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Trinity River - Brierwood - HUNT AREA MAPS #7612552 09/21/19 11:06 PM
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Trinity River - Brierwood
Number of Permits - 32
Number of Hunt Dates: 2
Number of Permits Per Hunt Date: 16
Total Area: Approximately 1,440 Acres
Min. Distance From Trails/Roads/Boundary Lines/Etc.: 100 Yards
Min. Distance Between Hunting Parties: 200 Yards

Total Legal Hunt Area: Approximately 885 Acres

The "RED" outline is the entire hunt area (Approx. 1,440 acres) Now, I've taken a map of the area and mapped the "legal" hunting area out - that is the "YELLOW" areas. By legal hunting area, I mean the area that you can actually hunt in, taking into consideration min. distance from the boundary line, trails, etc.. I do this because the map is used by my GPS so I know when I'm in the "yellow" area - just makes ensuring I'm in a legal hunt area easy smile There are basically 6 areas within the whole zone that one can legally hunt (well really 5, but I broke off that 0.5 Acre to show how small the area between the trails at the start is - because you know some lazy person is going to want to hunt as close as possible to their parking spot LOL). The size of those areas (from largest to smallest) are as follows:

733 Acres
66 Acres
65 Acres
20 Acres
0.7 Acres
0.5 Acres

Maps Attached.





Attached Files Brierwood 1.pngBrierwood 2.pngBrierwood 3.pngBrierwood 4.pngBrierwood 5.pngBrierwood 6.png
Last edited by Binary; 09/21/19 11:46 PM.
Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7612570 09/21/19 11:27 PM
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Here are a few more maps, with some distance lines added to give everyone a better idea of what kind of room there is in each area.

Attached Files Brierwood 7.pngBrierwood 8.pngBrierwood 9.pngBrierwood 10.pngBrierwood 11.pngBrierwood 12.png
Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7613240 09/22/19 10:02 PM
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Thanks for this.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7613436 09/23/19 01:39 AM
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You bet - always nice to have an idea of the size of the hunting area. The map they provide is about worthless. I'll pinpoint my hunting spots this season after I'm done and let everyone know it went. Hopefully, it'll be an area people want to go to (if they get drawn for this hunt some other year) and not one they want to avoid LOL.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7613576 09/23/19 10:54 AM
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I would reconsider telling people your spots. I'm generally pretty free with recommending spots I've used in private messages. But if you post them on here it's a good way to get that spot overloaded and ruined. Especially if a guy that doesn't know now what he's doing gets in there and ruins it for everyone. You do what you like. Like I said I'm not a super secretive guy, but I try to control the availability of the information.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7614170 09/23/19 09:38 PM
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I mean normally I wouldn't tell people my hunting spots, if it was like an open hunting area (like Sam Houston or Davey Crockett) - then every Joe Schmoe with a rifle is going to show up and I'll have to find a new spot. My thoughts on this one though were that you can't hunt it unless you win a draw and what are the odds of me winning a draw for the same area again anytime soon? I doubt they'll ever increase the number beyond the current 32 (or 10 for Mcguire, my other win) draw winners every year hunting it and odds are that I'm not going to be one of the 32 most years. So, I was kind of considering this as more of a public service announcement concerning an area that I either had luck or didn't have luck in during my draw year - you know, to kind of give the few other draw winners next year and beyond some valuable information about a place they aren't going to get to hunt often. Was just my thoughts on it. But you still make a good point, maybe I'll just keep that information in PM.


Last edited by Binary; 09/23/19 09:41 PM.
Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7614191 09/23/19 10:10 PM
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I agree with you 100%, that's why I like giving information to THF members in PM. If a guy scouts hard and finds a good spot because he put the work in and shows up to find 3 "Google warriors", that put no work in, sitting in the middle of an opening looking at facebook, it could really ruin getting a coveted tag with only 32 openings. I assume that most of the members on this website are willing to put in some work. I guarantee next year if you google "Trinity River - Brierwood" this thread will come up. Those are the people I would prefer not see the locations. I'll absolutely follow up after the hunt with some tips in this thread about the conditions, deer populations, movement, etc. I'm not sure if this will be a coveted tag, but here's hoping.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7614968 09/24/19 05:20 PM
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I spoke with the people at the refuge today to try and get some information on the hunts. They did say everything is pretty thick, so it will be difficult to find a good clearings. They also said a lot people haven't paid. I also confirmed no stand by availability or 2nd draws on these hunts. They said they anticipate less than 50% of the people that drew will show up based off of this. They said roughly only 50% of the payments have been made for the permits.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615069 09/24/19 06:58 PM
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Thick brush doesn't bother me too much, it's the wading through standing water or mud that annoys the piss out of me LOL.

