I live in the Northeast DFW area, and I am looking for some public ground about an hour from the metroplex where I can go after some pigs to make into sausage. I have hunted a lot, but never on public land. Does anyone have any advice for a public land greenhorn in this area? Thanks for reading and for any advice you can share!

Are you wanting rifle or bow hunts. Different places have different rules

Yesterday I was searching public land sites at Texas Parks & Wildlife. I could not find any property or WMA's that allowed rifle hunting. I only saw rules allowing bows and shotguns. If anyone knows of public land with rifles I would like to know.

They were mentioned in this thread. https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/8140755/
Mostly going to be limited to Caddo Grasslands and the National Forests.

I can do both - would prefer to hunt them with rifle/shotgun since it is easier.

OSBWMA has (had) 3 months Jan-endMarch rifle hog hunts...
tis Best Kept Secret...

think Tribute twas looking @ deer seasons...

I hunt SHNF and public land is the same here as up there as far as hunting. You can hunt any way you want to. I will typically walk major creeks and the lowest lying areas and look for wallows. Once I find wallows with super fresh tracks I just set up with the wind in my favor and wait till dark. I have been fairly successful in the SHNF doing this technique.

Or just get a shotgun or a bow. Seems like the simple way to go about it, access to corps land and with a 12 gauge you can do it all. Use slugs or some of the Apex TSS varmint loads for pigs. A load of #4 TSS will probably kill anything.

Lake Lavon, and Lake Tawakoni but no deer hunting on corps lakes, as far as I know. Shotgun and bow. I have a cousin with a lake house on Tawakoni, hunts pigs out there all the time. No atv’s allowed but according to him he drives his Toyota out there all the time. Must be a legal street truck. Small game, waterfowl, pigs.

I have spent a lot of time on Lake Bardwell just a little bit further from DFW but if you run west from 45 down 287 it crosses a tributary to Bardwell that has a lot of teal in it. A lot of pigs down there too. I never got around to hunting it because the crappie bite so good. When I fell on hard times I fed myself out of that creek for a couple weeks and gained a little over ten pounds... I was a big boy already. If that tells you anything.

There are at least two more places to hunt if you go east down 287 within an hour or so of 45. You have Richland creek WMA I’m pretty sure you can rifle hunt pigs there. Gus Engeling just a little bit longer down the road.

Further East you are willing to go the better.

Also just FYI there is a spring pig season on Richland creek wma that pretty much starts right after the pig hunts end on OSBWMA if I recall correctly. It has been awhile.