After reading the thread about leaving your gun in the stand I was just curious.

Last weekend I took my son down to south Texas for his first deer hunt. He shot his buck Saturday morning and wanted to go sit in a rifle stand Saturday night to try and shoot some pigs. We were hunting a high line that is about 800 yards long and ends at a gate that backs up to another ranch (high fence). We were in the stand about 30 minutes and while watching down the high line I noticed two people walking down the road on the other ranch. They walked to the fence and climbed over onto our side and walked down the high line toward our stand. They got to about 80 yards and I hollered at em to leave. They just waved and took off to the left of the stand which is only about 100-150 yards to the fence line on that side. I was just curious to hear how often people actually see them. I know we have seen a lot of belongings and trash left behind but never seen them in person like that.

I've seen 'em walking senderos, pipelines and ranch roads. Never encountered any at camp or in the deer stand. I don't leave weapons or keys in my truck over night either.

My brother skillet shot some quail below his trap-door blind around Freer years ago. 'Took 'em back to the cabin and had them on the grill. He went inside to get something and when he came back there were no quail and huarache prints leading into the brush.

10-4 constantly at our family ranch in Hidalgo, Webb, and Starr counties

It is creepy to think someone is watching you, just waiting for the moment to grab your lunch.

Had a couple show up on a lease near Rocksprings, years ago. I busted a rock with my .270 about 5 yarda behind them . Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt could not match their speed after I shot.
Ruined an afternoon hunt

Most places in South Texas you will sooner or later have an encounter.
Be careful opening and closing gates. If there is brush around be careful as they may have one approach you and the others are hiding back in the brush. More than one look for an escape route or keep them where you can see them. Be careful also if they spread out.
Regular illegals aren't a threat, but the drug runners are the one's that I worry about.
If they show no fear of you then you need to worry.

Never seen any and don't want to. We have one set of picturs where two guys filled up some empty milk jugs with water at one of our water troughs but that's it.

I watched them very closely the whole way down the high line. When they got a little closer I could tell they didn't have any belongings with them so I didn't think they were smugglers or anything. I just basically watched their hands the whole time after that and they never once looked up at the blind until I hollered at em. My son, who is only 8, was pretty nervous. I just told him to sit on the floor and keep quiet. We ended up just getting out of the stand and going back to camp after they left. My buddy had shot a buck anyhow so we went and helped him load it up. I haven't hunted south texas much so I was just wondering how common it was to actually see them. My buddy said in the 8 or so years they have owned the place they have only seen one who was left behind by a bigger group. He came out under a feeder he was hunting and started eating the deer corn.

I have a funny old story with Illegals. About 20 years ago my little brother and I are down bow hunting on our family place in Junction. I step out the door of the cabin at 0500 and across the draw from our camp site I see a camp fire rolling with 2 old guys warming their hands. I am a 19 yr old kid full of piss and vinegar and I thought it was trespassers hunting. The draw feeds into the LlAno river bottom and from time to time people float down and camp all over private property or spot light poach. So I fumble around and realize I do not have any gun with me just bows because we are kids still pretty much. I find a old Marlin 22 we left in the cabin. So I put the sneak on up to this trespasser camp. When I get about 30 yards from them I see it is a couple old Mexican dudes so I figured it was illegals. I do the only thing I can think of. In the biggest and baddest voice I can muster up I yell "Bamanos" as loud as I can. Well it just wasn't 2 dudes. Every cedar bush in the draw blew up when the guy sleeping under it took off. Must have been 10-15 of them all together. It sounded like a kickoff in a football game. Rocks rolling and brush breaking everywhere.

