Hey All thanks for any advice/comments you can give me,

I currently live in Colorado and am hooked on elk and deer hunting, gonna miss it. So I'm having to relocate because of the work situation, gonna move my wife and daughter to Austin where there's a job waiting on me.

I gotta have meat in the freezer and time by a fire at least a week a year! I'm looking for a little hope, maybe you guys can give me some. So far on just cursory internet searches I'm finding that access is the big thing in Texas, if you don't know somebody you gotta pay. Looks like a lot of outfitter and big fence stuff. Is there any public land hunting for big game that's worth while? I figure deer and hogs will be the natural residents looking for a place in my freezer. Is that right?

I'm actually looking forward to hog hunting because I grew up cooking pigs with my originally Cuban family. I figure I'll trade master carribean cooking for some hog hunts if it comes up,

I just started duck hunting last year and understand that's a good thing in TX too.

Thanks again for your time,
Rafe

Plugging into this forum is a great start. Proably to late this year to get on a lease, but it's never to late to start planning for next year.

Checkout the tpwd website, there is public land out there. An added plus is there are free ranging exotics in south texas....

You will probably be able to get on hog hunts and meat hunts on does/exotic does for relatively cheap, maybe even free if you meet someone. Hunting public is difficult but I doubt you are a stranger to that if you public hunt mulies and elk in CO. Welcome, you will enjoy it. Texas offers an wide variety of game. We even have elk and mulies too!

Yeah I do hunt public in CO, if you don't put in a lot of work you are coming home empty handed. Pack a bull elk out of canyon for two days, that'll work you hard. Is it like that on public in TX or is it because of crowding/scarcity of animals?

Don't need hope, just a bunch of $$$ and it's all just a phone call away.

Welcome!

Lots of $$$, ROFLMAO.

you won't have to worry too much about the 2 day hikes, but the general advice is the further you walk in the better chance you have. One problem there is you have to come back out the same day, you can only camp in designated camp areas in the National Forests. If you bow hunt, there is a couple of Corp of Engineer areas 2 hours North of Austin. I have never personally hunted there but I see a few photos of nice bucks that come out of there every year and for meat you can bow hunt hogs at Granger even closer to Austin.
Welcome to the forum and to the great state of Texas!

Welcome to Texas...Hunting here if fun, but expensive since there isn't a whole lot of good public land worth hunting. It is a shock, when I moved here from Georgia I was caught off guard with that aspect of hunting here.

Hunting is an exercise in persistance and money here. Hog hunts can be had in a lot of areas pretty cheap and will fill freezer. Doe hunts are also pretty cheap, its when you get into the antlered animals that the price can go up. Depending on your view of a trophy there are lots of different places/prices. Enjoy, lots of good people here and some really good outfitters. If you for the most part stay with the outfitters on here (or at least check here before putting money down) you will be in good shape.

Jake 6 year Texan and counting!

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Bring Your Piggy Bank !!!

I second Granger. Ive seen a lot of piggies out there and quite a few deer in certain areas. It isnt all that far from Austin and the white bass fishing isnt to shabby in the spring time and Granger is one hell of a crappie and blue cat lake too. Just put a little time in scouting Granger and you will do fine.

Sorry but you're in for a real culture shock. Forget roaming the beautiful Rockies and feeling like you're the first person to ever see that magnificence.

Prepare to sit in a plywoood box all day watching a feeder and looking at scrub Mesquite, Cedar, or rocks. Or all three. Ask around and one of the most invaluable hunting aides most guys have is an iPhone to play games, listen to music, text your friends, keep up with your job, or post "Live From ..." posts here. And figure to spend a few thousand dollars per year (including all costs) to do that. And assume that you will have things stolen from your lease. And tresspassers and poachers.

Then be prepared for all of your processed deer meat to fit in one cardboard box.

Don't mean to sound like Davie Downer but from reading posts here everyday, that's what you can expect.

A lot of that don't sound too good to me but I started hunting in Michgan and sitting on a milk crate in a blind is pretty common there too. I'm also a bow hunter so sitting a tree stand is no big deal either. The small box of meat is not the only reason I hunt, so that is what it is.

