Texas hunting

[Cedar&Flint]

I would very much like to get on a lease with some dedicated tradition bowhunters. If anyone is looking for a responsible, ethical hunter please contact me. I apologize in advance if I'm posting this in the wrong place.

[ken denton]

Texas is approx 800 miles across in any direction, so if you don't want to drive a lot you should maybe specify a area.
I live in Fredericksburg and it is over 500 miles to ElPaso and over 500 miles to Texarkana.
Merry Christmas Eve! Ken

[Cedar&Flint]

I live in Corpus and have been hunting in Brady for twenty-five years. Excellent hunting and free, but the owner does not permit bowhunting! I compensate for the distance by staying longer when I go, usually a week. I'm semi retired from the DPS so this isn't a problem. I still have kids in college so I teach part time at a law enforcement academy. Believe me I know exactly how big Texas is. I was stationed in Amarillo and Alpine with my Headquaters in Austin.

[Alan Coe]

Charles,

I am in Pflugerville TX.

Alpine, geez. That is in the middle of nowhere.

Amarillo = Brown on the Bottom and Blue on the Top.

Alan

[Cedar&Flint]

Alpine is the prettiest place in Texas. Right in the middle of great mule deer hunting, lots of turkey,hogs, quail, antelope, and an occasional bear or mountain lion. The Alpine, Marfa, Fort Davis area also have a small elk population. Amarillo has good mule deer, pheasant and the best kept secret in the state for big whitetails. You have to get off the main roads and onto the big ranches to see how special that country is. Unfortunately it's all private and expensive.

[Nala]

I'm a new Texas resident, Thank GOD, and am looking forward to hunting.  I've been here about 8 months or so.

I knew before coming here that finding a place to hunt wasn't going to be easy when you can't PAY a lease fee for it.  Right now I am just interested in hunting hogs, no deer, varmints or small game.  Besides when you have to hunt PUBLIC land like I do, I have been told that the spots close to me would literally be crawling with "hunters" trying to bag those ANTLERS.

I would LOVE to find a nice place to hunt hogs.  Now that my 21 year old nephew has moved in with me for a while I am going to have a hunting buddy for the foreseeable future.  It would be so much easier if I could afford a lease, but that's not in the cards this year.

I am in the Houston area and don't mind driving to get at a good spot.  If anyone has ANY advice or tips they can share with a novice Hog Hunter, I sure would appreciate it.  I would absolutely LOVE to put my nephew on a hog and get him a shot.  He would remember that the rest of his life.

Thanks all.

Nalajr

[Cedar&Flint]

Larry welcome to the great state of Texas! I'm a fourth generation Texan so I'm pretty familiar with the way things work here and maybe I can help out in some small way.

We have outstanding hunting and fishing resources here in Texas, but as you know most land is private. Getting access to hunt without paying is difficult. The quality ranches here are either "trophy" (like a trophy wife) ranches owned by the very wealthy or actual agriculture enterprises.

The rich either don't need your money or want to get richer. Many of the real ranchers are what we call land rich and money poor. Their land has been passed down to them if they could pay the damned government's "death tax". They have discovered that their wildlife is a very valuable asset to sustain the ranch. This has resulted in the landowners managing their wildlife producing many more quality animals. Trophy deer now exist in many areas of the state where they wouldn't have been when I was growing up.

The next type of hunting we have I find disgusting. Land owners grow genetically engineered, protein stuffed, "trophies" and in my opinion unethical hunters pay thousands of dollars to shoot them.

So, how does a guy with limited assets get to enjoy the great hunting opportunities in Texas? Here's what worked for me and I realize that some of it won't apply to you. My 31 year career in law enforcement got me access to many ranches. Being station in small towns allowed me to develop relationships with the ranchers through social activities such as church membership. When the land owner knows you and your family access is much easier.

Get involved in as many traditional archery groups as possible. There should be a lot of opportunities for this in the Houston area. The more traditional archery friends you have, the greater the chances are that they will share the places they have developed with you.

Last, do as I've done in the past. Save your money, work extra, do without and get on a good lease. It's worth it!

By the way even though ranchers hate the hogs and we are being overrun with the damn things, they know that many people will pay to hunt them.

[TxAg]

Originally posted by Nala:
I'm a new Texas resident, Thank GOD, and am looking forward to hunting.  I've been here about 8 months or so.

I knew before coming here that finding a place to hunt wasn't going to be easy when you can't PAY a lease fee for it.  Right now I am just interested in hunting hogs, no deer, varmints or small game.  Besides when you have to hunt PUBLIC land like I do, I have been told that the spots close to me would literally be crawling with "hunters" trying to bag those ANTLERS.

I would LOVE to find a nice place to hunt hogs.  Now that my 21 year old nephew has moved in with me for a while I am going to have a hunting buddy for the foreseeable future.  It would be so much easier if I could afford a lease, but that's not in the cards this year.

I am in the Houston area and don't mind driving to get at a good spot.  If anyone has ANY advice or tips they can share with a novice Hog Hunter, I sure would appreciate it.  I would absolutely LOVE to put my nephew on a hog and get him a shot.  He would remember that the rest of his life.

