9/15 Drawings

Ought to be illuminating all over again by Monday Morning....
Ron

Checked my app's aftert the Cowboy game and as of this afternoon there has been no indication of any new postings.

As a chidhood friend reminds me anytime I whine to him about about my lack of success in drawing a Hunt in the Lottery he ALWAYS sez..." the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, but never seeing any success".
Good Luck Ya'll
Ron

I am patiently waiting

Me to only been drawn once in 10 years of trying!!

The deadline is 9/15, so you can still apply until midnight tonight. Drawings would actually take place no sooner than tomorrow. And an FYI, TPWD has added the Guided Bighorn Sheep hunt to the drawn hunts.

Sniper John, are you an employee of tpwd?

Why do they wait to open up the bighorn sheep draw?

They have to do surveys before the release the tags.

Good luck to all

Have they ever released more than one tag?

They do. One usually goes to the Grand Slam drawing, one will usually go to the regular drawings, and then a few more will auctioned off to raise money for bighorn sheep conservation projects. They also have land owner tags as well.

I applied Saturday. But THANKS ever so much for reminding everyone else.

9/16/19 5:28am all's calm with no activity of any kind reported at my house in Palestine or in Austin. Still waiting on the DMN route guy to make his usual 5am delivery as promised....boring already today. Old age sure ain't all it's cracked up to be ...back to watching Politics as usual I guess and arguing with the BH when she finally wakes up. MIght mow the yard today..ummm might not ...it'll prolly be THE major decision of the day to either mow the yard or sweep pine needles off the patio. Same &^%$# different day.
Ron

8am, all’s quiet

Has it started yet? Good luck to everyone

Still quiet

Has anyone been picked yet? Has the drawing started?

Usually around noon or 1

How do you know when they draw for a particular hunt?

Go to the draw hunts and check status. It will say "Application Accepted" which means they haven't drawn; "Pending 2nd draw" means you weren't picked; "Not Selected" also means you were not picked; "WIN!" means you were selected

I knew that. But people seem to know when a hunt catagory drawing will take place.

I have usually received emails around 1pm. Sometimes as early as 9am. I don't think there is a set standard.

They are starting to be posted, good luck all.

Looks like I was selected for a spike/ antlerless

I see where they did National Refuge General Deer but that is all I see so far.

Not all of them, so far
Still waiting for Balcones Canyonland

OK, now it's happening

Well as luck would have it, I got drawn for antlerless at Pedernales falls the same dates I got drawn for archery at Chaparral.

Which one you going to do? I'm guessing the Chap

I won Trinity river boars den and briar wood for NWR general deer. Also San Angelo so for Spike antlerless.

Pending at Chap, here!

3:05 PM With 10 Apps in play, 6 Apps Pending 2nd drawing w/5 in GDA (5 LP's) & 4 App's left in GDE (17 LP's) &1 App in GDM (5LP's) yet to be drawn ...about what I expected so far. I'll be happy with Winning any App out of the 10 I put in for. ...but I'll start spending my play money on other Lottery Games and BUY HUNT's with any of the Winnings
Ron

I entered for 41 drawings...

Won 2 so far - Trinity River - Brierwood and Mcguire.

Not selected on 9.

Pending 2nd drawing on 20.

Waiting on draws for 10 but not all of those happen today

Got picked for Gun Deer - Either Sex, Alazan Bayou WMA

You've had a bit of luck this year. Congrats!!

Thanks but I let go of my other hunt at Aransas NWR .

Yeah, but you got The Chap!
That's cool!

I am still showing Application Received at Balcones Canyonland NWR (General Deer).....hmmmm!

OOOPS!! Just jinxed it!!!

Now Pending at Balcones!!

Okay, Come on October 16th for Muleys!!

3:33PM 10 Apps still in Play today, 5 GDA's all went 2nd Drawing with 5 LP's , 4 GDE's went 2nd Drawing with 17 LP's , 1 GDM went 2nd drawing with 5 LP's and I won a GDE Hunt at Lake Mineral Wells.

I've hunted at Lake Mineral Wells before many years ago on a GDA Hunt and it was a well run small hunt especially for older folks with a great staff and high success rates.if you could shoot straight for 100+yards Gotta go look at the details .Oh well.there goes the 17 LP's and still not able to draw SLR for anything
Ron

Edit: Hmmm Hunt Scheduled mid week, the week before Christmas so the weather ought to be decent, but NO baiting allowed??, only a 30% success rate last year??, 2 deer bag limit's OK, any buck with a horn protruding rthe skin is a legal buck??? MUst have a lot of yearlings from this years fawn crop. Hmmm NO GDA Hunt scheduled this year , and unlimited hogs??? gotta bet that the hogs have over run this place right outside the Perimeter of Ft Wolters & across the street from the entrance to the old For Profit Prison that had been the Ft's Brig....lots of changes since I was there last. Hope they still drive you to the blinds, as they crossed old live freefire zones thru locked gates to get to the blinds ...s'posed to be lots of leftover unexploded artillery rounds inside those locked areas too for a little excitment...anything to keep you awake and NOT Wandering around I guess LOLOLOL . Any Day spent in the field hunting is a better day than I normally have.
RV

I got Gun Deer - Management at Chapparal, and pending 2nd draw on three others (not holding my breath on those). Guess I better tell my wife that I will not be home for Thanksgiving.

