Well I had some success with today's draw. I am fairly familiar with the area, but have never been to Government Canyon State Natural Area. I've been looking around online for info requarding hunts on the place with little to no good info. I'm looking forward to the hunt regardless. I love to travel around and hunt new places. It's all about the total experience for me.

So with that being said anyone been there or had any prior experience with the place? Seems like a nice place looking at pictures/videos and the total size of the area. Only 5 spots so it won't be very crowded for sure.

I believe there are some threads on the TBH public hunting forum. May check there and do a search.

Hunted there twice in last three years.nice place close to city with lots of traffic noise. There are some good bucks there , I had a low 140s 10 point in front of my ground blind for 30 minutes at 15 yards.unfortunately it was a doe hunt. Lots of deer and some hogs, but axis are very few and far between. I suggest hunting from well brushed in blind or bring tripod or ladder stand . the young ladies who run the hunt are very nice.

I was there three years ago. Saw a few deer and had a good time. My suggestion is get an area on the east side of the property that is close to the neighborhoods the deer really travel back and forth. Good luck

Appreciate the feedback. Its pretty much what I'm expecting. I only had 3-4 points on this draw here so I figured I would put in for it. I have some family down that direction and could make a little trip out of it. Maybe I can find a decent buck and Javelina. Axis would be nice, but not holding my breath. Been trying to look at maps and other images to get a better idea and layout. All in all I'm excited to get an opportunity to hunt the place.

its a big place. has been a lot of hogs in it in the past, ought to be a lot of deer. it is basically in the city at this point. Tons of development around it though i would think would be pushing any and all wildlife more and more into it as one of not nearly as many heavily wooded places left over there. lots of cedar.

I won the same hunt last year. Great accommodations and the staff is awesome. The campsites are nice and they have bathrooms and showers. The dinosaur tracks are about a 30 minute walk from the road and since the public will be locked out it will be a perfect time to go see them. They had stands and feeders last year that they had throwing a few weeks before the hunt started. First evening, I saw 1 doe and she acted spooked and then a bunch of javelinas came in and ate my corn. That same night a guy shot a very nice buck. The next 2 hunts, it didn't take 30 minutes for the javelinas to come in and eat all of the corn. Never saw a deer again. You are allowed to hunt in your compartment and do not have to stay in the stand. I recommend finding another area with good sign and setting up there because the javi's will have found out about the feeders by the time you get there.

It says compartment for this hunt so I hope I will be able to move around freely within my area. Honestly I plan on taking a Javelina if I can find a decent one. I've never had the opportunity to shoot one and they are on the list to shoot there. Need one for my office lol...Hope to find a nice buck for the area as well. Just ready to get out there and look at some new area.

So just wanted to update this thread since I just finished this hunt up. We hunted the Gallaghar Compartment off of 211. It is very thick with few openings here and there. They did have a box blind setup with a Feeder that has been running all month. I hunted off the feeder mostly out of my popup blind. First morning had a deer come in earlier but the darkness and fog I could not tell what it was. Then I had an 8 pointer come in briefly but was just inside the ears but had tall tines. Then I had a 1 x 3 (4 pointer that was not able to connect with. Moving or wrong angles etc. I saw him twice. Other than that I ran into a couple coyotes crossing the roads. That is all that I saw after 2 days of hunting non stop. Nice place and the staff were great. I wouldn't mind trying 1 more time there. I never saw any exotics, pigs, or javelinas in my unit. As of this evening only 1 deer had been shot by another hunter, but after a long track job not recovered. All in all it was a new place and thankful for the opportunity to hunt these places.
I did run a camera there and the first night had like 4/5 different bucks come in and lots of does and couple yotes. Just hardly any daytime activity. First day was 80 degrees and then the cold front came in over night 20mph winds and Temps between 50-60. Thought that might get them moving but nope. I knew the deer numbers are low for that area. Just didn't think they were that low. Maybe just timing was off I don't know.