Just got back, was there last week. I'm headed back at the end of next week, Dec 9th. Had to get a little break from the drive.

I'm law enforcement. I have access to and do receive a good bit of intelligence from the border. I've also hunted for the past few years within 20 miles of the border. I plan to again as soon as humanly and financially possible.

Here's the deal. The cartels do not want negative press in the US. Remember the media poop storm that came from the innocent that was killed on Lake Falcon? Stuff like that brings way too much heat on the cartels and they don't want it.

The vast majority of those killed and kidnapped by the cartels were done so because they crossed the cartel or owe an unpaid debt. There's no financial gain to harrass, kidnap or kill hunters that have nothing to do with the drug trade.

With that said, like any cornered animal, they will fight viciously. Therefore, the best course of action is to avoid them.

Remember that many of these cartel members are militarily trained. A deer blind in the brush country is obvious from a long way off. Chances are they'd be aware of you before you were aware of them. If coming under attack, I'd expect an obvious frontal attack, followed by a covert flanking attack.

They'd probably have greater numbers and firepower. My course of action would be to abandon the obvious deer blind and hide in the brush. I'd come up with an escape plan for that location long before ever having the need for one.

With that said, other simple precautions can be taken. Leave camp lights on at night. Do not leave firearms in vehicles. Bring them inside with you. I'd rather barricade myself inside with firearms by my side then allow them access to them. Finally lock your vehicles and don't leave the keys in them.

If you do have to engage them in a firefight, my course of action would be to shoot and move. Don't stay in one spot too long and try to out distance them and loose them in brush.

With all of that said, I've never had any issues much less even seen hide nor hair of illegals or smugglers. Preparation is your best defense.

You would think that would have been on the news.

LandPirate you just made the most perfect case for not going down there. If I need plan an escape route from my blind in case of a frontal and flanking attack, I need to escape to another part of texas and hunt there.

Your missing the point...it just adds to the excitement of it all. Hell, they charge more down there for that reason. Where else in Texas can you go and not know if you are hunting or the hunted

what are we supposed to do tuck our tails and not hunt the land that we have owned and hunted for a half a century? I don't know about you but I wasn't raised that way?

I regularly go to Colombia and Mexico for business. Sounds like my kinda place.

I'm with Chuck frontal, flanking , escape plan. I'm too old and fat for a stick and move

Maybe one day we will have someone in office that has the balls to do something about the problem.

You are right the person in office is the problem. We are fighting a war half way around the world but wont protect our back yard.

15,000 were killed in Mexico in 2010...Not Texas.

I have a lease down there and we specifically cut fire lanes so that in the event of frontal and flanking cartel techniques, I just bust out my flamethrower and burn the whole place down. Well, at least to the fire breaks.

I also set out a ton of landmines, so you have to keep the map on you and be really careful when tracking wounded animals. Can be really funny when one of the cows "finds" one.

Heck, with any luck so many folks will be so scared to hunt down south that the prices will come down. I'm hoping all the rich city boys get scared back to Houston, San Antone and Dallas.

Nothing like some military strategy and manuevers to make hunting a little more interesting. You boys have no sense of adventure. LOL.

On a serious note, if we brought our troops home and just said screw it and sent them into Mexico to take out the cartels, how long do you think it would take them?

I think I'd be for that.

Landmines!!!

That gives me an idea. I'll plant Tannerite along trails and senderos, in strategic locations. I'll wrap 'em with screws, ball bearings, nuts, bolts, nails, etc. Then when they come sneakin' up on me I'll shoot the Tannerite and frag the heck out of the whole bunch. I gotta get to work.

If we occupied Mexico and poured as much money into that country as we have into Iraq and Ashcanistan we'd have Americans trying to sneak into Mexico for jobs.

hunted in mexico and south texas for years, up until a few years ago,and have had access to places down their on guest hunts and just hanging out on a place a friend owns.

it has become a different situation with the drug mules for sure and they are usually a little easier to identify. atleast the one's i had an encounter with, for one they spoke good english and had nicer clothes on than i did and real nice watches. unless they were college students trying to see what an illegals life was like. We ran them off.

i don't go down to certain parts with out a group of people, and when heading out in the field i have a side arm on me. i have a buddy that just recently had a stand off with either illegals or mules he doesn't know,and he has hunted this ranch for atleast 20 years so he's had encounters with illegals before. This group of 3 approached he told them to stop and asked what they needed. Well they kept approaching and then 2 of them seperated flanking him in the brush while one kept approaching. At this point he drew his side arm and kept backing up to get back to his vehicle, while watching the other two flank him on both sides of the brush. This is a man that has 3 tours in Vietnam and highly trained and decorated. And this shook him up a little.

I love hunting down there and Mexico, and my dad still goes with his buddy to the place he owns outside Acuna(i think they pretend they are Indian Jones and get a rush out of it) there like drug addicts they can convince themselves of anything. Ohh it's safe were we go, just so they can kill a monster buck. And they have actually had less problems down there than we did back in the 80's when we hunted all together outside Hidalgo. But back then the game wardens/federales/policia/guides/el jefe's just wanted the hunters to pay a tax and if it wasn't for the machine guns and language barrier the stiff arming would probably of been less intimidating. Once you cooked them some food the usually were real friendly.

In around 2000 my dad actually gave a bunch of Mexican drug enforcement/soldiers a ride back to the road. He was a little freaked since he was down their by his self when they stepped out of the brush, but these guys were actually trying to make a difference by taking on the cartels or they were on patrol for the local cartel checking out the grengo's leasing the place next to them who knows.

and to clarify i would hunt in south texas in a new york minute if i could afford it, just with a little more awarness of my surroundings of course. more than likely you will have a run in with an illegal and not a mule/cartel/soldier. and they will try to avoid you at all costs. they don't want to draw attention to themselves. to this day the worst encounter out in the field i've ever heard of was in the hill country with some guys who were protecting somthing and did not want anyone around. The guy was a veteran fire fighter and had hunted this place for a while and thinks it was the ranch owners son who was up to no good. He went out to hunt during the middle of the week. When he saw headlights around were he parked his fourwheeler. Then he saw them hunting for him, he ran for his life all night and his dog's life. i don't remember all the details but it sounds like this person on that ranch did not expect anyone to be there and the cops never found who it was. i heard this story from him about 5 years ago and he was still visibly shook up telling it. So it can happen anywhere I guess.

Get over it guys it is not that bad. I call BS on it all this stuff sh-t happens all over the USA. I would rather come accross a wetback or the cartels. It would be better then coming across some of the people I have seen in some areas of Houston or San Antonio. We had wetbacks go across most of the places I have hunted and I had my crosshairs on them way before they could have shot at me. I go to Laredo, Zapata, McAllen and Brownsville alot and never had one problem. Is it safe no but I carry guns and know how to use them.

Everyone gets their opinion I guess, call it what you want...

Yeah I hear a lot of " a guy I know " "my sisters friend " " my buddies second cousin " any first hand, bad experiences hunting on the Texas side of the border?

Would be nice to have some claymores to string in the trees....

I'm just sayin'.....

i was a guest a few times down in eagle pass, 2 years ago on 15000 acres 2 miles from the border. they have the occasional illegal on the game cams and they have seen a few while hunting, but its been that way for years. these guys are still on the lease and none seem to be too concerned. They did give me a bit of advise while in the stand. if i saw any illegals with back packs, to try not to be seen, as backpacks = drugs, and they may not just be looking for water

My dads land in on the river. The good thing is that the Mexico side has a 250 foot cliff , and the U.S. side has a 50 foot cliff. Not the best place to cross.

Will that work for the hog problem also???