I'm a single earner so a couple of $1000 just isn't in the cards for me, I'll just have to make friends and offer up my back, my work and my friendship in trade.

I have to say it's a sad state of affairs where the state of Texas is not making public land profitable and available. The Colorado Division of Wildlife manages BLM, state forest, and state lease land in such a way that they are the ONLY sate agency that actually generates revenue and is constantly trying to create opportunities for access to our sport. Of course that's an assumption on my part and maybe others can straighten me out on what Texas state programs are like, I plan on educating myself but I value any feedback you guys provide here.

Pick a hair and let fly!

Texas has quite a bit of public land actually but it's hunted heavily and I'm pretty leery of that many unknown hunters that close to me. Having said that, there are public places with less pressure. They have less game obviously but at least they provide an opportunity to hunt.

Dnt listen to the hype...hunting here can be expensive but only to those who dnt want to hunt long for a deer or only want to shoot a giant...does will be easy to come by no prob...i got family that have 50 acres right on the edge of austin and they are shootin 130s and 140s every year....it can be done at low cost just be respectful to anyone who gives you a chance to hunt...i hunted on a guys 14acre place in huntsville didnt charge me nothin but i helped around his place when i could, only killed a doe but took him some of the meat when i cleaned it and then left the stand and feeder there for him or the next me in line...i could still go there today and hunt if i wanted... if you want pigs give me a shout im not to far from you and would deffinitly trade you a hunt if you ever go back to CO. to do some public hunting haha. Goodluck and welcome

You forgot two more reasons it can be cheap. 1) Your family has land you can hunt for free. 2) You have a friend that lets you hunt for free. I'm going out on a limb and thinking a new transplant (Welcome, by the way!) will have neither.

Nava you describe my sentiments exactly, as to the Colorado line? Here's how optimistic I am about public land hunting, this is a field scored 326 B&C bull on public with an over the counter statewide bull tag one of my buddies took this October, tell me wonders aren't possible... >>>>

And that makes it more meaningfull than any other way of taking an animal IMO that is an awsome bull! never had a chance to hunt elk but i will one day...congrats on the hunt and if you if you get curious about hogs when you get to texas hit me up i got a few...

As an experienced "pig cook", my first reaction to your AWESOME pics is to salivate...

to
I think you will find hunting to suit you, but it will be different than CO. Public land is very limited in Texas, but there is some. Best of luck in your move and your future hunts in Texas!

Welcome to Texas, but I will tell you, as a resident of 5 different states in my lifetime, public land opportunities vs size of state ratio are quite limited. This is the first state that I have lived in(OH, TN, GA, FL) that I feel does little for public land hunting. It was shocking the price to hunt when compared to other state residents. My costs have quadrupled since arriving! Now I will tell you that TX is an outdoorsmans paradise with the mutliple species, especially exotics and liberal amount of tags. The deer and hogs are also especially abundant. I am doing the exact opposite as you and hope to be in CO sometime in the next couple of years. Just to be able to wander through those beautiful mountains and not run into a high fence every 100 acres sure will be nice!

Lake Georgetown, just north of Austin, has some Corps of Engineers hunting available. I haven't hunted up there in a few years, but it was pretty cheap (less than $100 for the season). If you just want some does for the freezer and you can bowhunt, it's a low-buck alternative. As you would imagine, there is A LOT of pressure there because of it's proximity to Austin and Round Rock, but I've heard that the Corps maintains their own setups (feeders and stands)they'll let you use on a day-to-day basis. Not the most challenging, wilderness experience, but it puts steaks on the table.

http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/georgetown/Recreation/Hunting.asp

Welcome to the great state of Texas! You can find a lot of places to hog hunt at a reasonable cost. Deer is another matter. I have heard that some of the guys who hunt the national forest build up a special rig to get beyond the walk-in crowd. Essentially, they put wheels on a ladder blind and pull it behind a mountain bike. Strap gun (and deer hopefully) on the ladder. This enables them to easily bike in well beyond guys who don't get more than a few hundred yards off the road.