National Refuge General Deer - Trinity River NWR (Brierwood)

[Josha6783]

Thank you, jbkt. Any advice on camping nearby?

[jbkt]

I didn’t look at it because I’m local-ish. I read that there aren’t really any good camping options in the area, so I’d guess SHNF, Livingston State Park, Huntsville state park might be about as close as it gets.

[C-dubyah]

Thank you, jbkt. Any advice on camping nearby?

Look at VRBO in the area. There are several places to stay that cost around $115-$130 a night. That is your best bet for a close place to stay. Otherwise, a hotel in Cleveland is about your next best option with a 30 minute drive.

[Rivershack21]

There are some bed and breaks fast in the area.
Or always take a chance setting up camp on the river right there. Lots of people always camp out there. Truck stop in Mosshill on 105 has showers that are clean. I was just down there this weekend is the area. Deer where moving from 9 till 12 then at dark and the simple cafe is really good to eat it’s in mosshill as well

[Tmag]

https://eastforkrvresort.com/

Check with Eastfork RV, they are fixing to open tent camping there. And Simply Country inMoss Hill is some good eating.
Good luck if you hunt, we have seen and taken deer at Brierwood. I prefer going to the right side of the parking area, seen most deer that direction but it’s been a few years.

[Josha6783]

Thank y'all very much!

[offonleave]

Josh,

How did your hunt go? Care to share any insight?

tia

[Josha6783]

Sure. I'll tell ya what, it's an odd area for me. The woods are so open, and the way it's set up is the walking trail which is wide enough for 2 cars in most areas, loops around the zone, just inside a distance varying 10-150 yards, probably averages 80. The rules of not hunting within 300' of the trail are open to interpretation, in my opinion. It looks as if they don't want you setting up a stand and hunting the openness of the trail like a sendero. Anyhow......It's the absolute perfect place to still hunt. I used a tree saddle a bit. It was really hot the majority of the open days until the final 2. I hardly saw a thing during the heat wave/full moon. The front came in Friday afternoon hard, so figured they wouldn't be feeding on acorns or whatever that night. Sure enough Saturday morning, there was a lot of movement. I missed a doe at 40 yards somehow. She was facing me head on, I think I pulled it and might have knicked her high. Not a drop of blood or any erratic tracks. Anyhow, that trip was to see what I would need to get into public hunting. I had just about everything except a pack. I had a deer cart, which would be fine here I guess if you wanted to pull it in there and hide it in the area you're hunting. It is best suited for a pack-out since you can hike up to 2-3 miles one way. I didn't have any trouble running into anyone. Some guys came in after I went back home for a night and kinda took over the southwest corner I liked. That was just fine as I stopped short of it a good ways and hunted an area there. Anyone that hasn't been there that is going, I'd definitely say walk the trail and mark 2-3 game trail crossings, and see where those go, maybe still hunt around them. I saw my group of deer in an area that I saw a possibly legal buck crossing to get water in Tanner Bayou. I was walking back out one evening and saw him. Focused on that area and didn't see anything for a few days until after the front. I noticed he came from a trail that had others off of it, coming out of the center of the property. Saw another decent shooter buck after my missed doe. He was following a doe and they were moving fast, no shot opportunity. There's a deer lease to the west, and they have a tower blind facing the refuge, definitely hunting the refuge deer coming to their feeder. There was another feeder down southwest. Definitely use the OnX app or one similar if you prefer. You need that GPS location tracking in addition to your pdf version of the TPWD map. The OnX map is pretty much right on but there's some "gray" area close to the borders so be careful. I did not see heavy deer tracks or poop anywhere. I looked at a lot of big oaks and the massive pile of acorns around them hoping to find a feed tree but it just didn't happen. I do not think there are high numbers of deer on this place. Good challenging hunt, and the open woods and flat terrain are nice relief to the challenge of low game numbers. The few guys I spoke with acted like I was going really far, and I think that helped.