nort texas nat'l forest and public land

[sotherncoloradoguy]

Can any one help me on some public land ant Nat'l forests ect... in north texas preferibly north or near plainview. iam not having good sucess on the web. iam planning a trip next fall for deer. iam also wondering about the type of deer inhabit this area mule/WT ect, and the quality of the deer, and what type of population. WOW thats alot........If any one could help me i would really appreciate it. thank the lord for sights like OYOA, keep up the good work.

 

[noharleyyet]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/

Might be a good idea to call the contact #'s in link w/specific area questions. Sounds like you might be talking about the Palo Duro area.

 

[Khunter]

The subject alone was enough to make this former texan chuckle, and take a look. "Texas" and "National Forest" are two words you do not see together often, thus the reason I packed up and moved. Every time I recreated on public land in Texas it was me and a thousand strangers crammed in trying to enjoy the great outdoors.

noharley gave a good link to check.

 

[Bio Bo]

Can any one help me on some public land ant Nat'l forests ect... in north texas preferibly north or near plainview. iam not having good sucess on the web. iam planning a trip next fall for deer. iam also wondering about the type of deer inhabit this area mule/WT ect, and the quality of the deer, and what type of population. WOW thats alot........If any one could help me i would really appreciate it. thank the lord for sights like OYOA, keep up the good work.

Pretty slim pickings for public land in that area. All of the NFS land in TX is in E.TX except for the LBJ grasslands near Decatur. The public lands permit has nothing for deer in the panhandle area, just birds and a few archery hog hunts. There may be some special draw hunts through TP&W, but odds would be slim.
The terrain around Planeview is flat prairie, but the Palo Dura canyon is NE of there and not open, to my knowledge, to public deer hunting. Everything is private in the area.
As for the herd, it's a mixture of WT and MD in that country, but I have no idea what the population density would be or the health of the herd. TP&W would be able to give you more info... maybe? But you've picked about as unlikely an area as there is in TX. Good luck!

 

[drthornton]

Everyone is right...There is public hunting in Texas but it is almost all for dove, duck, rabbit, squirel etc.. There are some deer hunts but they are really a joke.

If you are serious about hunting WT or Mulies in Texas I suggest you look into day hunts or a self guided hunt. Day hunts can be had for about $150/day.

Something like 96% of all Texas land is private and people know if they have deer and know it's worth $. Texas is nothing like western states when it comes to hunting.

The closest thing to OYOA in Texas is to find a large ranch and lease it. There are still places in the panhandle which can be leased for $2-$3/acre (for chunks 10,000 acres or so)but that is defeating the purpose... so like I said, hunting in Texas is nothing like hunting western states.

 

[Bio Bo]

Everyone is right...There is public hunting in Texas but it is almost all for dove, duck, rabbit, squirel etc.. There are some deer hunts but they are really a joke.

If you are serious about hunting WT or Mulies in Texas I suggest you look into day hunts or a self guided hunt. Day hunts can be had for about $150/day.

Something like 96% of all Texas land is private and people know if they have deer and know it's worth $. Texas is nothing like western states when it comes to hunting.

The closest thing to OYOA in Texas is to find a large ranch and lease it. There are still places in the panhandle which can be leased for $2-$3/acre (for chunks 10,000 acres or so)but that is defeating the purpose... so like I said, hunting in Texas is nothing like hunting western states.

Oh, I don't know... I've done OK hunting public land in TX, but there is very little opportunity for it in the panhandle country. And those $150 day leases? Well. most times you get what you pay for... I'll stick to the public land places that I've found... But you are correct, sir, TX is nothing like western states when it comes to hunting.

 

[Tom]

Here's a 230+ from a TX public hunt up north a few years back.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/news/story?page=h_fea_TX_record_buck_Burkhead

 

[drthornton]

That's the "poster-deer" for Texas Public hunting. Taken in the Hagerman Refuge (bow only) about an hour north of Dallas on Lake Texoma. This deer is rarer than a 380" Elk on OTC land in Colorado.