Question for the hunters on the board…

[Blake Munroe]

Have any of you ever done the public land hunt drawings from TPWD? If so, did you have any luck?

I entered a couple because I want to hunt Sika deer without having to pay thousands for a guided hunt. I also tried a couple of others for Whitetail for the hell of it  

Was just curious what your experience was like. 

[A-10HORN]

Probably plenty of ranchers that would let you just come on and take an axis. No season. No tag needed. 

[Blake Munroe]

1 minute ago, A-10HORN said:

Probably plenty of ranchers that would let you just come on and take an axis. No season. No tag needed. 

That would be awesome too. I’d love to get one of those as well for the meat. 

[Dread-headed Texan]

What Bambi ever do to yall? 😂 jk I wish I still had the patience to sit in a deer blind, I'm hating cause I'm jealous. 

[FootLaw]

Never been lucky enough for a draw when I've tried (not often). Hope you have better results lol

One day I'd like to get a draw for a moose up North.

[Shane]

Been several years since I have gotten to hunt. Last time was in Indiana got a nice buck walking out of a corn field. 

[Blake Munroe]

15 hours ago, Dread-headed Texan said:

What Bambi ever do to yall? 😂 jk I wish I still had the patience to sit in a deer blind, I'm hating cause I'm jealous. 

Definitely worth the wait! Tastes great and rewarding. What more can you ask for?

[Blake Munroe]

1 hour ago, FootLaw said:

Never been lucky enough for a draw when I've tried (not often). Hope you have better results lol

One day I'd like to get a draw for a moose up North.

I hope I do too.

I'm going to get into bow hunting and the number of applicants goes way down for that. 

I want to get some elk, sika and an axis. Elk obviously I'm going to have to travel for, but I would love to get one.

[Blake Munroe]

13 minutes ago, Shane said:

Been several years since I have gotten to hunt. Last time was in Indiana got a nice buck walking out of a corn field. 

I didn't get to go last year. I also planned on going turkey hunting over the spring and didn't. Sucks.

I haven't even fished as much as I would like over the past 12-18 months, unfortunately.

[Shane]

1 minute ago, Blake Munroe said:

I didn't get to go last year. I also planned on going turkey hunting over the spring and didn't. Sucks.

I haven't even fished as much as I would like over the past 12-18 months, unfortunately.

I had only hunted Texas until my brother in law took me to his place in Indiana. The deer up there are huge ! I wasn’t expecting it. I want to go with him elk hunting as well. 

[Blake Munroe]

1 hour ago, Shane said:

I had only hunted Texas until my brother in law took me to his place in Indiana. The deer up there are huge ! I wasn’t expecting it. I want to go with him elk hunting as well. 

 

I definitely want to do some hunting in other states in the near future. I have always heard that the deer are a lot bigger outside of Texas, although they say that the Sika deer are actually bigger in Texas for whatever reason.  

I did shoot an armadillo this morning before Coffee and Football started lol. I’m not sure that counts as hunting, however. Although I will say it was a great shot, as there was barely any sunlight and I got him from about 40 yards away, as he was entering a patch of bamboo.

 

[mcwast]

i put in for a variety of the tpwd drawn hunts every year.  i've never been drawn.

i'd do just about any of them, but i'd really like to do the sambar hunt on the powderhorn.

side note:  i wish that they'd limit the "big time" draws to Texas residents.  it always sucks when some doucher from utah wins the grand slam. 

[TexasDeathStar]

9 hours ago, Blake Munroe said:

 

I definitely want to do some hunting in other states in the near future. I have always heard that the deer are a lot bigger outside of Texas, although they say that the Sika deer are actually bigger in Texas for whatever reason.  

I did shoot an armadillo this morning before Coffee and Football started lol. I’m not sure that counts as hunting, however. Although I will say it was a great shot, as there was barely any sunlight and I got him from about 40 yards away, as he was entering a patch of bamboo.

 

If you ever  find yourself in south central MO around the last week of April/beginning of May, I know a spot with lots of turkeys, and a guy willing to let you come along! 

[Blake Munroe]

12 hours ago, mcwast said:

i put in for a variety of the tpwd drawn hunts every year.  i've never been drawn.

i'd do just about any of them, but i'd really like to do the sambar hunt on the powderhorn.

side note:  i wish that they'd limit the "big time" draws to Texas residents.  it always sucks when some doucher from utah wins the grand slam. 

That does suck. I didn’t realize they were open to out of state residents. I did notice you can see how many have entered said draw. 

I’m going to check out the one you mentioned. I’ll enter it and you can be in my party if I get it lol. 

[Blake Munroe]

10 hours ago, TexasDeathStar said:

If you ever  find yourself in south central MO around the last week of April/beginning of May, I know a spot with lots of turkeys, and a guy willing to let you come along! 

Heck yeah! I will make a special trip just for that. Seriously. Count me in!

[mcwast]

12 hours ago, Blake Munroe said:

That does suck. I didn’t realize they were open to out of state residents. I did notice you can see how many have entered said draw. 

I’m going to check out the one you mentioned. I’ll enter it and you can be in my party if I get it lol. 

[Blake Munroe]

On 8/13/2025 at 6:20 PM, mcwast said:

i put in for a variety of the tpwd drawn hunts every year.  i've never been drawn.

i'd do just about any of them, but i'd really like to do the sambar hunt on the powderhorn.

side note:  i wish that they'd limit the "big time" draws to Texas residents.  it always sucks when some doucher from utah wins the grand slam. 

Tried to sign up today for pronghorn. It was closed as of yesterday  🫤

 

I did sign up for Abilene whitetail and Yaoakum mule deer today though. That puts me in four total at the moment and I’m sure I’ll do more. 

[Cajunhorn]

Never won. On the page that shows the hunt description it shows the previous year’s number of entries and the amount of winners.

[harveycmd]

On 8/12/2025 at 1:14 PM, Blake Munroe said:

Have any of you ever done the public land hunt drawings from TPWD? If so, did you have any luck?

I entered a couple because I want to hunt Sika deer without having to pay thousands for a guided hunt. I also tried a couple of others for Whitetail for the hell of it  

Was just curious what your experience was like. 

I've been public land hunting for mule deer in New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho. I had two hunts in New Mexico (2008-2009), one in Wyoming (2011), and one in Idaho (2014). I also called coyotes all four times and took about a dozen total. I got one muley in New Mexico in 2009 and one in Idaho in 2014. Won't go into the details unless you want to know about mule deer hunting. Going out for wild hogs on my place here in east Texas in about two hours. I haven't taken one since I think May. Only have about twenty pounds left in the deep freezer anyway.