I have been slected for the National Refuge Archery Deer at Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR-Teniente and the E-Postcard Archery Deer at Keechi Creek WMA. Any information on these two hunts would be greatly appreciated as I have never to either place before.

Congrats!

Congrats on the draws. I hunted several years ago at Keechi Creek. It typical east Texas bottoms with lots of water. When I went you were not allowed to bait, so it was a matter of finding a trail and waiting. You should be able to find a good tree for a ladder or climbing stand. Parts of it can be a little open so you could use a pop up. Shot a pretty nice pig, no deer.

Congrats, best of luck. You've been lucky this year so far. Maybe you'll find a big nilgai bull on that LRG hunt.

If you have a camper there is a RV park on Hwy 79 just west of Oakwood that would be handy. Otherwise Buffalo is the closest motels & food.

Saw one of the biggest wild hogs I've ever seen years ago on a Feral Hog Hunt...just off property. It had turned off really warm almost HOT and the hogs had gone nocturnal. The big boy was laying on a small creek bank at the N'west end of the WMA on a muddy bank & surrouinded by couple dozen ET Rooters. Teased my partner on why he did'nt take th shot and he replied "'cause I dinnit want to have to rebuild the LO's fence 'cause we'd need to cut the bottom 3-4 strands (of a 5 straand fence) to drag him out even if we could find a long enough lumber boom chain to reach him...and not too sure the Chevy 1/2 ton street truck w/out Positrac could have done it anyway. Laying streteched out flat that hog's shoulder were crotch or better high to me at 5"10' barefoot.

Both sides of every raised oil co road was chewed up by rooting hogs for 50-150' either side of the roads.
Ron

I also drew LRGV! November 17-21st if I recall right. I also drew Laguna Atascosa. I can't swing both so I gotta make a decision!

I was drawn for the Laguna Atascosa Hunt Nov. 17-21 as well. Anyone with any experience there?

Congrats!!! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

This is our first time to go. But we'll definitely be there. I've heard it's an extremely tough hunt. So be prepared. I've read that the chiggers and ticks are horrible and there were rattlesnakes everywhere. So dress accordingly. Seek out dung piles to target Nilgai. I read the success rate on the archery hunts us less than 5% so just enjoy the adventure and if you bag an animal it is a bonus!

During the first couple of days at Laguna Atascosa, it gets real crowded. If a person's idea of hunting is sitting in a blind and staring at a feeder, they will likely not have much success. A lot of folks come in either physically or mentally unprepared for the place. They usually leave after the second day. From ticks, chiggers, cactus, yucca, killer bees, rattlesnakes, gators, and the stickiest mud on the face of the planet, the guys who are unprepared don't stick around long.

Last year, I ran into some guys the first day walking around in shorts and Crocs. They left for good that evening.

Because their skinny jeans were at the cleaners.

I've never been myself but that just sounds like idiots. I can't think of any hunting that I would dress like that. Lol

Just thought of this. Do you have to get the APH for the NWR hunts?

No.

I really have to laugh at this. Born in Atlanta, and raised down south, I am well aware of what chiggers can do to you. When I moved to Bay City to work at the nuke plant, the wife and kids were left to their own explorations (Idaho raised) . We don't have any bugs here. My youngest got together with a whole lot of kids and they played football for hours out in the back field of weeds. That night he literally had thousands of bites all over him, and we coated him with clear nail polish to help with the itching from the bites!!! The poor kid crinkled when he walked! Lesson learned, and never forgotten.

Stupid question...

Are these deer consider managed deer or do you have to use your own tags?

It depends. If you are on state land, they will provide the tags. If it's federal land, you will use the tags on your license.

When is the Keechi Creek hunt? I was drawn for the squirrel hunt so I'll be there sometime Oct 17-22.