Hi all. I'm trying to get a better feel for the public draw hunts for whitetail for those who have drawn these tags.

I notice that they are all either either-sex or management, unlike mule deer hunts. Are the either-sex tags primarily a way to fill the freezer with a doe, or are these "quality" buck hunts as well? Any opinions on which area would be best for an individual who is buck-focused and looking to take a quality animal?

Thanks guys!

ta THF... Not sure bout the draw hunts... $48.00 permit ya can still try...

Welcome!
The gun deer either sex hunt at Chaparral WMA is one of the top coveted "quality" buck hunts as far as public draw hunts are concerned. Don't hold your breath starting out though...over 4,000 applicants last year.

Thanks for the welcome guys! So Chaparral gets a vote? What do y'all think or know about hunts like Inks Lake, Daughtrey, Austin State Park, etc.? Thanks again!

NG, Re your ? concerning WTail hunts on Public ground being managed for Trophy or Management aka meat hunts...

Study the Archives of locations that offer GDE Hunts & GDA Hunts. Look for high App #'s & pay close attention to the success %'s by sex and specie. High success %'s frequently indicate to me the over abundance of Game, especially in portions of the state noted for high WTail populations...and where I'd go for a meat Hunt. I've been drawn this year at Inks for example where I've never been before.

As I recall, Inks allows baiting - actually recc'ds it - allows a bag limit of 3 deer, and has a multi year history of over %50 harvest success, with multi hunt dates, and I forget the % of acre x harvest numbers I compute when selecting a Hunt to put in an App for...when I am looking for a meat hunt. I would use totally different criteria if I was looking for a Trophy Hunt. Inks for me is a Fill the Freezer kinda Hunt.

This will be my ....for the 1st time to geta Permit in pushing 8-10 years of participation in the Lottery, despite putting in for 5 other locations as well this year, with high single and low double digit "Loyalty Points"....I have 15 Loyalty Points in EXO for example, and have gotten "choosey and careful" with where I put in for. In that 20++ time of my particiaption in the TPW Lottery Hunt program, the Non Resident participation in the Texas Lottery Hunt program had ballooned, at a much faster rate than the State's population has grown, because TPW is allowing Non Resident Hunters to participate at the same price and on an equal basis as Texas Residents who's tax $$ pay for the TPW's operating Budgets....and the number of Hunt Locations has been reducued, due to reductions in TPW's Budgets from the above mentioned Elected State Officla, beginning with the 2nd Governor back, as Governor Abbott has not been in Office long enough to affect the Budgets yet.

Under the new Loyalty Point System you can put in for as many locations in a given Category as you got the wallet to feed, and I'd always put in for The Chap if a Trophy was my goal. Very few other GDE locations have access to the premier management this WMA has had for as long as that dedicated Public Servant was there, who has now been tasked with taking over all the TPW Wildlife Mgmt in South Texas. Look at the far West Texas Hunts, with their super low App's available for a possible Trophy.

Based on the 20-25+?? years I have participated in the TPW Lottery Hunts or whatever they were called in years gone by...IMO the initial focus of the TPW Board members in the creation of the Lottery Hunt System was to
A. provide a managemnt tool for the reduction for WTails to meet TPW Biologists management guidelines,
B. provide a hunting experience for Texas Citizens on Texas State Parks wo pay for thise Parks and WMA's, and the elimination - fat chance - of non native species like hogs and exotics.
C. and on a bare handful of properties to provide a harvest portal for Trophy WTails that TPW could use to enhance the very limited opportunity to harvest a Trophy WTail, or other legal specie, that TPW could use to advertise with and generate more Hunter Interest & Participation, to acheive justification for more funding from the greedy, ever grasping PooBahs in the Legislature for the maintanence of the TPW Park System's budgets that the Legislature loves to steal allocated, dedicated funding from.

Look at the $10 unlimited Entry, Guided Hunt of a Lifetime or whatever it's called these days as it is the very best oportunity of harvesting a true trophy...might cost you some serious bux...but might be cheaper than the Mega Bux required to take a private hunt.

Grayson County, where I live is noted for producing massive White Tails that make the Pope & Young Book every couple years...but you need to bring some serious bux to play and there is NO RIFLE HUNTING ALLOWED in Grayson County for White Tails.

IMO the Texas Legislature & the last 2 previous Governors before Greg Abbott( fyi the 3rd Governor back actually balanced the TPW & State Budgets and funded TPW with no shortfalls ) in years past have a long history of the practice of raiding various State Agencies dedicated Funding like Pittman Dingell Sportsman's tax $'s, to meet the General Fund that they continually fail to manage or balance without gamesmanship, while withholding dedicated directed Funding programs like PD, and continually moving those $$'s into the now bloated over budget "Rainy Day" fund that the Lege refuse's to use for emergencies as was it's sole Funding Directive.

Meanwhile TPW & other agencies budgets starve ...leaving TPW to come up with providing substandard maintenance and services to it's constituents, while seeking ways to raise more $'s with less services ... ala the Hidden Pea Shell Game commonly seen on street corners Loyalty Point System and crumbling Park System Infrastructure.

So, IMO if you want to harvest a Trophy WhiteTail off State Owned Property your chances have been immininently reduced, but I would encourage you to Play the Game and participate and harvest whatever is available, while becoming more interested in what the STATE'S BUDGET IS, who & where gets the $$'s State Senators and Representatives that YOU VOTED INTO OFFICE allocate and why.

In a Word...TPW ain't the problem with you not having access to harvesting a Trophy White Tail off State Owned Land in Texas...the folks that sit in the fat leather rocking chairs in Austin is where you need to direct your ??'s. They got the Money, but they don't think they have to pony it up where it was promised it'd go.
JMHO & YMMV
Ron

Thanks for the reply Ron. Sounds like they're all a long shot, but that Chaparral is universally recognized as "the" trophy hunt, with the higher-success State Park hunts being geared toward opportunity.

Final question, is Chaparral a long-range proposition? Reason I ask is that I often hunt with open-sighted antiques.

Thanks again.

Yup...ALL the Lottery Hunts have become a long shot to get drawn under the new Loyalty Point Program...but I still put in every year Oh well what's $3 a chance anyway ??? that's cheaper than bar scotch per drink during Happy Hour.

I've not been on the Chap so I can't comment one way or the other, but that is some open country down there. No doubt about it, other than the Mason Mtn, Devils River, Daughtrey or mebbe Caprock Canyon Hunts, the Chap is prolly the best Trophy Hunt in the Lottery System.

Depending on what you call a "Trophy" ...the super knarlly whoppers that come off the 11,700 acre Hagarman WMA Federal Refuge on the southwest side of Lake Texoma in Grayson County almost every year, are worth the effort if archery hunting is doable for you..but it's getting bigtime tough to get drawn there too these days, with lots of national interest.

Otherwise I always try to put infor the small acreage, low App # places for WTails and concentrate on getting drawn anywhere there is decent success #'s on Exotics too...STUDY the archives for more insight.

Thanks again. This certainly will influence my hunt choices.