Category: Public Hunting

Stephen F. Austin State Park is located in Austin County and offers public deer hunting opportunities through Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s special permit draw system. The park is 473 acres in size. It is approximately 5 miles east of Sealy, Texas, in the town of San Felipe. To access the park, take FM 1458 north of IH-10, then Park Road 38. Stephen F. Austin State Park is primarily Brazos River bottomland with mature pecan, elm, and cottonwood trees throughout, with relatilvey open understory.

The objectives of the public hunts at the park are to manage the whitetail deer herd, decreasing numbers to to approach the carrying capacity of the habitat while providing public hunting opportunity. Access to the park will be limited to participants of the public hunt. Hunters will be allowed to camp and normal fees will apply. The hunter check station is located at the park headquartes accessed off FM 1458 and Park Road 38., For more information on deer hunting at Stephen F. Austin State Park or other Texas public hunting lands, call the Park headquarters at 979-885-3613.

More on Stephen F. Austin State Park:

Nestled on the banks of the Brazos River, Stephen F. Austin State Park provides the opportunity to get up close to nature. Located just 30 minutes from the outskirts of Houston, this quiet and peaceful park is a nice escape from the busy city life. Come out for just a day and enjoy the many hiking and biking trails, the picnic area, or spend the night, with a choice of four types of campsites. The park also offers group facilities, for day or overnight use. Activities include picnicking, camping, fishing, hiking, biking, birdwatching, geocaching and special permit hunting during the fall for whitetail deer.

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The Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area (WMA; formerly Peach Point WMA) offers public hunting for a variety of wildlife species. The area is located 8 miles west of Freeport in Brazoria County and contains 15,612 acres of upland hardwoods, upland prairie, fresh and saltwater marshes. The land is nearly flat and poorly drained with elevations ranging from sea level to a maximum of 10 feet. Much of the habitat found on the WMA is marsh or low lands that are easily flooded. As such, excellent duck hunting and goose hutning can be had during the fall and winter hunting seasons.

The Hurst WMA hunter check station is accessed via State Highway 36 approximately 8 miles west of Freeport, then south one mile at the WMA sign on State Highway 36 to the hunter check station. Duck and goose hunters should be prepared to walk up to a mile in soft soil to reach their hunting site. The are aims to provide low impact, fair chase, public hunting opportunities. No permanent blinds may be constructed on the management area. No camping or open fires are allowed.

The Hurst WMA offers feral hog hunting through Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) special permit drawing. Hunters can get more information on about the public hunt drawing, as well as entry cards, through reading TPWD’s “Applications for Drawings on Public Hunting Lands” which is available each summer. The WMA also offer public deer hunting opportunities for youth hunters through postcard drawings associated with the Annual Public Hunting Permit (APH Permit). For more information on their whitetail deer hunts for kids, read TPWD’s “Map Booklet for Public Hunting Lands.”

The wildlife management area does not offer camping. Commercial facilities are available in Freeport. Call the Justin Hurst WMA for further information at 979-233-8729 or 979-244-6804.

Often times, the only thing more difficult than finding the game your are chasing is finding a place to go hunting. Fortunately for those in the Lone Star State, the Wildlife Division of TPWD offers Texas Public Hunting Lands for sportsmen all over the state. This is great news for hunters who do not have access to privately-owned land. Public hunting lands provide good hunting opportunities and are low cost, providing access to nearly a million acres of land for hunting for those possessing the Annual Public Hunting permit (APH Permit).

The Annual Public Hunting Permit is a steal at only $48. The permit is valid from September 1 through August 31 of the following year. The hunting permit allows an access to designated public hunting lands in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s public hunting lands program. Hunting is allowed during legal hunting seasons for squirrel, rabbits and hares, white-tailed deer, feral hogs, spring eastern turkey, predators, furbearers, and fishing. All this without having to pay daily permit fees.

The North and South Zone Duck Season re-opened December 10 and while TPWD wildlife management areas have strong hunter numbers taking advantage of duck hunting over the weekend hunt dates, the weekday hunt dates leave plenty of available waterfowl hunting areas and quality hunting for those hunters who might have hunting time during the week. In my opinion, this is the most enjoy time to be out in the marshes.