If they only new it was a 19 yr old kid with an old 22 scared to death.

down in south TX (dimmit county) I see them on my game cameras usually in the off season. I'd like to think they know when deer season is. I still carry a pistol with me to make me feel better walking those roads early am and late at night.

that's funny

it's a common thing. I hunted north of Tilden for several years and we would usually have 3-4 sightings per season. Usually they would just cross the senderos and walk though the brush. The most unusual thing we ever saw was an old guy with a beard riding an old bicycle across the pasture. Not kidding.... He was seen for 2 seasons, several times each season. The ranch owner said he never saw him.

Many years ago I hunted in Junction, and our lease was on the North side of the I-10 and Hwy 83 intersection. Illegals would come up 83, and come on to our lease. Several times we found them in camp sleeping in our trailers. We left them unlocked because they keep getting broken into.

I've had a lot of encounters with them over the years and no problems. I actually learn something every time I talk to them and have heard some crazy stories. I've been in bow stands in the dark and had them pass under me and I don't like that type of encounter but as long as I'm holding the gun, I'm real friendly.

Once, I was told about how a family member had died from a rattlesnake bite. They wanted to know if I had a map as they wanted to mark the spot as best they could for the family. I spent time going over the pages of the Texas Road Atlas I carry in my truck until we found the appropriate page. I tore it out and gave it to them so they could carry it.

Ran into another fellow, solo, from Guatemala with a terrible bite on his leg. He was sleeping real hard from a tough day and woke up as a very large feral hog bit him and started to drag him off into the brush. I properly dressed the wound for him. He said the wildlife since crossing into Texas scared the hell out of him. Found another guy from Guatemala that was experiencing hypothermy after crossing the Nueces in LaSalle County on an extremely cold day. He was totally out of it but I got him in my truck and took him back to camp. Warmed him up and got him on his feet. He told me he prayed for an angel to help him when he passed out and I'm the next face he saw. Never thought of myself as such but I was glad I found him. Been glassing for mule deer in Brewster County and saw a pile of rocks with a pasture made crucifix stuck on top; some things are best not messed with and I hope that person finally rests in peace.

Other than having food & clothing stuff stolen from me, I haven't had a bad experience and I've had a bunch of them.

Funny you should mention that. I was talking with a group of about 18 and I asked them if they were using a map. They showed me a hand drawn map that was being sent back to the next group and it had all kinds of notes on it along with windmills, deer stands and camp houses. Our camp house was on it so I told them it was deer lease where our wives and children were with us on weekends and the encounters were scaring the hell of of them. The main man wrote some notes on the map and we never saw them on a weekend again although during the week I continued to see large groups. That was in Uvalde County on the Nueces River. My daughter is still buggered a bit from seeing so many in the woods.

I admire their courage; leave their home for a new country, learn a new language, and find work. Knew a guy once that said he didn't live for Money, but needed money to live.
Maybe the folks who lost their factory jobs up North could follow their example and move to where the jobs are, instead of waiting on the Fed to bail them out.

They leave their country for our social programs as well as work. Illegal is wrong, let them become citizens the legal way.

Hell if the people in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio plus every other large city in America would start mowing their own yards, a huge amount of jobs would disappear and there would be less reason for them to come.

We found a floater when I was a kid in the Rio Grande. He'd been in there a while and looked pretty bad. We went into town and called the sherif. He came out and looked him over. He asked if we minded if they worried about him downriver. We said no and the sherif put his foot on his head and kicked him back into the river.

Only ones I have encountered is those I have worked with or worked around...

My Mother in law lives alone on her ranch in Cotulla and a couple years ago an illegal knocked on her door asking for water and some food. She gave him a sandwich and a bottle of water. He then asked to use the phone, she refused and he then requested a few more bottles of water and left. She called the GW and told him what had happened. He caught them on the next ranch. There were 6 of them and 4 of them were mules carrying drugs. When we go to the ranch I wear a Border Patrol cap. Don't know if it does any good but haven't had any encounters yet.

where in south texas was this?

You forgot fixing their own tires, trimming their own trees and putting roofs on their own houses.
They can still do all that mentioned, but do it legally like others have done.

I like that lawman......