Did anyone on here draw one of the tags for the state park?

I am curious as well. But with only one person drawn for the buck and the doe it’s probably going to be a long shot.

Yeah your prolly right. I live a couple of miles from it and lease a place right across the river from the park. I had a couple of nice bucks on camera and haven't seen them in awhile. Gonna see if the tag holder might of got one.

I drew the doe tag. Had a quick orientation on Friday and got to start hunting at noon. The guy with the buck tag was there at the same time. We had both already set up our camps and they just split the park down the middle, with each of us hunting the half we were camped in. The buck hunter had seen a nice deer scouting that morning, and was hoping to find him again.

I went out at midday and walked the trails in my area, making about a 3 mile loop. I found some areas with great sign and based on the wind, decided to set up on a water hole for the evening. Sure enough, right about sundown 6-8 does came in to get a drink and I put one in the cooler. Based on the sign I saw, they could probably stand to issue some more permits.

Spent the evening dragging out and cleaning the deer then packed up camp in the morning. About 10:00 AM, as I was driving out, I ran into the buck hunter and stopped to chat. He didn't have a deer yet, but had seen another nice buck. He told me if he didn't have one by mid afternoon, he would take a doe. Wished him luck and went home.

It was a nice hunt in a neat park. Very hands off approach from TPWD as compared to other hunts I have done. They basically said use whatever campsite you want, hunt this half of the park, no baiting, don't shoot the cows, and give us a call when you get one. That approach came with pluses and minuses. We were given a lot of freedom to hunt how we wanted, but no direction or support. You could hunt any spot you pleased, but no blinds or tips were provided. I preferred it this way, but somewhere to hang a deer to clean it would have been nice. Also, it was clear that neither the park superintendent (I think that was his title, the guy in charge) nor the State Park Police officer were hunters, so there was a little confusion about the applicable laws and things, but it was a minor inconvenience. All the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Congrats - that's exactly the type hunt I enjoy the most!

Congrats on the hunt.

Thanks, I really enjoyed it.

Congrats, I know that I would have preferred that style of hunt as well.