Texaa

[wcasey755]

How much do you Texas guys usually spend on your out of state hunts? For me in WA. hunting season is usually 500 a year after gas is factored in. Also any bird hunting opportunity?

 

[Braaap]

I tried Texas for several years and couldn’t make it work. It sucks. I would do everything in your power to stay where you are or find a job somewhere other than TX if hunting is a priority. Even if you can afford a nice lease the style of hunting isn’t fun or challenging if you’re used to hunting the major western states imo.

 

[carsonkeys]

How much do you Texas guys usually spend on your out of state hunts? For me in WA. hunting season is usually 500 a year after gas is factored in. Also any bird hunting opportunity?

Depends on state, method of transportation, camping vs. hotel, etc. The short answer is a helluva lot more than I would if I didn't live in Texas. A non-res CO elk tag costs $670 (not including fees), for example

There is bird hunting opportunity. Dove season is like a religion down here. It's also pay-to-play for the most part.

 

[TxxAgg]

Hunting in TX is all about private land. That might mean a lease or buying or having friends.

It can be as easy or as hard as you care to make it. Bow and Gun. You don't have to use feeders.

We have a loooong season and most counties allow 4-5 deer plus turkeys plus unlimited coyotes, pigs, bobcats, foxes.

 

[Red Letters]

Finding a good lease in Texas is a PITA, especially if you are looking at advertised leases. Getting on someone else's lease starts a whole new set of issues. With that said there are literally hundreds of thousands of square miles that can be hunted, you just have to do the leg work. I'm not sure why everyone acts like there are no places to hunt here.

I looked up landowners and made calls, wrote letters and have found places to hunt, its not hard at all.
I haven't looked for a place in a number of years, but when I was younger I always had a place to hunt.
With that new app X hunts (I think) it shows who owns every piece of property, how big it is etc....give their mailing address, huge, when I did it I had to go through tax records.
I leased property to bow hunt just outside our city limits (land I called on and leased as a cold call) and killed a P&Y deer on. It was only a 100 acres but a wooded 100 acres is plenty of land to hunt by my house.

There are huge deer in any part of the state, finding them isn't easy though. I have a buddy that arrowed 2, what he thinks are B&C bucks on a friends family farm last year. Unfortunately for every reason you can list, he didn't retrieve either. This was on a property in the piney woods area.

I get invited to go to South Texas and it doesn't get any better ANYWHERE, absolutely amazing on the managed properties there. You will never hear anyone complaining about having to drive 5-6 hours to get there. Hill country hunts are fun as well, but finding places to hunt in both of those areas gets much tougher.

 

[wcasey755]

Finding a good lease in Texas is a PITA, especially if you are looking at advertised leases. Getting on someone else's lease starts a whole new set of issues. With that said there are literally hundreds of thousands of square miles that can be hunted, you just have to do the leg work. I'm not sure why everyone acts like there are no places to hunt here.

I looked up landowners and made calls, wrote letters and have found places to hunt, its not hard at all.
I haven't looked for a place in a number of years, but when I was younger I always had a place to hunt.
With that new app X hunts (I think) it shows who owns every piece of property, how big it is etc....give their mailing address, huge, when I did it I had to go through tax records.
I leased property to bow hunt just outside our city limits (land I called on and leased as a cold call) and killed a P&Y deer on. It was only a 100 acres but a wooded 100 acres is plenty of land to hunt by my house.

There are huge deer in any part of the state, finding them isn't easy though. I have a buddy that arrowed 2, what he thinks are B&C bucks on a friends family farm last year. Unfortunately for every reason you can list, he didn't retrieve either. This was on a property in the piney woods area.

I get invited to go to South Texas and it doesn't get any better ANYWHERE, absolutely amazing on the managed properties there. You will never hear anyone complaining about having to drive 5-6 hours to get there. Hill country hunts are fun as well, but finding places to hunt in both of those areas gets much tougher.

Well I'm not stingy with what I shoot. I also would plan on buying a solid amount of property if possible. Sounds like if I do get transferred I need to get in tight with some locals with property

 

[2rsquared]

Jake Link out of Weatherford, TX can put you on a ranch.