But man, that is good news about people not paying for their permits. Assuming each area is equally lacking in permit purchases - it'll be closer to only 5 people hunting Mcguire (2-3 each hunt period) and 16 at Brierwood! Woot! And with the Page closed, that's basically 16 people - or around 8 during each hunt period - for an area that exceeds 3,000 acres (even though you can't technically hunt on the Page area - invisible lines don't stop deer). Hopefully, they don't all last minute pay for their permits today/tomorrow. And with no standbys... these draw wins were already looking good, but they're looking better every day - we may have scored some pretty sick draws. I mean with the tag count they are handing out for these areas, there has to be a good deer population and now fewer people hunting them... I can hardly wait another month smile

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615079 09/24/19 07:13 PM
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I agree. They said they won't give out any prior hunt statistics because they don't want tons of people calling. But it sounded like they have good deer populations. But with a lot of thick brush visibility may be tough.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: Thisisbeer] #7615205 09/24/19 09:31 PM
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That certainly sounds promising. Hopefully, the trees aren't thin little sticks - those small ones that sway back and forth in the wind scare the sh$t out of me if I get too high in the climbing tree stand. I normally limit myself to 10 - 15 ft on those twigs... if they got some nice big trees though, I'll move on up to 20 - 25 ft ...makes that brush hunting a lot easier.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615207 09/24/19 09:33 PM
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Great point. They did say there are a lot of very old hardwoods out there dropping a lot of acorns.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615211 09/24/19 09:38 PM
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Place sounds more perfect every day. If it's as good as it sounds, and with the high tag limit, I may be forced to skip Davey Crockett this year for lack of freezer space smile

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615218 09/24/19 09:44 PM
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I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Hasn't been hunted in since 2018, great location to produce good dear, and the small number of hunters. The only downside is they offer squirrel hunts before november. Hopefully they don't run anything out.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615585 09/25/19 04:16 AM
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I'm actually this "-" close to putting in for those Trinity River muzzleloader hunts and buying a muzzleloader. Almost bought one last year because I wanted to hunt in Jan. but I got too busy. I bet the odds of winning the muzzleloader hunt dates for Trinity River are pretty good.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7615656 09/25/19 11:22 AM
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I'm right there with you. I'm doing it this year. I was going to do it last year as well but life got in the way.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7618367 09/28/19 02:17 AM
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I made the decision,I'm going to give muzzleloader season a shot this year and just entered for a Trinity River - Brierwood draw.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7618388 09/28/19 02:52 AM
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Ya it was perfect timing with you bringing it up. My 9 year old just found a DIY muzzleloader kit. He was so excited I don't really have a choice but to do it now.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7642947 10/26/19 06:37 PM
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Great maps and detail in regards to the boundaries. Appreciate the time it took you. I drew the muzzleloader hunt in January. This will help a lot.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: Bullets&Broadheads] #7643083 10/26/19 10:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Bullets&Broadheads
Great maps and detail in regards to the boundaries. Appreciate the time it took you. I drew the muzzleloader hunt in January. This will help a lot.


Thanks! There are several of us on here hunting Brierwood during the general season - so should be plenty of talk about the area happening prior to your hunt. I'm in Tomball as well - should be a nice short and easy drive over to the area.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7649592 11/01/19 11:28 PM
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Well, almost that time. I can tell you from scouting this place. If you want a hog in the freezer there are plenty of them.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7673562 11/27/19 03:59 AM
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For those interested in hunting Trinity River NWR - Brierwood in the future, I thought I would provide a little update.

Brush Rating (1 - 10 scale): 5 (Average Brush - some areas with little to none and some areas a bit heavy)

Shooting Lane Rating Average (1 - 10 scale): 5 (decent shooting lanes throughout)

Shooting Lane Rating Best (1 - 10 scale): 8 (Best areas I found had great shooting lanes of >150 yards in multiple directions)

Observations: The biggest problem with this hunting area is the mud (mud boots REQUIRED). The trail loops around the place and is a 6 mile loop. The western trail is covered in standing water/mud - the eastern trail has a lot less standing water/mud but you'll still hit a fair share of it. Much better trails than the McGuire hunt area - in fact, everything here is pretty much better than the McGuire hunt area.

Whitetail Herd Health/Population: POOR

Whitetail Overall Hunting Difficulty: HIGH

Best Feature: Every day that I hunted, there was only 1 other person hunting the NWR. Pretty large area to hunt for only 2 people.

Squirrel: Crazy heavy population of squirrel - you could easily limit out daily.

Wild Hog: Ridiculous population of hogs - dangerously so even. I ran across hogs every single trip out and sometimes came a bit closer than I would have liked to. Much higher hog population than the McGuire hunt area (which was pretty insane too). This is a 100% success rate place if you want wild hog. I seen hogs within 20 yards of me just walking the trail - I'm surprised I wasn't getting charged daily with as many as there are out there.

Final Thoughts: Overall, this was a super fun NWR, despite the poor whitetail population. I'll definitely be putting in for it again next year with the intention of finding out how many hogs I can take in a week. Maybe I'll get lucky and take a whitetail while there, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

Last edited by Binary; 11/27/19 04:00 AM.
Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7673797 11/27/19 02:19 PM
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Thanks for your great write up and information shared.

