Hello all! I'm excited to say that my 9 yr old got a draw to the either sex gun deer hunt at the end of Dec at Chap. This is my first time on a drawn hunt, and I know this is a great opportunity for him, so I want to be prepared as possible. I plan to stay in a hotel because I don't want him worn out. It's my understanding to take lots of corn and a pop-up blind is recommended as some of their existing stands aren't necessarily in the best spots possible. This kind of leads into my question about where/how to hunt. I've seen references to choosing your compartment. Is this the case with every draw hunt? If so, are there resources for me to do some leg-work ahead of time to maybe narrow down a few spots? Once we get there will we be able to glass pretty extensively to see if there are animals moving on other senderos or is it just a matter of knowledge and a little luck?

I know we won't be the most experiences pair there, but I'd like to make up with my lack of knowledge by being as prepared as possible. Would love to get some input from those who have experience.

Thats a great time of year to be hunting in the brush. When I hunted there the tower blind in my compartment had a hellacious wasp infestation so I only hunted it one cold morning, when it warmed up I high tailed it out of there. The stands they have out there are in decent spots but the deer all know they are there and will stare at them before stepping out of the brush. I saw my best buck from the tower blind. It was a very pretty mainframe 10 with a split brow. Placing popups within about 200 yds of the towers is not a bad game plan but you are limited to watching senderos at ground level.

I recall they assign the compartments. However there are big deer in every compartment so it is not really a concern to worry about which one you are in.

As far as corn goes about a bag a day/sendero is a good estimate on the amount to bring. I wouldn't worry about extensive glassing, just glass the deer as you see them. How I hunted was I corned the senderos as far as I could see and would mentally note where deer crossed and reset up within 100 yds of those crossings. It is a fun place enjoy your time there.

I would echo that, put a pop up or tripod 200 or so yards from the tower blinds. I was just there the week of Thanksgiving and the closest deer we saw was 160 yards from the blind. When you scout, walk down the senderos from the blind and you will be able to find some trails where they cross. It may be possible to get back in the brush on some of those trails. That time of year rattling should be pretty good, too. We got lucky one year, on the first day of the youth hunt we threw corn, went to put on our camo and orange and climbed in the stand and 30 minutes later, out walked the widest buck any of my family has killed.

I have been lucky enough to hunt rifle, archery, and youth hunts there. Will echo a lot of the same info. We found that a lot of times, Golden Deer Nuggets actually work better than corn, especially on javi's. There are no bad compartments there. If you aren't seeing good deer numbers after two days, let the staff know and they will move you if they can. A lot of kids leave if they kill early. The box blinds are actually placed in pretty good areas, especially if there is a straight line view of a sender or water source for about 200 yards. Have your kids prepared for that distance. It is not a gimme, it is still hunting. Make them learn to sit still! The biggest deer on the place will stand and watch, from the edges, then step out if you're not moving all around! Talk it over with them, and find out what they want, to make THEM happy. Don't force YOUR expectations on them. Hope you enjoy 4 wonderful days with the kids.

The hotel is the right move vs camping. We camped the first few nights and ended up in a hotel due to weather and some illegal/BP action one morning in camp. It’s about a 20 min drive to the gate and could be another 25-30 min drive to your assigned pasture.
Like others have said, plan to hunt a pop up with a bipod or tripod. We set up a couple cell cams day 1 to better our odds and came so close to killing a 150” deer. Long story.
Anywho, one thing I’ll add is to set proper expectations for this place. It’s an awesome property in the heart of big buck country, but don’t expect to see 20-30 deer per sit. We saw 5 to 8 deer per sit and around 11-12 one sit. Based on the chaps social media posts of the surveys and recent hunts, it appears the drought has heavily impacted numbers and quality, so take your opportunities as they come. Other than that, just put the time in and have fun with your child.

One more thing to remember is that the distances will fool you. You might think the deer are at 100 yards when in reality they are at more like 2-300. Bring a range finder if you have one. I remember thinking I was going to make a 75 yard chip shot on a doe. I ended up stepping off over 140 long paces. Also if you have to track a deer and the grass is high then the blood trail will be at knee height and not on the ground.

The above is great advise. I have over the years seen some absolute bruiser bucks during Javalina hunts. Don't skimp on the corn and the big buck can show up at any time so stay in the blind as long as possible. Good luck and have fun.

My son and I will be there too. Sent you a PM

Thanks for the tips everyone. We’ve been spending some time at the range getting him comfortable with the larger caliber rifle and longer shot. We are both very excited.

Any reports from the adult GDE?

Hey Mike,
How did this hunt turn out?