The Platinum Group Real Estate

The Platinum Group is an Independently Owned Real Estate Company based in Weatherford, TX. We specialize in Farm and Ranch, Commercial, Residential and Hunting properties in the State of Texas.

www.theplatinumgrouptx.com

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[st59]

Hunting here can be a beat down but a blessing. We’re a short drive to a great whitetail state with plent of public ground (Oklahoma) public land here can grow some good deer, I’ve seen 140’s every year on public. But pressure and muzzle loader season can hinder success. I’m on two leases, both public and private have major pros and cons

 

[wcasey755]

Hunting here can be a beat down but a blessing. We’re a short drive to a great whitetail state with plent of public ground (Oklahoma) public land here can grow some good deer, I’ve seen 140’s every year on public. But pressure and muzzle loader season can hinder success. I’m on two leases, both public and private have major pros and cons

How much do you pay for your leases vs going to OK? If you don't mind me asking?

 

[coelk81]

So this is my take....I was Colorado resident for 40 yrs, 22 of that I was in military. When I retired I moved to Texas because IMO it is cheaper for me to live in San Antonio and hunt Colorado every year than actually living in Colorado. I spend approximately $1800 to hunt elk in Colorado every year. Which is way less than what I was paying yearly in Colorado state taxes. Texas has leases and other ways of paying to hunt if your so inclined along with TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife) has public land drawn hunts etc. I don't have a lease but utilize TPWD when I can. There are plenty of opportunities to hunt if you do your research both out of state and in state. This goes for wherever you live. I had to move from Texas for some reason or another I would still figure out how and where to hunt and PLAN/SAVE accordingly. Hell I even lived California for 6 years and hunted in state and out of state. To keep this in perspective as well is that I ONLY hunt Public Lands.

 

[wytx]

You can find some pretty good hunting right in the DFW area, do some research on the public lands open there via draws.
Go North and look into leases, you would still be within a couple hours of Mesquite. Oklahoma leases would be a little cheaper but those nice folks don't really like "Texas" coming in and leasing their land up.
Lots of folks also live outside of DFW area and commute to work nearer the bigger cities.

A hill country lease would get you a chance at some interesting exotics, free ranging. Still some great low fence hunting in the state. The NFs in the east hold some good deer and hogs but get hunted hard, they are not little tracks of land.

 

[schmalzy]

There are a lot of fishing opportunities near the DFW area, however like others have said for hunting......

Be prepared to....

Drive
Pay $$$ for a private lease , then get
Pay $$$ for corn and other feed. If a shared lease or low fence, You have to complete with the other lessee's and who has the best bait setup. There was also a 500 pound minimum per year.
Wait for the lease manager to give you the "ok" to shoot a deer that has a cool name and that there are 1,000's of pictures and videos of. There could be 40 deer inside the feed pen or along the sendero, but unless it was a deer designated as a "cull" or one that was granted permission, you just watched a dozen what I would call "shooters" eat dinner.

I am sure that there are different types of leases out there, but this is the type I was introduced to....tried it for a year but didn't renew. High fence is a whole different ball game. There is the opportunity to take exotics.

I grew up in the Midwest and Texas was a totally different style of hunting to me. I related it to more like raising cattle then shooting a big buck that you fed 1,000 pounds of corn over 5 - 6 years until he matured. Just not my style.

I hunt out of state.


Editorial comments: I just read my post and it really comes off negative. I thought about deleting it, but thought I would share my thoughts and experiences. Texas has a lot of opportunities and is a target rich environment, but it is going to be different than what you are used to.


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This is pretty accurate in my experience. Some more relaxed leases out there, I was on one I enjoyed, but it’s adds up. I’d say a realistic average for a quality lease is going to be 3k a year plus another 500 for feed. Throw in a camper and a 4 wheeler/SxS and you’re looking at damn near 800-1k a month in annual costs broken down monthly. Obviously you can do it cheaper but I think this is a very real and accurate average.


There are public opportunities within a few hours of DFW you can hunt every year but as others have said, got to put work in. Hunting east TX National forest with a lock on or climber is fun and takes some skill, but is a totally different ball game than western hunting. I enjoy it.


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[st59]

How much do you pay for your leases vs going to OK? If you don't mind me asking?

I’m at about $7200 a year just on one of my north Texas leases. It’s a “trophy lease” I’ll be getting off of next year. Other one is a nice setup where I just help out around the ranch and the owner gives me free range. Oklahoma usually is much cheaper

 

[cuerro viejo]

Most expensive part of hunting Texas is processing. Ever small town has a different German, czec etc flare. Some really good sausage. German Dry Ring to brawts to Summer, you got a lot of unique old world blends.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Hunting east Texas is going to be more like hunting where you are from. You will actually have to put in the time scouting, hanging stands and expect lots of empty sits. The problem with East Texas hinting is most of the properties are owned by paper companies, mostly pine timber and you may show up one day and not find a tree standing. Also they may lease big properties but they will have dozens of hunters on them.

