Aransas nwr 2011

[texastrouthunte]

not this weekend but im going the second and third hunt, u gonna be there?

[SLICE & DICE]

I will be there this weekend.
Struck out during bow season but saw a lot of deer.
Hopefully i will see them with rifle in hand.

[texastrouthunte]

good luck, post a report. this is the first time in three years i havent been sleeping in my truck the night before. good luck.

[TheGasMan]

So I just got back to Houston from my hunt down there. That was an eye-opener for sure. I skipped the Sunday afternoon hunt due to family commitments and being light-headed from mosquito induced blood loss. Could have had a pig, but didn't want to start shooting before I gave the deer a chance to show themselves. I came home empty handed, but gained a bit of interesting experience.

For the new guy considering this hunt:

1. Buy a thermacell. Buy another two just to be sure. When I first started looking in to this hunt, the first thing everyone said was 'watch out for the snakes and the skeeters'. I thought they were exaggerating. They weren't. Friday wasn't so bad. Saturday was uncomfortable. Sunday was miserable. I couldn't beat them away fast enough. Even with the Thermacell cranked up there were still 10 buzzing around my head at any given time. I finally gave up and packed up around 10 this morning and headed home. I never saw a single snake, but it might be because Friday was so cool.

2. Take a friend. I tried to do this hunt on my own. That was a mistake. Since you cannot drive off road, getting stands in and out was tricky. Now I know why everyone has a game cart. I always wondered why people brought in a game cart to haul around these little 100lb whitetails. Turns out it is to move stands around, using it for actual game is just a bonus. It also really helps to have a friend that has been here before. Finding a good spot is an art here.

3. Buy another Thermacell and a mosquito net.

4. Don't be too nice of a guy. People will say anything to get their favorite spots. I won't relay some of the things I was told to protect the guilty but there were some whoppers. I was frequently given a sob story or flat request to move so they could have 'their' spot. I did this a couple times just trying to be nice, no one returned the favor. These are the same people who were taking out deer Saturday.

5. Buy another Thermacell

6. People get pretty pissy about the presence of marking tape. While I believe you should be courteous, placement of marking tape doesn't give you sole ownership of the surrounding 1000 acres. People would mark a road sign and say they had dibs on all of the land accessible from that road. Seriously. The brush is typically so thick you wouldn't know the other person is there anyway. Be polite, but don't leave an area just because someone thinks you should.

It was an interesting hunt. Lots of space. When I left the total deer harvest was around 13 for the weekend. The only problem is the limited access. You only have the one day to scout. There is a lot of land to cover. It is almost impossible to see where the deer are moving and why. I think there are a lot of deer to be had with a little planning. Everywhere I got away from the road had lots of tracks, but there are few choke points so they can be anywhere. The brush is VERY thick. I have a new respect for bowhunters in this place. Tough place to be successful with a bow. With a little more scouting time this would be a great hunt. Unfortunately all the deer I saw were on the scouting day and not when it mattered. I did see two roadkill bucks on the way home, so I guess that counts too.

[SLICE & DICE]

Struck out again for the Rifle hunt.
A lot of people set up on top of me even though i had my stand out first.
Did not see a deer. Hunted 2 different places and did a lot of still hunting on Saturday.
I am convinced it had to be the full moon, its happened before deer just weren't moving.
There was about 13 deer and 4 hogs killed when i left Sunday evening. Way down from the opening weekend average.
Like the Gas Man Said mosquitoes were real bad.
My dad saw an 8 Point Friday with his nose to the ground running around the edges of the road. He did not even care that my dad stopped the jeep and got out to try and take pictures of him about 50 yards away.
Caution: Anyone crossing the ditch by Tule lake was is a huge gator 11'-12' sitting in the ditch. I crossed about 40 yards ahead of him and almost walked on top of him coming back in.
Good luck you're going to need it.

[TheGasMan]

I didn't see someone from here was going on the rifle hunt until I got back home. Sorry we didn't have a chance to toss back a beer. I may try the bow hunt next year. I think going to the IBEP class would be the only way to be successful in that place. Can't wait to do some bow hunting!

Struck out again for the Rifle hunt.
A lot of people set up on top of me even though i had my stand out first.
Did not see a deer. Hunted 2 different places and did a lot of still hunting on Saturday.
I am convinced it had to be the full moon, its happened before deer just weren't moving.
There was about 13 deer and 4 hogs killed when i left Sunday evening. Way down from the opening weekend average.
Like the Gas Man Said mosquitoes were real bad.
My dad saw an 8 Point Friday with his nose to the ground running around the edges of the road. He did not even care that my dad stopped the jeep and got out to try and take pictures of him about 50 yards away.
Caution: Anyone crossing the ditch by Tule lake was is a huge gator 11'-12' sitting in the ditch. I crossed about 40 yards ahead of him and almost walked on top of him coming back in.
Good luck you're going to need it.

