad]

Originally Posted by Kolpin10

So you say you understood the hunt requirments and that the hides, heads, snd legs were required to be brought in, you just chose not to follow the regulations because you did not want to walk back and skin them out. If you do not want to follow the regulations then dont put in for the hunts. They stated the regs in orentation, in writing, and in a text to the hunters and every other hunter that i saw was succesful and brought out what was required.

You know guys like you is what give hunters a bad name, good for the grip it and grin picture and to write about your "kills" on the internet but when the work comes you bail.

I hope one of the guys that is on the comming hunts show your post to the LEO's down there and one of the fed boys comes and pays you a visit.

dude... you are way off base. I was there in November. They said to bring back as much of the hide as you could...knowing if you were deep in the brush...hide was not your main concern. It is folks like YOU that I don't want in the woods with me.

[That_Guy]

Rules and regs. Who needs them? Why don't we all start using bait out there? Why don't we go ahead and start shooting on the day we scout? If we get to pick and choose what rules we follow them i say we don't tag anything afterwards and then pack out only the backstrap because the rest is to heavy and it's to far to pack out.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by That_Guy

Rules and regs. Who needs them? Why don't we all start using bait out there? Why don't we go ahead and start shooting on the day we scout? If we get to pick and choose what rules we follow them i say we don't tag anything afterwards and then pack out only the backstrap because the rest is to heavy and it's to far to pack out.

Another wet blanket in this thread I see, do yourself a favor, call Laguna and verify what we're all telling you. They do not require you to take the entire hide out they encourage you to take as much as you can bring. No one mentioned anything about leaving meat behind. This is not a matter of picking and choosing rules this is a matter of you and koplin not understanding the difference between a rule and regulation vs being encouraged to do something for the betterment of science and stopping an invasive species.

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[Brown E]

Maybe we should start another Laguna thread and let these guys battle it out here.

[merlin]

I bet they follow you. There is always gonna be one..................maybe two

[Reaper]

That would be a shame this is been a great thread no more arguing for me I've made my point.

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[DannyGarcia]

So.... anyone hunted yesterday or this morning that want to update us, did the rain affect it any this morning??


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[yanta61]

Shot a spike yesterday evening


Really slow. This was the board at 7 this evening

[hogdaddy]

Originally Posted by Kolpin10

So you say you understood the hunt requirments and that the hides, heads, snd legs were required to be brought in, you just chose not to follow the regulations because you did not want to walk back and skin them out. If you do not want to follow the regulations then dont put in for the hunts. They stated the regs in orentation, in writing, and in a text to the hunters and every other hunter that i saw was succesful and brought out what was required.

You know guys like you is what give hunters a bad name, good for the grip it and grin picture and to write about your "kills" on the internet but when the work comes you bail.

I hope one of the guys that is on the comming hunts show your post to the LEO's down there and one of the fed boys comes and pays you a visit.

admittedly i don't know you but that seems a little harsh.

going out on a limb and guessing the Perez boys boys have hauled way more nilgai out of that place than you and know that reality sometimes don't match government regs or whats said in orientation. they are good guys, they get it done and are welcome at my camp any time. Congrats again David.

[DPerez905]

Originally Posted by hogdaddy

admittedly i don't know you but that seems a little harsh.

going out on a limb and guessing the Perez boys boys have hauled way more nilgai out of that place than you and know that reality sometimes don't match government regs or whats said in orientation. they are good guys, they get it done and are welcome at my camp any time. Congrats again David.

Thanks HD! Same goes for you brotha!!


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[DannyGarcia]

Originally Posted by yanta61

Shot a spike yesterday evening





Really slow. This was the board at 7 this evening

How was your Sunday hunt, the weather was allot cooler, did you see more movement?


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[drogers6771]

good luck!

[yanta61]

I added 2 more does to the board and a kid shot a buck yesterday evening. Was pretty slow weekend.

[MooseontheLoose]

Here are a few photos from my trip. A couple bucks I passed, a nilgai running away, and some scenery. You can always tell a slow hunting trip when there's lots of scenery pics

[Haunting]

Great pics Moose!

[Scofield]

Originally Posted by yanta61

I added 2 more does to the board and a kid shot a buck yesterday evening. Was pretty slow weekend.

Overall, was there not a lot of game seen? I drew for the upcoming 1/18 hunt. Curious what I'll be getting into.

[glen]

Scofield- You will be hunting and we will be working- I’d switch places with you. All it takes is right place right time and I guarantee that is not going to be me sitting at work

[yanta61]

Originally Posted by Scofield

Overall, was there not a lot of game seen? I drew for the upcoming 1/18 hunt. Curious what I'll be getting into.

Everyone we talked to said they were not seeing anything. We put in 8-12 miles a day and really never saw much. We only saw one nilgai and it was only for about a second. They were also talking about canceling the rest of the hunts because no one was killing anything.

