Drew garner state park youth

[SmTx]

I went. Only hunt I’ve drawn. It sucked. I did shoot a young axis buck. Hardly anyone else killed or saw any. It’s shot out. Bad. They fully admit they are wanting the axis wiped out.

As they should. Axis aren't native game in Texas. If our people 100s of years ago took this approach to pigs we wouldn't have so many today complaining of the damage they do.

Fisheries get it. Kill and discard. Hunters love pretty tasty animals.

[Quackerbox]

As they should. Axis aren't native game in Texas. If our people 100s of years ago took this approach to pigs we wouldn't have so many today complaining of the damage they do.

Fisheries get it. Kill and discard. Hunters love pretty tasty animals.

I never felt the need to take 3 advil and make a chiropractor appt after mowing a pasture axis been rooting in.

Maybe Im wrong but I dont think the spanish conquistadors are the ones who brought axis over either.

[huntindiancreek]

We are heading there in a few days for the gun hunt. If the youth hunt is the same as ours I have a few questions please.
How are the stands? Do you set up a pop up yourself or build ones out of brush.
Can you hand corn areas out in front of blinds?
How are the blinds picked/decided for the hunters?
I read they pick and drop you off? Can you come and go when you want.
Thanks for any feedback.

[saltwater]

We are heading there in a few days for the gun hunt. If the youth hunt is the same as ours I have a few questions please.
How are the stands? Do you set up a pop up yourself or build ones out of brush.
Can you hand corn areas out in front of blinds?
How are the blinds picked/decided for the hunters?
I read they pick and drop you off? Can you come and go when you want.
Thanks for any feedback.

Stands are drawn before the first hunt and you can redraw after the 2nd hunt, you can handcorn, someone put alfalfa out in my spot, and it didn’t look touched. The handcorn I put out was gone the first day, and then not touched after that. They have stands and they are pop ups with plastic/ metal chairs. I took my own chairs. You are hunting out of the pop up, nowhere else. You have a marked shooting lane and they drop you off and pic you up at assigned times. Pretty strict, but it’s a pretty tight area to hunt so many people. They don’t want you to go find your deer, if it’s run off, and don’t want you dragging your animal at all. Basically leave it till they come. Any questions just pm me.

[huntindiancreek]

Thanks

[AntlerCollector]

As they should. Axis aren't native game in Texas. If our people 100s of years ago took this approach to pigs we wouldn't have so many today complaining of the damage they do.

Fisheries get it. Kill and discard. Hunters love pretty tasty animals.

I don’t give a rats arse if Axis are not native. So freaking what!!!

They taste better, look better, and are bigger than whitetail deer. I choose Axis all day.

Comparing them to hogs is ridiculous

[coach2]

I don’t give a rats arse if Axis are not native. So freaking what!!!

They taste better, look better, and are bigger than whitetail deer. I choose Axis all day.

Comparing them to hogs is ridiculous

Agreed! They also add to peoples land value other than that away like hogs!

[Yak blue]

You may want to bring the gun you’re most confident in. When I did this hunt and they had lots of animals (eons ago) I neck shot my axis in the shooting lanes and dropped my animals in their tracks. Back then, rules were Once you have an animal shot and it’s out of sight of the blind and needs tracking,, you are done hunting for the sit until they give you the all clear and come help you track. They didn’t want multiple deer to be tracked out of one blind. It’s for safety so I understand as some of the blinds are(were) packed right.
Even when there was a lot of axis, some hunters were covered up but a lot of hunters watched birds the entire time and got skunked. . Luck of the draw on the blinds.
I’m sure it’s changed some in the many years since I’ve gone.
The blinds to get were not in the heavy woods. Best ones to draw were by the campgrounds and the entrance. I did well in #11. But those numbers I’m sure have changed.
Good luck to you.

[Quackerbox]

You may want to bring the gun you’re most confident in. When I did this hunt and they had lots of animals (eons ago) I neck shot my axis in the shooting lanes and dropped my animals in their tracks. Back then, rules were Once you have an animal shot and it’s out of sight of the blind and needs tracking,, you are done hunting for the sit until they give you the all clear and come help you track. They didn’t want multiple deer to be tracked out of one blind. It’s for safety so I understand as some of the blinds are(were) packed right.

Even when there was a lot of axis, some hunters were covered up but a lot of hunters watched birds the entire time and got skunked. . Luck of the draw on the blinds.

I’m sure it’s changed some in the many years since I’ve gone.

The blinds to get were not in the heavy woods. Best ones to draw were by the campgrounds and the entrance. I did well in #11. But those numbers I’m sure have changed.

Good luck to you.

Different for us but again, I'm sure it changed. The best axis on our hunt came from the old section across the river.

It's THICK

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[saltwater]

Different for us but again, I'm sure it changed. The best axis on our hunt came from the old section across the river.

It's THICK

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

This is still true, told us as well. Got a buddy there this week, see how he does.

[SmTx]

I never felt the need to take 3 advil and make a chiropractor appt after mowing a pasture axis been rooting in.

Maybe Im wrong but I dont think the spanish conquistadors are the ones who brought axis over either.

I don’t give a rats arse if Axis are not native. So freaking what!!!

They taste better, look better, and are bigger than whitetail deer. I choose Axis all day.

Comparing them to hogs is ridiculous

Agreed! They also add to peoples land value other than that away like hogs!

State lands should manage to native Texas flora and fauna.

Axis ain't been around long enough to really know if they'll end up the pests pigs are. Hopefully some of us that are alive today make decisions that positively impact the generations coming after us(think your grandkid's grandkids)

Luckily this is on the internet so if any of us are wrong those in the next century can laugh at who's wrong.

[buckduster]

Trappers paid by TP&W went in and trapped every axis they could catch inside Garner a while back

[RifleBowPistol]

We just got back from the garner youth state park hunt. Everyone was friendly, gorgeous drive and place. We where set up on a spot that looked good from the start, scent free, as we are bow hunters, even took our ozonics. Didn’t have a great wind the entire time, but never got blown, also didn’t see a thing, during hunting hours. 20 groups, only shot 3 axis and 2 white tail and one hog. This was supposed to be one of the best hunts of the state parks. I was very disappointed. Still worth the drive just for the scenery. We stayed at 4js, which is across the street from garner, and is a very clean, quiet place. We did take our fishing stuff, but only caught a few brim, small bass, as the river is very low right now. I don’t know if they set this up wrong, we didn’t seem to be on any game trails that I could see, or in any area they would be attracted too. No signs of them in that area for long periods feeding. No poop. Did hear the axis bugling on both sides of us at times.

Axis bugling? I never heard them do that. I have heard their high pitched warning call, they do, when they spot trouble, never heard them do anything that sounded like a bugle or heard of them doing anything like that.

Garner is well known for the people who ran and maybe still run it, are not hunters or pro hunting at all. They just go through the motions, because TPW has set up hunts there and tells them, they are going to happen, whether they like the idea or not.

So most likely you have non hunters setting up blinds where they choose to set up blinds, possibly strategically where they think there won't be many animals, or just randomly with no thoughts towards hunters actually seeing and shooting game.

That and then the state trying to reduce or eliminate non native species, to kill something out there following their rules, is probably pure dumb luck.

[red-fin]

Garner is beautiful and a great place to camp. Hunting is not worth the time and effort. Been there twice and have yet to see a deer.

[saltwater]

So I texted my buddy who just got back, he said out of the 20 guys hunting, no one shot a thing, didn’t even see anything!! I will not go back.