Texas - Public Land Archery (Gus Engeling)

[Hank Hill]

Good morning Rokslide, I got drawn for archery deer (either sex) on Gus Engeling, which as best as I can understand is a dense oak thicket with lots of water. Scouting this WMA is going to especially frustrating because you are assigned a "compartment", essentially just an area, the first day of the hunt. While you do get to put in for which compartment you'd like to have - and you'll have it all to yourself - this makes it difficult to do any real scouting because I don't know where exactly I'll be.

I know there is plenty literature on hunting heavy cover, I've done a little myself, but never in East Texas - but I wanted to see if there were any experts that could perhaps give me some sage advice. My plan is hopefully to get between a moving water source and fresh acorn drop, preferably along some kind of choke point. The area doesn't have a great deal of elevation change. Getting a good 180deg view might be difficult because of the tree density but I plan on setting up a tree stand as high as realistically possible in one of these areas and hopefully ambushing anything that comes along.

The locals say there are great bucks in the heavy cover, and due to my lack of experience in the area I think I might have the best luck finding sign in a good area and, wind abiding, sit on it all day. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Gus has a lot of water already. Look at pinch points in your compartment and invest in a climbing tree stand. Great deer there. Good luck

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Plenty of hogs in there too if you get bored.

 

[gumbl3]

I went and hunted standby at another TPWD draw last year, not going to say where, but got picked. My compartment wasn't that big, once I got drawn around noon I put boots on the ground, covered the whole thing with a buddy and we had our evening spots by 3 or 4 that Monday with a good lay of the land known. He killed a 10 on Wednesday morning and I shot a 128" 8 on Thursday. You just got to get out there and get bloody, read the ground and play the wind. It's fun hunting those deer that aren't as pressured.

 

[gumbl3]

Oh, and it's a free tag (minus the hunt fee)!!! doesn't come off your license, doesn't get much better

 

[Hank Hill]

Oh, and it's a free tag (minus the hunt fee)!!! doesn't come off your license, doesn't get much better

I was pretty excited to learn that as well. The freezer will be well stocked this year, God willing.

 

[ecw]

LA hunter here so terrain/deer behavior should be the same over there. They need food, water, and cover. I personally hunt food as those are pretty limited on my farm. Check for prevailing wind direction in the area and set your stand accordingly. Be careful of your access route to make sure you don't cross their's. I tend to hunt based on the solunar table but if it's the rut or you have a limited time frame just sit all day. Any day I can enjoy creation is a good day so enjoy your time. Good luck!


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[Hank Hill]

I just got back from Big Lake Bottom WMA which I also got drawn on, its very close to Gus Engeling and I suspect very similar terrain. Just wanted to give my $0.02 for anyone else that may have been drawn there. The acorns were already beginning to fall, so baiting with corn was essentially useless - even pigs aren't interested unless they literally walk on top of it. I hunted a pop up ground blind which was a mistake, I think a climber is far more preferable. It's all tall hardwoods, and when I go to Gus later in the month I plan to set up along a ridge line between heavy cover and a creek wherever I may find some fresh trails. As of Monday not a single hunter had taken a buck at Big Lake Bottom, to the best of my observation I didn't see any bucks chasing does I think they were not quite in the rut yet.