Which Texas draw hunt is your favorite?

Just wondering what is everyone’s favorite hunts to put in for. So far I’ve put in for the powderhorn exotic hunt and The dam B alligator hunt. I’ve never been drawn for anything so I’m gonna apply for more hunts but I’m just kind leery about it because I’ve heard mostly stories of not seeing any animals and being unprepared because of not knowing what to expect.

The mulie hunts out west, I haven't been back since I was a kid when we spent a week hiking the Big Bend.

Mine was Yoakum Dunes Mule Deer hunt I was drawn on and still put in for almost all the mule deer hunts every year. Probably won't get drawn again for general season mule deer or whitetail in my lifetime. Still have hope for an archery draw since it has been 24 yrs now.

Applied for the first time this year. Quail hunt on private ranch in the panhandle.

. I liked taking my kids on youth hunts when they were under 18 years old. Having your kids enjoy the outdoors whether its hunting or fishing really makes me happy. It doesn't matter if its a deer hunt or hog hunt. I enjoyed them all!

Its hard to say because they have all been unique. I guess Matador was my favorite because of the experience with my family hunting there. The more I hunt the more I realize its about the memories with family and friends rather than the hunt itself thats special, at least for me.

My favorite was chasing pronghorn up at Rita Blanca. Used a black angus cow decoy to get up close. I was expecting to see a ton of animals like you see in Wy from the highway, but they were sparse & spread far apart. Took some huntin' to find them. Had to steer clear of the prairie dogs due to the plague, but definitely had a blast in that wide open country where you can see forever.

This is one of the hunts that I really want to try but I’m intimidated by it because I don’t have any antelope hunting experience and I don’t know anyone who does if I actually got drawn for it. I would definitely be looking for a black angus cow decoy if I did get drawn.

Man this is a tough question. I had so much fun on so many hunts that I don’t really have an answer, but I really want to hunt the powder horn.

You will be fine. It’s very simple, use your bino’s to glass, watch your wind when stalking, and dont be afraid to get aggressive. They are fun to hunt, but not overly spooky

I have been lucky enough to hunt Chaparral, Matador, Palo Duro, Caprock Canyon, Choke Canyon, and Mason Mountain. All have been great hunts, and the people employed by TPWD have been some of the finest I have ever experienced. I would add that I hope some day to get a chance at Powderhorn or Yoakum Dunes!!!!!

I have only been picked for 3 so I dont have much to offer as far as favorites. I was picked for Inks lake doe hunt. It was OK. The blind was 5 star, the guy that drove me to the blind was a douche and I shot my limit the first day. They didnt have any hogs around so I only hunted one night. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars

The next pick was a javalina hunt at the chap. Never saw an animal at all. No deer no pigs no javalina. 0 out of 5 stars

The next was Trinity river NWA. It was a deer hunt and you were allowed like 4 or 5 deer. But of course never saw a single deer or even tracks however the place had more hogs than I have ever seen. I love hunting hogs and it was so easy it was a slaughter. 5 out of 5 stars.

There are plenty of hunts that I would love to be picked for but no luck so far. maybe this year.

Thats all I got!!!

My favorite is the ones I draw!!!
Been drawn for a lot of hunts. Devils River was a fun archery hunt for exotics. Missed a aoudad and killed a nanny of some sort. Local GW and guy running the hunt couldn’t tell me what it was. They said probably a cross.
Got to bow hunt the Chap and being a east Texas guy, this was a fun hunt as well, even though I came home empty handed.

Loved my Devils River hunt. It was like going to the arcade at Coney Island. I can remover finding a group of 14 Audads on a slope. Nailed one and about 35 ran off.

I got drawn 2 yrs ago for Javelina at the chap. I shot 2 hogs first evening, seen a bunch of deer to include a couple nice bucks, a big bobcat but never did see a Javelina. Still had fun though, I think it would be worth it to give it a second chance.

Any the kids were drawn on, especially the Chaparral youth hunt, 2 of them killed some great deer and their first bucks. Daughtery was a hard turkey hunt, didn't see or hear any. Garner was a bad exotic hunt the year we went. We had 2 spots drawn but they would only let us hunt one because I was the only adult to be with my boys (I didn't realize I could have asked to bring another adult). The pop up we hunted was too small for 3 of us and we could see about 40 yards in any direction because of the cedars. Saw zero deer or axis until we came back to camp and then they were everywhere.

