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Draw Hunts Open for 2017-2018 Season
#6813329
07/05/17 09:12 PM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,392
dkershen
OP
Rev Dave
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OP
Rev Dave
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,392 |
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.www.NewHopeEquine.com - Health and Healing through Horses.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813335
07/05/17 09:21 PM
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Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 8,319
Herbie Hancock
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 8,319 |
Yes, just got the email and pretty excited.
It takes beer to make thirst worthwhile - J. Fred Schmidt
The internet is an I.Q. Test, people post their scores in the comment section.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813444
07/05/17 10:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,718
safdm44
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,718 |
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: safdm44]
#6813595
07/06/17 12:36 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,357
Blank
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,357 |
Still trying to get back to the Palo Duro again, and look you up. Much harder when you are a group of four instead of two!
Beer and whiskey, 'cause you can't drink bacon!!
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813609
07/06/17 12:42 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 14,012
NDN98
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 14,012 |
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813658
07/06/17 01:22 AM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 10,694
mbavo
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 10,694 |
Thanks for the heads up !
Let the fun begin !
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813710
07/06/17 02:07 AM
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 25,340
Creekrunner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 25,340 |
Got the email, entered a few. They took bighorn sheep off this year, something about restoration efforts interfering. It was as close as I get to playing the lottery.
...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813743
07/06/17 02:32 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
Got drawn last yr and couldn't go bc of last minute truck problem. Not missing a hunt this yr if drawn
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813777
07/06/17 02:59 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
Just applied for 12 hunts
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6813918
07/06/17 01:21 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 14,012
NDN98
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 14,012 |
Haven't been drawn in 4 years. Most categories I have 8+ loyalty points, with the exception of GDA and GDM. Hoping this is the year I hit one or two.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814040
07/06/17 03:38 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
I apply for only a couple of hunts but noticed that the success was very low last year on those I'm interested in.
TPWD is really stacking the hunters on the NWRs as well; there is going to be 3,600 hunter days on Aransas. There is near 20,000 acres available for hunting but that means there will be a huge amount of pressure on the huntable habitat (about 50% of the hunt area). Under the old system, a large percentage of the hunters had hunted the refuge for years so they knew what they were getting into. Even then the attrition rules always held true; the rule of half. You loose about half of the previous day's hunters every day of the hunt. That rate will be higher with new hunters this year because it is now in the draw system and they will not understand what they signed up for. It is brutal country.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814091
07/06/17 04:47 PM
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 274
jae011
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 274 |
I put in for all the pronghorn and mule deer options as well as alligator. 4 points in each one now.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Ranch Dog]
#6814152
07/06/17 06:19 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271
Palehorse
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271 |
I apply for only a couple of hunts but noticed that the success was very low last year on those I'm interested in.
TPWD is really stacking the hunters on the NWRs as well; there is going to be 3,600 hunter days on Aransas. There is near 20,000 acres available for hunting but that means there will be a huge amount of pressure on the huntable habitat (about 50% of the hunt area). Under the old system, a large percentage of the hunters had hunted the refuge for years so they knew what they were getting into. Even then the attrition rules always held true; the rule of half. You loose about half of the previous day's hunters every day of the hunt. That rate will be higher with new hunters this year because it is now in the draw system and they will not understand what they signed up for. It is brutal country. I don't really pay much attention to the success rate. It's always lower in the compartment style hunts because a lot of folks just don't know how to hunt if it's not with a corn feeder and a box blind. I like your "rule of half". Makes perfect sense. The first day, you can't run in any direction and not hit someone in an orange hat. Last year I saw two guys walking around through the grass at Laguna Atascosa wearing shorts and Crocs. That night I saw them at the motel I was staying in. They had gotten eaten up by ticks and chiggers and decided to leave the next morning. They are damn lucky they didn't run into any rattlers. It is an unforgiving place and a hard hunt.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Palehorse]
#6814215
07/06/17 07:34 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
They are damn lucky they didn't run into any rattlers. It is an unforgiving place and a hard hunt. No kidding, or a gator! The closest I've ever come to being in real trouble has been on the Laguna. I got real close to being snatched off a spillway by a very large gator. On both the Aransas and Laguna, I've seen hunters pack up and leave, for good, within hours. Some, have driven as far as Dallas to get there.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Palehorse]
#6814230
07/06/17 07:48 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
Under the old system, a large percentage of the hunters had hunted the refuge for years so they knew what they were getting into. Even then the attrition rules always held true; the rule of half. Every time I go in or out at Aransas, I ask how many hunters are in the field. That's how I came up with the rule. I was talking to a Refuge Biologist, LEO, and the volunteer and they asked my why I ask that as everyone else wants to know what as killed. I told them the kill question makes no since, look at the kill board, but I've always been interested in the hunters in the field and I told them about my rule. All three said they had observed the same daily reduction in hunters. I hunted the first hunt on the Aransas. I believe it was 1966, and I hunted there every year through 1972. In 1975, I started hunting the Laguna because I moved to Harlingen. I've hunted the Aransas about every 5 years. I told those at the check station that I wasn't going to come back. Every time I have returned over the 50 years, it is never better than the previous time I was there. The habitat is a mess and mismanaged. It is a great example of why you don't want the government involved with anything. They rob the resources from the land and don't put a penny back into it.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814283
07/06/17 08:47 PM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 142
mjmax80
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 142 |
So I'm putting in for the draw this year for the first time, not sure which ones yet but a few of them. Up until this past year I never knew Texas had draw hunts. I've chalked up my chances to hunt anywhere this year to zero since I don't have any Loyalty points. Any idea on how many years down the road it might take to draw? My goal is to put in for the areas with mid to higher success rate.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814300
07/06/17 09:04 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
I don't think it matters. I waited about 30 years to be drawn on the Chaparral, however long it has been open, but there were guys that were drawn on the first try.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Palehorse]
#6814333
07/06/17 09:42 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,621
1860.colt
emoji colt.45
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emoji colt.45
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,621 |
I don't really pay much attention to the success rate. It's always lower in the compartment style hunts because a lot of folks just don't know how to hunt if it's not with a corn feeder and a box blind.
