My first and only deer was taken by me in a "lush green forest" of Trinity Co., CA in 1996. This was at my brother's spread, a cattle ranch. Forked horn buck. Bad venison. A few gentle rolling hills in the woods (a private ranch) but no vertical cliffs to climb. No rough brush. No snakes, warm in the afternoon but not burning up in mid-October. Damp in the morning and slightly cool. You might say balmy weather.

I prefer to hunt in an area that's not too hilly, not too hot and dry, below 2,000 feet, not rattlesnake-infested and not cactus-like. Will tolerate light-to-moderate rain but not freezing snow. I'm a fair weather and mild terrain sort of outdoors-man. A Sacramento Valley, California flatlander of upbringing. With my asthma, I must be cautious of exertion and high altitudes and extreme temperatures.

Moving to Austin this summer from Lincoln, NE.

The rotten taste of the yearling buck I bagged back in the 1990's had turned me off from deer hunting for many years but the call is coming back to me again. I have a hankering to deer hunt again when settled into Tx. Rifle. Private land. I favor does for good meat and I hear that sometimes special deals can be offered by guides/outfitters/land managers to cull out excess does, perhaps near the end of the season.

Does Tx offer good doe opportunities during any of the gun seasons to clients who hire guides/outfitters? Are there special doe days? Should I start calling up various Tx deer guides and ask questions? What do people here think of a guide for does?

I, a suburbanite, personally know no rural landowners anywhere (my brother sold his ranch 10 years ago and retired in the suburbs of Oregon) so I need to hire a guide or outfitter to get into the game. I want no bucks or trophies and I have heard from a little birdie that the fee for a doe-only hunt might not be so expensive. Whitetail or muley should be fine for freezer/table does.

You might want to look at the various public hunts for starters or as a backup. If it were me, I would also research the Wildlife Management Associations in the counties to the west of Travis (Austin), Texas Parks & Wildlife maintains a list of them as well as contact info. Make contact, follow their meeting schedule, make it known that you are looking for an antlerless hunt. You might be surprised by what you find as it is always a struggle filling doe permits in most cases. I'm in an area of poor service, so the TPWD website is not loading, or I would post links to the WMA info.

I dropped my membership in a WMA and MLD this year. Adult hunting is finishing up in my county today. I'm hosting a youth season hunt and will finish up with the does through the kids as well as some very mature bucks that I feel are at their end.

Oh, my manners! Welcome to Texas!

Well, thanks Dog. When I hunted my buck on my brother's spread, he guided me. He was a seasoned hunter. He knew his woods like the back of his hand. Two of his rancher buddies gutted, skinned and quartered my buck. I was just a greenhorn in hunting at that time. I would still prefer a professional guide in Texas or nearby Oklahoma or New Mexico. I don't feel confident to do a deer hunt all on my own. The guide is a leader I can follow. I've always been a follower.

Permits are needed for does on private land? Is there too much competition to take does? From what I've read in the past, does are supposedly an easy prospect for a paying hunter who wants only them. Everybody want bucks, trophies. This should mean plenty of does for the proud, the few, the meat hunters.

Keep an eye on the outfitters forum on here, there are quite often hunts for does to fill out MLD tags for different ranches and other hunts as well. Also the Exotics forum often has hunts for does and culls. Want some real good meat, get an axis doe or two.

some good advice there.

Not sure how much time you'd like to dedicate to this, but going the outfitter route will cost a little more but you won't be starting from square 1 as you would on public land.

Good luck

My feeling is that having a guide will better the odds of filling my freezer full of doe venison, not that a guide is a soul-saving guarantee but that it's great odds enhancer. Yes, a hunter gets what he shells out in terms of cash.

Book a guided doe axis hunt......not too expensive and some of the best table fare you will eat.....

Welcome to the forum!

West of Austin is a prime area for MLDP hunts typically you can get Whitetail does for $250 and up with guide fees and lodging..

This is a nice place, the owners and guides will take care of you and answer all your questions. There are cheaper places to hunt but, this place is clean, honest and professional.

https://westkerrranch.com/rates-exo...-hunting-hunt-guides-guided-ranches.html

If you were to hunt MLDP all you need is your $27 hunting license unless you were born after 1970.

Be very careful with this advice. Once you eat steak, you will never want baloney again.