My son got picked for a deer hunt at Garner. Has anyone been there before? Does any bait work better than corn? Are certain spots better than other ones? Any tips or advise will be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Jason

I hunted at Garner earlier this year (Jan. 3-5) on an exotic hunt. Out of 20 hunters in 20 different stands, only 3 stands produced any kind of a sighting of an axis deer. Us other 17 hunters saw absolutely nothing. Every pop up blind they have out there has a feeder going off with corn. Corn was just piling up under the feeders because the animals moved out to another portion of the park. I believe that there are several hunts this year at Garner. The first hunts will be productive but the later hunts will be terrible. I heard that the deer and axis like corn chips and cheetos. The staff will assign you a stand (you do not get to pick your stand.) If after two sits you would like to move to another stand, then you may swap with anyone else who also did not like their stand. So from one terrible stand to another terrible stand. Once the shooting starts, the deer move out and disappear to another part of the park that is "off limits." Hopefully your sons hunt is an early hunt.

This is not good news. I always thought garner was one of the better draw hunts. Thank you very much for this info

I did mislead you on your "assigned stand." The staff put 20 numbers in a hat and you went up and drew a number. I believe that the guy who picked second to last (19th draw) did get an axis doe in our hunt. You will need luck on your side. Garner State Park does not have alot of axis or whitetails. But.. you never know what might happen.

Here is a recap of the hunt my son went on Dec 31, 2021 -Jan 2, 2022

We were lucky and had a successful hunt. We put some chaffhaye out , but I am not sure if it mattered or not. It was cleaned up every morning, but the feeders put out corn twice a day.

One morning we saw a group of 8-10 axis bedded down as we were driving to our stand. Another kid shot a big axis that was still in velvet.

We hunted stand 7, my sons buddy was in 6 and he shot two axis doe. He found one, but couldnt find the second one. There are definitely some spots that are much better than others. One stand, maybe #8 or 9 had a narrow shooting window of only 30 yards or so.

If you are not going to camp, the cabins at 4j are amazing and just a mile or so down the road.

https://texashuntingforum.com/forum...garner-state-park-youth-hunt#Post8502198

Great place to take the family in the off season. I have very fond family memories of the Park as a small child and learned to swim in the river in the early '50's ...I am in my late '70's now days, FWIW.
Been there long time ago to hunt, and stayed in Uvalde, about 35 miles south ....and will not waste the gas to go again except in the off season.

Biggest Axis I ever saw anywhere was in the fenced patch in front of the Check In Office and teased the clerk about the rope burns on his neck...she laughed and gave me a return joke about newbies checking in. Office staff was great to deal with .... FWIW No comments any other staff issues.

Other wise keep close eyes on the shoulders of the Hwy going back east towards Llano....especially early and late, according to the guys running the freezer locker in town.
Ron

Yeah, I always only see the axis right behind the rangers station.