I like your "rule of half". Makes perfect sense. The first day, you can't run in any direction and not hit someone in an orange hat.
Last year I saw two guys walking around through the grass at Laguna Atascosa wearing shorts and Crocs. That night I saw them at the motel I was staying in. They had gotten eaten up by ticks and chiggers and decided to leave the next morning. They are damn lucky they didn't run into any rattlers. It is an unforgiving place and a hard hunt.
i'm postaddic
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814344
07/06/17 09:51 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271
Palehorse
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271 |
If you do the math on the draw odds, points don't really mean much on the harder to draw spots. By the time you accumulate enough points to give good odds on getting drawn for a place like the Chap, you'd be to old to hunt it. It's all about luck.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814439
07/06/17 11:14 PM
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,816
Bigfoot
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,816 |
This is my second year and I really hit it hard with 20 picks so far. I have 2 more than I found to put in for also.
I put in for mulies at big bend black gap elephant mtn and sierra diablo and I put in for a javy hunt in black gap just for the heck of it.
Im not sure what I would do with a peccary because I am sure not going to eat it. But I sure would love the chance to hunt one in such beautiful country.
Those are really my dream hunts there.
I hit the hill country hard at the state parks. I just love that area to camp and hike so a hunt will be fantastic.
I have been fired up all day looking at things to buy to prepare for hunting season. Im sure I wont get picked picked but it sure is nice to dream a little that one day I will go on a real hunt instead of the SHNF.
Which I did request a doe tag again.
December is when I start to hunt and that is only 5 months away. AAAArgh!!
GO TRUMP!
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6814579
07/07/17 01:09 AM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 4,243
Erny
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 4,243 |
The thing that strikes me this year is that it is almost exactly the same as last years. In the past it seeemed like they were always adding/taking away hunts. This year same as last time except the Aransas is under the TPWD draw.
Also they ave way too many properties that are youth only.
On the Aransas.....I go about once every five years. I have been three times. Each time I vow never to return but alway do. This time bough I will probably not bother since it is in the draw system. Never got a deer but always manage to get some pigs. The thing I don't like is they do not allow camping and you have to stay about 45 minutes away. Just makes for a very long day.
On the draw odds....Don't give up, a few years ago I drew the Rita Blanca pronghorn. I had 15 points and my 12 year old nephew had zero. You can't draw if you don't put in for them.
Good luck to everyone on the draws!!!!!
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: dkershen]
#6815129
07/07/17 04:15 PM
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,052
Dodge_Rock
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,052 |
Ponied up my annual donation.
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Dodge_Rock]
#6815150
07/07/17 04:38 PM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,357
Blank
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,357 |
Final applications of the year. Yes, I applied for some of these trophy hunts. I have a couple trophy hunts and a couple meat hunts for extra cow elk and deer in Idaho and Wyoming, but I enjoy coming back to Texas every year if I can.
Beer and whiskey, 'cause you can't drink bacon!!
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Palehorse]
#6817112
07/09/17 03:38 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
If you do the math on the draw odds, points don't really mean much on the harder to draw spots. By the time you accumulate enough points to give good odds on getting drawn for a place like the Chap, you'd be to old to hunt it. It's all about luck. The fellow that runs the Chap talked about this. The guy that ran the place before him, was there from the start. I think he said 32 years when he retired. He applied every year for the place he managed and lived on but was never drawn. II talked to another fellow that was my age, in his '60s, he had been drawn eight times!
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Re: Draw Huns Open for 2017-2018 Season
[Re: Erny]
#6817124
07/09/17 03:45 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
The thing I don't like is they do not allow camping and you have to stay about 45 minutes away. Just makes for a very long day. That's very true and will be lost on many that are applying. Just the drive from the entrance into the hunt area takes a long time as it is so washboard most of the time. Both my neighbor and I decided to drive back and forth each day as the available facilities in the area are so poor. Two hours to our parking spot and another 30 minute walk into our blinds. My blind was 500 yards further than his, I didn't understand that one as he is half my age! He killed a small buck and a hog. I saw a bunch of hogs but didn't want a bunch of dead ones stacked up around my blind. Too damn tired to move them!
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