Anybody have any info on how the Season has been so far in Palo Pinto County? Also need info on where to stay and eat in Mineral Wells. Won a Lottery Hunt in mid December and have not been up there in over 10 years.
Any insight appreciated..
Ron

4 good motels on the east side. Mesquite pit, el paseo mexican food, pulidos, plenty of fast food places. Deer movement been pretty slow. Not coming to feed at all. Some coming to wheat fields. The most acorns I have ever seen, this year.

Mebbe a month from now the acorns will begin to sour if we can get some more rain. Thanks for the info.
Ron

Deer movement is really slow . I have a few coming to feeders but most are hanging around the live oak trees. Wheats not up yet so hunting is pretty tough.

Yall keep me in your thoughts if things begin to change. I'm scheduled for the 2nd week of December at MW SP. Last time I Hunted the SP there were some blinds with good elevations that had access to areas close to Live Oak mottes with nearby "groomed" open spots that had been hand corned by Staff , and a big pasture up on the N' east side of the SP property that I'd like another run at, with Live oak mottes to the west bordering what from Google Earth that looks like the creek that feeds the lake ...and only 2 blinds up there.

One major difference from my GDA Hunt at MW SP10 years ago is Hogs. Back then there were no Hogs to speak of on the Park and now I understand hogs are every where on the propery and a ready source of being desirable bullet catchers. It'll be a pleasure to eliminate as many Porkers as possible. We got plenty hog here on the north side of Palestine just outside the Loop where homeowners are getting their yards torn up regularly. The City has hired a Professional Hog Trapper who's only had limited success and I'm told the City has llowed him to use a suppressor in some of the more dense forested areas. A neighbor who's house backs up to a creek bottom has had'en tear hsi place up twice n the last 4 weeks. The City guy killed a +200 lb'r 30 feet outside his back fence couple nights ago.and it is common to see dead hogs on the Loop almost anywhere in town...even in the middle of town sometimes, the way this town is crisscrossed with creek bottoms

Only took me 17 years this time to draw a GDE Hunt again so we'll see what the Good Lord allows and be satisfied with that,...and make sure that any shortcomings that happen are not on my end of the deal.
Ron

Gonna be out that way The weekend of Dec. 6-7 on a hunt with Lonnie Walker. Hopefully I'll have a good report when we get back!

SB I'll be looking forward to hear about your hunt that close to my Lottery Hunt scheduled date.
Ron

Hope ya'll Palo Pinto County guys got some rain out this last system. IMO the DFW weather guesser's totally called Anderson County's forecast wrong...yes ... it rained enough to wash the dust off but not enough to give my starving for a drink BIG Pine Tree's in the yard any relief. Feels really dumb to be watering the yard with the hose in late November to keep them 100-150'+ suckers from falling down for lack of Ma Natures
being fickle with the rain.
Ron

I hunt Palo Pinto county and will echo what others have said. Acorn crop is killing me this year. I see deer, but not many. Deer simply don’t need to travel. Piles of corn under feeders, etc. With that said, it’s not like I couldn’t have shot some deer. I’m just picky 😉.

As for where to stay, I’ve stayed at most of them over the years. My top 2 are Red Lion and Best Western. Red Lion is a little nicer, but Best Western will give you better pricing. If you want to stay at Best Western, call them. They’ll beat the online prices, but you have to call and ask. Knights Inn isn’t bad for an outside door motel and Days Inn is decent.

Mesquite Pit is good for food. Also recommend Pulidos and if you’ve never been to Mary’s in Strawn Alf you like chicken fried steak, you should make the drive.

Good luck.

My son had a pic of a really nice buck that was shot close to Graford.

BB'14 thanks for the insight on the Motels in MW as I'm going to be making the reservations in the next day or so and had been looking On Line at the options available.... makes your info really current.. Been eating at Mary's for a loooong time now. Have had lease's off Hwy 16 South N'East of Desdemona where the Eastland County Line makes a 45* turn in it to go north up to Thurber, way too many years ago to talk about, and always ran north on past the Interstate whenever we were out there doing something with the lease.

