I have 23 points for Gun Deer Either Sex , I put in for Chapparral every year and luckily I have been able to hunt it three times in the last twenty years . I was actually drawn twice once for gun deer either sex and once for a management hunt, the third time I was able to hunt was on standby. I was looking for a alternative with better odds. You guys have any suggestions on areas with big deer. I am happy with having a decent chance at a high 130 in deer or 140 inch deer as long as it’s mature. I actually took a low scoring buck 127 inches on my first Chapparral hunt but he was very unique and chocolate antlers with good mass . I am also intrigued by some of the other areas like powderhorn or llano because of the chance at exotics. What do you guys think?

23 point in 20 years? Didn't it reset when you were drawn?

Yes you are correct so I was drawn 23 years ago and have never been drawn again for the gun deer either sex hunt. The other drawn hunts was a management hunt and I took a nice 7 point, and then I got picked on a standby hunt which I had a big buck at about a hundred yards but his right side was almost completely broke off so I went home empty handed.

There are plenty of WMA that have some really nice Deer, but very few produce as many consistently as the Chap. Any hunt that is know to have exotics will be hard to draw maybe even worse than the Chap. Not much help but I would keep trying the Chap.

I have seen bucks on other places that would put Chap to shame. Those are the places I put in for. Good luck in your search!!!

The Manager that started and lived on the Chap was there 32 years; he never was drawn for the hunt. Five years ago this season, I was drawn for the buck hunt. I think I had 30 points. In the scheme of things, you must remember that a lot of people have as many or more points than you in the Texas draw system.

The best way to really cut down the odds is to show up for a standby position. You will take your odds from 1:189 (last year), to about 1:15~25 on a typical year. The year of my hunt there was a 175 standby hunters for 10 permits and when it came down to the closing, four guys didn't show up so that added four more permits to the draw.