Balcones Canyonlands NWR

[ScottyBTX]

My son was drawn for this upcoming weekend, unit 1-7. Looks like we will have plenty of company. And we have to drive through a bunch to get to ours. But we are going to give it heck. I'll try and post up.

Y’all have fun! And let’s us know how it goes!

[zhall]

We went out and "scouted", as much as you can with two young boys and limited time, and found some good sign. Deer tracks, along with some big pigs, rubs and scrapes. Hoping we have a chance. I'll keep it updated.

[gburk]

Good luck and have fun!

[TXOUTLAW]

Good luck

[ScottyBTX]

My hunt is 2 weeks out. Anybody been out there yet this season?

[03GruntUSMC]

My hunt starts Friday. Any advice from those that have hunted out there?

[ScottyBTX]

My hunt starts Friday. Any advice from those that have hunted out there?

How was your hunt?

[03GruntUSMC]

How was your hunt?

We saw several deer, but had fun. Only deer I could get a shot at was a little 3pt buck. Probably saw around ten deer total, a couple pigs and a flock of turkey.

[ScottyBTX]

We saw several deer, but had fun. Only deer I could get a shot at was a little 3pt buck. Probably saw around ten deer total, a couple pigs and a flock of turkey.

Awesome congrats! We’re headed out in the morning.

[TXOUTLAW]

Good for you

[jnd1959]

Any deer at balcones has my respect. Tough place to hunt with all the juniper and live oak.

[ScottyBTX]

Tough hunt but a lot of fun. Would do it again. Only thing I got was poison ivy

[BarBBar]

Tough hunt but a lot of fun. Would do it again. Only thing I got was poison ivy

If you can, post the rattlesnake video from Balcones Canyonlands that you texted me

[ScottyBTX]

Won’t let me upload video but here’s a pic

[cowpoke2]

unit 1-15 Balcones Canyonlands NWR

This is a long read so if you don't want to read the story scroll down for the results.

I am writing this reply to talk about unit 1-15 because I didn't see too much about it. I was fortunate enough to draw the Balcones Canyons NWR general deer tag for December 9th-11th ( the last hunt of the year). They gave me units 1-15 which was nice because I had it all to myself. I went into this hunt completely blind without doing any research. The only thing I did was look at the aerial they sent me for my unit. Looking back I'm glad I did this because if I pulled this forum up I probably would not have gone. I was unable to scout and I arrived 50 minutes before shooting was up the first night. I decided to run up the hill and just get a lay of the land. I was really discouraged when I got to the shooting house. You can see a good ways but it was a lot thicker than the aerial map made it seem. The only deer sign I saw was some old deer tracks right when I got up the hill. That night I tried to come up with a game plan. I haven't ever hunted in the hill country and In Texas, I have only hunted around or near corn or food sources. I did some research without finding much, so I decided to hunt like I hunt elk and mule deer out west. I was going to get as high as possible and stay behind the glass as long as I could bare it. The next morning I slipt up the hill early and got in the blind that the refuge put there. It was 76 degrees out which was crazy for being mid-December. The blind is right next to a big tree which didn't make any sense to me. You cant see out of the left window at all which seemed like the juiciest area. For the first hour, I was constantly scanning the front and right windows for any movement. After not seeing anything I decided to look up this place to see if I may have been wasting my time. I started scrolling through this forum and the more I read the more I got discouraged. I was worried I may have wasted my loyalty points on a bad area.

After about an hour of reading (9 am), I decided to get out and still hunt/glass the backside that I haven't looked at. I soon as I step out the door I saw deer about 150 -200 yards to the right coming in my direction( I would not have seen them if I was in the blind). There were 3 does and a big spike. From my newfound knowledge of this place, I decided the spike might be all I could get so I told myself I was going to shoot him. They were in the thick stuff where I did not have a shot so I was going to wait for them to step out in the open. Every time the wind would gust the door would swing and hit the frame and make a somewhat loud clunk. What made matters worse was the wind was pushing my scent straight to them. Whether they smelled me or they didn't like hearing the door bang they walked off the way they came. From the moment I saw them till the time they left was about 2 minutes. I decided I was going to climb down and try to slip over there to shoot one. As soon as I started to take a step down the ladder a big-bodied buck walked out directly in front of me at 60 yards (IN BOW RANGE !!). He stopped broadside and looked right at me. I didn't wait till he looked away to grab my gun off my shoulder because I was worried he saw me and was about to bolt any second. I slowly raised my gun and as soon as I was on him, I shot. He dropped right where he was standing! If I didn't get out when I did he would have probably walked behind me undetected. After going over to him and tagging him. I went back up in the blind to see if I would have been able to shoot him from the inside. If there was a window in the door it would have been perfect but I may have been able to shoot him from the corner of the right window or the back window. After looking around where I shot him, I found fresh tracks and older rubs. Who knows how many deer walked behind me while I was looking forward. I thought about staying and notching another tag because I only shot him a couple of hours into my first sit. I decided I didn't want to be greedy and I wanted to give someone a great opportunity as I did at one next year. I was so blessed to shoot this buck. I don't know if this place is good or if I am extremely lucky but I had a good time.


If you are hunting this unit your best bet is to scout before the hunt and find fresh signs, then glass that area. The blind is a great option but you need to have your head on a swivel and spend the most time looking in the areas you found the most deer sign-in. This unit is surrounded by houses so keep gun safety in mind. I have attached a picture they emailed me with some additions to it. The yellow is what you can see the most from the blind ( i didn't see any deer in the front window. This is the yellow northeast of the blind, but I know people have shot some in the front). The red is the area you can't see well from inside the blind. The yellow line is the path the does and the spike were walking and the X is where I spotted them. The blue line was the path the buck was walking and the X is where I shot him.

You may even have luck sitting on the back porch of the blind if you have good wind or scent control and you don't move. There you can see most of the red section, which has the freshest sign when I was there. I would recommend hunting as high as possible where you can see the most ground and constantly be glassing and ready because the deer don't stay still much.

I hope this helps anyone who draws this unit in the future!!