I won antlerless/spike at Colorado Bend SP.
I’m excited, never been there before.
Hopefully put some meat in the freezer.

we won either sex at Brazos Bend State Park Dec. 3-5. 16 others are all pending second chance

Pending 2nd draw or not selected on everything for me. Even on the E Postcard draws. Went strait to non selected for Gun Deer Either Sex which officially puts me at 26 points for next year.

do the chaparral, no question

MBavo...look at last years success #'s shown in the Listing. You gonna camp or stay in Lampasas? Look at the next town to the west too who'sname escapes me right now. You got a good chance to take a Aoudad too Great Place to Hunt for sure.Staff is supposed to be top drawer too. I talked to the Park Manager couple years ago when we were looking at buying a house within an hour or so from the park and he took all the time I wanted to give me any info I wanted.
Ron

Spike/doe at lake Whitney SP, muzzleloader only

I drew Balcones Canyonlands NWR, pumped bc I'm in Austin, so just 45 minutes from the house.

It's been a crazy year. Not great hunts but a good number of them. I've got -

Refuge Archery Deer - Aransas NWR
Refuge Archery Deer - Laguna Atascosa NWR
Antlerless/Spike - San Angelo SP
Refuge General Deer - Aransas NWR
Refuge General Deer - Trinity River NWR - Brierwood
Refuge General Deer - Trinity River NWR - Boars Den
Antlerless Tag - Sam Houston National Forest

My son won -
Youth Gun Deer - White Oak Creek WMA
and Renfro Hunting Club from the TYHP

What a busy year.

Congratulations that’s awesome! Goose egg for me it’s looking like.

Sniper John, you results look like my results. Oh well! Such is the draw system.

I won the spike Antlerless at cooper. First year I've ever entered any of these. I had no idea there was an 80 dollar permit to be purchased. Any idea on number of deer that can be taken on that hunt?

@ducknbass - I think the only ones without a permit fee are the e-postcards and the private land draws ... the 2 I won so far (trinity river - brierwood and mcguire) have $130 fees. Of course, the number of tags is pretty good: "Four White-tailed Deer; Either Sex; Limit Two Antlerless and Two Bucks;..."

Looks like your cooper draw says "Three White-tailed Deer; Antlerless or Spike Buck; Limit One Spike Buck Unlimited Feral Hogs"

No joy here in Mudville this year. Had 8 or 10 hunts applied for, all pending 2nd draw.

I do have two muzzleloader antelope in Idaho and Utah, two late cow elk for the wife and I here on the winter range, and two late deer hunts in Idaho and Wyoming

Whole lot of pending 2nd draws for me

BIL and I drew GDE at Powderhorn on Jan 7-9.

goose egg so far

Yeah I've heard the Mineral Wells SP hunts are exempt from the antler restrictions which is weird since that county is under them...

Well my luck holds out, entered 16 hunts and was drawn for Atlanta state park. Was drawn there before 2 years ago and had a great time, took a doe and spike.

So I’ve never been picked for any hunts but I only put in for the high entry# places like Chap and Matador. Do most of y’all put applications in solo or with one or more other hunters? Only want to go with my uncle, no interest in hunting solo. Together we have an 18 preference point average on GDE.
Just curious if y’all think two names on an application further diminishes our chances?

I got lake somerville state park birch creek unit. 3 antlerless with shotgun only.
It is my first year public hunting. Had anyone had any luck there before?

Nice!

I've drawn NWR archery at laguna atascosa and lower Rio grande valley teniente unit, archery deer at big lake bottom, antlerless/spike at enchanted rock, and a shnf doe tag...not too shabby

I believe the group "average" is what matters. Not positive though, just a guess.

Probably try to find a place to stay in San Saba or Cherokee.
I’m excited, love hunting new places and seeing new country.
I saw where someone shot multiple aoudad there last year.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and get one.

Thanks binary



Another question. When it says pending 2nd pending draw how quickly is the 2nd draw usually held?

I believe it's about 10 days. You get a certain amount of time to purchase the permit. Then all the unpurchased permits enter the 2nd draw after the deadline.

