Texas Whitetail Opportunities

[jimmy33]

Roksliders!

Long time mountain whitetail hunter from the northwest wanting some general info. It looks like I may be moving to Texas in the next couple of years. Probably the Fort Worth area but could also end up in Houston. What does everyone do for hunting? How much is a lease on average? Does everyone end up hunting neighboring states? The public land in Texas? Just want to know what I am getting myself into. I will still probably come back to Idaho for the rut to hunt but, in general, my western hunting will come to a slow crawl. Dont need specifics at all...just want to ge a feel for what eveyone does down there. I know when I lived there I was in the military and I was only there for a year and had no extra money.

 

[TxxAgg]

Definitely pick Fort Worth over Houston!

Lots of leasing but that can be hard to come by. There is also decent public land in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

 

[TxLite]

I hunt on some family land but have friends that do leases.

On average they pay about $3k a year to have access during hunting season. You get 1 gun (aka wife/kids are shooting off your lease allotted deer harvest limit), landowner supplies 2 stands and 2 feeders.

Low fence, chance for exotics (axis, auodad, blackbuck), decent deer. Too rich for my blood though.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Fort Worth is a crap town , but it’s closer to good hunting
$3500 is average west Texas lease if you can find one
oklahoma is a good option

 

[yfarm]

I am on a 5k acre lease with 9 other hunters. Deer,doves,quail,turkeys and hogs as well as predators. 6k/hunter. Friend was on a 33k acre lease west of Laredo on the river, wild west relative to drugs and swimmers. 12.5k/yr now 17k/yr with fewer hunters. Son was on a 400 acre lease near Johnson City with 6 other hunters for 1k/ yr, everyone shot deer, occasionally decent sized. Had hogs and turkeys. Always an unknown about the other hunters you are with when you start out. Hunting is usually out of a box blind over feeders for deer. Brush is impenetrable so spot and stalk is out of the question where I hunt. Ranch manager shreds senderos through brush for visibility as well as pipeline ROWs. Some pastures are grazed which allows for better visibility but the deer hogs and turkeys prefer the heaviest cover. I am on the lease as is the lease manager primarily for the dove and quail hunting. Quail leases are often higher than deer leases.

 

[100 others]

You won’t be terribly far from Fort Hood (now Cavazos). You can hunt deer and pigs on the training ranges there. Just gotta register and check in as they become available. Pretty competitive from what I hear but a lot cheaper than a yearly lease.

 

[Tjman]

We don't have as much public land to hunt on as other states, but if you do your research and get out and scout you can find some good deer. Leases have become much more expensive over the last couple of years but are a good option if you have the money.

 

[caseybratten]

Grew up in OK but have been transplanted to Fort Worth for work.
There are a few public land options within an hour to an hour and a half of FW that are good for taking a doe or two to fill the freezer. Southeast Oklahoma has some pretty good public land but the cost of nonresident tags is rising.

 

[GhostHunters]

A majority of Texas is private land so you would most likely have to join a lease. There are some public land opportunities near Houston but not sure how challenging that would be.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Fort Worth is a crap town , but it’s closer to good hunting
$3500 is average west Texas lease if you can find one
oklahoma is a good option

It’s a hell of a lot better than Houston.


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