Anybody here going this week?
Me and my brother drew this hunt, either sex. We drew a management hunt few years back and we both shot a doe. Hopefully I can do the same again since I haven’t shot a deer yet this year.

Hadn’t done a hunt there, but I camp and fish there often. You should have no problems getting a deer or two. Lots of does around. Enough that the does will walk thru your campsite in the live oak loop.
If you want a fantastic greasy burger, right down from the state park is Woodys bar and grill. Cooked on a flat top grill, I highly recommend it.
Hope you post up a after hunt report. Good luck!

I’ll second woody’s burgers! I get it whenever I go thru mw during the day.

Will be there by myself.

First blood for the hunt

Nice!!
I believe I heard you shoot. Which blind are you in? I’m in #8.

#6. He was chasing a doe about 3:00.

Hmmm? I used to try and draw a ticket for this SP every year, and usually had enough success to keep me interested for 6-8+ years. The last time I hunted there umm couple years ago now everything concerning the blinds was a totally different setup. Management had always been good or better with the whole setup.

All of that has changed. They no longer hunt the the sand rock cliff areas that over look some grassy patch's. The leased areas east of the Park's property in no longer leased to the Park, where I saw one of the biggest WT Bucks I've ever seen on TPW State property. Look at an aerial map on line to find what I'm talking about.

BUT ..the biggest thing I would be concerned about is getting stuck again in the blind that is the furtherest east on the current hunting area ever again. That blind is/was placed where it looks at the fence line between the SP & the Public Lake Property to the east. I had 3-4+ car loads of family groups climb over the border fence and head directly at me or looking for a trail to go down the steep slope towards a creek bottom I think fed from the Off Property Lake out of the wind and is unseen from the road they came in on .

I got out of my blind and showed myself, all decked out in Hunter Orange and waved at the newer group of people who had followed the 1st group on the high side before finding a place to get down to the adjacent creek. I called the Park HQ on my cell phone and advised them of what was happening and they called the HQ of the Public Lake to report all of these 6-7-8 carloads of people came from. One family group got as close to me a under 50 yards before Mother started screaming we need to leave at her family....with me waving my hat and hands at them. Not Funny for Sure.

Needless to say my remaining hunt time of the last day was ruined with all the yelling and mothers screaming for little johnny & susie to come here....we're leaving ...with me head to to toe standing front of my blind waiting for the TPW truck to come get me, as I had requested....they showed up an hour or so later.

Oh one other thing is different from the "Old Days'" .... the BEST MOST PROFITABLE area's I hunted many years ago were accessed only thru the Old Target Area from way back and was still believed to have live unspent rounds that were just barely off the roadway thru the target Area and surrounded by a 10' tall locked gate, to get to the 40-50' tall sandstone blinds that over looked nicely prepped feeding area's. groomed well enough that in the 4-5 years I scored a Ticket I always harvested a WT or 2 of some kind.

Go Back Again ? Not until I go out there before time to enter the Drawings and talk to Managment to get straight what I need to know before ever setting foot on the property again. FWIW If I still lived in DFW I'd pay more attention to trying to get drawn here again, but from down here in Anderson County I don't have the free time to go "shop" that particular SP , and make double sure what I went thru the last time umm mebbe 4-5 years ago will never happen again....as TPW does not have control over the adjacent Open to the Public Park property with it's 3 strand barbed wire fence as the only restriction from what happened to me.

TPW's staff is well organized, very professional, the blinds are well built, if not always well placed...my 1st set up was overlooking a creek bottom and feeder that was well placed..... but that can always be a problem anywhere. If lived in Ft Worth or west I'd be beating the bushes to land a Lease in the very 1st place I hunted, North east of the SP and NOT state owned & and did not score but there was another problem with the adjacent hunter shooting a whole box of ammo or more at 75 yards in the morning & not hitting anything but dirt 'cause his 30-30's scope mount was loose enough to flop loosely around ...I have ALWAY"S traveled with 2 TWO Ready to Shoot guns, or more to allow for just that kind of monster of a problem. I'll probably ask the wife to leave me in the box with 2 guns when I'm gone...as 78 almost 79 years old is getting closer to hearing St Peter's call my name. I hope she's still there to follow my wish's. I'd hate to pizz her off for eternity and forget something for me to do for her in her last thoughts
Ron

Congratulations!!

Erny, THAT one looks more like the buck I saw on the leased area east & north of the SP's property. He had jumped the private land's fence and wandered around looking for me as the wind was from the northwest and carrying my scent back over the land he'd been on, and way north & west of the piece of patch where the poor guy with 30-30 problems was blasting away, 2-300 yards due north of me and shooting north.

I did get a better look at the big Guy as he backed away from the big brushy patch both of us were using and headed west on our side of the fence . ...but my only "clear shot" was at about 300+ yards away and looked like it was a creek bottom, so I passed up trying for the Big Guy, as I had no solid gun rest and could only shoot off hand.

When I got home I spent some time on the computer looking at aerial shots of the area, and discovered just how far away the Big Guy was when I last saw him. That brushy patch was 4-500 yards North & South and about half that east & west & south and west of the tar & gravel County road that ran due west.

In all the times I won a trip to Lake Mineral Wells SP I never saw a whopper like your pic is, and in that last trip I never saw a White Tail deer at all....just a bunch of fence jumpers looking for a place to party on State Park land.....leaving 5-6 + cars & pickups on the Public Lake property. Look at a map on line and the Public Lake is clearly marked, on the east side of the SP land.

After seeing that gentleman's head gear I'll try to remember to put in again for this place...still get spooked driving in on the south side of the prison bildg and remembering looking up at the guards tower and a Machine Gun pointed at me....back in the olden days.
Ron