I've been putting in for 17 years now and finally got picked to rifle hunt a BIG buck at the Chaparral WMA in December. Let me know if anyone else will be going on this hunt. I hope that there are some nice bucks this year after a very dry summer.

have 19 and zippo.. unless my email has not come yet.
GOOD LUCK!

i would say that natural forage down there has a ton of protein in it and a dryer season makes them go for the higher protein natural forage than the easy stuff.. so antlers should still be great i would beleive.

Would you think that the rut will have started on the week of Dec 14 - 18th?

More pre-rut that far south it should be around Christmas for the actual rut.

TPWD website at this address tpwd 2020 rut shows average rut dates for various regions. According to TPWD the rut should be going pretty strong by 12/14 approaching the peak. Look at the Texas south plains and breading chart. But hey what does TPWD know.

Congrats on the draw!!!!!!

Hey....thanks Erny! Believe me. I can't wait for this hunt to start. I just hope that the weather cooperates (cool and dry.) And I hope that there are still gonna be some older age class bucks out there this year (last year they killed a bunch of nice bucks.) I hope to get a compartment with a high chance to kill a BIG buck.

Even in a bad year the hunting at the Chap. is great. I have never once hunted a bad compartment. I have hunted there over 10 times mostly for Javalina. Always see plenty of deer. Corn Corn and more corn is the secret to the Chap.

I drew Chap last year and they told us that this year and next year were going to be great years for mature bucks due to the excellent fawn crop they had back 5 & 6 years ago.

That's a really good time for that hunt. Here's a couple Chap bucks from a few years back to get your interest up. 172" 14pt. and 145" 10pt.. We also shot two 7 year old management 6 pts.

Beautiful Bucks Blank!!!

Hey Blank. In what compartment did you harvest these bucks?

Blank, looks like a lot of ghosts were in your presence with all those orbs in the pic.

No kidding! Wow!

LoL, or he was able to survive through a horrible hail storm and smile. Camera man prob mad

Bad rain that day! We like to hunt South Jay, they actually split off a lond straight small compartment. I think it is number 8

Up in WY mountains, and have a little service here at 10,000 feet. Will update when home in a couple days.

Wow!! Ain't that a great view!

After applying since the early 90's I got drawn for the Dec. 14-18 hunt also! I'm planning to do some scouting when the Chap is open for dove hunting. Anyone have any advice on where and what to look for - water, travel corridors, staging areas, certain pastures or blinds to check out? Many thanks in advance!

Here's a couple that my grandkids killed on Dec 28th on the Youth hunt a few years ago. That year, the rut was definitely over when we were hunting them. I would look for an area where I could shoot as far as you are comfortable with (out to 300 is best). The bucks do know where the stands are, and will hold on the edges of the senderos while they look both ways. Corn heavy around 100 yards for does and Javi's and more like 200 for bucks, and we have always had good luck with Golden Deer Nuggets also.

WOW!

Some lucky people are going to have the time of their lives this year. The latest aerial photos from the WMA are jaw dropping!!!
https://www.facebook.com/ChaparralWMA

I saw the same post! Impressive looking deer. I will say that in my opinion, it looks like the same 3 or 4 bucks just in different pictures! But, I know there are nice ones out there. Last year they told us to curve your expectations due to the drought a few years back. They said there was a real gap in the age class of deer we would be taking. But this year and the next couple should be nice down there!!!

I'll be down with my daughter the first week of November. I'll update this thread and share any info on the compartment we end up in. Hopefully we can at least see some nice bucks!

It looks rather dry this year in those aerial photos compared to last years. Great looking bucks but would say they don’t appear as impressive as years past... but still very nice deer. I would agree it’s only a handful and a small glimpse of what’s roaming around on a ranch that size. We’re looking forward to the youth “either sex” end of December.