Public hunting for Mule Deer and Nilgai

Hey,

Not sure if this has already been gone over or not but I would like to find some public land opportunities to harvest Mule Deer and Nilgai. I want to close out all my tags next year as a challenge to myself and White Tail are easy to find on many public lands as well as turkey. Unfortunately, no where in the Public Hunting Lands booklet do they list Mule Deer lands. Obviously they don't list nilgai either but since I'm asking about the first, I might as well throw in the second. Not really interested in guided hunts or drawn hunts if its at all possible to avoid.

Thank you in advance!!!

I kind of think you won’t find either on public in Texas.

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area for mulies. I've been a few times and it's a very cool place. I haven't harvested a deer out there yet, it can get crowded like any public spot but there's certainly opportunity there.

Pretty sure all Nilgai is by draw only on public.

Agreed

The only other method I can think of is to hit one with your truck. There are a few every year that meet their demise on the highways south of here. Not recommended unless you are driving someone else’s vehicle.

Lake Meredith is going to be your only bet for mule deer and not even a good bet at that. I'd say hone your glassing and stalking skills at Meredith while you apply to other states. Once you draw an out-of-state tag maybe you'll be a little more dialed in and ahead of the beginner curve.

That place if for guys with good legs!

I didn’t know about lake Meredith. How much land is out there?

It’s a chunk, roughly 40k what google says. I hunted along time ago. You can put in miles but terrain isn’t to bad, pretty tame compared to any other Mule deer public land(draw) in Texas, or most NF for that matter

I’d be willing to go out there and hunt the entire mule deer season next year if there’s deer.

Better be there first day and get to the high ground early. I hunted there years ago, be prepared to get as far from the lake as possible, be there the first day as early as possible. I saw some Mule deer but they were all on private property.

There are, but they get pushed to private pretty quick, with that said someone always kills a good one out there every year. You will have to learn to live by your glass.

Now with all this said you have better mule deer opportunities with in the same rough drive time in NM and CO.

Think NM tag is only $250. If you archery hunt the Jan 1-15 rut season is a lot of fun.

I leave Friday for NM but get with me before mid Feb and I can work with you strategy for a couple states.

Not a hard draw though, especially if you open up your weapons choice

There have been a few problems lately out there at Meredith. The ranches that border the public land will go "horseback riding" on the public areas right before mule deer season herding the mule deer across the fence to private land. Private land mule deer hunts are then sold. Law enforcement doesn't seem to want to do anything about it.

I'm curious, what can law enforcement do about it? As long as they can ride their horses on the trails legally then they can just make the excuse that they were "horseback riding", the only law I can think of that they might be breaking is hunter harassment.

I hunted lake meredith a few years back we left the parking lot at 3:45 am hiked almost 5 miles into a hill top and waited for the sunrise and was greeted with 16 different hunters within a 600 yrd circle around us never saw a deer on the public ground but the private ranches near by have plenty of deer and antelope running around so eventually they have to make a mistake and jump onto the public but I would rather put effort into a hunt that does not have as many hunters. makes me nervous having that many people with guns in that small of an area. Just my opinion.

There is nothing they can do, with that said it's deer, they won't stay spooked for long. I'd be more worried about feed programs them horseback riding.

Not a mulie but I took this whitetail off Meredith. Not much in the way of antlers but a big bodied deer.

He hit the ground 3.2 miles from the truck.

Congratulations!

My buck from Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Texas in my mind is not great for Mule deer hunts and I would not waste your time. I go with my dad to New Mexico and hunt them near Carlsbad. Alot of public land available in New Mexico.

Pretty sure the OPs point is he wants to fill all his Texas tags next year.

Sounds like Lake Meredith or a draw hunt on public in Texas for the muley.

A draw mulie hunt is a real loooong shot.

The Texas Draw Hunts will be your best bet when it comes to Nilgai or using an outfitter.

I went ahead and AGAIN put in for mule deer. Hope springs eternal.

Some body is going to draw the tags

I have been putting in for two years.

I have drawn 2 hunts. 1 javelina at Elephant Mountain, and some waterfowl unit in east Texas that I thought was in West Texas, and I didn't bother. But the biologist said that they had no water and it wasn't worth coming.

I got rained out at E Mountain for Javelina. It started raining the afternoon of the first night and rained like hell for the next two nights. Enjoyed thinking about the meaning of life while watching nothing happen.

Saw mule deer, wildhogs (on the wrong side of the fence) and a javelina on the way in.

The biologist that were working there got killed a heliciopter a few months later.