True. TPWD has it's on permits and they will not come off tags on your license.

Happen to me once.
Put a buddy on my archery card along with a couple more and told them all not to apply for another archery hunt. Well, that buddy had his brother in law call him up and wanted to know if he wanted to go on a archery hunt and if so, all he needed was his SS#.
Few weeks later, I get a notice of disqualification in the mail. I was pretty peed-od!!

I sent mine off today!!! First time to apply. I called TPWD for answers to my questions that way I know for sure if the answers are correct. The guy I talked to was very informative and happy to answer questions.

That is true sir.

Any animal legally taken during a Lottery Hunt will have a unique tag affixed to it by the Hunt Team, a metal strip as I remember with a special code on it from that Lottery Hunt location, indicating to whoever inspects the carcass or quartered parts for whatever reason, that it is not to be included against your Hunting License tags or Log.

When enroute to my final destination with harvested Lottery Hunt critters on board, I always keep my Lottery Hunt Acceptance letter, Signed Permit and Paid Receipts in the vehicle for any inspections by Law Enforcement Officials...trusting soul that I am. Never had a problem and never GONNA put myself in a position to have a problem if I am carrying Lottery Hunt animals...as some of the locations have very unusal harvest limits that an uninformed overly aggresive inquisitive mind might want to question more than just a roadside stop.
Just Sayin'
Ron

Have never tried for a draw hunt. But may need to give it a try next year!

Next drawing date is 9/11/13. You can access application info online if you want.

I have been putting into the drawn hunts for sover 30 years. Archery Deer hunts at Gus Engeling back when it was a September Archery Deer hunts, Various antlerless hunts, Granger Pheasant in the 1980s when they where releasing wild pheasants to try to get them to take hold there. At least 20 Alligator hunts at Murphree and one at Sea Rim. Have never not got an alligator. One that was 11 1/2 ft long from Sea Rim. Archery Deer/Exotic and antlerless at Mason Mountain where I took a nice gold medal Ibex. Caprock Canyons Exotic with a Silver Medal Aoudad. And more.

Look at the previous years draw odds and success rates. Some will be meat hunts, some will be trophy hunts that you may put in for your whole life and never get drawn, some will be difficult hunting in unique terrain. Some will be in places most hunters only dream of hunting, some will be just so-so on success and great odds of drawing, but still a quality hunt. Some play it by applying for hunts they are more likely to draw, some play it by only putting in for the most primo hunts and seldom get drawn for anything. I do hope someday my 20+ Gun Deer Either Sex PP will cash me in on a good one.

Out of all my drawn hunts there was only one that I was not completely happy with, but it was a private lands management hunt at Bee Cave and not under TPWD control, so not really any fault of TPWD. The private manager had personally shot several deer while hunting all the stands every day during the week before the TPWD hunt and in fact was late to our orientation because he was out hunting on the place. A little disappointed that he did not give it a break before our hunt, but it was his job to manage the deer population. Even that hunt I had a great time getting to hunt such a unique area in the middle of Austin, visiting with old deer hunting friends on the hunt, and some of the guys did take deer.

All in all it is a great program. I just wish they would get fair with the pricing. Out of state hunters and out of state animal rights activists screwing with the system should not be allowed to put in for these hunts at the same $3 a pop as resident hunters. We should be requiring a current year license for all or higher fees for non residents. I know I spend more in out of state application fees in some other states public hunts than a license costs in my home state.

^^Definitely agree on the non-resident stuff.

As far as my public land draw experiences, most have come from youth hunts, which was back in the late 90s/early 00s. But I have been drawn a couple times as an adult as well.

I've been muley hunting on Black Gap 3 times (all youth), twice of which I brought home a buck. The first year I got a nice 1.5 year old 4x4 with a 24" inside spread. The second, I brought home a smaller 5pt. The third year I could've shot a couple small bucks, but I let them pass. On the last day of the hunt, we saw one that we guessed was 30" wide, he was MUCH bigger than my first buck. He ended up giving us the slip. I guess that's why he got that big.

I was drawn for a doe/spike hunt at Mason Mountain, and brought home a doe. Other animals I saw but couldn't shoot was about a 140 class whitetail, several nice axis, a herd of oryx, and a gemsbok. Excellent hunt, and a beautiful place.

Went once to Lake Somerville for a hog hunt, but was unsuccessful. It was still a fun hunt though.

+2 on the out of staters. As highly populated as Texas is getting, and as many private land hunts as the out of staters have available here, they should limit out of state tags to very few, if any, for most hunt categories so that us poor middle class local yokels have a better chance. Other states do that.