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

[Mule Skinner]

I've been applying for 30 years now. Been picked for a few, albeit not many. Fortunately my kids had better luck of the draw for youth hunts but they have since aged out.

During those 30 years...

Daughtrey anterless--shot a doe. This was my first draw, probably about 15-20 years ago.

Matador anterless--passed on this one, could have shot a doe closer to home rather than drive 8 hours each way. Not sure why I even applied, this was a long time ago.

Guadalupe River State Park GDE--passed on this one, lost 26 points as my son was drawn for Big Bend Ranch State Park Mule Deer the same weekend.

Chaparral javelina standby--took my dad, nephew and son. We hunted first day then drove home. Nephew shot a coyote.

Choke Canyon South Shore SP management--shot a doe

Chaparral javelina--hunt is coming up in February, my son drew with me.

Youth hunts:

Chaparral javelina--son only, he got a javi

Chaparral anterless--daughter shot her first deer, which was a doe that field dressed 101 lbs. Son got a javi.

Chaparral javelina--daughter got a javi. I think my son was skunked on this hunt.

Choke Canyon North Shore hog--son only. We didn't see anything first evening and we drove home. Old corn still on the ground. Only one hog seen/shot by another youth hunter.

Colorad Bend State Park GDE--second day son and daughter both shot bucks (daughter's first buck), we drove home that night.

Daughtrey javelina--son got a javi and daughter killed a hog first evening. Drove home that night.

Mason Mountain SP anterless--son only, took a spike and a doe first afternoon, we drove home that night.

Big Bend Ranch SP mule deer--son only. One of the best hunts I've been on and one of the best times I had with my son. It started snowing on us before Fort Stockton on the drive out then it was complete white out from Stockton through Alpine, Marfa and Shafter. We hunted in snow the first morning. Hunted hard for 2.5 days and saw one mule deer (600 yards away). We were in unit 4 which, compared to the other available units, was brutal landscape-wise. He passed on a javelina opportunity.

Las Palomas WMA Arroyo Colorado Unit GDE--son only. Didn't see a buck but he passed on a few opportunities at does. Can't prove it but it seems that the local standbys were given the prime spots. We were given the blind closest to HQ which means trucks kept coming and going on the road near us. Watched a bobcat catch a whitetip dove--twice.

Daughtrey hog--son only, he killed two.

All have been good hunts and staff has been helpful, friendly and accommodating. Best staff has been at Daughtrey, Chaparral, Mason Mountain and Colorado Bend. Haven't been on a bad hunt yet.

[bossbowman]

Las Palomas WMA Arroyo Colorado Unit GDE--son only. Didn't see a buck but he passed on a few opportunities at does. Can't prove it but it seems that the local standbys were given the prime spots. We were given the blind closest to HQ which means trucks kept coming and going on the road near us. Watched a bobcat catch a whitetip dove--twice.

We hunted there last year, saw a couple coyotes that was it, well did see a javelina first time we drove up to the stand. I think one kid killed a spike out of everyone. I did like their hands off approach, some of these WMA they want to hold your hand the whole time but here registration/orientation was wham bam theres your unit have at it, I liked that. But it was a very long trip for a not so great hunt.

[lovemylegacy]

I have only drawn three, The Hag, Aransas NWR and Laguna Atascosa NWR. Hagerman was definitely the best with more like minded hunters and a very hunter friendly support staff. Saw 14 or 15 deer but couldn't make it happen.
Atascosa had more of the typical public land hunters (type that like to set up 30 yards from you after you waved them off and "still hunters") but I encountered a very hunter friendly support staff although I heard it was worse in years past. Was in the last archery segment this year and only had one bull come in and no deer.
Aransas was a super tough hunt, last year everything was flooded, tons of mosquitos and cottonmouths. It was a tough mental hunt, i might put in for it again, but not next year! I liked the online orientation but you could tell that a lot of the staff (not including the GW) did not want you there. Had one buck come in and took him home.

I put in for years on draw hunts and Aransas Pass is the only one I ever drew. The only deer I saw was the bucks on the adjoining property. Nice ones too. It was very territorial among the hunters, guys had hunted year after year and knew the best spots and would confront you if you if tried to hunt "their" spot. On the AP info/rules page it clearly stated no saving of hunting spots. No issue with finding a hunting area, just the preferred ones. Mosquitos are in abundance, like choke you to death abundance. GW really didn't seem to care if you killed a deer, but if you ran over a moccasin? They threatened to shutdown the hunt if it happened again. It really was the worst hunt I have ever been on.

Enjoyed the prehunt stuff. Scouting it was fun. Except where they "chopped" the brush, those places were inpenetrable, which is the biggest part of WMA.

Now when I want to draw for a TPWD hunt, I remember AP and get a bad taste in my mouth.