Hunted as a guest of one of my Houston nephews one time on the 1st property north of Mary's after you cross the creek at the Hwy 207? corner where the Ridge cuts into Hwy 16...just couldn't get a permanent spot on the Lease as the Houston Nephew's Dallas Lawyer ran the Lease and my family connections were just not a big enough deal for the Lawyer to be concerned about me to let me in on the deal. Great piece of Ground too with a big pond full of bass in the middle of it, and less than 5 miles north of Mary's. Oh well prolly was not a good thing for me to be THAT close to great grub.
Ron

I hunt west of Graford on way to PK. Lots of big deer on camera- suggesting a very healthy population compared to seasons past. Been slow since rifle opener, small bucks and does.

Even slow on hog sightings. Guessing like everyone else, lots of acorn and other food sources available in abundance.. Hopefully will see an uptick in December.

Last night my buddy on the lease said they were coming in all evening. Another on South end of ranch has a big shooter showing up in daylight the past week consistently. I remember last year, all of our success was in mid December. Good luck, it’s all time and place!

Ya'll gotta need some more RAIN to rot those acorns on the ground...I'm even gonna bring a SS rifle I've set back saving one of them "for a Rainy Day",..just trying to decide 'tween a 270 and a 7Rmg, as well as the usual old reliable M70 270 blue/wood Sporter.

Hows the hog population?

Neighbors down the street inside the city limits but backed up to a brushy undeveloped area where a City Contractor been killing +200lbr's regularly using a suppressed rifle, just outside their back fences after couple house's had acre + yards totally destroyed last month
Thanks all for the comments.
Ron

My ancient old Gateway 'puter died last week and the BH bought a "all in one" desk top ( No stand alone CPU) with a key board I cannot get used to, and everything else about it is tee totally bigtime weird strange to me.

So on this 3rd try to try and write a post...

Hope ya'll got some of that rain we had downhere last weekend...my LMW SP's Lottery Hunt starts next Tuesday thru Thursday. So ...as per usual and not to plan Tooo far ahead .... I wiped all the dust bunnies off the box and scoped up the 3+ year old NIB Marlin XL 7 SS 270 yesterday and zeroed it in and had the range all to my self ...the Marlin is about as different to me as the new 'puter ...but the M70 Sporter 270 or the M70 Fwt 7x57 - either of which I WILL NOT hunt with in the rain - is all that's left still scoped up from the last Hunt 2 years ago. The Marlin is as stiff as a bucket of starch can be but it did shoot at least Minute of Deer semi straight in the 1st 5 -10 rounds with a really nice soft trigger break and shows enough promise to plan on using it regularly this spring in preparation for next spring's planned Hog Reduction Campaign's. My buddy in Athens got more hog problems than my neighbor down the street .... and his City Approved trapper's corn baited pens are not catching anything anymore....
Ron

Monday we got right at 1/2" rain. Been getting a decent rain about every 7 to 10 days. I haven't seen a whole lot of deer, till yesterday evening. I decided to go sit in the stand after work, and about 5:20 the deer started pouring into my grain field. The most deer I have seen at a sit in over 10 years. I am usually covered up in hogs, but not too many this year. I shot a big boar opening weekend and haven't seen one since. The bucks are starting to group up again, so the rut is pretty much over. You should have no trouble getting your deer at the state park. Some very impressive antlers this year. good luck

....Umm a 1/2" of rain is Outstanding.... Thanks for the update. I'll be a happy camper when I put a decent buck on the ground...but your comment about some better than average heads being seen reminds me of the peek a boo game I had 10 years ago with a bruiser for almost an hour that had hopped the Private Land fence to the south, and did not have a Buck Permit for that GDA Hunt. We'll see what shows up and grin about it going home one way or the other. Took 17 years to draw this Permit, and doan't think I've got another 17 years left in me. May hit the range again before the Monday departure.

