This was my first experience hunting in Texas, and it was a good one. First of all, since we moved here in June, one of the things I noticed is that the people in Texas are the most genuinely friendly and helpful people I have ever met. The assistance and information I have received on this forum made this whole trip possible, so thank you to everyone. A special thanks to Get'n Jiggy who provided the ground intel of the area.
I left the house at 0530 Monday for the drive to Lake Whitney, wanted to get out of Houston before the traffic got to bad. Made it to the park early, so had some time to visit with the other hunters, and the group of stand-by guys. It was overcast, and a little cool, so we expected the deer to be moving that afternoon. The park staff was outstanding during our hunt, they wanted everyone to enjoy themselves, and they really wanted everyone to have a successful hunt. At noon, we had the safety briefing, and drew for blinds. The way that it is set up, the park staff drops everyone off at their blinds, and that is where you stay until the agreed upon pick up time, you are not supposed to move more than 100 yards of the blind, so you don't move into anyone else's area by mistake. This hunt was muzzle loader and shotgun only - Helpful hint for the muzzle hunters, they have you discharge your rifle prior to getting in the vehicle when they pick you up, so make sure and bring enough powder and lead for the entire hunt. A couple of the guys only brought 3 rounds, and the closest Walmart is about 30 miles away.
View from the blind
The first afternoon, the deer were moving, I had several does come through, but wasn't ready to tag out too early, sometimes not a good idea to be too picky when trying to fill a meat tag, but thought I would give it a little time, unless I saw a really big doe.
Did get to see a nice sunset:
Only one guy tagged out the first night, guess most of us wanted to stay on for another day. Morning came with a dense fog, but lots of movement. Heard a couple of shots from other blinds, and the shots didn't seem to bother the deer close to my blind at all, Saw several small does, and a nice 8 point that hung out and ate my corn for about 45 minutes..
About 0800 I had a group of 3 does come through, and I decided this was a good time to try and fill my tag. I flat out missed with my first shot, but the doe stood there and looked at me, maybe with the fog it was difficult for her to tell where the noise came from. Shot number 2 hit her low, she ran a few yards, and since she wasn't hit hard, I took one more shot, and was able to get in a good head shot to put her down. For some reason, all the other pictures loaded, but the one of my doe wouldn't..
When we were picked up at 1100, 4 of us had tagged out during the morning, so 5 deer for 9 hunters at that point. After checking in the deer and processing them (does weighed between 51-70 lbs field dressed), the 4 that hadn't filled tags headed back out to the stands. Everyone pitched in and helped with cleaning and packing coolers, and I hit the road for home. I got my timing wrong, and hit Houston right at 1600, made it home about dinner time.
Again, the park staff were outstanding, the draw hunt system allowed me a chance to hunt this year, and I got some meat for the freezer. Hopefully I will get a chance to to it again next year. Thanks again to everyone for the helpful hints!!