Thanks all.

Nalajr

If you're in the Spirng area, the Sam Houston National Forest is just north of you. It could get crowded during deer season, but you could hunt hogs the whole rest of the year. Not saying it's easy, but you could definitley have some fun and most likely kill plenty.

All it costs is your normal hunting license and an additional $48 public land permit.

You could hunt squirrels and varmints also.....deer too, if you wanted. All for the $48

[Nala]

Sam Houston was the first place I had in mind. I read a bit about it and thought it would be a great place to learn and hunt hogs. After talking to a couple hunters that have lived and hunted in this area for 20+ years it didn't seem like a good place to hunt hogs. I was told by both guys that I would be lucky to even SEE a hog in daylight there. Baiting isn't allowed and they said it is some of the most difficult hog hunting they had ever seen. Doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence.

I have now started looking at a couple more places that I have been told would be much better hog hunting. One of the places is in the Piney Woods. I don't know where yet or specifics, but I have heard good things about the area.

I totally understand the lease thing and land owners charging for hunting. Unfortunately I am not in a position to gain access to private land. My church has about 15,000 people that attend every Sunday. Not exactly the kind of place where you find yourself standing around chit chatting with others before and after services. I'm also in the job hunting process so that avenue is non existent at the present time. It's gonna be public land for me and my nephew for a while I think. That's ok, we'll make due. All that really matters is that I get to teach my nephew more stuff that he needs to know before he grows into a man.

Thanks again everyone.
Nalajr

[Nala]

One other thing I forgot to mention. It wasn't long after I moved here and got settled in that I started asking around for info about hog hunting spots. One person recommended that I should check out a forum that was dedicated to Texas bow hunter that hunt hogs. I thought "great, just exactly what I need."  I found it and joined up. I introduced myself and jumped right in and added info to topics and tried to fit in. I thought I would ask about hunting Sam Houston. I asked a general question whether someone could point me in the right direction where the hog hunting was good. Not a word back from them. I thought it kinda strange but what can I do?  I didn't ask any other questions for a month or so and just tried to fit in as best I could. I had been looking at maps of Sam Houston trying to get some kind of idea where to go. As I recall Sam Houston has a river running through it or a road. Whether a road or river it basically divided the area. I then go back and ask the forum whether I should hunt on one side of the road (or river) or the other and which side is best to hunt on. Not a single response. I couldn't get an entire forum to give me even the most basic of tips, if you can call finding what side of a road to start on a tip.

After a week or 10 days with no one even offering the most basic of info I quit going there and haven't been back since. Total waste of time. It wasn't like I was asking them to tell me where their HONEY HOLE was located. It did kinda stun me as I had been told to go there and ask around that these guys will give you help getting on the hogs.

I guess protecting your hunting spots has a whole new meaning than I've ever experienced.

Nalajr

[TxAg]

I think the best thing to do is go out and walk around. There is a lot of hog sign. Can't bait, but find a good persimmon or oak tree and you'll see some hogs.  It is thick, thick, thick, but not at all impossible.

As for where to hunt, hogs are everywhere. Just pick a spot and go.

[Nala]

Hey TexAG,

Do you know anything about the Piney Woods?  I've been told by people who are NOT hunters that every time they go there they see TONS of hog sign.  Now we all know that when a NON hunters describes sign that they tend to have different meanings than what a hunter would.  I don't take it as gospel.  I do believe they are seeing signs though.

I would like to know more about the area.  Is it a WMA area?  Federal land or what?  Would you have any suggestions of someone I could contact to learn more about the area?

Also, it is my understanding that if I bowhunt in the WMA areas like Sam Houston I am allowed to carry a Handgun even without a CCW permit.  Is that correct?

Any other info you can share would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help and time.

Nalajr

[TxAg]

I hunted the SHNF while in college. It's been about 10 years.  I'll PM you some details tomorrow...don't let me forget.

[sabas silva]

look into DEL RIO Texas, on Lake Amistad, Archery only for Deer, Javeline, Turkey, and wild goats

[BDann]

Check out Alazan Bayou WMA.  I've heard that there are quite a few hogs up there, and it's maybe 2 1/2 hours from you.  I've also heard that Sommerville WMA has hogs.  I'm not far from you, just over in Kingwood.  I've hunted up near Lake Conroe on SHNF, and between Cleveland and Conroe off 150.  I don't think the hogs stay in one place very long around there.

[D. Key]

Nala:

I live in the middle of the Piney Woods out by Lake Sam Rayburn.  We have plenty of public land available around here but the pressure can become inense during general season.  I am blessed to own my land adjacent to one of the Nat'l Forests but we don't have many hogs at all in my general area.  There are plenty of deer but typically when the acorns begin to fall, the deer leave the corn and become nocturnal.  I sat about 35-40 times this season and never saw one deer while on stand.  I'm not saying this is normal but seems to be normal for where I live.

Best of luck to ya.

[ChrisM]

D. Key
Have you ever hunted the head water area of Lake Stinehagen?  Seems like some real hoggy area if you can dodge the Gators.  I have wondered about that area for a while, just haven't went and checked it out.