Best and Worst Public Land/Draw Hunts for Texas-Opinions Wanted

[hooligan]

My dad and I drew antlerless Kerrville in 2013. The staff there was great, a handful of locals got standby spots. I draw the stand furthest from the hq and thought it would be great but it sucked. Saw a couple young bucks and couldn't shoot anything. Everyone at the lower stands saw a bunch of exotics. My dad got a doe, saw a bunch of black bucks but couldn't get a shot. A couple black bucks and axis were taken on our hunt. The youth hunt was the weekend or so before and they said a girl got a red stag hind. Good place and I'd definitely go back

[Mudturkle]

Worst by far was Hill Country State Park. As stated above staff did not care if we killed anything or not. It was set up as a equestrian trail ride park. Us hunters were in their way. I would assume they had bad poaching as we drove by hundreds of deer on the side of the road to get there and in three days of hunting hard and putting out corn we saw two does total, none of the corn was ever touched; all the rest have been ok or great.

First hunt I went on with my dad that we killed anything was a Gus Engeling spike and doe hunt as a kid loved that trip.

Hill Country SNA used to be a good hunt a long time ago before they got a new Supt. I went a few years ago and the new Supt was as you said. Actually worse than that because he tried to claim that a buck with no antlers was to be considered a "buck", rather than "antlerless" as it should have been. And yes, he made it very clear that the park made more money without the hunts. The reason why there were no deer in the park was that he wouldn't allow any feeding in the park. The hunt that I went on had deer in only 2 compartments and that was because of feeders *outside* the park. After the first day those deer left and there weren't any in the park.

Garner SP has a reputation of being strictly run, supposedly overly so. I went there with my (then) 9 year old granddaughter and she shot an Axis buck. It didn't have antlers, though we saw a couple that did. It was strictly run, but I can't complain. The Supt was very nice and even helped me skin her deer. That was the first time I had that happen! She shot that Axis buck at about 130 yds with a .223. While the Supt was skinning the deer I asked him how he thought she was able to kill that big deer with that little bullet. He stuck his finger in the hole and said "well, there is the heart", and then he said "and there is a hole in it". She killed the first deer and being a little girl she was a kinda hero there while we were there.

[ZINS708]

Hill Country SNA used to be a good hunt a long time ago before they got a new Supt. I went a few years ago and the new Supt was as you said. Actually worse than that because he tried to claim that a buck with no antlers was to be considered a "buck", rather than "antlerless" as it should have been. And yes, he made it very clear that the park made more money without the hunts. The reason why there were no deer in the park was that he wouldn't allow any feeding in the park. The hunt that I went on had deer in only 2 compartments and that was because of feeders *outside* the park. After the first day those deer left and there weren't any in the park.

Garner SP has a reputation of being strictly run, supposedly overly so. I went there with my (then) 9 year old granddaughter and she shot an Axis buck. It didn't have antlers, though we saw a couple that did. It was strictly run, but I can't complain. The Supt was very nice and even helped me skin her deer. That was the first time I had that happen! She shot that Axis buck at about 130 yds with a .223. While the Supt was skinning the deer I asked him how he thought she was able to kill that big deer with that little bullet. He stuck his finger in the hole and said "well, there is the heart", and then he said "and there is a hole in it". She killed the first deer and being a little girl she was a kinda hero there while we were there.

[emoji115]that’s what it’s all about! Thanks for sharing. I hunted Garner about 15 years ago and it was a very strict hunt then too. They drove you to your blind, showed you what directions you could shoot, and didn’t want you out of the blind at all. When I saw some of the yahoo’s that were there in that hunt, I understood why, lol.


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[Deerguy]

Over the years I hunted:

