Who is hunting Texas Mule Deer this year?

[Newtosavage]

Back on topic for y’all bitching about public land. When you consider the cost of driving out of state and paying out of state license/gas/etc there are a bunch of options on the border that are comparable in price and you can hunt 5-10k acres for a week with zero competition. (Except maybe snakes, cats, cartel, wild horses, heat exhaustion). There isn’t much comparable in world where you can hunt such a big track by yourself.

I suppose that's always an option if a person is so inclined.

How much you talkin' ?

 

[eamyrick]

I’m at $1750 for a week this year. I love public land as much as everyone but I can make 30-40% more here in Texas in my profession so it makes sense.

 

[Upchurch_k]

I’m at $1750 for a week this year. I love public land as much as everyone but I can make 30-40% more here in Texas in my profession so it makes sense.

eamyrick makes a good point about finding land to hunt. We all know Texas is a pay to play state for most everything hunting. We do have some great opportunities on public land for bird hunting, upland, waterfowl, etc and hogs. If you really do some digging you'll come up with some OTC public land like Meredith or others. Some buddies and I went on an OTC Aoudad sheep hunt this year on public land here that was a lot of fun. Also if you look hard enough you can find the right deer lease that isn't over the top, we got lucky 15 years ago and got on a lease that has a yearly cost less than an OTC Colorado bull tag, so for the price of a bull tag we get 365 days of access and can hunt pigs, dove, turkey, deer, predators, etc.

 

[Newtosavage]

I’m at $1750 for a week this year. I love public land as much as everyone but I can make 30-40% more here in Texas in my profession so it makes sense.

That's what I've been seeing, which I suppose is why I haven't hunted mule deer in W Texas yet. I'll spend about half that for 2 weeks in Colorado.

Good luck to you though!

 

[Newtosavage]

eamyrick makes a good point about finding land to hunt. We all know Texas is a pay to play state for most everything hunting. We do have some great opportunities on public land for bird hunting, upland, waterfowl, etc and hogs. If you really do some digging you'll come up with some OTC public land like Meredith or others. Some buddies and I went on an OTC Aoudad sheep hunt this year on public land here that was a lot of fun. Also if you look hard enough you can find the right deer lease that isn't over the top, we got lucky 15 years ago and got on a lease that has a yearly cost less than an OTC Colorado bull tag, so for the price of a bull tag we get 365 days of access and can hunt pigs, dove, turkey, deer, predators, etc.

Yup, there are some decent public land options in TX for those willing to do their homework and travel a little bit. I'm not that far from a bowhunting only deer/hog area, which I have cherished over the years, and if a person can hike a ways, even the most crowded national forests in E Texas can still be productive.

But mule deer is the tough one. That's one area where I wish TPWD would open more opportunity through the APH permit. I hunted Black Gap on the old "type II" permits in the 90's and my brother and I still talk about those hunts. Some of the greatest hunts of our lives to this day.

 

[Upchurch_k]

Yup, there are some decent public land options in TX for those willing to do their homework and travel a little bit. I'm not that far from a bowhunting only deer/hog area, which I have cherished over the years, and if a person can hike a ways, even the most crowded national forests in E Texas can still be productive.

But mule deer is the tough one. That's one area where I wish TPWD would open more opportunity through the APH permit. I hunted Black Gap on the old "type II" permits in the 90's and my brother and I still talk about those hunts. Some of the greatest hunts of our lives to this day.

I agree there's definitely room for improvement in certain areas. We've been putting in for the Pronghorn draw for 6 years, I'm not a fan of the "Loyalty Points" that we do. I wish it were more like Colorado's system where you need X amount of points to draw that particular hunt. Then at least you would have a goal to work towards instead of it being a total crap shoot. Overall I know I personally wouldn't want to live anywhere else, we have a ton of really cool opportunities in the Lone Star state for outdoor activities.

 

[eamyrick]

That's what I've been seeing, which I suppose is why I haven't hunted mule deer in W Texas yet. I'll spend about half that for 2 weeks in Colorado.

Good luck to you though!

Half is about right from what I see. $400 more for a license, 150 more in gas, plus I have to consider the extra 2 days of travel time which is time off work, away from family.

 

[Newtosavage]

Half is about right from what I see. $400 more for a license, 150 more in gas, plus I have to consider the extra 2 days of travel time which is time off work, away from family.

I'm spending about $800 for 2 weeks of hiking and camping in Colorado, with a chance of shooting a mule deer. If I were really focused on shooting a trophy muley, I'd probably take a different approach, but the time in the mountains is more important to me than the trophy.