[Scofield]

Originally Posted by glen

Scofield- You will be hunting and we will be working- I’d switch places with you. All it takes is right place right time and I guarantee that is not going to be me sitting at work

Lol right on Glen. I've read and heard it is a hard hunt. It'll just make it more rewarding.

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[SneakyPhil]

Originally Posted by yanta61

Everyone we talked to said they were not seeing anything. We put in 8-12 miles a day and really never saw much. We only saw one nilgai and it was only for about a second. They were also talking about canceling the rest of the hunts because no one was killing anything.

Well that makes a lot of sense. "We want people to kill something but because they haven't lets just close the gates. That should get some results."

[TexAg07]

Originally Posted by yanta61

Everyone we talked to said they were not seeing anything. We put in 8-12 miles a day and really never saw much. We only saw one nilgai and it was only for about a second. They were also talking about canceling the rest of the hunts because no one was killing anything.

Ok well I'm headed down this afternoon with Rods and shotguns in tow and my vacation days are already booked so if they cancel I'll find something to do down there. If it cancels or it's just slow and anyone else watching the this thread is down there and wants to shoot ducks or catch fish on the coast or shoot doves at one of the WMA's hit me up. I'm not just gonna sit at home.

[TXOUTLAW]

Man I’m really hoping they don’t shut it down and you get to hunt. That don’t make any sense, I doubt they shut down.


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[glen]

I can’t see them shutting down but I would imagine you are on your own as far as packing out etc

[DannyGarcia]

Just finish going over our plan for tomorrow on how to attack laguna atascosa. The terrain has changed so much there is water everywhere and looks like the wind and temps are going to change from one day to another. Put in about 10miles in the bike today and just saw some does, 7’+- rattlesnake, 8’+-indigo snake and some armadillos. Well its gonna be fun tomorrow....


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[Scofield]

On the board. Now for the long walk back. Good luck everyone

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[TXOUTLAW]

There ya go, good start


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[cookemerkel]

Originally Posted by DannyGarcia

Just finish going over our plan for tomorrow on how to attack laguna atascosa. The terrain has changed so much there is water everywhere and looks like the wind and temps are going to change from one day to another. Put in about 10miles in the bike today and just saw some does, 7’+- rattlesnake, 8’+-indigo snake and some armadillos. Well its gonna be fun tomorrow....


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Sounds just like Unit 1.

Good luck!

[glen]

See better than work

[TexAg07]

[TexAg07]

I got on the famous board at Laguna Atascosa yesterday. He’s not a monster but spot and stalk public land whitetails in Texas are pretty rare so I’m happy with him. Laguna is one of the coolest landscapes I’ve seen but is also one of the most inhospitable at times. At least on this late hunt you had to be willing to put in the work and the miles. Dropped this guy at noon, after doing a 5 mile loop hiking the entire NW corner of the refuge.. Did the gutless method in the field and hung the meat up in game bags in the shady breeze to cool down. Then made two 2.5 mile pack outs to the truck. Well worth it. Word last night was another Nilgai was down in unit 5.

[Reaper]

Looks like a nice deer congrats. Post more pics of him!

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[Haunting]

Congratulations, looks like a good deer.

[NxSTexan]

Originally Posted by TexAg07

I got on the famous board at Laguna Atascosa yesterday. He’s not a monster but spot and stalk public land whitetails in Texas are pretty rare so I’m happy with him. Laguna is one of the coolest landscapes I’ve seen but is also one of the most inhospitable at times. At least on this late hunt you had to be willing to put in the work and the miles. Dropped this guy at noon, after doing a 5 mile loop hiking the entire NW corner of the refuge.. Did the gutless method in the field and hung the meat up in game bags in the shady breeze to cool down. Then made two 2.5 mile pack outs to the truck. Well worth it. Word last night was another Nilgai was down in unit 5.

Good work and nice deer! Did they make an exception on this hunt because of staffing? I understood you had to check all your harvested animals in. Your method is what I would've done also out there.


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[gemini2759]

Looks like a nice heavy horned 8. Congrats.

[StickyG]

This is my first post, but I read this forum alot and particularly this thread beacause my group was on this the hunt this weekend. This was an awesome hunt. But had way more work to do than all my previous draws. Lessons learned: in the later hunts game is spooked and bedded in hard. Only saw 2 nilgais, and took a cow in north unit 5 on Sat night 222 lbs. The federal game wardens will only come pick u up at the road after the evening hunts as long as the road is DRY and drivable. Our wardens were super cool. They picked us up twice (once on Fri night and again on Sat night) and waited a long time for us to get there. Totally recommend doing this hunt with a group. They stated they wont drive out during the day. I'll try to load a few picks. Met some really cool guys that posted earlier (Texas Ag), this is a great community of hunters and appreciate all the tips. I was up in north island point. U really need to push them to come out from being bedded down (how I saw the beautiful bull, which I wasn't prepared to fire at, but a better hunter could have got a good shot off).