Landless in TX

[Wudstix]

Leasing has started to migrate North to Ohio.
 

[amicus]

Del Rio as some decent bow hunting if you like to try. Its public so have to deal with some b.s. from time to time. Also my friend is always getting drawn on public hunts that the state offers, another option.

[jhg]

I enjoy living in The United State of Texas, for the most part.  Hunting is one of the sore spots.  I'll be looking into land as I get the bills paid.
 

Yup. Every man for himself. I don't mean that personally at all, and owning your own land is a goal many of us have so I am certainly not knocking that by a long shot. But there are a lot of valid reasons someone may never be in the position to acquire a parcel large enough to hunt.

My point is that in regards to hunting access, as long as the only solution the residents of a state such as Texas choose to think of is to gain as an individual, rather than for everyone, there will never be public land access that matters. Wealthy landholders or landholders who hold land via heritage, love keeping land attitudes archaic and the general public, divided.

No, I do not suggest anyone be forced to give land away. But when they choose to sell or divide, why not provide them the option of something else than private ownership?
Public access is an asset to a state.
 If you disagree look at Colorado. You might take issue with a lot of how its done but hiking, camping and hunting/ fishing is available to the average working family ONLY because that land is public. I don't see ranchers offering up their property, even when its not actually used for beef production, to anyone except wealthy sportsman.
And Colorado benefits hugely in terms of dollars spent by rec users dropping coin at convenience stores and diners as two examples. That helps small local economies and small business, exactly the place you want your money to flow. That money pays local taxes that fund schools and hospitals, two very vital and economically stressed institutions in rural America.
Public access is not without its inconveniences, but way more is gained by having that access than is lost.

[Wudstix]

There is adequate hiking and camping areas, even fishing, it is just the hunting that is restricted.  Being from the North east that is tough for me to understand.
 

[Wudstix]

There is adequate hiking, camping and even fishing, it is just hunting that is restricted.  Being from the North East that is tough for me to understand.
 

[GCook]

Unfortunately most public land is over run with hunters.  Non hunting users, jack wagons on ATVs/UTVs/4WDs and partyers, tend to have equal access and ruin hunting.
Just look at all the complaints you see on here about not seeing deer on public land in midwest and eastern states.  I have personally experienced being over run by hunters in Colorado who ignored the rules and drove ATVs all over in the back country.   On most days in Colorado (which is mostly national forests and not state owned land) you won't see an elk but will see other archery hunters.
Private land access, either owned or leased, gives you some semblance of control over access and use.  I've hunted terrible leases.  I've also hunted well managed leases.  I'd rather pay more for the well managed ones. 
I don't hunt to watch the birds and squirrels and well managed private land has game in good numbers because it is that.  Managed.
Look at the thread on EHD in NY.  Thousands of dead animals but the wildlife department is still issuing DMPs and I promise you everyone who hunts in that area will have a brown and down attitude just exasperating the issue.
Even where I hunt in Missouri it's the same way.  To the point I've only killed one deer in a decade, passing all doe, trying to do something positive forvthe herd yet the Department of Wildlife issues as many doe permits as you can afford.
The WMA bordering my property there use to sound like a shooting range opening weekend.  Now very few shots are heard because there are too few deer around.
Puic land is a great idea but in actual practice it is a dismal failure in far too many cases.

[Sam McMichael]

It is sort of funny to think that in a place as large as Texas, accessibility to land would be so difficult. After reading this, I am so glad to have my own little plot in Georgia. I sure hope you can make the necessary connections to find a good place to  hunt.

[jhg]

Unfortunately most public land is over run with hunters.  Non hunting users, jack wagons on ATVs/UTVs/4WDs and partyers, tend to have equal access and ruin hunting....
Puic land is a great idea but in actual practice it is a dismal failure in far too many cases.

A dismal failure? I will take that any day over being forced to buy my way onto land so I can ignore the responsibility I have to be involved in the public land management and use process. Democracy is dirty but it fails when people choose to opt out of the process.
I personally am sick of the blame finger. Blame the biologists with their degrees, the politicians with their motives, the jackwagons ignoring rules on their atv's. There is always a reason for walking away.
My biggest gripe is that we obviously have a crappy mentorship system in this country given how many land "users"  ignore any kind of ethics or compliance- fire rings as land fills, driving past no vehicle access signs, yeah it drives me nuts so many have no regard for who comes after them or show any degree of accountability. Where did they learn this?
The problem is not land being public it is we are not teaching generations how to treat/use those lands and honor the access granted, through their actions.

Anyway, here is a picture of a 2021 public land harvest. I have a bunch of rifle ones too but here is my best to date archery elk. Public land and access. May it be protected forever.

[GCook]

That is a great bull.  But you know good and well the average non resident seldom will walk onto a national forest in Colorado and kill a bull elk. That's why the percentage of successful archery elk hunters is around 11%.  Yet they keep selling more tags and charging more and more for them.  It's about making money for most DNCs.
The bottom line is there are too many hunters for the land and game available in too many areas.
And whether the fault of misuse is with poor parenting or just people choosing to be inconsiderate slobs the fact is it happens.  Personally I wouldn't mind if Texas decided to purchase tracts of for sale land for public use.  But at the rate the costs are rising the average taxpayer might not want to foot that bill.

[Wudstix]

Dang nice bull, congratulations.   
I feel your angst, just hiked 74.1 miles on the AT and picked up three i gallon zip lock bags of others peoples trash.