Out west of Fort Worth is going to be totally different. Lots of CRP, mesquite and cedar and some so thick you can’t walk through it. Hunting over bait or a feeder is pretty much the only way to have a semi chance at taking an animal on a regular basis. The good part about that is you have the potential to see and watch a lot of game if you get in the right county.

South of DFW in the middle of the state is the hill country. This holds the highest density of deer. Leases are expensive and the deer are typically small body wise; mature bucks run 120-140# live weight unless you are on an intensively managed ranch that supplemental feeds but those are big $$$, easily thousands of $$ per year.

I don’t have any experience hunting straight north of DFW.

One other thing, if you’ve never been here DFW is HUGE. It’s about 80 miles across if traveling I20. On a good day you would
be looking at an hour to get from Mesquite to the outskirts west of Fort Worth.

Texas is so focused on shooting trophy deer that you will deal with a lot of drama on most leases. It amazes me how butt hurt grown ass men get over a deer. This alone has soured me to leasing in Texas. Many people have unrealistic expectations for their leases property and it can make for a miserable experience.

Lately I’ve been going to “day leases” and saving a ton of money and filling my freezer for a heck of a lot less $$ than a lease will cost me and I don’t have the drama to deal with. I have no expectations of being on a “hunt” when I go to those places but I still enjoy it none the less. Plain and simple I like killing stuff and filling my freezer and these places accomplish what I want.

There are several draw hunt opportunities every year through TPWD but the success rate is pretty low unless you draw a private ranch hunt.


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[wcasey755]

Hunting east Texas is going to be more like hunting where you are from. You will actually have to put in the time scouting, hanging stands and expect lots of empty sits. The problem with East Texas hinting is most of the properties are owned by paper companies, mostly pine timber and you may show up one day and not find a tree standing. Also they may lease big properties but they will have dozens of hunters on them.

Out west of Fort Worth is going to be totally different. Lots of CRP, mesquite and cedar and some so thick you can’t walk through it. Hunting over bait or a feeder is pretty much the only way to have a semi chance at taking an animal on a regular basis. The good part about that is you have the potential to see and watch a lot of game if you get in the right county.

South of DFW in the middle of the state is the hill country. This holds the highest density of deer. Leases are expensive and the deer are typically small body wise; mature bucks run 120-140# live weight unless you are on an intensively managed ranch that supplemental feeds but those are big $$$, easily thousands of $$ per year.

I don’t have any experience hunting straight north of DFW.

One other thing, if you’ve never been here DFW is HUGE. It’s about 80 miles across if traveling I20. On a good day you would
be looking at an hour to get from Mesquite to the outskirts west of Fort Worth.

Texas is so focused on shooting trophy deer that you will deal with a lot of drama on most leases. It amazes me how butt hurt grown ass men get over a deer. This alone has soured me to leasing in Texas. Many people have unrealistic expectations for their leases property and it can make for a miserable experience.

Lately I’ve been going to “day leases” and saving a ton of money and filling my freezer for a heck of a lot less $$ than a lease will cost me and I don’t have the drama to deal with. I have no expectations of being on a “hunt” when I go to those places but I still enjoy it none the less. Plain and simple I like killing stuff and filling my freezer and these places accomplish what I want.

There are several draw hunt opportunities every year through TPWD but the success rate is pretty low unless you draw a private ranch hunt.


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Tell me more of these day leases. For I too am mostly interested in filling freezers. Throphys are for when I'm old.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Tell me more of these day leases. For I too am mostly interested in filling freezers. Throphys are for when I'm old.

You can look on hunting forums and craigslist/facebook.

Honestly DFW has some of the premier public land drawn hunts in country. Several COE and Federal WMA’s around that are draw but easy draws. Being in NTX you also have all of Oklahoma’s public land draw hunts.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Tell me more of these day leases. For I too am mostly interested in filling freezers. Throphys are for when I'm old.

Just look up Texas whitetail hunts, or Axis hunts or whatever other species you want. They are everywhere.

One I’ve been really happy with is H4 Hunting ranch.

I just want to reiterate if you are looking for a true hunting experience, some of the places are NOT it.


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