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.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

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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[Weldor]

Looks like for some of those lease costs , you could just do the management hunts buck and some does for the freezer. I found quite a few ranches that offer them.

 

[txpanhandle88]

Private ranch hunts can be cheaper then finding a lease. Depends on what you are looking for, but I would do research on both.

 

[Weldor]

I've been waffeling for a few years about moving to West Texas, the limited hunting is whats holding me back. Been hunting ranches in West Texas for a about 12 yrs, great hunting. It averages about $2500 for a 4 day hunt and that includes everything, less travel expenses. We drive from Az. so it's about $400 fuel costs and food etc.Price's have been going up since covid.

 

[Chief Whack A Buck]

The public land is TOUGH, and you'll have to get used to a 2 month gun season. If you're hunting public, be prepared to deal with:

1. Losing deer to private land, since baiting on public is a no go, but is fair game on private.

2. The pumpkin patch (public land hunters en masse), especially the first 2 weeks of gun season i.e. the rut. People will walk in on you, set up near you, snatch game cameras, etc.

It's definitely doable, but will require learning a new kind of hunting. I had a solid season last year, 4 deer, and some pigs (got these 2 with one shot).

Managed to put a couple buddies on deer as well. Good luck and don't hesitate to reach out if you want to do some scouting.

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[june-bug]

Sabine National Forest is about 4 hours from Forth Worth and has good deer and hog hunting. It's vast and if you do your homework you can have success and get away from the crowds. I've never had a problem seeing or killing deer there and never had problems with other hunters. I had a camp on Toledo Bend for about 5 years but sold it a couple years ago. Wish often that I still had the place.

 

[Tick]

Have buddies that put alot of meat in the freezer from TX public land hunts. Mostly exotic species. Takes some effort to research and apply.

The benefit of mostly private land is equal opportunity regardless of residency. Everyone has the chance to work hard, buy land, buy hunts, or lease land.

 

[Chief Whack A Buck]

Sabine National Forest is about 4 hours from Forth Worth and has good deer and hog hunting. It's vast and if you do your homework you can have success and get away from the crowds. I've never had a problem seeing or killing deer there and never had problems with other hunters. I had a camp on Toledo Bend for about 5 years but sold it a couple years ago. Wish often that I still had the place.

I've never given Sabine a fair shake. Truth be told, most of my experience is from the SHNF. Decent deer there, but bottom of the barrel as far as pressure is concerned. As others have mentioned, if you can get a drawn hunt, there are some awesome opportunities.

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[ScreamingPotato]

OP, I haven't read all the responses yet but DFW area would be way better than Houston in terms of general liveability. You'll have COE lakes and some various public up there. Houston area you'll have a myriad of public playground all over the coast for small game and fish and some good hunting to be had in places such as Sam Houston NF. You probably won't like the lease game but try it for yourself and decide. I grew up hunting leases and have a lot more fun on public now. If you can live away from Houston there's some nicer areas to live but if you're still commuting to Houston it'll still suck. There's public whitetail to be had but you'll have to work for it, highly recommend picking up archery if you're not already into it. Lots of bird hunting, ducks are great on the coast in places. After you get down here if you wanna go blast hogs some time lemme know, we like Feb/Mar for the cooler weather and lower brush but they're available year round.