Twin Buttes PHL

Anyone ever do walk-in hunts at this place near San Angelo? I haven't been there but I have an itch to shoot a javelina this year, and Twin Buttes seems to be the only public land in the state where you can do a walk-in firearm hunt (shotgun/slugs only) for a javelina. Any info would be appreciated.

I have not, but I plan on scouting it this month and, if all goes well, making a couple of trips during archery season in October. I'll let you know how things go.

I was out there yesterday for a combination scouting trip/dove hunt. I went to two different entries, the one off of 2166 and the southernmost one off of Hwy 67. There are designated roads through the area, but to go deep in, especially off of 67, you will want a 4x4. Several parts of the road are tough to get through and would be worse if wet. The road in off of 2166 is flatter, but that area is thicker with vegetation and I didn't walk around much there. One note -- hunter orange is required for all firearms hunts, including dove.

I scouted widely in the west end of the area. I crossed the river and climbed to a plateau where there was field after field of cactus. I didn't see any javelina, but they would be well-fed on all the prickly pear. I spooked three does. In the afternoon I set up in a clearing to hunt with decoys and came out with three doves. There still are plenty of doves out there. Plenty of hunters too, and lots of trash on the ground. I met game wardens coming in as I was driving out, and after checking my license and shotgun they commended me for actually picking up my spent shells. Apparently that has been a rare occurrence out there.

I've really been wanting to head out there. Have never been before. Any updates from archery season?

wooot Jerry's first post!!!

I made two trips to Twin Buttes this year. The first was a scouting trip. I hiked to the very back of unit 1, and it looked promising because the vegetation changes from desert to pecan and other trees with lots of shade and water. I wanted to cross onto the island in the concho river, but it was impassable without waders.

On my second trip, I hunted one of the walk-in units. On my second day a buck presented a perfect shot, except that it was out of range for me (crossbow) at 55 yards. I also saw a coyote, a fox, and several skunks that day.

I would have stayed longer, but the camping situation was very sketchy. I was camping near the boat ramp in unit 7, and pickups were driving in, meeting up, and leaving all day and even into the night. During my second day, while hunting, someome broke into my tent and stole a lantern. So, I reluctantly packed up my stuff and headed home early.

Dang Tex, sorry to hear about the thief. At least it was just a lantern, but still sucks. Would be nice to just enjoy the experience without worrying about stuff like this happening. Anyway, thanks for passing on the info. I am interested in checking out this property also, but will have to wait until next year unfortunately.

Thanks for the info. I'll be out there the weekend of Nov. 18. Still trying to decide where to go and was planning on camping but now I guess I'll have to hide my stuff.