[ByronB]

TheGasMan,
Aransas can be very difficult to hunt. It is a true challenge for sure. Find a few bowhunters that have hunted there for years. Ask them for good advice. They may not give up thier locations they hunt but they may also lead you to some other hot spots. There are many good areas to hunt there. The further you hike in, the less chance you will run in to another hunter. My Dad and two of his buddies hunted that place for 17+ years. I tagged along for about eight of those years. I have not been back for over 20 years now. We hunted it when the roads used to be lined with hunters camping outside of the park area. As the years went by and they started charging $50 to hunt, the crowds thinned out. That was most likely one of the toughest hunts for $50 anywhere. Snakes....you go enough times and you will more than likely "almost" step on one or two. One time it may be a rattlesnake. The next time it may be a cotton mouth. Makes for an interesting time!!!! I may go back one day. Maybe!

[Thumper]

The order to close the camping along the roadway came directly from Rick Perry's office as confirmed by the Refuge Director. Scuttlebutt is it was a favor for one of his "hi-fence land buddies." Hunter numbers really took a hit when we lost the free camping.

Fees first started at $20 then progressed to what they are today, $65. Which is not bad for 9 days of bowhunting. They did have an effect on hunter numbers but I don't think its the money as much as it is the long drawn out process you have to go through to get the darn permit.

[Limbwalker]

Tough to complain about a fee for a 9-day bowhunt on 40K acres that costs less than the tank of gas that got you there... But hey, we all hate to pay extra fees. Myself included. The roadside camping was doomed for years. Surprised it lasted as long as it did. TXDot was always nervous about someone getting killed, esp. considering the amount of alcohol that was being consumed on that roadside. I can remember hunters shooting across the highway many times as well. There was a story that went around for years about a hunter that had tied one of the guylines of his tent to his trailer hitch, then forgot about it the next morning (likely after heavy drinking the night before) and drove off with his wife still in the tent. Drug her a little ways. Not sure if that was true, or that's how it went down, but I can definitely see that happening the way things used to be.

I bowhunted Aransas back in 1991, and it was bar none the toughest bowhunt I've ever been on. Mosquitoes alone had to be seen to be believed. I lasted about 4 hours that first hunt. However, for those that learn to manage the mosquitoes, it can be one of the wildest, most rewarding hunts you'll ever have. It's the closest thing to hunting in Alaska that we have here in Texas.

[Thumper]

After daylight the wife tied her tent back up after a stormy night. She tied it to the fence and the door handle on her car. She must have tied a better knot on the door handle. They had slept inside the car after the storm got everything wet. The husband came in from the morning hunt. Late for their breakfeast in Tivoli and didn't see his wife up and about. He thought she'd already gotten a ride with the other hunters. Got into her car and headed out to Tivoli. She started screaming and we all ran out and stopped him. Drug her in the tent for maybe 150'. My boot would have hit his windshield but he stopped, she did come out swinging.

Brent told me he was going to shut the hunt down if the hunters didn't stop shooting along the roadway. Brent was always saying he was going to shut the hunt down because ????. But that's how I ended up leasing Tracy Ray's 1200 acres. I tried to lease just 10acres for a pratice range and he said he only had 1220 to lease.

I set up a really nice pratice range for free use, and a 3D range for $5. Brent saw all the hunters shooting the free pratice range and using his LWL mind set thought I was making a killing $$$$$. During the hunt I heard Bent telling hunters that there "really isn't any harm with the hunters pratice shooting on the roadway." The only hunters that shot the 3D range were lease/club members...

Camping at Hoppers is now $150-$300, plus $250 for fuel. The costs for this "free public" hunting sure add up.

[Limbwalker]

Sorry to hear that Chris. Didn't know that Hoppers was charging that much. Is that for a tent, or a cabin?

I guess one could always camp at the Austwell RV park, if it still exists, or drive 25 miles to Goose Is. State Park.

[SLICE & DICE]

I was nearly killed as i slept along the roadway in the back of my Isuzu Rodeo.
I was suddenly jolted out of my sleep only to see headlights coming right for me but luckily there was a culvert in front of my suv and the truck caught the culvert and it shot back on to the road not 10' from hitting my vehicle. My buddy was sleeping in a tent just on the other side of me. After looking at the tracks it appears that the driver fell asleep (don't know if he was drinking) drove across the road and woke up in time to try to correct and get back on the road. He slid all the way to the culvert and then caught the edge of it and back to the road he went. I did not get a good look at the truck but it looked like a white chevy. I was ****** off but i figured it scared the heck out of him just as bad as it scared me and i wasn't exactly positive which vehicle it was. I thanked the good lord and tried to get some sleep.

[Thumper]

Sorry to hear that Chris. Didn't know that Hoppers was charging that much. Is that for a tent, or a cabin?

I guess one could always camp at the Austwell RV park, if it still exists, or drive 25 miles to Goose Is. State Park.

I think the camping at Hoppers is $15 a night without hook-ups and $35 a night with hook-ups. Rooms are $110 per night. The Austwell RV park is still there but I didn't see anyone camping there, not sure what they would charge. Might be worth checking out.

[texastrouthunte]

hey guys i was wondering if anyone uses any attractants on the refuge i talked with the last refuge officer before he left to another assignment and he said that it was ok to use basically anything that was not considered food.

[Limbwalker]

Scents are fine. Nothing they can eat is allowed. Always best to check the reg's each year though.

Chris, those fees don't sound too bad, I guess. Sure beats risking your life on the entrance road, I think. I wouldn't camp along that roadside. No way. I never would have gotten any sleep between the generators, drunks and the speeding vehicles 15' away from my head...