New to Texas Public land hunting Advice?

I moved to Dallas about a year and half ago, i grew up hunting public land mule deer with a rifle in Northern Nevada. Anyways I discovered quickly that the hunting in Texas seems to be completely different, from the terrain to the laws and in particular the amount of public land even available for hunting, i do not have the financial means to justify spending the amount of money required to hunt private land. I'm not asking for anybody to give up their honey holes or anything. I just would like to know what areas in large have good deer/ hog populations. I bought the Annual Hunting permit and have been using ONX in combination with the Texas Public Land Hunting Map to E scout. I'm would like to do some whitetail and hog hunting with a rifle this season so any tips on areas, strategies, rookie mistakes to avoid, etc... would be awesome. I know all you bow hunters are going to give me grief but my dad said bow hunting was the most depressing thing he ever did, said you get closer to some of the biggest deer you have ever seen, but never close enough. Anyways thanks for anything you guys can help me with i appreciate it.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/public_hunt_drawing/

Hey thanks, do you have any experience with the Texas draw system, how are the odds? I looked at one of them a while back (can't remember which) but it said it had 6,500 applicants and only accepted 12 hunters are there others that have better odds or is that pretty standard?

Not to discourage you, but I"d be shocked if anyone has a honey hole to kill deer and pigs on public land. Plan B might be to find a doe hunt, mabe for a couple hundred dollars on some ranch that is thinning the herd.

Appreciate the honesty, i'm not expecting to shoot a monster public land buck or anything like that! i'm also new to whitetail deer hunting in general. I heard that in order to escape some "not all" of the hunting pressure you have to be willing to really walk far in on public lands to get away from the majority of hunters. Any truth to that?

I threw my hat in the ring and applied for some of these draw hunts.

I think you'll need to drive to east Texas to the "Piney Woods". That's about the only place I can think of. There are a few spots east of Dallas. One other thing. I would strongly think about getting a compound bow and get into archery as it opens up a lot more areas.

OP, take the APH book and look on the Region Index page for Deer. You'll see what WMAs have a deer season open to walk in.

Also, look at Army Corp lands and other federal properties. North of you in Dallas LBJ Grasslands.

And lastly, Oklahoma isn't that to far away if you make a weekend out of it.

Lastly, I think in Texas we have more places to bow hunt on public than deer hunt. Down here in Austin and there are multiple places I can hunt deer with a bow vs rifle.

You're half right. It would be hard to share the spot in the Davy Crockett National Forest where this buck was taken.

IMHO, the big deer that live in the "DC" are one of the best kept secrets in East Texas.

Hunt on Ft. Hood. Big mature bucks. Kind of funky rules, but the price is right.......

it that part of the annual hunting permit or a separate deal?

Totally separate deal

The deer are there on public lands. I didn’t take any last year, but I saw Mr Big the three days I hunted in the National Forest. If it wasn’t for the antler restriction, I could have had at least one decent buck each of those three days. Growing up hunting there, I would go forever without seeing a buck, and 30 years later, I saw more in 3 days than in 3 years back in the ‘70s/early ‘80s. However, I took my largest buck there in the early 80s.

I say scour the maps and then do some preseason scouting trips. You can’t lose.

Yes, it takes boots on the ground and a plan of attack if you want to be successful on public land.

First, get in on some of the Texas Draw hunts today!!!! You missed a few of the draws and WMA’s already but still a bunch of COE left,

TX draw hunts is good chance for rifle hunter. If you decide to go ahead and get in the archery/crossbow arena it will open lots opportunities for you closer to Dallas. Grayson/Collin county are archery only you just might luck into one day of meeting a local landowner and gaining permission/access. Lake Grapevine has some really nice bucks (archery only) and for the most part yes you have got to get way off the beaten path. Most difficult thing is entry access points and then long walks or kayak/canoe. Look at LBJ Grasslands also.

ta HF...
Lots of good info already...
Hunted several WMA's SE of the big D
WhiteOakWMA if remember right its archery deer.
Lived just down the road of OSBWMA, archery only...
Did the hog only any legal means hunts, Jan-end March hunt & scout..
Got familiar with area... Their the two bigger WMA's thar be a few smaller ones...
Did the archery deer/hog hunts... Both have nice deer & have gun draw hunts..


Theirs a section (Public Hunting) lower in the forum...
Best wish's on up coming hunts...

PM me if you have questions more then happy to talk you through it and share my Public hunt strategies

PM SapperTitan. He guides out there and can tell you all you need to know.......

The other option are some of these cull hunts. You get started hunting and the cost is offset by the meat. In many cases probably better eating than a rutting buck. In any event if you do the research there are actually quite a few public places. You really expand your horizons with the archery. This pal of mine is dead on out 70 yards- me, 40 is tops but a bow is a good weapon. And a lot of areas are allowing crossbows- I haven't got into crossbows but it something I'd like to try. I've heard of incredible accuracy, 2" "ish" groups way far out there 70-100 yards.

Definitely sign up for some drawn hunts!!

You can definitley hunt pubic land and be successful. Im in Houston so the Sam Houston Natl Forest is where I hunt. I like hogs but have shot several deer also when I hunted for them. Now I just hunt hogs because they are just plain fun to hunt.

Find the areas to target on the internet and go scout it out. Thats the only way. Once I figured out how to find them here I have been semi successful. They move around a lot so I may go a few trips at times without seeing them but typically every season ( i only hunt in cool weather) I will bag one or 2 and only go a few times at best.

Yes you are right about our poor selection of public hunting lands here in our state. But you just have to make the most of it and there are some good deer out there for sure.

good luck!!!

This past weekend, I noticed multiple trucks parked on the side of the road in Davy Crockett National Forest. I guess the guys/gals are scouting out their places to ambush a deer with the season fast approaching.

What BOBO said. Also look at the E-Postcard drawings in the Draw hunts they are free.

There are lots of land owners in TX that don’t hunt, but there are hogs everywhere and chances are they want them thinned out. Go to the local gas station or tractor supply in small town TX, and ask the clerk who you might be able to help. Give them a pecan pie and a bag of dog food, and ask if you can help with their hog problem