[JackRyan]

We hunted there last year, saw a couple coyotes that was it, well did see a javelina first time we drove up to the stand. I think one kid killed a spike out of everyone. I did like their hands off approach, some of these WMA they want to hold your hand the whole time but here registration/orientation was wham bam theres your unit have at it, I liked that. But it was a very long trip for a not so great hunt.

Curious what dates you hunted or how many days? Have heard mixed reviews on this hunt.


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[Stetsonoverton]

So far we've drawn:

Dinosaur Valley
Richland Creek
Alazan Bayou
Big Lake bottoms
Balcones Canyonlands
Martin Dies SP

Of these, the most disappointing was DV. This was back in the 90s. I drew, called to find out the process and was told there were no animals and if they had their way we wouldn't be allowed there at all. The hunt was then promptly cancelled. I was so turned off I didn't apply for 20 years. Next worse was Balcones. Mostly because we didn't know how to hunt that terrain. I did find that when I talked to the biologists during orientation I got a lot of info. I try not to ask the obvious questions.

Best was Martin Dies and Big lake, mostly because I got to take my daughter on the youth hunt at MD and my son to BLB.

We haven't been to alazan or Richland yet. Hope the ducks are fired up there.

surprised dv stated there were any animals my familys place is only couple miles from there and we have always seen deer around usually nothing worth shooting but every few years get a big one on camera worth chasing

[RifleBowPistol]

I put in for years on draw hunts and Aransas Pass is the only one I ever drew. The only deer I saw was the bucks on the adjoining property. Nice ones too. It was very territorial among the hunters, guys had hunted year after year and knew the best spots and would confront you if you if tried to hunt "their" spot. On the AP info/rules page it clearly stated no saving of hunting spots. No issue with finding a hunting area, just the preferred ones. Mosquitos are in abundance, like choke you to death abundance. GW really didn't seem to care if you killed a deer, but if you ran over a moccasin? They threatened to shutdown the hunt if it happened again. It really was the worst hunt I have ever been on.

Enjoyed the prehunt stuff. Scouting it was fun. Except where they "chopped" the brush, those places were inpenetrable, which is the biggest part of WMA.

Now when I want to draw for a TPWD hunt, I remember AP and get a bad taste in my mouth.

32,000 ac. and you were hunting the fence line? You were hunting the wrong area. Yes, if you don't like mosquitos, that's not the place for you. When it comes to those cuddly little moccasins, you just keep your mouth shut that one happens to die in your presence. I have seen one moccasin and a rattler that had their heads sliced up, don't know what happened to them.

Those areas you are calling chopped, were actually burnt. They do controlled burns out there all the time. The indians that used to live there, hundreds of years ago, used to do controlled burns, it kept those areas from getting too dense, opened up land for some grass and plants other than the live oaks.

If you would have ventured to the other side of the place you would most likely would have met some of my gator buddies, you were on the dry side of the place.

There are a lot of deer out there, tons of pigs, huge pigs, there are some very nice bucks, but you have to know what you are doing. If you show up out there uneducated on what you are getting into, all you are going to do, is donate a lot of blood, to those poor starving mosquitos.

[RifleBowPistol]

Man after reading all of these comments, I do seem to only get to hunt the worst places. I got drawn for White Oak Creek, I am still going, it's not like anything I have ever hunted, never hunted anywhere close to that area of the state. Hopefully I can shoot some hogs, I have read the place has a lot of them.

My old hunting grounds the Aransas Mosquito Refuge, does not seem to be very popular. I love the place. I will say, the only way I will go back, is for October archery hunts. The November or December rifle hunts, cut off the best hunting areas. We wanted to hunt the refuge for years, with a rifle, we finally got to two or three times. It was very disappointing to see locked gates, blocking access to my favorite hunting areas. We had to find new areas to hunt. In those new areas, we had never hunted before, we found deer, we found pigs, but nothing we wanted to shoot. I know there are good deer all over the place, but there is so much land out there, and it varies quite a bit. You would think sand and live oaks could not vary much, but there is a lot of variation in that place. Once you learn to hunt certain types of areas, you can do pretty good. I have met other guys that like to hunt areas, I just drive by, never tried to hunt. Depending on you style of hunting, there is likely an area, you can do good out there, if you can handle getting eaten alive, while you hunt.

[RifleBowPistol]

Some of info posted about the staff at various places is interesting. Does not surprise me that some of the people working at some of these places are anti hunters. But then hearing the good stories about the staff that are very helpful are nice to hear.

