Texas has some great public hunting land. But the land that is closest to my house is beyond over hunted. For instance, the public land is along the edge of the near by lake. So a lot of the hunting land is shallow and doesn't have long endless miles of woods. Normally, people say "go deep into the public land" but unfortunately there is not an option to go deep because there isn't a place to just walk in for miles. The only technical spot to walk in a mile to a mile and a half is an ATV park that everyone drives in on their ATV (permits for ATVs are sold to this ATV park to generate revenue for the state. Other than this ATV Park and another ATV park on the other side of the lake, there is a certain amount of ATV permits sold, 15 non- disabled permits. These permits, outside of the ATV park permits, allow them to drive their four wheeler onto any of the public land to hunt). Primarily, i was going to focus on that part of the woods because it is the biggest chunk of woods that isn't accessible by a main rode, but that was before i found out that it was an ATV park. I decided to go else where to scout. I found a spot with great deer sign, rubs, droppings, and an old scape. But this spot is only about 3/4 of a mile between two roads. I found a tree stand out there (which is illegal, they are suppose to be moved every 24 hours. But i also feel like the rules of the public land are not followed or enforced because of the tree stand i found and countless four wheeler trails that i found. You aren't suppose to drive a four wheeler unless you are disable or have one of the 15 non-disabled permits they sell) I have found countless beer cans back by the deer sign. I honestly don't know how much pressure this place gets during archery season, but i know that gun season there are hunters almost everywhere. Especially opening weekend. So i need your thoughts and opinions on what you would do in my situation? Would you focus your time on the deer sign that i have found that could possibly have the potential to hold more hunters, or the big chuck of woods that holds all the ATV hunters? I will post pictures in a second. Thank you for any help that you can give me!
Have you tried to access it from the water using a small boat you can carry inland and hide it? I have some friends that hunted Lake Whitney State land and used this approach to success and actually took a few nice bucks from there!
This top photo is the ATV park. The red circle is the main gate that is locked from Jan. 25- September 15. The yellow box is where the second gate is for the entrance into the ATV park. The Peach color is the main ATV trails. But i imagine there is more. The Red circle is the same gate as in the picture above. Peach is the four wheeler trail but there are tons more near the lake. The green is where there is a lot of deer sign. Blue is where the stand was. The white is a creek. The thing is, this whole area floods. We have has lots and lots of rain here lately and the creek as flooded and the lake has also. so the four wheeler trail is cover by the lake almost to the green square. Also west of the four wheeler trail is flooded and cover by water also.
Yes i have thought about it but, I don't have a truck, or a boat. The only thing that i have is a kayak that i might be able to fit into my car. The white is possible water routes that i could take if the kayak idea works. The Red circle is one of my friends property that boarders public land. I haven't gotten confirmation yet but he might let me access public land from his property and walk into the north part of the woods just south of the red circle.
Some of the places I killed deer in Oklahoma were the same way. The deal is... the deer live there, they get used to the 4 wheelers and parties and whatever else goes on. The way I killed most of the deer I did was by hunting weekday mornings, evenings except friday. There weren't very many types of oaks, only a few reds and a bunch of scrubby and black oaks. I would find the red oaks and hunt those almost exclusively in early October as that's when the red oaks would drop. Don't get frustrated when the wheelers drive by, or the high school kids start having their party... it will bother you much more than the deer for sure. Another thing that I learned was that "going in deep" wasn't always the best way to hunt. Most of the people that hunted those places would walk in several hundred yards to hunt, the deer knew that when someone was in that deep, it wasn't a harmless 4x4. I started hunting within a couple hundred yards of the 4 wheeler trails and did really well.
Well if you can gain access like Dubbya said deer get acclimatized to the noise and activity, a boat can save ya some time getting there, and you can strap a kayak to the top. as far as the area being flooded right now that will definitely change prior to Deer season unless your looking to Turkey Hunt?
There is oak trees everywhere. There are large open oak patches and that is where i would find all my deer sign. But that is the best part about being in school, I will be able to hunt a lot of week days than compared to weekends. I will focus my weekends on a piece of private property that i can hunt, but doesn't have much deer or deer activity on it. I will definitely stick close to the four wheeler trails. Thank you!
I never even thought about strapping it to the top. I can definitely do that one! I would love to turkey hunt but there is almost a non-existent population of turkeys in east texas. been here for 15 years and haven't seen one, or even heard one. Thanks for the idea a about strapping it on top!
