Hunters in San Antonio

[IaTrent]

All,
I am looking at a new job opportunity in San Antonio. This would require me to relocate from Iowa where I have hunted Whitetail, pheasants, etc my whole life. Recently expanded with some western hunts in Colorado. My initial research of the San Antonio area has not revealed much for hunting opportunities.

Is there anyone here from the area who can give me some info? Are there public land options or will I be looking to for a lease? I’m an outdoor enthusiast and worried my hunting may be limited to long travel to Western States. Fitness and hunting are what I do, not much of a golfer or other hobbies.

Thanks much.


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[BrushyHillGuide]

I’ll shoot you a PM with my number. There’s very little public ground in Texas and hunting can get really expensive. Archery hunting will be quite a bit cheaper than rifle at those places that offer it. I happen to manage a large low fence ranch a little over an hour west of SA. I can give you the skinny on hunting around here.

It’s a GREAT place to live as a hunter because we have year-round opportunities to hunt. But you’ll have to pony up some $$ to do it until you happen to make friends with some landowners. Lots of trade opportunities if you’ve got ground in Iowa.


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[Tick]

Mostly private land in TX but there are public land hunting opportunities. Most have a lease and prices have a wide range. Prices depend mainly on trophy opportunity, accommodations, and region of the state you look.

San Antonio is a great area. Freshwater and saltwater fishing in summer. Exotics all year. South TX whitetail hunting is the best in the country in my opinion. MLD you can hunt whitetail from Oct. to March. Not a bad drive west for mule deer and elk. Good luck.

 

[IaTrent]

Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated.


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[Target rush]

If you like the shooting sports. The National Shooting Complex is close by.

 

[Gerard Marcaurele]

I hunt 1.5 hours south of San Antonio. If you drive about 1-3 hrs outside of that city, you will be in some great country. The whitetail are not large, but there are a lot of them in the Texas Hill country.

As far as public land goes, there are a few places not too far from SA. I’m not very well versed in Tx public land because I hunt all on private land that a friend owns. Most land is privatized and most hunting is done via leases. It can be very expensive if you don’t have friends that own land or people that will swap some work days for a hunt or two.

Another forum that I frequent is Texasbowhunter.com It isn’t as equipment based as this site, but it will give you an idea of what to expect here in Tx.

 

[TradAg02]

As stated above, hunting in Texas is generally an expensive endeavor. Finding a quality deer lease takes networking and is generally about who you know. I’d avoid the lease search engines/sites as most good leases have a waiting list. With that said life happens and decent spots open up last minute and get posted within the classified ads on various state hunting and fishing forums. If you see or hear about a spot be prepared to act quickly.

If you have access and experience to hunt ground in Iowa you should be able to find a landowner willing to trade hunts.

You can also look into day leases, package type hunts, to get you by until you find a lease.

Around late July or early August parks and wildlife will open up the current year’s draw hunt system. It is a lottery system with preference points. It is only $3/entry so you might as well try. It took me 7yrs of entering before I drew my first hunt. However this year (10th year) I drew 1 hunt out of the 48 I entered and it was for a hunt that I had zero preference points for. I know guys who have drawn hunts with no points while others have 20+ points for the same hunt and still haven’t drawn.

While the draw hunts are regulated the general walk in units (mostly east Texas) are not. I’ll drive 24hrs straight through to hunt public land out west, but I won’t drive an hour to hunt a walk-in unit near my house.

South of San Antonio you can get into big ranches and big whitetail. West and north of town you generally find smaller ranches and smaller bucks, though you also stand a good chance of getting into some exotics.

Javis are south of town in large numbers and in smaller numbers west of town. Pigs are in most places. Both are fun to shoot in slow times, but a pain when you are deer hunting. Turkey are most anywhere with decent water. Quail hunting can be good down south depending on weather and habitat. You can get into some good dove hunting just west of town in Hondo. If that is something you are into you need to plan ahead as most fields book up early.

Most hunting is over feeders or on corned roads and there are a lot of high fences. I killed a buck in Iowa last year and have harvested several animals out west, but I will not pass an opportunity to sit over a feeder on a high fenced ranch. While I don’t experience the same sense of accomplishment when I’m successful, I can sit over a feeder any weekend I’m free while I only get to head out of state a few times each year. At the end of the day I just like to hunt. I tell you this to encourage you to keep an open mind about any hunting opportunities that you may come across.

Your job may dictate where you want to live, but I personally prefer the north side of town. If you don’t mind a commute the Boerne area is nice northwest of town.


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[TexanSam]

As stated above, hunting in Texas is generally an expensive endeavor. Finding a quality deer lease takes networking and is generally about who you know. I’d avoid the lease search engines/sites as most good leases have a waiting list. With that said life happens and decent spots open up last minute and get posted within the classified ads on various state hunting and fishing forums. If you see or hear about a spot be prepared to act quickly.

If you have access and experience to hunt ground in Iowa you should be able to find a landowner willing to trade hunts.

You can also look into day leases, package type hunts, to get you by until you find a lease.

