Hello my fellow Texas hunters,

I was hoping to gain some insight on public hunting locations.. I had an awesome private land spot here in Lamar county where I was fortunate to take a decent 17 inch wide 7 point and a big mature doe, which both deer were harvested with a bow. Unfortunately the person that let me hunt has sold the land and the new owner is not to fond of hunters so I've had to kiss that piece of paradise goodbye so it's looking like I'm hunting the public lands next year unless I have something else come up.. anyways the two closest pieces of pubic areas near me are Pat Mayes WMA and Cooper WMA, I would appreciate some insight on which one would be the better one to hunt so that way I can get my scouting in this winter and make my preparations for next season.. I'm not asking for anyone's secret spot or anything I'm just trying get an Idea of which public piece would be better

Both Cooper and Pat Mayse only allow deer hunting through the draw system. You better apply next year in the the drawing if you plan on hunting there. Good luck.

Erny, this is if you are wanting to gun hunt, Archery hunters can hunt the majority of the season out there except on the dates of drawn hunts

If not mistaken Cooper has or had archery deer hunts... Two different pages, different sections... Have seen several deer, 1 nice buck, it had me pegged down, wasn't able ta draw bow back... They may have changed it...
& ta HF

I just looked it up and your right. They are open for bow hunting a significant amount of time with just an annual hunting permit.

When was the last time you hunted at Cooper colt.45?

It's been several years... Have hunte d several WMA, carry a GPS with & pen & pocket size note pad ta write down cordenance of sightings, bedding, rubs, scraps & other... When back at house, match up info on my TOPO USA ... seen two nice bucks, the other was easing along shore, found buck tracks, they lead up little low spot back inta woods, & seen a nice buck 50+ yards edge woods...
Usually use the hog hunts after deer season ta do scouting....Everything still thar, rubs, scraps, can find trails also... Best Wishes...

I appreciate the tip Colt.45! Best wishes to you as well!

Bois d' Arc Creek section of the Caddo National grasslands has good potential for deer & hogs. It's the northeast section on the map. There's a campground/parking area & the creek is to the west about 1.5 miles. A bit of a walk but it can pay off. Plus you can use rifles there. Good luck.

i may make my first public land hunt(thats not for ducks) up to Caddo in the next few weeks.
looking for pigs but if anything else i need to get out in the woods again.

miss my hunts at Sabine... Safe hunting....

Lots of hogs up at Caddo M Wilson, that whole county itself is infested with pigs

I've turned down private deals simply because there are so many great public places. You should also look into corps of engineers, I've seen more deer there than I've paid to see elsewhere. They're mostly archery only but I prefer that anyways. (especially with other hunters in the area with varying degrees of marksmanship)

mattm I used to hunt the corps of engineers land on texoma on the Texas side a bunch, always saw lots of sign of deer and got pictures of some really good bucks but was never able to seal the deal on anything because everything was so nocturnal but I'd still hunt that place and may even make a trip over there sometime during the rut when the bucks are a little goofy and not as cautious next season. Pat Mayes has quite a bit of corps land as well and I'm even thinking about bow hunting that some next year

A friend of mine hunts Texoma and usually does pretty well. He hunts practically every day though.

Unlike prívate & leased land, No Baiting during deer hunting on public land... Couple allow baiting during certain parts of hog hunts... OSBWMA has good acorn crops in areas, have sat in climber & had several deer browsing just out of bow range, next day move climber over ta that area only ta have deer browse under tree was in day before...
Its archery only for the $48.00 permit deer hunts & that equals less deer taken, were as two full months of gun season in rest of Smith County...
Does Caddo M Wilson have gun hog hunts ? Sabine has 3 months after deer season & the squirrel-hog hunts in May ta keep numbers down... Have hunted it ever since it opened up ta publuc... Over years seen more deer & less hogs...
Best wishes...

Look at lake Whitney, it is a great place to hunt.

Heard a lot about that lake Gray_Ghost9 a little to far out for me though! Gonna be out at Pat Mayes WMA! It seems like a good challenge for a bowhunter like me