Elephant Mountain Archery (1) – 2 in group, nothing shot
Black Gap Archery (3) – total of 7 hunters over the 3 years, 2 javies killed (no deer), saw 3 bear the first year
San Angelo SP Turkey (1) – 4 in group, 3 birds killed, another hit but lost
Caddo Turkey (1) – 2 in group, no birds seen or heard
Chap Javelina (1) – 3 in group, 3 javies killed, 1 second away from killing a warthog
Colorado Bend SP doe (1) – just me, nothing killed, only saw a buck
Gus Engeling either sex postcard (1) – 4 in the group, 3 does killed, no bucks
Gus Engeling archery (1) – just me, nothing legal seen
Daughtery Turkey (9) – total of 20 hunters in my groups over the 9 hunts, 9 birds killed, 2 birds hit and not recovered, 2 pigs killed, 2 pigs hit and not recovered
Gene Howe either sex (1) – 3 in group, 1 buck and 1 buck fawn
Matador either sex (1) – 4 in group, 2 bucks, 1 doe, and 1 pig
Keechi Creek either sex postcard (1) – 4 in group, 1 doe
Choke Canyon SP archery (1) – 4 in group, 1 buck
Garner SP antlerless (1) – 2 in group, 1 pig, no deer seen
Dimmit Playa waterfowl and pheasant (1) – 3 in group, killed several pheasant, cranes, ducks, and geese

All were great hunts for one reason or other. Just depends on if you look at it as an opportunity to go somewhere new and hunt a different place/animal with friends or family inexpensively, or if you constantly look for something to ***** about (blinds/weather/game/personel/etc., etc., etc.). West Texas archery hunts are difficult, but fun. You usually see animals, but bow shots are rare (except for javelina). For the turkey hunts, I’ve learned to keep the group size small. Regardless of compartment size, difficult to harvest more than 2 birds from a compartment on a short hunt (done it, but challenging). Gus is hard to hunt outside of the rut. Great habitat and proper deer densities make the hunting difficult; corn has little effect. Colorado Bend was different. Most of the more open country is in the front, but the aoudad are towards the back where it is much more thick. This hunt was by compartment, but they put 2 groups in the same compartment, which is different than most hunts. Very thick habitat over most of the area. Several threads on Garner. Very restrictive hunt, but, I found the staff helpful. Some hunts you see lots of game, others hardly any. Great times either way.

[grizzman]

I have been on a lot of hunts and I wouldn't call any of them "bad".

[BradBryant1000]

I was drawn along with my dad for a management hunt at Mason Mountain (4 years ago). It was for up to 2 bucks for every hunter. The bucks were required to be 5 points or less. I got a buck and my dad didn't. He did see a deer that qualified but he talked himself out of shooting it because he was worried about it not meeting the criteria. We saw lots of cool critters and a few nice deer there. It was a well run hunt and the biologist were thrilled to have us there. They were an open book and were friendly.

Last year my kids were drawn for a spike and doe hunt at Mason mountain as well. My daughter killed a doe and my son almost got one. The deer just wouldn't turn right for him to get a shot. Same as mentioned above about the biologist being good.

Two years back my son drew a mule deer hunt at Yoakum dunes. It was awesome. Great hunt. Killed a buck and a doe.

[grizzman]

I drew Mason Mountain for a Javi hunt a few years back and saw WT, Gemsbock, Sable, Scimittar horned Oryx, a hog but no Javi. The sable kept on popping up where I was. Lodge was nice also.

[Jibby]

I've been donating for 10 years and feel I've had pretty good luck.
Mason Mounntain x 3
Balcones x 1
Travis county private land hunt x 1
Richland Creek x 1
Private dove x 1


I want to get drawn for a muley hunt one day.

I like the Mason Mountain hunts the most, you get to see all the exotic animals and the guys running the hunts are really out there to help and educate.

[ArcheryAssassin]

[emoji102]

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[Ungawa]

I've never been drawn for a hunt through TPWD. Tried to get picked for standby at Brazos been 3 years in a row with now luck. Two of those years there were 3 spots and 4 hunters on standby and I lost both times.

**** dude that sucks. Hope you get drawn soon.

[Ungawa]

I have been putting in about 15 years now. I have been drawn twice. Enchanted Rock and Devils River Dan Allen Hughs unit.

Enchanted Rock bow hunt was a great hunt, a little crowed and never got a shot off, but a great hunt and great staff.

Devils River Dan Allen Hughs the staff was not very out going, but they did their job. This was a rifle hunt and it I never got a shots off, but saw the biggest white tail buck on hove I have ever seen. Saw black buck. The road going in to the place was line driving thru a river for 17 miles, but that just added to the hunt in my opinion. Unfortuantly they have not had any hunts the last couple of years. I would love to go back.