Around late July or early August parks and wildlife will open up the current year’s draw hunt system. It is a lottery system with preference points. It is only $3/entry so you might as well try. It took me 7yrs of entering before I drew my first hunt. However this year (10th year) I drew 1 hunt out of the 48 I entered and it was for a hunt that I had zero preference points for. I know guys who have drawn hunts with no points while others have 20+ points for the same hunt and still haven’t drawn.

While the draw hunts are regulated the general walk in units (mostly east Texas) are not. I’ll drive 24hrs straight through to hunt public land out west, but I won’t drive an hour to hunt a walk-in unit near my house.

South of San Antonio you can get into big ranches and big whitetail. West and north of town you generally find smaller ranches and smaller bucks, though you also stand a good chance of getting into some exotics.

Javis are south of town in large numbers and in smaller numbers west of town. Pigs are in most places. Both are fun to shoot in slow times, but a pain when you are deer hunting. Turkey are most anywhere with decent water. Quail hunting can be good down south depending on weather and habitat. You can get into some good dove hunting just west of town in Hondo. If that is something you are into you need to plan ahead as most fields book up early.

Most hunting is over feeders or on corned roads and there are a lot of high fences. I killed a buck in Iowa last year and have harvested several animals out west, but I will not pass an opportunity to sit over a feeder on a high fenced ranch. While I don’t experience the same sense of accomplishment when I’m successful, I can sit over a feeder any weekend I’m free while I only get to head out of state a few times each year. At the end of the day I just like to hunt. I tell you this to encourage you to keep an open mind about any hunting opportunities that you may come across.

Your job may dictate where you want to live, but I personally prefer the north side of town. If you don’t mind a commute the Boerne area is nice northwest of town.


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That is probably the most accurate way to describe Texas hunting lol.


Some Facebook pages will guide you to a lease, and lease hunting can be fun if you want a place to just hangout on the weekend with the guys, but the hunting part isn't that great of an experience compared to western hunting.

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[IaTrent]

As stated above, hunting in Texas is generally an expensive endeavor. Finding a quality deer lease takes networking and is generally about who you know. I’d avoid the lease search engines/sites as most good leases have a waiting list. With that said life happens and decent spots open up last minute and get posted within the classified ads on various state hunting and fishing forums. If you see or hear about a spot be prepared to act quickly.

If you have access and experience to hunt ground in Iowa you should be able to find a landowner willing to trade hunts.

You can also look into day leases, package type hunts, to get you by until you find a lease.

Around late July or early August parks and wildlife will open up the current year’s draw hunt system. It is a lottery system with preference points. It is only $3/entry so you might as well try. It took me 7yrs of entering before I drew my first hunt. However this year (10th year) I drew 1 hunt out of the 48 I entered and it was for a hunt that I had zero preference points for. I know guys who have drawn hunts with no points while others have 20+ points for the same hunt and still haven’t drawn.

While the draw hunts are regulated the general walk in units (mostly east Texas) are not. I’ll drive 24hrs straight through to hunt public land out west, but I won’t drive an hour to hunt a walk-in unit near my house.

South of San Antonio you can get into big ranches and big whitetail. West and north of town you generally find smaller ranches and smaller bucks, though you also stand a good chance of getting into some exotics.

Javis are south of town in large numbers and in smaller numbers west of town. Pigs are in most places. Both are fun to shoot in slow times, but a pain when you are deer hunting. Turkey are most anywhere with decent water. Quail hunting can be good down south depending on weather and habitat. You can get into some good dove hunting just west of town in Hondo. If that is something you are into you need to plan ahead as most fields book up early.

Most hunting is over feeders or on corned roads and there are a lot of high fences. I killed a buck in Iowa last year and have harvested several animals out west, but I will not pass an opportunity to sit over a feeder on a high fenced ranch. While I don’t experience the same sense of accomplishment when I’m successful, I can sit over a feeder any weekend I’m free while I only get to head out of state a few times each year. At the end of the day I just like to hunt. I tell you this to encourage you to keep an open mind about any hunting opportunities that you may come across.

Your job may dictate where you want to live, but I personally prefer the north side of town. If you don’t mind a commute the Boerne area is nice northwest of town.


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Great info, much appreciated.


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[IaTrent]

I hunt 1.5 hours south of San Antonio. If you drive about 1-3 hrs outside of that city, you will be in some great country. The whitetail are not large, but there are a lot of them in the Texas Hill country.

As far as public land goes, there are a few places not too far from SA. I’m not very well versed in Tx public land because I hunt all on private land that a friend owns. Most land is privatized and most hunting is done via leases. It can be very expensive if you don’t have friends that own land or people that will swap some work days for a hunt or two.

Another forum that I frequent is Texasbowhunter.com It isn’t as equipment based as this site, but it will give you an idea of what to expect here in Tx.

Thank you.


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[T.R.]

Thank you.


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Never have hunted Public land but San Antonio is full of a lot of opportunity. Head in any direction and you will hit some prime deer country. Uvalde is one of the most popular down here


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[jm1607]

I didn't read the whole thread but you'll be close to Amistad NRA which IMO is the best public hunting in the state.