Hello Gentlemen.

We are likely going to be moving to the fine state of Texas next Spring. While I am looking forward to the move, I am concerned about how long it will take me to find places to hunt. I am 62 years young and my son (main hunting buddy) is 22. We are responsible sportsmen and I have raised him properly in the use of firearms and responsible outdoors manners.

We are going to relocate to the Weatherford area. Is there any appreciable public land near there that we can hunt? Or am I going to need to look into a lease or other manner of access?

We are solely interested in feral pigs, coyotes, and bobcats. I am an experienced caller and we have hunted coyotes for several years.

I am NOT looking for a handout or directions to a hunting area. Just trying to gather as much information as possible in advance.

As a side note, I am a seasoned reloader and long range shooter, and look forward to sharing information with you guys. Always interested in learning and sharing.

Thanks in advance for any info or advice !!

Welcome Creedmoor. I am too far away from Weatherford but just wanted to welcome you and your son to the forum. - New Hunter

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My uncle has a place in Lampasas that will be available next year. 305 +/- acres....limit to 3 hunters.

Texas is 97% privately owned land so lease hunting is the standard for hunting for most of us. There is public land and TPWD State Draw WMA hunts also.

Welcome Creedmoor!

For the long term you'll probably want to look into a lease. Weatherford is a good launching point as you basically have good habitat within a couple hours drive West, Northwest, and Southwest. Our place is about 2:45 from Weatherford and we pass plenty of good hunting on the way.

In the short term you probably need to check out the LBJ National Grasslands just north of Decatur and look for package hunts. I've never hunted the 3 species you're looking for at the grasslands but have hunted ducks and dove and out there. I'm sure there are pigs, cats, and yotes there as well just need to check the regulations on what you can and can't do.

On a side note, how the heck was the username "Creedmoor" available???

I'm just as surprised as you are!

Thanks guys for all of the replies. I'm just going to keep researching and see what things look like. We'll likely be moving in March, so I have a bit of time to look around. And we'll be making trips out there probably once a month so maybe I can take a look around more as time draws near. I can already tell that as much as I have loved spending 62 years in Tennessee the hunting opportunities for us in Texas will be much more fun.

Good advice from ThreePeppers. You are in a good area to get out West. After deer season there are several weekend 24 hr varmit hunt rodeos run with check-in locations around Weatherford. Watch the notice section in the forum as guys usually post the flyers. Good way to meet others in your area. Lots of lease/package hunting opportunities with 3 hrs of your new home base.

Welcome Creedmoor! There are plenty of places to hunt but as others have stated most of it is private but then there are advantages with it being private. As for LR shooting you will have a 1,000 yd range just west of where you'll be! There are plenty of guys on here that shoot LR and will be happy to exchange information with you. I shoot a little long range and own two Creedmoors.

You'll like hunting Texas much more than Tennessee. The deer aren't as big but there are many more of them. Plus you can rifle hunt for two months instead of one week. I enjoyed living in Tennessee for 2 years but am glad to be back in Texas and will never leave again if I can help it. You will have to get a lease for decent hunting. You're not going to find much public land around Weatherford. You also have to remember 250 miles is a day trip in Tx. Is your son moving down here too or will he just be coming down to hunt?

That's still up in the air. As much as we would like to have him at home, he is in his last year of college and who knows where his vocation may require him to locate. He is a Criminal Justice major with a Computer Science minor and is looking to go into Cyber Intelligence or something similar. His best bets will be FBI, CIA, DHS, or ICE. We'll just have to wait and see. But he is a "homebody" to some degree. Maybe he can find something close to home.

I'm grateful for the responses that have been given already. This move, as with any relocation, is troubling in many ways. But you guys are already making it easier by helping with information.

Welcome.

You already have some good info to get you running with regards to hunting.


Depending on what he wants to do specifically, and generally speaking, his best bet is the Washington (DC) area.

Good luck to both of you.

What part of Tennessee are you moving from?

I moved to Franklin when I first got to Tennessee. I had a good time there but got into a fight my first night in town with a couple of suits. I gave them an Odessa Tx. awakening. Apparently they didn't like boots and jeans talking to the women in the Franklin bars. They learned to accept it.

I bought a place in Hendersonville a few months later and really enjoyed Old Hickory lake. The people there were great and treated me well.

I met some folks from Paris, Tenn that let me hunt on their place next to Hank Jr.'s ranch. Wonderful people that I still keep in touch with.

I also had a lease down by Centerville. The hunting wasn't bad and the guys I was on the lease with took me to my first dog fight. I grew up with a bunch of roughnecks but they're topped by the hillbillies I met on my hunting lease.

I agree you already have some good leads. I live about 2 hours east of you. If you look into the TPWD Annual Hunting Permit you have several options to go hunting. The "Old Sabine Bottom" listed in the book has lots of hogs, yotes and cats. If you talk to the folks running the place I'm sure they would gladly put in the hog patch. Good luck and welcome to the Great State.

You are getting some great advice! I moved to TX from a state with good access to public hunting for multiple species, so there has been a long, ongoing 'adjustment' period for me - (Out of respect for other forum members and to avoid controversy, I am going to stop my rant with that).

TX is a great state for many, many reasons. I love being around Texans. Things I have learned in the past 5-yrs is you have to be willing to pay a good chunk of money to hunt in TX; it is not abnormal to drive a long way to hunt in TX (single day trip hunt is difficult); and although public land is available, hunting these public lands can test the best of your hunting skills and abilities. Finally connections are priceless and you are starting in the right direction. Best of luck with your transition and to the forum.

"Plus you can rifle hunt for two months instead of one week"

Actually that's wrong. You can rifle hunt for WT deer for 5 months, and hunt pigs yotes cats and exotics year round 24/7. And elk are in fact legal to hunt just like pigs.

A few of the many reasons Texas is head and shoulders above all other states for hunting.

Good advice above.

Public hunting land isnt what Texas is known for. There is very little of it but it is doable. Check out the drawn hunts on TPWD. They are hard to get but there are some fantastic hunts.

Guides and outfitters are everywhere and finding a good one is easy from this site and gathering info and doing your homework like you are doing now.

Getting on a lease is your other option.

Plenty of yotes bobcats and pigs for you to shoot here in Texas and welcome to the state.

can't help around Weatherford

I have a friend that got back into hunting about 15 years ago, didn't have a lease, completely public hunting. He fared pretty well during the first 4-5 years before finally getting on lease. He found that most of the public hunts have left over spots, if he didn't get drawn, he would take the chance and go anyway to see if he could get on a stand-by spot for some hunter that was a no-show. He was successful about 80-90% of the time. He was mainly meat hunting and usually got a deer.

WELCOME

WELCOME TO GOD's Country

Creedmore, welcome. I think you will find the majority of us down here are very friendly and accommodating. Good to have you here , sir. I'm sure you'll find a good place to hunt. Just stick around here for awhile.