I'm a newbie to hunting WMAs but plan on giving some of them a try this year. anybody ever done any duck hunting in SHNF?

Galveston Bay of course! galvestoninshorefishing.com

nothing against SHNF, have U tried lake Cooper, lake Tawakinee they little closer & have seen ducks on both

THE FIRST FEW DUCKS HAVE STARTED TO ARRIVE. SAW A FEW FLOCKS IN UPPER GALV BAY TODAY. FALL IS ON ITS WAY AND GREAT FISHING OF COURSE. FUNNY HOW THE BAYS KIND OF CLEAR OUT OF PEOPLE DURING THE BEST SEASON OF THE YEAR BECAUSE ALL THE HUNTERS ARE IN THE WOODS. I GUESS THAT IS WHY I HAVE NEVER HUNTED BEFORE. THE FISHING IS JUST TOO DARN GOOD IN NOVEMBER.

SORRY i KNOW NOTHING ABOUT DUCK HUNTING OR WHERE TO GO SO NOT TRYING TO HIJACK THE THREAD.

JUST KEEPING IT GOING

shhh, lower your typing your scaring away the ducks. ps, U need some one ta ride shotgun on your boat, sounds like U seeing more ducks than here

tHEY ARE MOSTLY THOSE SMALL BLACK DUCKS THAT EVERYONE HATES. I FORGET THEIR NAMES. COOTS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

WE ACTUALLY HAD ONE FOLLOWING THE BOAT ON SATURDAY. IT WAS BLOWING 25 MPH DOWN IN GALV AND THIS DUCK JUST STAYED RIGHT BEHIND THE BOAT WITHIN 4 TO 5 YARDS. I TRIED FEEDING HIM SOME SHRIMP BUT HE DIDNT WANT IT. JUST FOLLOWED US FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES. I COULD HAVE SHOT HIM WITH MY 45 HE WAS SO CLOSE!!

Be careful that any pipelines or power lines aren't part of the main hiking trails. It is illegal to hunt within a 150 yards of a designated main hiking trail. The game wardens will gladly give you a financial encentive to not do it again if they catch you with a loaded gun on or near one of those trails or a road.
Get an official National Forest map and be careful where you hunt.

Good luck!

Well before you go, study these rules along with the rules in the APH book. It could save you a lot of money or even your hunting license.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5426745.pdf

So that link says there is a WMA and a general forest sections. Or did I read that wrong? just wondering if im only allowed to hunt the WMA sections APH book???? Or is can I hunt other places? sometimes wording on rules can be so sketchy

I'm going to give them a call tomorrow. I don't think any question I could ask would be a dumb one when I comes to me getting a ticket. Nobody likes those things!!

Your APH handbook shows the huntable sections by shading them. If it isnt shaded it isnt huntable . Should be fairly straight forward. But it never hurts to ask the wardens and rangers about rules.

I think he meant that hunting the pipeline is a no-no unless you are at least 150 yards off of it and that is true. The pipeline is like a trail for hikers so it is not huntable but it gets you back in the woods quickly before walking in the woods. That was my actual meaning.

Got ya!!

if ya sit on or close ta trails for people moving in & out of de woods, ya may see more people, dan wildlife. & most of sign ya may see tis done at night, yes thar tis exceptions. best wishes

I agree about the animals being on the pipelines at night. But you can definitely find areas that hold game and areas that dont. Lots of tracks and you are in the right area. No tracks and no game. I have never seen any animals on the pipelines in daylight hours and I have spent a lot of time on them. But it definitely showed me areas that I needed to explore and not explore.

You can hunt the general forest and the WMA sections both. It's just the rules change depending on where you are. You also need to buy the $48 Annual Public Hunting Permit to hunt the WMA sections, but not the general forest.
It can be confusing. That's why it's very important to know the rules for both, and to know where you are while hunting. The best thing to do at first, is pick an area and just get to know the rules in that area. As the years go by, you expand the areas you hunt and get to know the rules as you go.

I think this is really good advice!

getting itchy!!! 3 more weeks and it will be blasting time. Reading the posts on TX bowhunter it looks like the deer are moving at night right now with all of this heat. Ought to be cooler by November and hopefully I will have my new stock for my rifle in time.

Anybody know how crowded it typically is during the first week during the weekdays?

Maybe if I quit thinking about it the time will fly by! But I doubt it!

here before de fullmoon hit deer were moving sprodic, one day had buck doe in morning, then a fawn just outa spots hitting min, lick round noon, then doe later in evening. just gotta be out thar. best wishes

Too hot to be out there with too many snakes and skeeters and tics. I will wait till its nice and cool and then go for a few days at a time huntin and campin!!! Then fishin on the weekends!

U had chance ta get down ta SHNF any luck.

You have to go to texas bowhunter to get up to date and current info on what is going on in the SAM. I am still waiting on the skeets and chiggers to disappear before heading in the forest. But I am getting an itchy trigger finger.

they quiet bout public hunting here on THF gives ya de culd shoulder tried ta get a muzzy hunt going last year. silence, can understand their point of view. hope ya see some deer down at uncle Sam's Tip me hat ta the bowhunters have enjoyed many a hours at OSBWMA during archery hunts. wish twas thar now.. cooler weather setting in things be moving

May have to just do a pig hunt/deer scouting session with this nice weather. Still having problems though getting my rifle sighted in with my new scope. AArrgghh!! I guess I could use my very accurate AR which is my secondary pig huntin gun but I would rather use a 308. Oh well I guess the fun of having guns is figuring out whats makes them shoot better or worse. I am ready to just get out in dem dar woulds you be always talkin about in yer backyerd colt!! Hope i be seein ye thar sometime!

tis wee bit furder north than uncle Sam's that ya catch me wondering about the woods. OSBWMA. switch cain, palmedda's. it been thinned out, still think theirs some close ta the 300# size, didn't pull trigger on last one seen. twas bad day, me pard like ta make me walk home, he big enough ta carry me & hog out. lot of great memmories . weather here has cooled. did get hit by one mosketoe taday. U ever show up round here, would be my pleasure ta go on hunt. have taken several hogs with piierete AR-15 .223 keep shot close range. if ever get money, always wanted ta do off shore fishing. best wishes

Just got back from a scouting trip this past Sunday to SHNF area around Phelps and Four Notch RD, all i can say is WOW it is THICK and most of the roads dont have a marker of any kind. Thank goodness i had a GPS cause it is a hard area to scout. Did see a small 6 pt with two does and a lone yearling while driving around. Having never been to the area, cant tell you how invaluable scouting was to get the lay of the land. Got lucky and scored an antler-less/doe permit for rifle this year and want to make the most of it, so if anyone is willing to share info; send some my way. I will be going back in a couple weeks and will provide info as i can. On a side note for Bigfoot, hiked all around for about 5 hrs in the woods without bug spray and only got 3 mosquito bits and not one chigger!