South Llano and Mason Mt. were pretty good. I think my daughter got lucky at Balcones and shot a little hill country buck, we saw 3 WT total throughout the hunt. We've been drawn for an e-postcard hunt for waterfowl at Richland Creek and day 1 was a quick limit, day 2 was a little harder but fun to hunt somewhere different for a change. Hope to get drawn out west, we have applied for some now that my daughter is at Texas Tech.

What are you allowed to hunt with at Inks Lake ?

The one where I get picked. That's always my favorite hunt!
It's about BEING THERE! I start having fun, the moment i get that email "congratulations: you've been selected"

I've been on a bunch at Chaparral, Mason Mountain, Kerr, and Balcones. I had great experiences on all them but I wish it was easier to get a permit.

I forget which TV show I was watching, but guy got one with a bow. Guide used a large black umbrella to get him in bow range!

#1 favorite Lottery Hunt location has got to be South Llano River & at the other end of that spectrum would be Garner State Park. All the places I've always put in for over the 30-40 years of donating $'s to Austin have been too numerous to list but Ink's, Brownwood, Pedernales, Fairfield, Mineral Wells, Colorado Bend and a small handful of others are all I put in for this year. I always thought that at my age in the upper/mid '70's I'd have plenty of time to go visit all the SP places I never got to see with a gun in hand ...It has Surprised me bigtime when there is NO TIME left so ya'll don't make my mistake and PLAN for where you want to go EVERY YEAR and go see these possible places BEFORE you might wanna Hunt there.

I am jealous beyond belief of my youngest 48 year old son ...he spent 6 months planning a 3+week road trip vacation starting in Rio River & ABQ, then Santa Fe then a 5 day camping session in the Sand Dunes, then north to Grand Junction, north again to Cheyenne, then south to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, down to Winter Park, down thru Berthoud Pass to I-70 that was gravel and not fully paved the last time we went up there headed back then to Estes 40+ years ago and east to the Flat Irons near Boulder and home to Frisco....and took 900 photo's...took all day to see all the pics...He for sure has inherited my wanderlust.
Ron

Either South Llano antlerless or Yoakum Dunes mule deer. I have been on a lot of hunts and I can't say I didn't enjoy any of them even the ones where I got skunked.

I’ve only drawn Mason Mountain Management, years back. A buddy and I killed 6 deer, 4 does and two 6 points. It was a great time. The bunkhouse we stayed in was awesome.The deer were very small though. I had one big Fisher county buck in a cooler from the weekend before and there was more meat on that deer than the three hill country deer put together.

Years ago I hunted Lake Mineral Well's a couple times and always brought home something. Hunted there 2 years ago and it's totally changed with a new group of super nice hardworking people running the place...unfortunately they have totally changed the blind locations so they don't have to go thru where the locked gates had been when there was still live ammo in the ground at that time, to get back into the sandstone rocky ridges where the critters lived. One of the largest WT's I ever saw pulled a sneak on me then spooked on me at 50-60 feet buried up in a humongeous pile of brush & jumped back over the private property fence back to where he came from on the far east side of the Park. No blinds on Park Property over there anymore either I was told 2 years ago. Seems that pasture has been leased out to a local cattle rancher.

The last year I hunted there I did put one down adjacent to one of the locked gate areas, drug him out to the road underneath the rocky over hang, where I was sitting behind a makeshift blind and 10 minutes before Pickup time I popped a doe and had her unzipped by the time the truck showed up 15-20 minutes later.

Despite getting totally see nothing & totally skunked 2 years ago I still put in for the Park this year, even after having a group of outsiders from an adjacent public park jump the common fence line and have family groups of men women & kiddo's wander around my area until I finally got out of the blind in waist up Hunter Orange did they ever finally react and haul arse...but it ruined my hunt that last day to hunt, with all the coming and going of vehicle traffic on their side of the fence about 150 yards away.
Already had the drawing and I didn't get drawn here again for the 2nd year in a row. Oh well, what else is new in this game.
Ron