Devils River SNA - Dan Allen Hughes Unit

[Ungawa]

Anyone ever hunted this place? Or know anything about it? I was drawn for it and I have never even been down that direction, much less have I been to Devils River SNA. Everything I read, it seem pretty cool, but what are there any deer there? First Gun hunt I have won, it only took 13 years. Thanks in advance.

[Hawkpuppy 1]

There are some monsters out there. Good luck, it's some rough and nasty country. Take some good boots and binos....

[Ungawa]

There are some monsters out there. Good luck, it's some rough and nasty country. Take some good boots and binos....

Thanks. The terrain definitely looks a little rougher than the hill country. Should be interesting, since we will not be allowed to bait.

[Briar Friar]

Use lures if able. Scrape and pee on a tree. Hang some used tampons.

I hunt Amistad along the Devils River. If it grows...it will poke or stab you. Rattlesnakes are ever present when early and warm....partly why I go late fall to early winter.

Exotics abound. Get ready to kill something unexpectedly awesome. The whitetail Ive seen follow the drainages...dry creek beds and first cutbanks. The browse seems better going to water along those easily traversed pathways.

Good luck.

[Txhuntr2]

Use lures if able. Scrape and pee on a tree. Hang some used tampons.

Sounds messy

[Txhuntr2]

I would suggest getting up high and walking the ridges. Spend lots of time looking down into the canyons with your binocs. Glass carefully. I think you're as likely to see aoudad as whitetail.

[crawdaddct]

Take water... You will need it. A lot of walking in some rough terrain. I did best spot and stalking on some ridge lines or sitting in cover in a ravine. Be ready, as was said, no telling what you will see. Some time a whole herd of something will run right up on you. When we were there the Aoudads were thick. We were there on just an exotic hunt. But walked up on some monster bucks. Good luck.

[WinslowBoy]

Dan Allen unit is different from the Del Norte unit. Was there a couple years ago for the first ever public deer hunt with my son (it was a youth hunt and place was called the Big Satan unit). At that time, no lodging or camping at the site. Ended up driving up from Del Rio each morning. If still the same, give yourself plenty of time because you have to get through a border check station.

Since this was originally a Corporate hunting lease, the roads and access are better (and more numerous) on most of it than at Del Norte. We had a road around the perimeter of our compartment and one right down a canyon in the middle. Recommended 4WD but 2WD would have worked. We did not have to hike very far either, only when we wanted to explore a side canyon.

Deer were pretty scattered. Most we saw were actually up on flat areas above the canyons BUT the largest buck we saw was in a gnarly side canyon. My son ended up taking a decent aoudad but that was the only one we saw (Avatar pic). The units with the canyons had some aoudad but flatter compartments near the entrance held some blackbuck and axis. As of a couple years ago, the compartment right behind the ranger station (where the airport runway is) had a decent herd of blackbuck which were pretty accessible.

The above recommendations are good. Get high early and glass the canyons and side ridges. We were able to shoot a couple whitetails by setting up pop ups on the flats just above the canyons. The deer seemed to hug the top of the canyons when they traveled. Because it's so dry, it was pretty easy to spot the well used trails and we set up near them.

When we hunted, you could bait but I believe they may have discontinued allowing it. The head guy said "deer won't know what corn is, so I wouldn't use it".... Well, we threw out corn and 2 whitetails and 1 aoudad sure knew what corn was. They stopped dead in their tracks when they found it. Neat property and you will definitely enjoy this hunt.

** Whoops, reread your post and looks like baiting isn't allowed. Sit high and glass and be prepared to shoot out a ways.

[1-taylormade]

Beautiful Country! Will be following this thread. PM sent.

[Ungawa]

Thanks everyone. I purchased our permits yesterday, can't wait till the hunt begins. I guess better get a game cart and some boots.

Which gun?
I have a .243 and a .257 Weatherby. The .243 is light, but my scope is just ok. The Weatherby is probably more suited for the this type of hunt, but it is very heavy compared to the .243.

[WTJim]

.257 takes nough scope in case you need to reach out a bit...

[1-taylormade]

I'd take the .257 Weatherby

[ThePecosBilly]

Congrats on drawing that unit! Hunt with the .243, stay mobile, and use that glass.

[Ungawa]

Congrats on drawing that unit! Hunt with the .243, stay mobile, and use that glass.

Thanks. My buddy and I are pretty excited.

[Ungawa]

Just got back last night from the hunt. We got there late, due to the weather conditions (snow), we were supposed to leave home 5pm on Thur. the 7th and stay in Mason that night, leave the next morning for Devils river to get there by 10am. The snow started coming in and not knowing what to expect we contacted the staff at Devils River and they said since there was bad weather just get there as soon as we could on Fri. the 8th.
We arrived about 3pm on Fri. and man was the road muddy going into the place. We had to put the truck into 4 wheel drive at 2 or three places. The truck was covered in mud by the time we left. Met the staff, they were very helpful and easy going guys. I think 7or 8 of the 12 hunters showed, probably due to the weather, no standby allowed. I believe there were 3 compartments left to choose from, we chose 5. Compartment 5 is at the very front of the property. The first day of the hunt all we were able to do is set up a pop up and that was about it before dark.
The next morning we saw nothing while in the blind. At lunch we decided to walk one the roads next to the canyons and jumped 2 black bucks and one whitetail which we think was a doe. That afternoon back in the blind we saw nothing again.
The next morning we saw probably the biggest body buck I had ever seen following a doe, out of cedars and then back in. Just about all the tines were knocked off his left main beam. My buddy just about pulled the trigger on him, but he turned and went back in the cedar. As luck would have it my buddy started having back pain and we left that afternoon.
We had to leave early and did not get a shot off, but we still had a good time. To the best of my knowledge before we left 2does, a 6 point and 10 point whitetail, a fallow buck and a couple of Aoudad were taken.

The road going into the place is like 20 miles and 14 miles is gravel/dirt/mud, couple that with a 30+miles to Del Rio and that makes for a long drive in every morning and a long drive out every night. So, stay as close as possible.

We weren't successful and had to leave early, but I would love to go back.

Oh, forgot to mention we were stopped by a game warden leaving the place second night we were there. He set up on the road leaving the property. Needless to say he came up empty with us. Seemed like a real nice guy.