I hit on the 2nd draw at Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR so it is definitely possible

Two years ago my son and I got Gun Deer Any at Colorado Bend. It was a good hunt, the staff is top rate. On our hunt they had special tags so you didn't use any tags from your license. My son got a nice 10 Pt the first afternoon, there were some spikes and does taken along with quite a few hogs. We stayed in Lampassas and it wasn't that bad of a drive back and forth. Enjoy your hunt.

Has anyone gone to Los Palomas WMA for the Youth Management hunt? Any pointers or what it was like.

More Goose Eggs for me.

I've been Las Palomas before. There is a place right when you come in where they pump water into a field and a lot of dense brush. It is a very small area. I did get snorted by a deer in the deep brush but never saw it.

The way I understand it the TPWD system favors groups. They average the loyalty points and each member in the group gets that many entries. If one person draws out then everyone in the group draws out.

The points are averaged, but I was told it is one entry under the party leader. Unless things have changed. Otherwise say each member of a party of four with one point each would have equal odds as a single hunter applying with 4 points. Or like me with 26 points in GDE. If I find 3 others with 25+ points to go in with to game the draw, we could have at least 100 entries combined they way you explained it. I am pretty sure it does not work that way.

Hmmm ...so as I understand it, if I coud find several other guys with my now + 21LP's in EXO the group would have a much mo bettah chance of getting drawn for the agreed upon destination?? Not really having any "regrets" at drawing the less "glamerous" GDE location I did with 17 LP's ...but at my age and state of grace it means that I'll never get to see any of the high profile spots except as an unarmed tourist...but then again I won't have "wasted" my LP's either waiting for drawing that Best Hunt location in a specific category
Couple of "Something's" to think about...Need to start checking out the Best Cash Payout lotteries from this point on though and plan on a Pay To Play hunting strategy from here on out.
Ron

The way you explained it, it would discourage groups. Everyone in the group pays three bucks for the entry so it doesn't make any sense to give them worse odds.

I sent TPWD the question through the website and requested an email reply. I will post the reply. I actually hope your right. It should not be too hard for me to find 3 other members on the forum with loyalty points in the mid 20s to team up for the Powderhorn or Chap next season.

I started the conversation asking about the House Schedules around Christmas, and informing her about my drawing a Hunt the week before the Holiday. Tried to explain the TPW Lottery System as it is now in place to my BH of almost 51 years....since I haven't drawn a Permit in GDE in the last 17 years..she thought you could only get Doe Permits in the Lottery since I've never drawn anything else since the '80's despite entering all the usual Gun categories with more than a single location App, and her eyes glazed over after the 1st 30 seconds.

She got the idea of the various Categories & remembered that I had drawn a GDA Permit at Inks Lake umm 5-6 years ago that I had to bail on 'cause I had a bigtime bad case of the flu or walking pneumonia that had not yet been confirmed by the Lab reports, called and alerted the location manager of my No Show so he could plan for a Stand By, but did not get a Permit Refund or my even LP's restored like I did last year when TPW's 'puter puked up a GIGO and "over allocated Permits" in my GDA Ft Boggy selection of who knows how many Over Selection Permits.... and even got the concept of LP's but asked why Texas does not follow a Weighted Draw like some other states where guys we know hunt regularly and finally understood WHY those guys do what they do.

She even got the concept of the Pending Second Draw, but had a major eye roll at allowing Non Resident App's to compete for ANY of the Lotteries, much less the Pending 2nd Drawing section she thought ought to be restricted to only Resident App's. Her biggest Eye Roll of all though was when I said I'm gonna win a Cash Lottery and buy my own place to hunt on and patted me on the head as she started to walk away, like you would a small child who tells his mommy I'm going to the Moon someday as she walked into the next room trying not to laugh out loud but could not contain her chuckling. It'll be 51 years in December the week before my GDE Hunt and still together ....somehow. Never a dull moment in this house.
Ron

Reply from TPWD. So the way I read the reply, yes it greatly increases your odds to do a party application. Thank you KOhunter for bringing this to our attention.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good morning,

Thank you for your email.

Each person on the application will get entries equal to the average number of points for the group.

Thank you,
Wildlife Information

Okay, it's the 25th now.... permit purchasing deadline.... who is ready to see if they score an elusive 2nd draw win.

Anyone know if that actually happens today or if they wait until tomorrow?