As for the comments on the Aransas Wildlife Refuge, I have not hunted there since TPW took over the hunting down there, so I have not met any of the staff there in a long time. Years ago, they were pretty easy to get along with. Back in the 80s, it was pay at the gate and go on through no hassles no big deal. The place used to be $1 a day to hunt, back in the 80s. You would get in line at the gate, pay your $1 and go hunting. Then at some point maybe 1989 to 1991, they changed it to $20. When they did that the large number of hunters who had been coming out, got PODed and quit coming out, so the number of people hunting it dropped dramatically. When we were first told $20 we were a little unhappy, but figured $20 for a day hunt was not bad, so we paid our $20 and where then informed that the $20 would allow us to hunt for the whole October deer season. It basically made things a lot easier on the staff working there. They did not have to collect $1 from each person, every day. Which there were at times, I would bet close to 1000 hunters going in there. But when they changed to the $20 for all of October, most people got their feather ruffled and never came back. So after that, there were probably only 30 to 50 people hunting the whole place, it was much quieter, much better place to hunt. It was not a case of every time you found a place to hunt, someone else was claiming the spot or would walk right past you as you were set up, or set up within bow range of you. Once they went to $20, we hardly had any, if any problems with other hunters. That and all you had to do was drive through the gate, with your tag on the windshield, no check in, just drive right in, someone might come out and wave at you, unless they were bored, they might come out of the game check in station, and ask you what you had seen anything, or if you had killed anything. Back in those days, the staff were pretty good people. They liked trading stories, with the hunters.

But even back in those days, if you made a comment on killing a snake, you would get lectured on do not do that. So naturally that brought up the question of what happens if a gator comes after you. They said do everything you can, not to shoot a gator, you don't want to go there, basically. Yes, we did have some very exciting encounters with gators.

Most of the time, we hardly had any interaction with the people working there, but that was long before the days of TPW being out there and their drawn hunts. Don't know what things are like out there now. Not sure about the comments on the game warden did not care if hunters killed anything. I never knew it was a game warden's job to help someone kill a deer. They are just there to make sure everyone is follow the rules. Maybe things are different at other WMAs, where the game wardens get more involved with helping hunters find deer, never known a game warden to do such a thing. Not trying to be critical, but some comments, seemed like people wanted things of park employees or game wardens that was not part of those people's jobs. Like coming to me and wanting me to go car shopping with them.

As long as park or WMA employees are not rude or making obvious anti hunting comments, I am fine with what they do. I normally spend as little time talking to the staff as possible, I get out and try to learn the land and look for critters.

[Uncle_Milty]

IDK about that. With the new system where you can apply as much as you want in one category, drawing just one is even harder. I've been drawn or been in a group that got drawn probably close to 20 times. I can think of 2 hunts where I didn't see anything and those 2 were by assigned blinds. I really like the compartment hunts. This will test your skills and not to rely solely on one person saying "this looks like a good spot for a blind"!!!
With that said, what you may not hear or see is somebody telling everybody exactly what compartment and where in that compartment you killed your big buck!!

I'm on the first archery hunt starting Dec 3.
What I need to know, what compartment to choose from and where in that compartment to set up!!!

What I want to know is how in the world you have drawn for that many hunts! Putting in for 5 years for 13 different hunts and never drawn the first one.

[Jibby]

I will always put in for Mason Mountain. I've only been on mgmt. hunts several times, but enjoy seeing everything on that WMA. Easy to hunt and process deer there also. Hoping they will have a trophy hunt soon.

[sqiggy]

What I want to know is how in the world you have drawn for that many hunts! Putting in for 5 years for 13 different hunts and never drawn the first one.

Think I started around 95 of putting in every year. Back then, you could only apply for one per category. On top of that, there were way more hunts available with a lot of permits. Archery hunts alone, I’ve drawn Kerr WMA twice, RC twice, Fort Boggy once, and Devils River once for exotics.
Then my brother would do all the gun hunts and include me on his card. He had a system where we would draw something about every 3 years. I used that same system on youth hunts for my son, starting at the age of 9. He drew at least one hunt every year, 5 straight years in a row, 2 of those years he drew 2 hunts.

[BowJunkie]

I'd be curious to know how much accuracy is being put into this thread. My buddy killed a 156 at a "public place" in 2015 and was very proud, thus showing pics of his trophy. Long story short after getting consistent draws for years, the numbers got so great he did not get drawn again until 2020.

[Low Fence]

I'd be curious to know how much accuracy is being put into this thread. My buddy killed a 156 at a "public place" in 2015 and was very proud, thus showing pics of his trophy. Long story short after getting consistent draws for years, the numbers got so great he did not get drawn again until 2020.

Size is what it is. Numbers.... are recorded. OSB has sucked since the beginning of time, for deer. Lol

My whole life the biggest I know of taken was around 130”, was a nice buck. But they are constantly under 10 a year and most of those will be on gun draw hunts

[Jibby]

MM

Some of the reasons I like Mason Mountain. You see all kinds of animals. Only Mgmt hunts for me though.

[NF HUNTER]

You talking about the game warden? He killed a couple of nice ones during the archery hunts on standby. Heck of a nice guy.

Yes Sir, I was on the archery hunt when he killed a nice buck. He was a stand by hunter. Lol Nice guy though.