After experiencing this hunt and given low deer population - Would you pay the tag fees again or would you choose to hunt SHNF or another open area near Houston? Does your answer change if you are a) looking for meat or b) looking for a "trophy"?

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: DeleteThisAccount] #7673818 11/27/19 02:36 PM
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I agree with Binary as I hunted the November 2nd hunt on brierwood. Hog numbers are crazy high and they do not care that you are there. I could walk by a group of them and they would raise their head up to look at me for a second then go back to what they were doing. After thinking about it for a while I decided I will never pay to deer hunt Trinity river again. SHNF or Davy Crockett is a way better option for a cheaper price. Trinity river NWR looks like it has a permanent meth population with beer cans, whiskey bottles, and other trash along the trails. They also do squirrel hunts right before the deer hunts which won't help keep a deer population on the place. If they ever started allowing hunters to bait I would reconsider.

Now if your interested in squirrel hunting it is a must. I remember a post on here earlier in the year about people bashing them because the squirrel permit was $130 if you drew it. The squirrel hunt is 3 weeks long. I love to squirrel hunt and it would be worth every penny. Very thick population of squirrels. You could limit out twice a weekend if that's all you wanted to do.

Re: Trinity River - Brierwood - MAPS [Re: Thisisbeer] #7673955 11/27/19 04:47 PM
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Originally Posted by DFWpublichunter
After experiencing this hunt and given low deer population - Would you pay the tag fees again or would you choose to hunt SHNF or another open area near Houston? Does your answer change if you are a) looking for meat or b) looking for a "trophy"?


If I was going to hunt whitetail - DCNF and SHNF are far better options and I would absolutely hunt those places for whitetail before I hunted Trinity River NWR for whitetail again - 100%, no question. And neither "a)" nor "b)" would change that answer. Both DCNF and SHNF will provide a much higher chance of getting either "a)" or "b)" (assuming we are only talking about whitetail) than what the Trinity River NWR will.

Now, whether or not I would pay the tag fee again is a different story. You can't hunt the NWR at all without a permit for something and they only offer whitetail and squirrel permits I believe (both have a $130 tag fee). If you like squirrel hunting, the tag would 100% be worth it, this would be an EASY place limit out on daily. You're not going to find a ton of places with this healthy of a squirrel population (10 out of 10). And if you like to hog hunt, the whitetail permit (which includes unlimited hog) would also be 100% worth it if your intention was to hog hunt. Essentially, I would consider the whitetail permit a hog permit and you would certainly get your money worth if you were concentrating on hogs and not whitetail - I'm telling you that it's one of the highest population of hogs I've seen, there would be hogs in the back of my truck every single day if that is what I was there hunting. Places like Matador WMA have a hog hunt draw with a permit fee of $130 and they only have a 6% success rate... this would basically be a $130 fee with 100% success rate (I can't imagine anyone not getting hog here). And it would certainly be a cheaper hog hunt than what people pay for private hog hunts.

I will enter into all the Trinity River NWR draws again (I mean, it's only $3 an entry) with the understanding that those draws for me would be for squirrel or hog, not whitetail (even though the main draws are technically for whitetail). And then I would see what else I won - I would obviously pass up a win for any whitetail draw that I won in another location during the same date - hands down. But if I didn't win anything else or anything else that conflicted with the hunt dates - I'd 100% pay the permit fees with the intention of hunting squirrel or hog.

Originally Posted by Thisisbeer
I agree with Binary as I hunted the November 2nd hunt on brierwood. Hog numbers are crazy high and they do not care that you are there. I could walk by a group of them and they would raise their head up to look at me for a second then go back to what they were doing.


Seriously! It was a bit crazy... I really should have gotten off the whitetail kick for that hunt and started hunting hogs - they couldn't have made it any easier.

Originally Posted by Thisisbeer
After thinking about it for a while I decided I will never pay to deer hunt Trinity river again. SHNF or Davy Crockett is a way better option for a cheaper price.


WAY better options, I'll be back at Davy Crockett to get some meat for the freezer this year.

Originally Posted by Thisisbeer
Trinity river NWR looks like it has a permanent meth population with beer cans, whiskey bottles, and other trash along the trails.


Yeah, the east side was trashed up big time. Not as much trash on the west side ... but man the east side, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing some garbage. Hell, I saw 3 wrecked alum. boats along the water on the east side within the first half mile of walking the trail

Originally Posted by Thisisbeer
Now if your interested in squirrel hunting it is a must. I remember a post on here earlier in the year about people bashing them because the squirrel permit was $130 if you drew it. The squirrel hunt is 3 weeks long. I love to squirrel hunt and it would be worth every penny. Very thick population of squirrels. You could limit out twice a weekend if that's all you wanted to do.


Yeah 3 weeks is a long time to be able to hunt an area with such a healthy squirrel population. Anyone interested in squirrel should 100% put in for Trinity River NWR.

Last edited by Binary; 11/27/19 04:56 PM.
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