I am currently sitting at:

Number of Draw Entries: 44
Won: 2 (Both @ Trinity River NWR)
Not Selected: 10
Pending 2nd Draw: 23
Draws Not Done Yet: 9

I got opening weekend of Archery at Laguna Atascosa from the 2nd draw.... so I am afraid I have used all my luck

Today is the deadline. So you can still pay today. Draw should be held tomorrow. I just checked I won Aransas NWR rifle hunt, but have to pass due to other obligations. It is still available for me to buy the permit.

hit Palo Duro Canyon EXO with 3 points......in Jan 5-7

Well, I missed all the 2nd draws it looks like.

Woot! I scored a 2nd draw - Balcones Canyonlands NWR

My new tally is:

Number of Draw Entries: 44
Won: 3
Not Selected: 32
Pending 2nd Draw: 0
Draws Not Done Yet: 9

Balcones should be a cool one. Congrats.

Sent you a PM, Binary.

Not true at all, solo applicants have the best chance to draw.

Lucky you

What makes you think solo applicants have the best chance? The info that it's easier for groups came from TPWD apparently.

Second draw I lucked out and got Aransas for 3rd rifle hunt. Hopefully the weather is better than last year.

It is true. I emailed TPWD giving both scenarios of either each person getting entries equal to the average points. Or only entries under the party leader averaged for the group. The reply I received below was that each person on the application gets an equal number of entries. The way I read into that is if two persons apply together with one point each, there would be one entry under the 1st applicant that would float the 2nd applicant, and another entry under the 2nd applicant that would float the 1st applicant if drawn. If both have multiple loyalty points, the average combined would give each the averaged number of entries. Each in addition floating each other on each of those entries. If a party of four with 25 averaged points enter together it equals 100 drops in the hat. Sounds crazy, but that's the way it reads.

Reply from TPWD.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good morning,

Thank you for your email.

Each person on the application will get entries equal to the average number of points for the group.

Thank you,
Wildlife Information

Here's another possible scenario though. If towards the end of the selection process, there are less than 4 spots left, and one person in the group of 4 gets drawn, the entire group gets dropped and another gets picked until all the spots are filled. That's the way it was explained to me a few years ago by the lady on the phone with TPWD.

I have had this explained to me both ways both when I asked Austin and by area managers on hunts. It may be something that may or may not have changed over time or change to a computer draw system. I have been told if the last card had more people than spots left, they simply added spots up to that amount. That the number was not absolute. And I have been on hunts before where there were more drawn hunters on the hunt than the number in the book for that hunt period. I admit those were a very long time ago. I have been on many drawn hunts. 18 alligator hunts at JD Murphree alone going back to the very first alligator hunts ever. It was common on some hunts for there to be only one standby, but they allowed all the standby hunters to combine into 3 or 4 person cards "because that is the way TPWD does it in the draw" they said. They did this for one standby position when I was at Caprock Canyons stating the same reason. The last standby I went on though at Gus Engeling I was told your version, so though four could apply there was only two standby positions, so the four hunters present had to split into two cards for the hat draw. The problem is the person on the phone or the person answering an email is probably just a employee with canned answers and is not forwarding the question to the person over the public hunting program. So who knows. I do agree passing over 4, 3, 2 person entries to get to a single person entry would give a greater chance of drawing if the person has few loyalty points. But a group of high point hunters compounding into 50 to 100 entries would still bring much better odds.

I would also like to know if the number of last years entries for each hunt in the book is the number of hunters regardless of loyalty points, or the combined number of entries taking loyalty points into account. The latter or actual number of drops in the hat is what they should be giving us to accurately figure the odds of drawing.

28 years GDE and not selected again. Gene Howe WMA

With the way the new system is set up, I would definitely find a couple other hunts that you would like to draw and apply for them as well. Now that everyone can apply for every hunt and not just 1 per category, most folks do. This year, I have been drawn for 4 hunts (so far) and a sam houston nat forest doe tag. None of them were premium hunts, but still getting to see new areas and spend time in the field with my sons.

Exactly the opposite.

Total number of LP are divided evenly between group members, and if one person of the group is selected, then the entire group is selected. There are some combinations of LP's among individuals in a group that could yield the same chance of being selected as if one of the individuals has applied solo, but never less of a chance. The only reason that the chances can be equal is because TPWD does not give free points by rounding up, as far as I know.

As y'all brought up the group vs individual, I understand the system favoring groups however I have a few questions for certain situations.

My question is does anyone know how the system is programmed to fill the quota for each in regards to hunt periods? If the scenario that there are 3 remaining permits but you submitted as a group of 4, the system wouldn't even allow your group to be drawn, correct?

Is there any weighting to your selected 1st preference date or is each still drawn from the total submissions for each hunting period?

Yes, that's my understanding.



I think they draw the total number and then choose the dates by draw order. So if you're the first person drawn then you get your first choice for dates. If you're the last drawn then you get what's left. If you don't have a preference then you get what's left over.