According to Amos Cooper, duck hunting is quite good on public hunting lands and reservoirs where fresher water conditions and waterfowl food resources can still be found. “Puddle ducks prefer shallow water, and we have an abundance (record numbers of several species) of ducks on the continent this year,” Cooper said. “Specifically, check out the duck hunts on the Big Hill Unit of the JD Murphree WMA where the hunter daily duck bag was close to 4 birds per man per day during the first waterfowl season split.” Compartments two, three and five are always crowd favorites with plenty of birds.

Waterfowl hunting is not the only game available. There is still plenty of feral hog hunting to be found. According to survey results compiled by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service 74 percent of Texas’ 254 counties contain feral hog populations and there is a good chance TPWD offers feral hog hunting opportunities in those counties on public hunting lands.

“Right now is as good a time as any to hit the woods hard for ol’ pig sooie,” said Bill Adams, Pineywoods Ecosystem Project Leader. “In East Texas there are several WMAs that offer year-round hog hunting, but staff recommend keying in on those areas associated with rivers such as Alabama Creek, Alazan Bayou, Angelina Neches/Dam B, North Toledo Bend, and Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Areas, for the best hog hunting action.“

Along with the appropriate Texas hunting licenses and stamps, permit holders may take youth under age 17 hunting free of charge on these Texas public hunting lands. Youth hunting on departmental public hunting lands must be accompanied by a supervising adult 18 years of age or older who possesses the required APH Permit, a valid hunting license and any required stamps and permits.

TPWD’s new online map feature allows for “virtual scouting” of Texas public hunting lands. By clicking on the locator points, you can follow links to detailed aerial maps with highlighted boundaries and links to information pages from the APH information map booklet. A downloadable Google Earth file is also available that contains all the public hunting areas boundary information along with links to the corresponding APH permit map booklet pages.

Most Texas hunters are familiar with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Big Time Texas Hunts. These annual draw hunts offer average hunters the chance to embark on some truly amazing hunt packages, especially the Texas Grand Slam, which allows the winner to hunt for whitetail deer, mule deer, pronghorn and Bighorn Sheep. It would be an awesome feeling to win a package like that! Well, the Big Time Texas Hunts winners for this year have just been announced by TPWD:

“When an unknown number shows up on the caller ID, Weatherford Downtown Cafe owner Britton Schweitzer just lets it go to voicemail. “It’s usually people trying to sell me stuff, not TPWD calling because I won an amazing hunt,” Schweitzer said. Schweitzer and 13 other lucky sportsmen are clearing their calendars for some of the best hunting packages in the Lone Star State won through Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Big Time Texas Hunts program.

The program’s raffle offers hunting packages ranging from a guided white-tailed deer hunting experience in the South Texas brush country to the Grand Slam package which treats one Texan and a non-hunting friend to food, lodging, taxidermy and a personal guide service for four separate hunts for desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and desert mule deer. Schweitzer won the Grand Slam.

“When I get my license online I throw $100 toward the different hunts but never expect to win,” Schweitzer said. “I am an avid fisherman and hunter and I see it as basically donating $100 every year to public lands,” he said.

The small town cafe owner said he usually donates to local causes and was flabbergasted to have won the program’s Grand Slam hunt. He said he moved to Weatherford a few years ago with his wife to raise a family. He hopes to bring her along on his sheep, pronghorn and deer hunts. “I think it’s an awesome opportunity and I am excited I got picked,” he said. “I never win anything and it was a pretty big shocker.”

Big Time Texas Hunts are offered through an annual raffle. This season saw 62,610 entries generating almost $600,000. Ticket sales support wildlife research, habitat management and public hunting in the state of Texas. Ticket purchasers must be at least 17. For more information on this hunting program, visit TPWD’s web site.

