"Official" Sam Houston National Forest 12-13

[oneoffcustom]

I am by no means an expert when it comes to hunting public land but I did learn a hard lesson my first year out and will never hunt too close to a marked trail or road. Get off the beaten path and if at all possible get in your stand or spot before daylight. And make sure u have more than one scouted spot because chances are there could be someone parked near your entry point the day of.

As far as my game cam it's two years old and I still have it. Knock on wood
Good luck!

Appreciate the advice, i have been looking in the montgomery area as i also live in tomball texas and its the closest area to me. Havent been out there yet and probably wont this year for deer, but maybe some hog trips later in the cold. I have been looking on google maps though and comparing to the aph maps and see houses in areas marked for hunting. Am i looking at this right?

[roguecraft101]

Appreciate the advice, i have been looking in the montgomery area as i also live in tomball texas and its the closest area to me. Havent been out there yet and probably wont this year for deer, but maybe some hog trips later in the cold. I have been looking on google maps though and comparing to the aph maps and see houses in areas marked for hunting. Am i looking at this right?

nah.... new park stands.
The state of texas now provides 3/2/2 2400 Sq/ft box blinds with central AC/heat and coffee. Thing is you cant hunt them unless nobodys there and I have really seen some people squat in these things... they take EVERYTHING you would swear they thought they lived there.

[Brown]

I have been contemplating hunting the montgomery area, but its just so overwhelming for a new hunter to figure out the hunting protocol.

I mean i would hate to show up one weekend and walk right into someones hunting grounds after they have been sitting for a while. Does that happen often?

If you have trail cams out do people leave them alone?

If the spot looks good is it common for other hunters to pop up a stand in your same area?

What is the hunters code in these areas?

This being my 3rd year to hunt the Sam you are far more likely in bow season to not risk hunting the same area as someone else than rifle. I had a really hard time rifle season my 1st year because I hunted that area. No matter how far I trecked in it seemed like I'd find someone or they'd find me. Using my lessons learned the key for me is get there before anyone else would even think of getting there, early. If you can get off 149 on some of the back tracks, which i did not do, you may be more successful.

[FISHINJESS]

This being my 3rd year to hunt the Sam you are far more likely in bow season to not risk hunting the same area as someone else than rifle. I had a really hard time rifle season my 1st year because I hunted that area. No matter how far I trecked in it seemed like I'd find someone or they'd find me. Using my lessons learned the key for me is get there before anyone else would even think of getting there, early. If you can get off 149 on some of the back tracks, which i did not do, you may be more successful.

Wow brown your first year sounds about like mine.

[PineyWoodsBow]

nah.... new park stands.
The state of texas now provides 3/2/2 2400 Sq/ft box blinds with central AC/heat and coffee. Thing is you cant hunt them unless nobodys there and I have really seen some people squat in these things... they take EVERYTHING you would swear they thought they lived there.

are you serious? nevermind, didnt read the last sentence

[roguecraft101]

[oneoffcustom]

nah.... new park stands.
The state of texas now provides 3/2/2 2400 Sq/ft box blinds with central AC/heat and coffee. Thing is you cant hunt them unless nobodys there and I have really seen some people squat in these things... they take EVERYTHING you would swear they thought they lived there.

lol cool.

[oneoffcustom]

was just curious as to if these areas around are hunt able, or if its private property.

[Gonzo]

was just curious as to if these areas around are hunt able, or if its private property.

This is the first year for me on the NF. My advise comes from what I've learned here asking all the questions I can think about, this is what I've gathered:

• Read last years thread along with this years and take all the notes on what the succesful guys are doing.

• Hike as far as you can into the woods, min 1 mile, the further you go the better.

• Use the maps provided by TPWD along with Google maps or any topo maps you can find. This will help you find water sources, camp grounds, access roads ect.

• Flag multiple spots on your GPS with potential so if you sit in one spot and nothing is moving or another hunter is too close by, then you go on to the next spot.

• Know what to look for when you are scouting, heavily used trails, water sources, ect.

• Ask questions on this thread, everyone here is very helpful and willing to assist us newbies on getting familiar with public land.

• DO NOT POST YOUR HUNTING OR SCOUTING LOCATIONS ON HERE. Lots of people visit this site, even non TBHers. If you post your location then you more than likely will lose it soon.

If I missed anything feel free to fill in.

[AJMag]

was just curious as to if these areas around are hunt able, or if its private property.

If it's private property, there should be a few trees painted with some red on the outside line of the property. Anything that is forest land should be green or shaded depending on which map you look at, anything private is white or nonshaded. I find it helps to have the map you can buy at the forest office to be used in conjunction with the aph map, because the bigger color map doesn't show things like no hunting areas for camps, etc

[TMiddleton]

was just curious as to if these areas around are hunt able, or if its private property.

You probably will have to make a trip out there and look to determine if you can hunt there or not. There should be small yellow signs along the boundaries that will mark the NF and tell you if hunting and what type of hunting is permissible. Boundaries will als be marked with red paint blazes on the trees.

[TMiddleton]

Ol' quick draw AJ beat me to it!

I'll second the forest office map being better.

[TMiddleton]

Gonzo -- I like your list a lot, you did a great job!

I would like to add Do Not Park in front of, or block the gates! This will result in a ticket and or being towed.

For opening morning I'm going to have at least 4 locations in my GPS, in order to deal with the crowds. It's all about options....

After the first weekend it will calm down, until opening of General Season gets here!

[Ksig512]

Get to your SPOT EARLY.... an kill your lights .... You dont want the last minute folks seeing that headlamp glowing through the forest .

[DropTine]

Ksig.. just wondering what yall consider early... set up and ready to go an hour before shooting time? two?