Hello All. This is my first post, and I thought this would be a decent question. I am going to Del Rio to hunt Deer, Turkey, Mountain Lion, Aoudad and hog, in a couple weeks and was wondering what the likelyhood of me harvesting one of each. Deer and turkey I have hunted before and feel relatively confident in my abilities. The problem is that I am in the military and am stationed in Wisconsin right now. Quite a bit removed from the local habitat and not able to do any scouting. Anyone got any tips on how I should go about hunting these other animals? Especially mountain lion, I want one REAL bad. Also what is the terrain like? and what should I expect for weather? Thanks in advance.

Del Rio is very different country than any country you will find. It's open type country with low scrub brush in most areas. Everything there either pricks you or bites you. If you have access to leg guards to protect you from the yuccca plants and cactus, you had better jump at the chance to borrow them. It's all large and deep canyons where you can see 1000 yards easily. Lots of deer there. Turkey in some of the strangest places you can imagine. You would think that there is no way a turkey can live in that area. The bucks usually rut there the first two weeks of December. Some shots that you may be tempted to make should be thought out. There are some canyons down there that you had better have some grease and a skillet in your backpack because you are going to have to eat that deer in the bottom of the canyon, because there is no way you can get him out except by cutting him up into little pieces.

Remember this when hunting there. Don't look for a deer or particular animal. Look for the unusual, something out of the norm. Those deer can be 100 yards away and you don't see them until they wag a tail or stand up.

Getting a deer and turkey there shouldn't be any problem at all. Hundreds of deer all over the area there. You should get a chance at a hog also. Now, mountain lions and aoudad will be a different story. It all depends on where you will be hunting. If you're hunting in the Devil's River wash area, you might have a chance at a lion. If you're hunting North of Del Rio, you might have a chance at an aoudad. Not likely though. Tons of bobcats and coyotes there though. Open season on them!

Best of luck down there. Let us know how you do. If you have any further questions, just holler. I love the Del Rio countryside!

I know what it's like to be stationed far away. My daughter is at Travis AFB and she sure is missing not being here for deer season this year. I rub it in to her each time I talk to her. It was her idea to put in for far off places to see the world. Now she realizes what she had here in Texas and misses it bad!

Thanks for the info. I was told by my father-in-law (he set up the trip AND footing the bill!!) that the landowner says there are mountain lions and aoudad on the property. I guess I better hit the range again once or twice before I head out.
I have some upland waxed cotton pants, do you think that will that be ok for brush-busting? Any idea what I can expect for weather? It will snow here today for the first time this year, but I am pretty sure it will be a little warmer there. Sorry for bugging you, but I am VERY stoked about the trip and don't want to ruin it due to being unprepared. Thanks again.

Del Rio weather will be warm. Most likely it will be in the mid 60's to a high of 70 during the day. It gets cold at night, but probably not below 45. A friend of mine said he was hunting out of his stand in shorts and a T shirt one year in the middle of December. Thick jeans are good for walking in the shinery brush. It will grab anything like cotton or similar soft materials. If your pants are the "waxed" type, they may work okay. That brush can make a ton of noise on your clothing when you walk though. I have some snake proof leg guards that I wear down there. It's really, really rocky down there also. The place you must be hunting is bound to be just North and West of Del Rio. There are lions there, but hard to see. There are several high fenced ranches down there that have lost some aoudad and they have scattered out. If they are staying on the ranch you are going to, then it must have some really rocky and deep canyons. I love hunting that type of country. The lions are very elusive and with the thick ground cover, hard to spot. The brush will look as if it's only 2 or 3 feet tall when you look across the land. When you walk down into it, it all of a sudden becomes 6 feet tall. So, if you shoot something, be sure and make a mental note of something out of the ordinary in the brush structure, such as a big yucca plant, rock clearing or taller tree somewhere around your deer you shot. Everything looks the same when you walk out there to recover your deer.

