Anyone know how the hunt went this year? I had a permit and had to give it up last minute due to a work conflict. I was hoping to hear how it went. I know a few folks from here were going. Thanks in advance, John.

John as I mentioned to you in my message, both hunts were down. 6 killed on the first hunt and 5 or 6 on the second.
The weather was not great, we hunted in the rain on the 2nd hunt. Of the 6 on the first hunt, 3 were killed by the same hunter!

6 of 12 standby hunters picked on first and 5 of 10 picked on the second.

thanks for the message and pic here. That hunt looks like it may need some revamping at some point. That is a pile of people to have out in blinds for those numbers.

I have 12 archery exotic points and refuse to put in for this hunt being it is the only one in the category. GSP is run terribly.

I put in every year for the Garner hunts when they are available. I reckon 16 preference points don’t mean anything.

I have put in for many hunts and never get drawn

Reloder, it's all in the luck of the draw I guess. I drew a black gap mule deer rifle permit the first year I applied. It took me 5 years to get a gator permit drawn at Mad island and I just burned 10 pp on this garner hunt that I couldn't make. It has just become habit at this point for me. Catalog comes out and I spend about 30 bucks a year on apps. I really wish I would have thought a bit harder about this hunt and wasting my points on it. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Yep. I drew Garner in 2016 and then drew again this year. I hunted in 2016 and it was VERY slow. This year, I had to miss because of a work conflict that I couldnt reschedule. Both times I drew with less than 5 preference points.

Ya'll need to stay on top of the Hunt Mgr at Garner and see if there are any Standby Permits in either EXO or GDA's. I also have had a bad experience at Garner and wil not apply and put my 18 EXO LP's at risk of being wasted...but I was successful long time ago...ummm mebbe 8-10 years ago or so with getting a GDA Standby, and they had leftover unclaimed Standby Permits that year too for the 3rd scheduled GDA hunt that allowed Axis to be taken too. I also turned down shots on a couple WT Does, that could have have weighed about 50 lb's on the hoof and was assigned a blind in a paved camp ground next to a brick latrine with showers...and had to be super careful not to hit any of the RV support power and water systems, picnic tables or playground equipment..a real wilderness experience...and I found out they had locked the %^$#@ door on the latrine when I was dying to take a dump.Toooo many Rules for me.

Seems like I saw a thread recently about the greatly reduced #'s of Axis on the property that might be one reason nowdays for the poor kill ratios. Great place to vacation at for sure..just not a great place to participate in their Hunt Programs and expect even average success stories back in those days...can't say anything about these days in the last 5 years though.
Ron

We go to Garner about twice a year for the last 7 years, and the axis sightings have declined in those years. Used to see them every morning and evening by the ranger station, it was a pretty large herd of them. It's been a few years since I have seen an axis out there. Obviously they are there from the photos, you just don't see them as often when cruising around the park.

Last time I hunted Gatnet was 20 years ago. There were quite a few axis back than. I have been told that TPWD has been trapping them from the park. But, that is just rumor.