I am curious if anyone has had an experience hunting this area. I was drawn for the first archery hunt.

I've never been but was also drawn! I got the Archery only hunt November 17th-21st!

You?

So all mine say pending secondary draw. Whats that mean?

Scout early as much as you can. Wear snake leggings -- not a lot of snakes but they are big. If it is warm they will be out before daybreak. Lots of hunters, they used to take bikes to travel around. Also, you can't drive to your animal. Some hunters take a wheelbarrow to get their game out. A lot of thick brush interspersed with prairie. Take bug gear so you can sit still--the gnats can be godawful. Be ready of mud. Atascosa means mud. One of the funniest things I ever observed on the refuge was two hunters who had wandered into a muddy area when they entered before daybreak. As the sun came up they realized they were knee deep in mud in the middle of flat about 600 yards wide. They had to crawl. Nilgai are down because the refuge was forced to shoot a lot by USDA because of the cattle fever tick.

Navasot,

That means you weren't selected but they will have a secondary drawing to backfill spots available "if" someone who was selected doesn't pay their permit fee. They have 10 days to pay the fee, if anyone doesn't pay, they will hold a secondary drawing the day after the payment deadline.

More than likely, you won't be selected if you get a Pending 2nd draw notification. But there is still a sliver of hope.

Bummer man. But still better than a straight up "Not Selected"!

lol that's usually what I get!


feels like a maybe on the lottery

That made me laugh Navasot!

The advice about scouting is everything especially in light of the limited access, be prepared to walk. You read a lot about public hunters missing opportunities because they didn't hunt near the access points, that won't apply here. The cover is light in South Texas, and the main road is a parking lot.

Successful hunters are those that have put in the time scouting and are ready to go the distance both physically and staying the full hunt. The term "National Wildlife Refuge" is a bit misleading as this will be a hard hunt, no different than hunting one of the National Forests or Grasslands in Texas. I chuckled at the topic title "wildlife park".

Another note is that the NWR doesn't apply their hunter quote to a harvest quota like the State's WMAs. The NWR is simply maximizing the hunter days with hunters at a level the managers fill safe with (hunters/acre). In other words, the number of hunter spots offered and bag limits do not reflect anything about the animals present. They are simply generating hunter opportunity.

The above sounds negative but it is what it is as I want those new to the Refuge to be prepped for a hard hunt. Nothing is going to fall in your lap. I've hunted the Refuge since the '70s with some success and it isn't the hardest hunt I've been on, that would be the Aransas NWR, but it is second place. Stick it out and figure it out. If not for this time, the next.

Maybe a topic can be opened with reports from you guys that have been selected and please take and post pictures of the "kill" board. This really identifies the areas that are producing the best results and would be helpful to hunters that follow.

Oh, no one mentioned the gators. There are a lot of narrow canals cut to direct water to areas that have been made into wetlands. Be very careful crossing these as they are narrow but very deep. Gators use them to navigate the Refuge. I was jumping a canal to get to hunting spot, planned on taking a critter out the long way, but then hunted in a dry year and at 6'3" I would have disappeared in that canal. The banks had also been undercut by the gators. Gave me the willies looking at it all dried out.

Just dropping this here in case y'all want to collaborate with us.

My group was drawn for the first Archery Hunt. November 17th-21st

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6883969/Laguna_Atascosa_NWR#Post6883969