Re Hogs in Henderson County...Told my Athen's buddy I'd come up and slay a pile of porker's if he'd pay my bail and Court costs. He sez he's already spent more than that in rebuilding his 4 1/2 acre yard full of "Crown Top bermuda " (whatever that is) that the hogs have taken a liking to and are ignoring his neighbors regular old Wally World/Tractor Supply kinda grass and the City won't budge about NOT using a CF rifle in town, No Way No How.
Ron

The Super Quick trip to the range yesterday proved to be a confidence builder. I'd forgotten both scopes being used have adjustable paralax dials. Duoh!!...finally got the Federal blue box 130 gr'ers to hold decent mInute of deer groups so I am GTG for this trip..but both guns show a preference for WW ammo in 130's . After season I'll dig back into the reloading bench and start to burn up the supplies I brought down from Texoma in Spring of '16. All the powder is still in one of the outside storage area refrigerators, and have 6-700 270 bullets on hand, + about the same in 6.5 and 7mm's ...more than I'll ever use except for practice. The Really Good News is my shoulder is holding up better and better the more I shoot. Yesterday's range trip was my 1st time to NOT have to use a Past Pad in 13 years. I shot 28 rounds total in about an hour+ screwing around with the scopes and checking targets. Beginning to wonder if I can handle a 7Rmg's recoil hmmmm. The monster sized 3 strength levels steroid shot I got inside the joint where the collar bone meets the shoulder blade 6 weeks ago has been a blessing, and will allow me to avoid another surgery in it....so far...but I can have one every 4 months if need be for the rest of my life. Progress!!
Ron

Great news on your shoulder, Wylie. Good luck to you.

Wiley,
How was your hunt at the state park?

What "Hunt"? What a bust trip for shooting anything but the breeze... 10 guns in the field and 5 deer harvested - 2 tiny nubbin bucks , couple of young immature does and a full grown doe on Tuesday, Wednesday another decent sized young doe, and Thursday another really nice big fat doe I'd been tickled with the trip to have taken. No mature bucks or any hogs at all seen anywhere or reported to have been shot at.

FWIW These Lake Mineral Wells SP Guys are top drawer, outstandingly courteous, dedicated, professional and interested in making your hunt everything it could be ...and 'cause of that top to bottom staff wide attitude I'll go back whenever possible. They treated us like long lost kinfolks. JMHO The SP Hunt Team folks at Garner could learn a lot about Public Relations from the Lake Mineral Wells SP staff and how not to communicate their New York City style attitudes to the Lottery Hunters if nothing has changed since I was there 10 years ago....but I still will not make that trip to do anything except swim in the river and dance to the juke box on the terrace Great vacation destination...any thing else...not so much.

On Wednesday afternoon, I did have a 1st time ever anywhere in the TPW Park system incident, observing from my assigned box blind, #5, some fence jumpers from the adjacent Nat'l Guard property. Long Story Short, except for the mid afternoon intrusion, after I was observed decked out in Hunter Orange and watching them with binoculars about 300 yards inside Park Property, the 4+? vehicles of ?# of guys, and at least one adult woman and couple pre teens pulled out. My initial sighting was of the woman and one man haulin' butt in waist high grass and having trouble staying up right in the deep grass back to the Property Line fence. All the folks milled around on both sides of the fence for about an hour+ and then pulled out. Dunno where they went or cared...just Go Away. I'd been in Deep KimChee if they'd wanted to make an issue out of it though. 5+ x 1 is not goods odds in a confrontation...and don't ask me how I know that for a proven fact.
**FOR THE RECORD...at no time did I get out my assigned blind for any reason while the tress passer's were being observed on either side of the fence & at no time did I point anything at the tress passer's except a pair of 10x40 binoculars. At 4.5 x 14 x 44 my rifle scope was not enough better a piece of glass than the binocular to make it worthwhile to take that chance of starting something I could not finish successfully.
Ron