Balcones Canyonlands NWR

Got drawn for the Dec. 4-6 hunt and received my compartment yesterday. I will be in compartment 1-3. I have read through some older threads on Balcones Canyonlands NWR, but wanted to know if anybody had some advice from recent experiences hunting that unit or the that area.

Hey, I'll be in Unit 2 December 11-13. It's fairly close to yours. I too have read a lot but not really a whole lot out there about my specific compartment. I'll be following this thread closely. Anyone with experience from Compartment #2?

My hunting buddy and I will be right next to you in compartment 1-4 on the Dec 4-6 hunt. I too am finding a good deal of generic and older info on the place, but little specific to my area. I think I'll try to take advantage of their "scouting" days and put in some literal footwork before the hunt.

Same. I plan on going down during the scouting days to get my bearings and look over my compartment, particularly the area where I am assigned to park.

Brother and I will be in 1-1 for the December 4-6 hunt. Don’t know anything about the area, and we will be there for the scouting weekend. Maybe we should organize a THF deer drive...

Heading down this Saturday and doing a scouting day and get the lay of the land around my unit.

My daughter and I spent a few hours yesterday looking around my Unit 1-3 in the general area where I am to park. I knew from research and satellite maps that it was thick, but it was even thicker than I imagined. Areas on the map that looked like they might have a little open space, were still thick with cedar.

Even though it was thick, I did see a decent buck that would have given me a broadside from about 40 yards. He stood there looking at my daughter and I for a good 3-4 minutes while we were glassing him. Saw a couple of feeders set up on neighboring properties that were close the NWR property line and I suspect they are trying to draw deer off the NWR, which is perfectly legal and their prerogative. Saw a few trails leading to the feeders from the NWR and might set up on one of those trails at some point. Also saw several trails that might be a good place to set up a pop up, although this area might be better suited to still hunting, as this is how we ran into the buck we saw.

Primary roads were in good shape, although I know they could get bad if it rained. I was in a 2WD truck and feel it would be fine unless it was a rainy weekend. Secondary roads were a little sketchy.

I was super impressed with the Avenza Maps App that the NRW recommended we download. I was able to navigate around my area and know where I was at all times using Avenza with the maps they gave us to upload into the app.

My daughter and I hunted unit 2 a couple of years ago on a youth hunt. I’ve posted about it before. We sat in the box blind and had pigs within the first 2 minutes but they kept moving never offering a shot. I rattled and an 8 pt came running in. We stared at it for what seemed like an hour. It was outside the ears but in the brush facing head on. She didn’t feel comfortable so it eventually walked off. I kept rattling and about an hour later a 8 pt came walking out of the cedars from the right. It stopped right in front of us about 80 yards out and she took the shot. It was a pretty hill country deer. The next morning we hunted and didn’t see much. I rattled up a little fork horn late but that was it. We used a couple of liquid scents that smelled like acorns and corn since you can’t bait. Not sure if it helped or not.

At what time of year was this? My hunt is in December(11-13). Would that be after the rut for that area? Appreciate the good info! I'm really looking forward to it. From the limited reports I've found on unit 2, it seems like a decent spot compared to others.

Our hunt was November 10-11, 2017

Thank you!