Hey guys,

Its been a while since I last posted but i do lurk on occasion and Im always surprised by the knowledge of those on the board. Hoping that the knowledge continues into this post.

Question 1: Does anybody know of a decent public hunt place for mulies, specifically for a hunter who doesn't care about antler size and is happy to take home a doe? I'm north of Houston and we obviously dont have mule deer anywhere near me, but I would love to do a spot and stalk on a muley just because Ive always wanted to. Antler size is a complete non issue for me, and to be honest I would rather shoot a doe, but I really have no idea where a good place to start would be. Ive checked TPW website but they really dont have any information for general locations that have a high doe success rate.

Question 2: My son who just turned 13, finally had the hunting bug bite him square in the arse. I was unsuccessful getting him on a deer this year and he's kinda down about it so I am trying to find him a place to do a management buck or doe hunt. I realize it will have to be private land somewhere because Deer season has ended, so if anybody has a good suggestion please chime in and put your suggestion on the web.

Thanks for any and all information guys, I appreciate it.

Answer 1) not in Texas. Yes there are a few but if you want the true experience and to be able to see some good numbers I would look at Colorado, or New Mexico.

Answer 2) I would look into an axis or blackbuck doe hunt with a guide on this forum. You will be well taken care of and your boy will have a great time. White tail deer season is over for most private land hunters as well. Unless the property is part of the managed lands program.

Look into South Texas Hunting Outfitters, he has properties down in south Texas so he might have a last minute opening for a white tail hunt. He is really starting to advertise his hog/javelina hunts and then he also offers exotic hunts.

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I appreciate it.

Don’t discount the Texas Parks and wildlife youth public draw options. It’s your Land and youth draw odds are good.

TPWD yute hunts are a good thing; you can put in for 3 different hunts at the state parks, another
hunt on federal wildlife land north of Austin, and other postcard hunts for other TPWD wildlife managment areas.

in 4 years, each of my boys got drawn for a state park hunt, got drawn on standby for another and
got drawn for a WMA & Federal land hunt.

the results of this years hunts should be out after May; peruse those to judge what to put in for.
best thing is they're free to the youth. It's worth it for the effort.

you can also put in for yourself ($80) & take him if you get drawn, although YOU will be the hunter, not him;
i enjoy being in the stand in any case.

I'd look in Craigslist (SA & Austin) for axis hunts, but it won't be cheap

good luck

Definitely enter your son in TPWD Public Youth hunts. They open up for entries in the summer and there are many good hunting opportunities for youth and it doesn't cost anything to enter a youth. Start entering him in for the youth mule deer hunts also as they are fairly hard to draw but you get loyalty points for entering. I had the opportunity to take my son on one of the TPWD youth mule deer hunts and it was one of the most memorable hunts I have ever been on with my son.

Get your son into the Texas Youth Hunting program. You won't regret it. Great hunts for kids.

GREAT information guys, Ill get him into the Texas Youth Hunting program and go from there. As always, a wealth of information, I appreciate it!

For now, if you look or ask you should be able to get him a doe now $150 to $200. On FB hunts pop up for pop control hunts. Some here to in the Outfitter section. Post what you want there.

Find somebody with lamps tags, easy, the season aint over

I’m not aware of any MD doe tags on Texas public land, unless there are some for the youth drawn hunts. If you’re willing to drive14hrs, there is a place you can try that does have some mule deer, but numbers are tremdously low, effort would be seriously high, and the only time I saw a big mule deer, I hiked 18 miles on foot. I was thankful that I had already filled my MD tag on private land, as there was really no way I would have been able to get him packed out of there in fewer than three trips, which may have taken three days to make.

If you’re going to drive 14hrs and hunt for 3-5 days, I would HIGHLY recommend trying to draw a tag in NM or CO. As a percentage of the cost of a trip it’s almost free. It would be a different story if you lived within an hour of MD country, but for the gasoline and drive time, you’ll want to stay for more than the weekend, which means time off work and possibly lodging. It’ll make an out of state tag for good hunting seem cheap compared to spending all that money to not see deer.

Thanks again for the heads up guys, I appreciate it.