One productive way of hunting deer down there is to sit in a stand and glass everywhere. I mean having the binoculars up to your eyes for 2 hours straight, going over everything back and forth. The deer just seem to appear out of nowhere. One minute, nothing. The next minute there are 6 deer standing there. After the deer bed down, you can go to the edge of some of the canyons and toss large rocks down the sides of the canyons. Makes for a long shot though as they run up the other side of the canyon. Most of your shots down there will be 200 to 300 yards.

Another way that people hunt down there is off of "high seat" trucks. They have seats mounted high on the backs of trucks and just drive the roads. The seats are about 10' off of the ground, allowing you to see over the brush.

You should hit the rut pretty good when you go. That makes those bucks down there even crazier than other places. Those bucks have got to cover a lot of territory to find a hot doe, so they are constantly running everywhere. You will be able to see them all day long, especially at 12:00 noon. I snuck up on a nice buck down there one day with my camera. He was hot on a doe and I was able to sneak up to him within 15 yards for about an hour or so. I got some awesome pictures of him. It was as if the doe was using me to keep the buck off of her. She would walk around me to put me between her and the buck. It as a blast!

Hope that helps some. Don't worry about asking me any questions you have. That's what we are here for.

You can bet that it is going to be some kind of muddy. I was there a couple of weeks ago and they had several inches of rain. Leg guards yes, rubber boots definately!

Lots and lots of Javelina their also. If you get a chance cross the border into Acuna and eat at crosbies. My family use to have a house down there because that was my dad's favorite place to fish and it was close to home. It always seems to be either really hot or really cold. Their are mountain lions but I don't think its likely you will see any. Lots of deer, Javelina hogs, and turkeys... and back when I was in high school and in my early twenties I chased their elusive native browntail

Acuna now your talking.

Let's see... I've never been to Acuna... But, I am told that if you go left after crossing the toll, then right, then go out about 3 miles South of town and turn left up the hill.... the bar on the left is better than the one on the right. Oh, be sure and miss that pot hole after the second stop sign... Did I mention that I've never been there.

Hag...I'm like you - Not sure I've ever been to Acuna, Progresso, the old Cadillac and Papagallo Bar in whatever town it's in, Reynosa.....Actually, I'm not sure I've ever been to whatever country it is we're talking about...Hummmmmmmm

Never drive accross the border. and I mean NEVER. That's all I'll say.

Do you mean NEVER if you wanna stay married, or Never if you don't wanna end up in a Mexican prison?

Probably both of those, and depending on the publicity and your age, getting left out of one or more wills.

Well, I just got back from the trip. Disappointing to say the least. Someone that set up the trip was misinformed somewhere down the line. Apparently a couple years ago, anthrax broke out and killed about 80% of the deer population (Anyone hear of this? I guess it's a strain that doesn't affect cattle, sounded kinda fishy to me.) I did get a small 8-point. We were told that we could shoot an Aoudad, but it had to be less than 25 inches. The only one I saw that was shootable was over 30!! Anything over 30 would have cost me 5 grand. Needless to say, Mama woulda whooped my ass for spending 5 g's on a goat. I actually had it in my scope at about 130 yds. all that was left was to pull the trigger. Never heard of having to pass on something cause it was too good. I was the only one of us that got anything (out of 6). Next year going to Colorado for Elk and/or Mulies.

i think they call that place hunters retreat, but only speculation, ma crosbys is awsome. the anhrax outbreak killed deer and sheep. hunted the mirasol ranch outside del rio 6 or 7 years ago, plenty of deer but quite a few dead sheep. we were just told to leave them alone. theres always amistad.

teamron

Brian... Someone pulled your leg BIG TIME on the deer having died off. There are still tons of deer down there. Sounds like the place you were hunting is hunted out! Sorry man! If you want to go elk or mule deer hunting, check out my post on the Outfitters and Guides section about San Juan River Outfitters. He will put you on a hunt to remember in a good way, instead of a bad trip.