Noticed that the public land hunts are open for application this morning.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/public_hunt_drawing/hunt-categories.phtml

Thanks!

Yep, just saw it this morning while drinking my 1st cup of coffee.

They added SF Austin back in the lineup for deer management. I was there about 6 years ago and it seemed like every deer was just out of reach or had really tall antlers but inside the ears. I'd like to go back with a muzzleloader.

Just reviewed the catalog. Not a whole lot of change from last year.

No Archery Exotic.

New exotic hunt at Devil's Sinkhole. Did the archery WT there in 2008 and didn't see any exotics.

Yepper's It's that time again...time to burn the midnite oil trying to 2nd guess the TPW Permit God's. A super quicky over view just now seems like TPW's success notes from last year do not portend a good year this year either, especially given the continuing drought...and shortage of Open Permit #s for the drawings.

Good Luck All ...just save me a place at a TPW Park of some kind with a Filled Tag of some sort for a change.

PS.... After watching 8 hours of young son's pics of a REAL Adventure couple weeks ago in escaping the floods at Jellystone by under 45 minute's ....makes the idea moving to Idaho or Central Colorado....ummmm mebbe Santa Fe or on up around Trinidad or Colorado Springs could be once again a subject to dream about until the Better Half reminds me "you ain't young enough anymore so get over it"...again.

So we're off the the therapy Doc's Shop for the rest of the day and try to get ready to burn some time at the Range near Oakwood.
Ron

Finally!!! My last opportunities to accumulate a whole bunch more "Unsuccessfuls" and "Not Selected".

Anything is possible. After all I did draw powderhorn. With 19683 loyalty points I think it was.
So I guess I will only have 2 points cubed in either sex deer. At least I don't have to worry about wasting 27 years of points on a less popular draw anymore and can apply for any and all in that category now.

I would like to know the true odds on drawing individual hunts as in exactly the total number of combined cubed points is for each hunt, not the number of people who applied. The total point count has to be massive for some of the more primo hunt draws like the chap and powderhorn.

Sniper - I agree. It would be extremely helpful if TPWD provided the number of applicants and their points. Montana squares points and they give you the breakdown of the applicants who applied by point. This is very helpful in determining the true odds of drawing a given hunt. With TPWD cubing points the total number of applicants is not really representative of the odds of drawing. It would probably be somewhat shocking to see just how long the odds are if you have low points some categories such as exotic.

Now, can this old man still primitive camp...in January? Only one way to find out.

I just spent the better part of 2+ hours studying the lists of Hunts available Vs the #'s of available Permits .... X's Last Year's Harvest successes, in all the places I think I'd like to hunt this year in the TPW System.

Oh well .... now that I got my bubble busted about the real possibilities for the 2022 Hunting Season being a Positive Memorable Season...yadda yadda

Now I can see why so many Texas Hunters take their $'s out of State and forget the Snow Balls chance in %$#@! that the TPW Hunts represents to Joe Average Texas Resident. New Mexico & Colorado are looking better and better...if I can live that long. I hunted SLRP last January again, but it only took 21 years to get Drawn again.

Would sumbody 'splain what "cubing" means to me in plain english.
Ron

1 point 1x1x1= 1
2 points 2x2x2=8
3 points 3x3x3=27
4 points 4x4x4=64
5 points 5x5x5=125

If you have 10 loyalty points in a hunt category. It is now cubed. 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000. So in reality you now have 1000 points. If you have 20 loyalty points, you now have 8000 points.

So your odds of drawing now increase exponentially each year you apply. IMHO, some things to consider. If you have double digit points, now cubed into the thousands of points say in gun deer either sex, you might not want to be applying for a hunt like pat mayse where there are never more than 5 or 6 hundred applicants. You will probably get drawn, but you also will be wasting several years of building points on the easy draw. Once I got into double digit points in that category, I limited myself to only applying to the most sought after hunt, especially after they started allowing applying for multiple hunts in a category and cubing points. I guess the idea is a person who applies long enough will eventually reach the odds to actually draw one of those better hunts. But it is still no guarantee. I got on that Sambar hunt with 27 points or cubed 19683 points, but I also did not draw that hunt or the chap the year before with 17576 points. So imagine the odds for the guy back down to 1 point again or just starting out and hoping to draw those hunts. It is why I would like to know how many true drops in the hat there are for some of these hunts.

Found it.... Pedernales Falls SP. Really pretty area and usually sucessfull hunts for the party who have the "island" hunt area to themselves. The annex has been greatly improved since I was 1st told about it.

2nd ? since I've lost my handbook catalog of SP's.

I've always wanted hunt the State Park west of Austin that has a small river running thru it, with a cabin available that can be accessed by wading across the river. Never a big trophy destination but I'm trying to mark off the main traffic destinations. It has a mixed bag of critters, but the pics I've seen look like something out of the Rockies. Not far from LBJ's ranch.
Ron

That would be pedernales falls state park annnex. You have to backpack in and out including packing or carting your game out. If you apply for that one, be sure to have another hunter or two on your application that can help with that.

5 trips to the therapy doc's is showing up with day dreams of the Fall season...still got a dozen sessions + booked but at least I can drive and even walk a straight line without dragging my right leg...Progress.
Ron

Worrying about loyalty points is futile. Just apply and hope for the best. I've drawn with 1 and a whopping 3 points, in difficult to draw hunts.

Hoping I get lucky again!

Noticed there is a new alligator category in the National Wildlife Refuge hunts, I don't think that was there last year.

I would like to know the specific TPW employee who came up with the bright idea of adding a cubed bonus point system to a state that has significantly less public draw opportunity than the states that are already having terrible point creep with cubed bonus points.

I NEED HELP. I'm sort of new to Texas and totally confused. Called the wildlife dept which didn't help. In a lot of states there is an application period and draw date, so for example you want to hunt Moose in Maine. You can send in an application from May 1st to August 1st and the drawing is September 15th- simple enough. I see this 1st and 15th of every month, then I got an email that on July 1 I can now apply, if I look at the catalog I see for Gun, Mule Deer, matador the cut off on the application is October 15th. When is the drawing? One drawing, a drawing every month? Okay, I admit I'm not very smart but any help appreciated. I wanted to apply for gun hunts on Mule deer. I realize it is an 8,000

They typically do the drawing a few days after the close of the application period. The drawing would likely be held on the 17th for hunts that close on the 15th.

There is a single drawing for each hunt on the following business day after each application deadline listed on the link below.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/public_hunt_drawing/deadlines.phtml

Application deadlines are on the 1st and 15th of each month. Drawings are held the following business day.

What Happens After the Deadline?
Login to the Texas Public Hunt System and check your application status or purchase a permit — more information is on the If You Are Drawn page.

I just finished my annual donation, maybe this is the year. I was drawn 2 years in a row, and now nothing for the last 5…

Got drawn last year so donated $80 in entries this season. 👍🏻

If you have a kid or grandkid, don’t forget to sign them up for a few. It’s a max of 3 per hunt type, but also free!
My boys won 4 hunts in 3 years, which gives us some father son time but also gives me a chance to scope some of these places out.