The winners have been picked, but interested hunters should keep an eye out for these hunts next. Special whitetail hunts, duck hunting and alligator hunting are all for the taking. The chances are not that great that you will win, but if you do it ends up being a very, very inexpensive hunt; $10. And if you don’t, the money goes to a great cause. Following are the winners of this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts:

• Grand Slam — Michael Schweitzer, Weatherford

• Premium Buck Hunt — Joseph Yuras, Garden Ridge

• Exotic Safari — Jimmy Webb, Tyler and Martha Vogelsang, Hearne

• Whitetail Bonanza — Tommy Dulin, Colorado City; Ivan Berry, Pasadena; Francis Sharp, Pasadena; Michael Broderick, Conroe; Joe Mills, Gonzales; Ramona Bourgeois, Concord, CA; Humbert Trevino, Laredo; Randall Coombs, Spearman

• Waterfowl Adventure — Alexander Hamilton, San Antonio

• Alligator Hunt — Darren Lasorte, Fairfax, VA

The Black Gap Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located in Brewster County, which is actually the largest county in Texas. The WMA is located 58 miles south of Marathon, on FM 2627, and offers public >hunting for deer and quail. The management area has approximately 25 miles of the Rio Grande as the south boundary, adjoining the Mexican state of Coahuila. The Black Gap WMA contains 119,171 acres of semi-arid land, but is home to some great hunting.

The area is scenic, but rough. Annual rainfall averages in the Black Gap area are approximately eight inches. The Black Gap WMA offers public hunting for mule deer and white-tailed deer in December of every year. Hunters must apply through the “Applications for Drawings on Public Hunting Lands” booklet that comes out each year. Applications can also be found online.

Participants in public hunts held on the management area should bring all necessary provisions with them. Primitive camping is allowed during public hunts in designated areas, but no trailer hookups are available at Black Gap. Firewood is scarce so hunters should either bringing a supply or using camp stoves that burn white gas or similar fuel. For more information on public hunting opportunities as Black Gap WMA, call the area headquarters at 432-837-3251.

If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind public hunting opportunity in Texas, look no further than Caprock Canyons State Park in the Texas Panhandle. Caprock Canyons is located in southeast Briscoe County, about 3.5 miles north of Quitaque, off State Highway 86 on FM 1065. The park has some wild habitat and is 13,960 acres in size. The property was purchased in 1975.

Hunting at Caprock Canyons State Park is by Special Permit drawing only. The entire area is closed to park visitors when opened to public hunting and the entrance fee is waived for person participating in the hunts. Hunters may use park camping facilities and the normal fees are charged.

The park is quite rugged. Because of the extremely rugged terrain in portions of the park, all hunters should be prepared for a very strenuous hunt. In addition, there may be severe winter conditions such as freezing rain or snow. You will still be in Texas, but things get a little more intense the further north you go! Additionally, the removal of the harvested animals from portions of the park to the nearest road or pickup point can be very strenuous because of the terrain and size of the larger animals.

Mule deer, white-tailed deer and aoudad can go 200 pounds plus, so be in shape and prepared for some work should you be fortunate enough to bag one of these bruisers. For more information on public hunting opportunities and Caprock Canyon State Park, call the park headquarters for additional information at 806-455-1492.

Big Bend Ranch State Park is 301,648 acres in size and is situated west of Big Bend National Park in Presidio and Brewster County. Big Bend Ranch is a Texas-sized state park covering over 400 square miles! This property holds numerous numerous wildlife game species, particularly mule deer and javelina. Each year Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) offers special draw hunting for these species.

For the most part, Big Bend Ranch is desert grassland or succulent-desert grassland with rocky slopes. Most of time the vegetation on the land is brown, but the area quickly greens up after a rain. Hunters should expect to see a lot of country. Bring a good pair of binoculars and be prepared to see and shoot game animals further than when hunting elsewhere in the state. The property also has a Texas Bighorn Sheep population and although these animals are strictly off limits they are amazing to see.

Hunters selected through TPWD’s draw hunt program should meet at Sauceda Ranger Station by 10:00 a.m. on the first morning of their hunt. All hunters desiring to stay on the Park during the hunt period will be required to stay at Sauceda headquarters. The hunting permit will serve to waive the park entrance fee. All other standard park fees apply during the hunt. Optional transportation and hunting guide service is available at additional cost.

