Hagerman Segment A 11/6-11/8

[noflyzone]

On the road back to East Texas. They were looking for a doe and bringing one more buck in when I checked out just now.

7 bucks
10 doe


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[Jboettiger]

Great experience for my first public land’s archery hunt. While not successful, I certainly learned a tremendous amount through my scouting, three long days in the stand and personal reflection. Hagerman certainly isn’t a “zoo” hunt by any stretch and any game harvested is earned!


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[Tspurgin26]

Wasn’t confident in my stand location. Thursday but it had to do as I wanted to be away from people. Friday morning saw 2 good bucks and one good buck that night that I rattled in. I say good as in a deer most people would shoot and I would to but not at hagerman the first day. Saturday morning I saw a true bruiser at 70 yards. He knew something was up and I couldn’t bring him in. Makes me sick. Big deer like that are smart and I need more advantage on my side. Rattled in a nice buck hour and a half later. Then Saturday night. Saw a single leg in small opening in brush 50 yards away. No idea how I saw it but just looking in the right place at right time. Grunted and he came in and checked my decoy out. Could have shot him but was waiting for the bruiser. He was big wide and heavy but only had 8 points I believe just a weird rack. Sunday, today. Saw hogs first thing and nothing else til I drug my stand out mid day. Jumped 2 does almost got a shot but bolted at last second in road. Made a make shift ground blind tonight on fence line where an old lay down was 50 yards from where I saw the big one and multiple other bucks but no dice. Sure it sounds like a run on sentence but I’m exhausted. Was a great weekend but mentally and physically beat down

[ZINS708]

Wasn’t confident in my stand location. Thursday but it had to do as I wanted to be away from people. Friday morning saw 2 good bucks and one good buck that night that I rattled in. I say good as in a deer most people would shoot and I would to but not at hagerman the first day. Saturday morning I saw a true bruiser at 70 yards. He knew something was up and I couldn’t bring him in. Makes me sick. Big deer like that are smart and I need more advantage on my side. Rattled in a nice buck hour and a half later. Then Saturday night. Saw a single leg in small opening in brush 50 yards away. No idea how I saw it but just looking in the right place at right time. Grunted and he came in and checked my decoy out. Could have shot him but was waiting for the bruiser. He was big wide and heavy but only had 8 points I believe just a weird rack. Sunday, today. Saw hogs first thing and nothing else til I drug my stand out mid day. Jumped 2 does almost got a shot but bolted at last second in road. Made a make shift ground blind tonight on fence line where an old lay down was 50 yards from where I saw the big one and multiple other bucks but no dice. Sure it sounds like a run on sentence but I’m exhausted. Was a great weekend but mentally and physically beat down

I hunted last year and this weekend and both times I’ve left Hagerman feeling like I have unfinished business there. Missed a doe Friday night broadside at 40 yards...thought she was at 30 yards and shot right under her. Had several other close encounters but no luck. Great hunt and a beautiful place...already planning my next hunt strategy for next time I draw (whenever that may be), but I’ll be back!


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[Razorback01]

Thanks for taking us along with you, enjoyed it.

I'll be up for Segment B, helping at the check-station.

[Chad C]

Good job fellas! I always love to follow these H threads!

[Boone11]

Sorry for the late write up guys. It was a long tough weekend of hunting and I was only after a doe after the first hour of the hunt.

Where to begin.. I last hunted Hagerman in 2017 and saw 1 monster and couple nice bucks but never got the opportunity to release a arrow. I felt like I was in the right area but wrong trail. But from the hunt in 2017 I learned a lot from all the scouting and events that happened on the actual hunt. After that hunt I could not wait to get the chance to come back. Finally drew again this year and the very next weekend after drawing I started scouting. Although I knew it was a little early I wanted to know what all the units looked like to have an idea of places to keep an eye on. Over the couple months leading up to the hunt I put in 40+ miles and covered most of every unit. The weeks leading up to the hunt is when the sign started showing. Started finding scrapes and massive rubs everywhere. Even laid eyes on couple studs. Now the decisions started getting harder of where to actually set up and trying to find the right tree. I had several places picked out but also didn't want to be sitting right next to someone else because odds are if I'm seeing the sign then someone else is too so I wanted to make sure I had several place picked out. The last few days leading up to the hunt there was one more place that I hadn't scouted yet and I went in not thinking I would find much but I was wrong. I saw 2 mature bucks, 3 young bucks and 4 doe all in one small area and one of the mature bucks was running a doe. In this small thick area there were 7 fresh scrapes, several rubs and nice worn down trail. I figured it must be a sign that I needed to figure out how to hunt the area I was in. Picking the right tree was hard decision because it was thick and couldn't see more then 30 yards in any direction. Finally picked what I thought was a decent tree that would give me a couple small windows to shoot through if given the opportunity. Finally the first morning of the hunt I get back to where I'm hunting and starting to sweat before I even go in. I realized I forgot my sent killer in the truck so I decided to use a drag line and soaked it down with doe ****. Got to my setup and sat down and immediately sprayed more **** in all directions hoping it would cover my sent but not spook any deer. As the sun starts to rise the woods start coming alive. I was on the edge of my seat thanks to the wonderful squirrels behind me but thanks to them I caught a glimpse of horns through the trees on the same trail I came in on. I blinked and he was gone. Couple minutes later I hear the leaves cracking and here he comes straight down the trail to the tree I'm in. At one point he is at 7 yards right under me but no shot because of thick underbrush. I could see his nostrils flaring smelling where I had sprayed ****. After what seemed like an hour he finally circle the underbrush and continued on main trail that went down a draw. As soon as he cleared a cedar I had a perfect window at 23 yards and released. Swack! He never knew it was coming. He bolted with his head down and barley could keep his front feet under him I saw him run down the draw and disappear. Complete pass though I knew it was a solid shot. Few seconds later the fever hit. Felt like the tree was about to fall over I was shaking so bad. Got down and my arrow was soaked in blood and blood was everywhere. A solid trail of blood 2 foot wide in the direction he went. I followed the blood trail down about 80 yards and there he was. He was no Hagerman giant but he was a mature beauty. 11pt 146 4/8 with 37 inches of mass.

[recar]

I was helping out at the check in/out station this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. It was great to meet to some of y'all. There was a final total of 18 deer and several pigs. 7 bucks and 11 does. The warm weather and the wind seemed to play a factor in everyone's weekend. For the most part it seemed like almost everyone saw deer and/or pigs. We had some coyotes and even a bobcat seen as well. I look forward to being back next year at the check in station.

-Bill

[HunterRoss]

Congrats to all the lucky hunters, and thanks for sharing.

Boone11- Awesome deer and write up, looks like you cracked the code for Hagerman. Well done sir, well done.

[GarGuy]

Boone that is a fantastic buck. Great write up and even better pics. Well done.

[TexasTrotline]

Great buck and thank you for the write-up Boone!!

[WCB]

Great deer taken!! Congrats to all that made the cut.

And I'm not shooting any hogs since the took out the free pass. They can have'em,

[Pistol]

Great story Boone and again, Congratulations! I'd be proud of a deer like that and especially because of all the work to earn him.

[Razorback01]

Boone, thanks for the summary, and congrats!

[Texas Grown]

Thanks to all the hunters who have taken us along and shared their experience with us in cyber-land. Nice job fellers!