James Daughtrey Youth either sex

Hey Yall,

So my son got drawn for the youth either sex hunt at The James Daughtrey WMA on 12/26-28. Neither my son or I have never drawn a hunt before. Does anyone have any good sugestions fro this WMA or WMA's in general. Were both super excited about our opportunity as this seems to be a great one to be drawn for.

There are hotels in Tilden and Three Rivers, Tx. If the weather not too terrible cold or rainy, you can camp out in a tent at the headquarters or camp out at the Calliham unit (they have cabins.) The Daughtrey has deer blinds on your compartment. You get to pick your compartment and hunt it yourself. Take plenty of corn. Many deer, hogs, javelina and turkey. The deer will be rutting late in December.

Stay at the State Park in their enclosed shelters. Hotels down there can be outrageous. Not too far from the headquarters.

A few years back two of my hunting buddies got drawn there.They both harvested big bucks one was a 10 and the other was a 12 (I think been bout 7 or 8 years ago) they came back with some good tales about big bucks.They camped onsite in a tent said it got so cold when they were there the 5 gallon water bottle froze but they had a great hunt.

For the archery hunt 1/1-1/4 this past year, it was a low of 18 degrees and the people camping could not do a good job hunting because they were freezing! Motels in Three Rivers are a little far away, and takes about half an hour to drive to the WMA. Shelter units in the Park are much better.

I hunted Javelina in February this year at the JD. Stayed in a cabin in Tilden. I think it was less the 70 dollars a night. In the past I have camped at the campground at the check station. It’s primitive with a porta-John butis the best option if the weather is nice. South Texas in late December can be 90 or it could be 25 and snowing.

Every time I have been to the Daughtrey I have seen tons of deer. You will have a great time!!

Congrats to your son. He has a chance at a great trophy that time of year as the rut should be in full swing. Take some rattling horns with you. The cabins are a good reasonable option for a place to stay.

I live about 35 minutes from the hunt area. Been there many times, but have never drawn the hunt there (still trying). I would camp at the property. Really cold weather here is unusual, however, sometimes it surprises us. The state park shelters are pretty nice, also, and if you're not wanting to "mess with" a tent, I would rent one of the shelters at the park (close by).
The staff guys there are really cool people and helpful. You're son is in for a great hunt.