Call the Big Bend Ranch State Park headquarters for further information javelina and mule deer hunting or accommodations at 432-358-4444. By percentage, Texas does not have a huge amount of public hunting land, but this property does provide quality mule deer hunting for hunters willing to cover some country over rough terrain. Bring some water, a good attitude and it will be a trip that you will never forget.

The Angelina Neches/Dam B Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located in Jasper and Tyler counties and provides public hunting through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) draw hunt system for alligator. The WMA is situated in the forks of the Angelina and Neches Rivers and is adjacent the B.A. Steinhagen Reservoir, which is 12,636 acres in size. The topography of Angelina Neches/Dam B is generally flat with many sloughs and ridges that hold both ducks and alligators.

Access to most of the WMA is by boat only. However, airboats are prohibited on the area. Public boat ramps and information stations are located at Bevilport, the Walnut Ridge and Cherokee Units of Martin Dies, Jr. SP, and the Magnolia Ridge Army Corps of Engineers Park. Hunters in search of alligator and waterfowl should plan on using one of these boat ramps. These ramps can also be quite busy depending on the time of the day.

Throughout the year and during TPWD draw hunts, primitive camping is allowed in designated camp sites on the WMA. A camping permit must be obtained from the Corps of Engineers office at the dam site. Camping facilities are also available on the Martin Dies, Jr. State Park. Call 936-569-8547 for more information about public alligator or duck hunting on Angelina Neches/Dam B.

The Granger Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located near Taylor in Williamson County, Texas, offers public hunting for mourning and white-winged doves, ducks, squirrels, rabbits, feral hogs and white-tailed deer. Though most deer hunts on Granger WMA have been administered through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s draw hunt system in the past, the management area also started offering deer hunting opportunities through postcard hunt drawings in 2010. For archery hunters interested in harvesting antlerless deer, the postcard drawings will continue for the 2011 whitetail deer hunting season.

From the Web:

“The Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit Postcard Hunts will be changing radically from what we attempted last year. Some of the major changes you can expect: The postcard hunt will be for the duration of the general deer season, from Oct.1, 2011 through Jan 1, 2012. There will be NO hunting compartment assignments – hunters can hunt the whole WMA. The hunts will be spike (at least 1 un-branched antler) and antlerless deer only. There will be one mandatory orientation and one stand-by drawing. If you miss the orientation the first day of the season, hunters are welcome to come to the stand-by drawing on Monday, October 3. Up to 4 deer hunters per card. Hunters must possess an APH Permit and hold a valid Texas hunting license prior to postcard hunt orientation.”

Granger WMA Hunting – APH Postcard Deer Hunts for Antlerless Deer:

Oct. 1-Jan. 1. Up to 80 hunters will be allowed. Bag limit is three white-tailed deer (either sex). Bucks must have at least one unbranched antler. All waterfowl species having an open season, snipe, gallinules, woodcock, squirrel, rabbits, hares, and feral hogs may also be taken. Fishing is allowed. Hunts will begin at 11:00 am of the first day and end at 11:00 am of the last day of a hunt period. Submitted postcards must contain the group leader’s daytime phone, e-mail address, and the names and ages of each hunter. Postcards must be mailed to: Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept., c/o Granger WMA Hunts, 915 Hedgewood Drive, Georgetown, TX 78628. For more information, contact the Wildlife field office at 512/868-6687. The deadline for application is Sept. 21, 2011. Selected group leaders will be notified by phone/e-mail.

The Alazan Bayou Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is part of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) public hunting lands. The property is located in southern Nacogdoches County and is within the Pineywoods ecological region of East Texas. The habitat is typically of the region, with the dominate plant community on the area being bottomland hardwood. This habitat type is great for hog hunting, squirrel hunting and waterfowl. The Alazan WMA is located about 6 miles south of Nacogdoches and just 1.1 miles west of US Hwy 59 on FM 2782.

The Alazan WMA totals 2,063 acres and again is comprised of bottomland hardwood forests and old field habitats bordering the Angelina River. The WMA provides excellent habitat for wintering ducks, white-tailed deer, turkey, woodcock, rabbits, squirrels and feral hogs. Call the WMA headquarters at 936-569-8547 for more information on this Texas-owned public hunting land.