Just moved to DFW

[Zachlanning1]

Just moved to the great state of Texas from Washington state. Wanted to reach out to any DFW locals and see if I could possibly buy some beers to get any information on hunting here. I am coming from a state with a lot of public land so the limited public land will be something to get used to. If anyone has the time please feel free to message me.

 

[Portafisher]

So not a lot of guys are going to help you out to much down here when it comes to public land. They think it is all theirs. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure the average rokslider would help but not much else. However, there are a few of us that are decent people and don’t mind helping out. Since I feel the same way when I hunt out west here is the run down on what you should start off doing/researching.

1) you need a permanent Texas address for 6 months to be considered a resident.(I don’t believe this has changed but a quick google will find that info for you). I would suggest you do that as quick as possible which I will explain why in a bit.

2) Texas makes it pretty easy to find all of the public hunting land. This is via the Texas Outdoor Annual app for your phone.This is where you can find all of the public land under the education and public hunting menu. This will take you to state map with all hunting areas and information about these area. On top of the hunting license, to hunt on public land you need an annual Public Lands hunting permit, I believe it was 50$ this year.

3) Back around to the residency I mentioned, if you can/have already been a resident 6 months, great, if not get on top of it now and in April putting in for Draw Hunts through Texas Parks & Wildlife will be much easier. I won’t explain the draw hunts since most have been drawn for the year, that being said if you need any help figuring it out next year I’ll gladly help you out. It is a very simple process though and they have hunts for WT deer, mule deer, exotics, hogs, waterfowl. Everything you could imagine.

4) Texas has 254 counties within it, every county can have different regulations on whitetail, that being said everything you need to find on which county you are hunting can be found in the app on your phone or in the annual booklet you can pick up at any sporting goods store.

5) There are thousands of guides in Texas and a mass majority of them hunt whitetail, however a large portion of them have exotics which can be hunted year round, in case you need to fill the freezer mid-summer. You can also hunt hogs year round. We have an absurdly large amount of pigs here and making friends with a farmer or two can get you access to thousands of acres.

Those are the main highlights I can think of right now. If you have any specific questions let me know. I have lived and hunted in Texas my whole life, I currently live in Corpus Christi but have land north of College Station and a little piece of hog heaven I get to use in Abilene. I have hunted a few of the area around DFW for spot and stalk on hogs. There are plenty of nice deer in north Texas

Alex N.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rock-o]

Portafisher's response is pretty good.

If you haven't already check out https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/annual_public_hunting/. When I first looked into Texas public land the easiest and quickest resource for me to understand was the annual map book (https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0112a.pdf). Each property has its own rules. The properties' rules are listed in the book... game, hours, legal means, dates, etc.

Post back to this thread with questions.

 

[Txrookie]

You probably have a better chance of making a friend with some land. I’m from west Texas And we have some public land around but about 7 or so years ago the surrounding land owners high fenced all the bordering fence lines.

 

[carsonkeys]

I'm in your same shoes, OP, so I'm no help that way. But I'd be glad to grab a beer with you sometime and possibly scout with you.

 

[Trevor73402]

I’m only about an hour north of DFW in Oklahoma. If you ever want to come up this way to hunt or fish, I’ll gladly help you out and team up with you. There are 1000’s of acres of public hunting less than 30-45 minutes from my house.

 

[TheCougar]

I’ve been in Weatherford for a couple of years. I just drive out of state to hunt. The deer and pigs don’t do it for me. I’m not willing to pay $1200 for a turkey or whatever they are charging for Sandhill cranes around here. I think it’s $300 a day or more. There’s lot of hunting if you like deer and pigs, or if you have deep pockets or know people. I wish I could make connections for bird hunting, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal here, outside of the dove opener. Lots of great folks out here, welcome to Texas! You’re welcome to come over and have a beer or maybe meet up at the SCI convention in Dallas next month.

 

[Packin_packout]

Only missing in this thread is the army corp of engineer properties around dfw, mainly birds and archery for hogs. Public land is pretty slim pickings here in dfw area. No concealed carry on ACE properties and you will run into grow labs on some of the army lake properties from personal experience so be careful.

 

[Zachlanning1]

I’m only about an hour north of DFW in Oklahoma. If you ever want to come up this way to hunt or fish, I’ll gladly help you out and team up with you. There are 1000’s of acres of public hunting less than 30-45 minutes from my house.

So not a lot of guys are going to help you out to much down here when it comes to public land. They think it is all theirs. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure the average rokslider would help but not much else. However, there are a few of us that are decent people and don’t mind helping out. Since I feel the same way when I hunt out west here is the run down on what you should start off doing/researching.

1) you need a permanent Texas address for 6 months to be considered a resident.(I don’t believe this has changed but a quick google will find that info for you). I would suggest you do that as quick as possible which I will explain why in a bit.

2) Texas makes it pretty easy to find all of the public hunting land. This is via the Texas Outdoor Annual app for your phone.This is where you can find all of the public land under the education and public hunting menu. This will take you to state map with all hunting areas and information about these area. On top of the hunting license, to hunt on public land you need an annual Public Lands hunting permit, I believe it was 50$ this year.

3) Back around to the residency I mentioned, if you can/have already been a resident 6 months, great, if not get on top of it now and in April putting in for Draw Hunts through Texas Parks & Wildlife will be much easier. I won’t explain the draw hunts since most have been drawn for the year, that being said if you need any help figuring it out next year I’ll gladly help you out. It is a very simple process though and they have hunts for WT deer, mule deer, exotics, hogs, waterfowl. Everything you could imagine.

4) Texas has 254 counties within it, every county can have different regulations on whitetail, that being said everything you need to find on which county you are hunting can be found in the app on your phone or in the annual booklet you can pick up at any sporting goods store.

5) There are thousands of guides in Texas and a mass majority of them hunt whitetail, however a large portion of them have exotics which can be hunted year round, in case you need to fill the freezer mid-summer. You can also hunt hogs year round. We have an absurdly large amount of pigs here and making friends with a farmer or two can get you access to thousands of acres.

Those are the main highlights I can think of right now. If you have any specific questions let me know. I have lived and hunted in Texas my whole life, I currently live in Corpus Christi but have land north of College Station and a little piece of hog heaven I get to use in Abilene. I have hunted a few of the area around DFW for spot and stalk on hogs. There are plenty of nice deer in north Texas

Alex N.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is all awesome information and I really appreciate your time to explain this all. On the license I bought a resident hunting and fishing license with just my Texas ID and I have not been here 6 months yet. They just asked for my license and that was it.

 

[JTHeaney]

Definitely try and make the safari club convention this weekend- great show. I’m also around dallas and happy to connect.

 

[Currahee13]

I am down in San Angelo and would like to get back into hunting but as others have stated I am not willing to spend the money to lease hunting land and high fence hunting doesn’t do it for me.

 

[TxAg2017]

I've lived in Texas all my life but have only every hunted waterfowl on some state land. All big game has always been on private property by invite from friends. This year is going to be my first year putting in for some big game draws in Texas. I live in the Burleson/Crowley area, I'd be down to link up and potentially explore some options together if you're in need of a hunting buddy as well.