Let’s discuss Hagerman quality post 2020 hunts

[ttubudd]

This should be fun

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[Milkfisher]

About how many small pieces of land butt up against Hagerman?

not many. There are a few...but its minimal.

[No-Tox]

not many. There are a few...but its minimal.

I didn't think so. I figure most of those adjoining lands are of a good size.

[Drake05]

Im sorry but I havent seen a 120 shot by an adjoining land owner because they know of the potential ... the lack of people’s ability to eat a tag is awful. Hunting Hagerman is a tough hunt and when it works out it is rewarding ... but 2 year olds are 120s at hagerman. No point in shooting just to shoot. A 155-160 was the biggest deer shot this year. Everyone saw a picture of one giant and flooded Harris and nobody got anything very big. Hunt for yourself not off the internet.

[Whale]

Tagged

[huntmaster]

I have a friend with land by H and the pictures of the deer he sees n didn't shoot are sooo big it makes my eyes bug out. He has not killed a deer there in a few years.

[Passthrough]

Im sorry but I havent seen a 120 shot by an adjoining land owner because they know of the potential ... the lack of people’s ability to eat a tag is awful. Hunting Hagerman is a tough hunt and when it works out it is rewarding ... but 2 year olds are 120s at hagerman. No point in shooting just to shoot. A 155-160 was the biggest deer shot this year. Everyone saw a picture of one giant and flooded Harris and nobody got anything very big. Hunt for yourself not off the internet.

Now THAT.....was a good post!!

[muzzyslinger]

for everybody that doest like how hagerman is run---stop putting in for the draws----I love hunting that place and hope to get the chance again

[TxDispatcher]

Im sorry but I havent seen a 120 shot by an adjoining land owner because they know of the potential ... the lack of people’s ability to eat a tag is awful. Hunting Hagerman is a tough hunt and when it works out it is rewarding ... but 2 year olds are 120s at hagerman. No point in shooting just to shoot. A 155-160 was the biggest deer shot this year. Everyone saw a picture of one giant and flooded Harris and nobody got anything very big. Hunt for yourself not off the internet.

Typical...and "somewhat" understandable to a very small degree. BUT...anyone who is familiar with Hagerman should know that there are great deer everywhere on it. Heck if I ever get drawn, I hope that someone else posts a pic of a giant a few weeks before I go, so that folks will flock to that one area and leave more room elsewhere that is undisturbed

Earlier someone commented on DCNF putting out great deer and hunters there keeping their mouths closed about it...well just wait till next year the "genius" Houston Chronicle story on the 160" stud a few weeks ago will have DCNF crawling with people next year who all think that 150's and 160's are behind every tree

[Texas Grown]

Typical...and "somewhat" understandable to a very small degree. BUT...anyone who is familiar with Hagerman should know that there are great deer everywhere on it. Heck if I ever get drawn, I hope that someone else posts a pic of a giant a few weeks before I go, so that folks will flock to that one area and leave more room elsewhere that is undisturbed

Earlier someone commented on DCNF putting out great deer and hunters there keeping their mouths closed about it...well just wait till next year the "genius" Houston Chronicle story on the 160" stud a few weeks ago will have DCNF crawling with people next year who all think that 150's and 160's are behind every tree

It's true! Behind every tree. And if you look hard enough, you can find a 180 once in a while. Think I heard it on that famous feller in Houston that has a radio show. What was his name? Mike Berry Radio Show, or something like that?



Think I might have heard him say that.



































Oh, and what's my name?

[TradHunter]

So much drama this year on public hunting forums.

[Razorback01]

So much drama this year on public hunting forums.

Rona, don't you know?

[Killer]

I don’t think people own land or lease land around Hagerman to kill small bucks. I think there are more people hunting the private property around the refuge for sure than in the past. Most of the property around refuge are small tracts 150 acres or less.
With the refuge rotating units deer can be four years old before they are even hunted. Grayson county being bow only helps keep the deer that wonder off the boundary from getting wacked if it was a gun county.
If not for the Refuge no one would want to hunt the area. The Refuge is the reason the private property owners have quality deer on their property to start with. Makes the property value go up also.
Best thing Hagerman personal have done for the deer herd is hammer the hogs the last few years a lot less competition for the deer.
Still one of the best public land bow hunts in Texas. You have got to be a good hunter and have a lot of luck in a 3 day hunt. You can do everything right and the deer don’t cooperate.

[bullets13]

I’ve never hunted hagerman, but it always cracks me up when I see someone who’s set up a feeder on a few acres of land bordering the 12,000 acre refuge either implying or outright stating that “bad hunters” that draw tags are shooting “their deer” too young before they can turn into monsters.

[Arrowsmith]

Hag is not shot out. The private land owners are not the problem. There is no problem. Guys just go out there and literally expect to see monsters running all over the place. The reality is that most guys that get to hunt there just aren’t as good of hunters as they think they are. They can’t pick the right spot for the right reasons at the right time. They aren’t disciplined enough to not move around, or eat on stand or a dozen other reasons. Point blank, the monsters guys want to see out there are gonna come easy. Sure every once in a while some Gomer will Forrest Gump his way to success. There’s half a dozen or so guys I know here in Grayson county that regularly kill monsters and they all have a lot in common. Some guys just don’t have what it takes to kill old mature whitetails with a bow, but everyone thinks they do

I agree with this. Many of the success stories at at Hagerman can be attributed to shear luck. With 70 or so hunters, scouting, setting stands, hiking in and out multiple times, moving stands, searching for wounded deer how can you expect the deer to be on any kind of "normal" movement pattern. The deer are more on alert and are getting pushed around by this influx of humans. Some guys set ups will just end up just being at the right place at the right time.

If a hunter is lucky enough to get a buck that they want to kill within range it will probably be their only chance and you will normally have only a few seconds to decide and get a shot off.

Mature bucks....and I am talking about 4.5 year old bucks and older live and die by their nose. With 70+ hunters in the woods mature bucks are going to be on high alert. I will guarantee that if they are not following a hot doe they will be quartering into the wind when and if they move. If they are uncomfortable enough with the scent and activity intrusion they simply will not move until after dark. You can get away with a lot with 1.5 to 3.5 year old bucks and that is the age structure that a lot of hunters see at Hagerman. The older smarter age class bucks are there.....but they definitely are not just going to be aimlessly wandering around... unless you are lucky enough to have one follow a hot doe within bow range.

I know a man up here in Iowa that consistently kills giant mature bucks. He has a precise method of hunting these bucks that involves wind direction (most important), precise stand placement on pinch points, and meticulous entrance and exit strategy. These are bucks that he has history and intel on....game cam pictures, sightings, and in some cases close encounters. Even with all this intel most of his 180" to 200+" bucks have taken 100 to 200 hours of stand time to get them killed. Some of his bucks have taken up to 3 years to kill.

When you relate this back to Hagerman how can you expect hunters to do much better than about a 10% success rate on any legal buck in about 30 hrs on stand if the hunter does 3 all day sits.

Here is my friends buck from this year. This buck was killed on October 30th. He had been hunting this buck for two years.

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