 

[Newtosavage]

we have a ton of really cool opportunities in the Lone Star state for outdoor activities.

I live in an area where I can access the hill country, the S. Tex brush country, the pineywoods and the coast all within 2 hours. And I still don't really feel that way. If it weren't for the access to the coast, I would still feel completely landlocked compared to other places I have lived that were surrounded by public lands. When I was in New Mexico, I had literally tens of thousands of acres of BLM and FS and State lands to hunt on for free. Even in Illinois, I had over 1/4 Mil ac. of FS and state and other federal lands to hunt on, for free. In New England as a teen, I hunted thousands of acres of state land, for free. There are things I love about Texas, but access to land isn't one of them. Thank God for the GLO lands and waters along the coast.

Wife and I will be heading to CO or WY as soon as we retire, and spending a few months on the TX coast each winter to fish, bird watch and visit family.

I really love West TX - Alpine/Marfa/Ft. Davis and the Guads, but there is so little public access out there it's just incredibly frustrating.

 

[Upchurch_k]

Newtosavage, I guess a lot of our opinions depend on where/when you grew up. I'm lucky to have family land in a couple of different places around Texas that I was able to roam around on in my formative years so I never really felt deprived of access and to be honest until a few years ago I really didn't know anything different. Also a lot of it depends on what you like to hunt, I've been a wing shooter for about 15 years and there's far more opportunities on different types of public land for that than there are for big game. I'm sure there's other factors for people too, we don't pay income tax or outrageous vehicle registration fees, I lived/worked in Utah and Oklahoma for a few years and that was a big change for me seeing that extra 7% coming out of my salary. I think we all just want to get the most out of our limited time outdoors and the best we can do is just have fun with what we've got available to us!

 

[Newtosavage]

Newtosavage, I guess a lot of our opinions depend on where/when you grew up. I'm lucky to have family land in a couple of different places around Texas that I was able to roam around on in my formative years so I never really felt deprived of access and to be honest until a few years ago I really didn't know anything different. Also a lot of it depends on what you like to hunt, I've been a wing shooter for about 15 years and there's far more opportunities on different types of public land for that than there are for big game. I'm sure there's other factors for people too, we don't pay income tax or outrageous vehicle registration fees, I lived/worked in Utah and Oklahoma for a few years and that was a big change for me seeing that extra 7% coming out of my salary. I think we all just want to get the most out of our limited time outdoors and the best we can do is just have fun with what we've got available to us!

Yup, in Texas there are the haves and the have-nots. Don't take that the wrong way. It is what it is. If you're in the have-not category like me (no large tracts of family land) then you are basically screwed in this state unless you have a lot of disposable income. So the average working class guy in TX just isn't going to have the same experience they would have in so many other states. I grew up here and heard all my life how "big" hunting is in Texas and I believed that until I lived in other parts of the country where hunting really is big. LOL

We don't pay income tax, but our property taxes are some of the highest in the nation.

Like I said, there are public opportunities here for those willing to travel/work for them. It's unfortunate that mule deer is so limited. That's all I was getting at.

Of course my family here thinks I'm crazy for wanting to live anywhere else, but that's probably because none of them have ever lived anywhere else. LOL I gotta have more access to public land. Period. Once you've had it, it's hard to live without it after that.

 

[SconnyHunter1487]

Boy this thread got off topic quick... let’s try to bring it back.

I’ll be headed out to West Texas to chase mulies again this year. Lucked into some really good private land last year and will be headed back this year. Connected on this buck last year on the last day of the hunt. Nothing crazy huge, but my first mule deer nonetheless. Hoping for one of the giants we have seen on game cam this year. I’ll update at the time if it happens.

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[Newtosavage]

Congrats! Is that a go-pro on your barrel?

 

[SconnyHunter1487]

Sure is. Works alright until the actual shot. Then it glitches for a split second and then picks back up again. That muzzle break probably doesn’t help matters at all! Lol


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[Gulfgoose]

For those that have been to Meredith, is it even possible to get away from the roads and pumpkin army? Would imagine the amount of people putting in the miles is a little less than western states.

 

[Arminho]

I'm planning on hunting Mule Deer down in West Texas this fall, just south of Van Horn. It's heavy Aoudad country, but it appears mule deer can be found, just have to work hard.

 

[Twitch2146]

What’s the water situation like at Meredith if you hike in? From OnX and Google it looks as if the Canadian River is it. Did y’all experience any streams coming off the Canadian? Trying to cover as much country as possible without having to go back to the vehicles for water