[hooligan]

This thread made me email tpwd and withdraw a couple application. Don’t want to burn points on a crappy hunt

[SabreKiller]

I've drawn 3 times for two places. I drew Kerr WMA for a turkey hunt back in 2010 I believe and didn't go because it was flooding. I drew out as a stand by for Kerr WMA for antlerless deer once. Everything I saw on that hunt had horns, but I did kill a coyote.

I drew Sierra Diablo for mule deer back in 2011 I believe and that was a fun hunt. The only draw back is the size of the compartments. There are two hunters assigned to every compartment and they are only about 1300 acres each. One hunter was a no show so I hunted my compartment alone. Saw a bunch of bighorn sheep and a few mule deer but no shooters. I found one freaky looking buck and was going to kill him the last day, but he was across the fence on private property. The final day it was snowing and sleeting so bad everyone decided not to hunt so we packed up and left.

I'd do that hunt again though. The WMA was 26K acres and I figured we could hunt most of it. Out west 1300 acres isn't much territory.

[Greenheadless]

I've drawn 3 times for two places. I drew Kerr WMA for a turkey hunt back in 2010 I believe and didn't go because it was flooding. I drew out as a stand by for Kerr WMA for antlerless deer once. Everything I saw on that hunt had horns, but I did kill a coyote.

I drew Sierra Diablo for mule deer back in 2011 I believe and that was a fun hunt. The only draw back is the size of the compartments. There are two hunters assigned to every compartment and they are only about 1300 acres each. One hunter was a no show so I hunted my compartment alone. Saw a bunch of bighorn sheep and a few mule deer but no shooters. I found one freaky looking buck and was going to kill him the last day, but he was across the fence on private property. The final day it was snowing and sleeting so bad everyone decided not to hunt so we packed up and left.

I'd do that hunt again though. The WMA was 26K acres and I figured we could hunt most of it. Out west 1300 acres isn't much territory.

That’s insane. 1,300 acres is about the carrying capacity of a mule deer in that region. That’s crazy the stacked you guys on top of each other like that.

[acepipeman]

Over the years I hunted:

Elephant Mountain Archery (1) – 2 in group, nothing shot
Black Gap Archery (3) – total of 7 hunters over the 3 years, 2 javies killed (no deer), saw 3 bear the first year
San Angelo SP Turkey (1) – 4 in group, 3 birds killed, another hit but lost
Caddo Turkey (1) – 2 in group, no birds seen or heard
Chap Javelina (1) – 3 in group, 3 javies killed, 1 second away from killing a warthog
Colorado Bend SP doe (1) – just me, nothing killed, only saw a buck
Gus Engeling either sex postcard (1) – 4 in the group, 3 does killed, no bucks
Gus Engeling archery (1) – just me, nothing legal seen
Daughtery Turkey (9) – total of 20 hunters in my groups over the 9 hunts, 9 birds killed, 2 birds hit and not recovered, 2 pigs killed, 2 pigs hit and not recovered
Gene Howe either sex (1) – 3 in group, 1 buck and 1 buck fawn
Matador either sex (1) – 4 in group, 2 bucks, 1 doe, and 1 pig
Keechi Creek either sex postcard (1) – 4 in group, 1 doe
Choke Canyon SP archery (1) – 4 in group, 1 buck
Garner SP antlerless (1) – 2 in group, 1 pig, no deer seen
Dimmit Playa waterfowl and pheasant (1) – 3 in group, killed several pheasant, cranes, ducks, and geese

All were great hunts for one reason or other. Just depends on if you look at it as an opportunity to go somewhere new and hunt a different place/animal with friends or family inexpensively, or if you constantly look for something to ***** about (blinds/weather/game/personel/etc., etc., etc.). West Texas archery hunts are difficult, but fun. You usually see animals, but bow shots are rare (except for javelina). For the turkey hunts, I’ve learned to keep the group size small. Regardless of compartment size, difficult to harvest more than 2 birds from a compartment on a short hunt (done it, but challenging). Gus is hard to hunt outside of the rut. Great habitat and proper deer densities make the hunting difficult; corn has little effect. Colorado Bend was different. Most of the more open country is in the front, but the aoudad are towards the back where it is much more thick. This hunt was by compartment, but they put 2 groups in the same compartment, which is different than most hunts. Very thick habitat over most of the area. Several threads on Garner. Very restrictive hunt, but, I found the staff helpful. Some hunts you see lots of game, others hardly any. Great times either way.

Thanks for taking the time to share...good info here.