Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR Teniente 2021

[bjsexpress]

Thanks for the report and good luck! It sure looks green out there.

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Ditto.

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[bjsexpress]

@JWood1 checking on update ... hopefully you've been successful. Long road for many to get there. Look forward to getting full recap of your hunt on the Refuge.

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[JWood1]

Not much more to report unfortunately. I saw a sow with 4 or 5 piglets Saturday afternoon and then 2 Matute looking bucks Sunday morning, but both at a distance…150yds + and just for a few seconds as they were crossing the road. Wish I could have stayed the full day Sunday, but had a 5 hour drive home so needed to hit the road.

The cooler temps that came in Saturday did give me a lot more confidence to get off of the beaten path and explore the place a little more. Would have been great to do that Thursday & Friday as well and hunt some spots in the deeper brush, but I’m not much for not being able to see my feet when it’s 80+ degrees.

Tough hunt, but the animals are definitely in there. Just have to catch them crossing at the right time I suppose. Good luck to you guys hunting it in a few weeks!

[hogman$]

No kills for us but had a lot of fun we didn’t hunt Thursday morning just drove around in the morning to check the place out we had never been there before saw a cow and a bull just off the road found a few fresh scrapes and hunted those Thursday evening a had a nice buck walk past my wife at about 5 yards which was set up about 100 yards from me she couldn’t make a shot because the heavy brush then the buck comes walking by me and works the scrape at 40 but never gave me a good broadside shot I didn’t see anything Friday morning my wife had a small buck at like 3 yards then Friday evening I had a nilgai cow at about 80 yards but it got dark before I could get a shot my wife saw a baby nilgai at 30 yards at a different spot and nothing Saturday morning it got really windy and brought some cooler weather and didn’t see anything that evening then Sunday morning we had a real nice buck at about 20 yards And again the grass was just too tall and too thick for a good shot there’s definitely animals they’re just hard to get to we tried to find natural funnels and pinch points but hard to do in that terrain we went through some of the thickest and nastiest brush there and neither one of us ever saw a tick on us for those that are wondering about that


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[Benson]

Sat this morning until about 11 am. Very windy at about 15 mph; swirly wind; as expected didn’t see anything. But nice to sit and enjoy nature.


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[TXOUTLAW]

Cool place too bad you didn’t connect on anything


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[JackRyan]

Sat this morning until about 11 am. Very windy at about 15 mph; swirly wind; as expected didn’t see anything. But nice to sit and enjoy nature.


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Good luck out there Benson. Keep the updates coming.

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[C-rod]

This will be my first hunt at the Teniente . A couple of questions . Are the gates locked and you have to wait in the mornings for a ranger to open them? Does each road off of HWY 186 have an entrance or is it one gate in one gate out ? Once on the property do you have to park in the designated parking areas or can you park off the roadway as long as other vehicles can pass? Would I benefit bringing my bike out here like at Laguna ? Reading the posts the North East corner turns into private or a no hunting area , is this marked and easy to know you are in the wrong area ? How about the game wardens , have people been talking to or seeing them. It seems like all the other places I have been able to get drawn I end up talking to them every day and getting some good information from them . Are the illegals a problem or do they tend to keep moving , anyone have any issues with them ?
Thank you for any information or advice .

[BOW BANDIT]

No locked gates, There are some parking areas, one on each county road, but you can park alongside any county road as long as you don't obstruct traffic, dont mind the bikes, The north east corner is tricky and can get you in trouble if you are not familiar, last time I walked thru there the markers were still not replaced to mark the limits, Phone signal is not the best there but try your GPS if you want to go there, Game wardens are always there both federal and state, They drive around looking at vehicles and the sometimes leave a business card on the windshield. They will try to make contact with all hunters at least once. Remenber that Teniente is federal land and that aside from state regulations they have some other rules to enforce. as far as Ilegals chances are that they will be walking the area east of county road 30. heading towards King Ranch. If you want to have a better chance at shooting bring a tripod , the grass is high and thick and you want to be above all that grass.

[Huntindad]

Good luck Ben, keep us posted.

[C-rod]

No locked gates, There are some parking areas, one on each county road, but you can park alongside any county road as long as you don't obstruct traffic, dont mind the bikes, The north east corner is tricky and can get you in trouble if you are not familiar, last time I walked thru there the markers were still not replaced to mark the limits, Phone signal is not the best there but try your GPS if you want to go there, Game wardens are always there both federal and state, They drive around looking at vehicles and the sometimes leave a business card on the windshield. They will try to make contact with all hunters at least once. Remenber that Teniente is federal land and that aside from state regulations they have some other rules to enforce. as far as Ilegals chances are that they will be walking the area east of county road 30. heading towards King Ranch. If you want to have a better chance at shooting bring a tripod , the grass is high and thick and you want to be above all that grass.

Bow Bandit , thank you for the information, much appreciated! With the tri pod , in my area I typically use a 6 foot quad pod . Will the 6 footer elevate me enough or should I plan on a 10’?
Thank you again for the info .

[BOW BANDIT]

Bow Bandit , thank you for the information, much appreciated! With the tri pod , in my area I typically use a 6 foot quad pod . Will the 6 footer elevate me enough or should I plan on a 10’?
Thank you again for the info .

What ever you bring make sure that is as light as possible and that it can be tucked away it the trees.

[VonHammer]

Hunt Summary
• Stayed at the LaQuinta in Raymondville. Very nice owner, would recommend.
• Recommend Tuckers (lunch until they sell out) and Grandma’s (7am to 3pm) to eat. Hours are limited so plan accordingly. Wings Champ on the east side of 77 is better than Wings stop. Antojitos had decent breakfast, Andrea’s was ok Mexican for dinner. Star’s drive in always had a decent crowd but never ate there.
• Scouted 12/15
• Hunt period was 12/16-19
• Initially hunted a pipeline right of way off of the east side of CR20. Did not see anything Thursday morning and evening
• Moved to the south east side of the refuge off of CR 30
• Saw multiple deer traveling from the refuge to private property and back. Initially outside of bow range.
• Made adjustments and took a shot but the doe jumped it. My bad. Found the arrow and it was clean.
• Saw multiple nilgai (out of range) and many deer.
• Busted multiple times by deer. Only saw one hog and it came within a few feet. Too quick to take a shot.
• Rained Sunday afternoon. Temperature dropped 25 degrees but I did not see an increase in activity.
• Game warden checked us (license) Sunday afternoon. Very nice and professional. Said we were some of the last remaining.
• Overall, I could have taken my two deer and a nilgai cow if things were executed perfectly on my part.
If I hunted there again:
• Definitely take my snake boots again. Weather was in the 80s and rattlesnakes were out. Came within a few feet of stepping on one. Head was as big as my fist. Capable of striking way above your knees. They do not rattle.
• Pick an area and stick to it to learn the patterns. Place is too big to jump from one area to the next.
• CR 10 on the west side is high fenced so plan accordingly.
• Feeders on the south east side of the refuge go off at 630am and 530pm. They corned their senderos Saturday morning and that day had the most animals travelling back to the refuge (including a nilgai cow). All 150 yards away.
• Note-Nilgai bulls are huge; make a good shot.
• Still hunting is not a viable method with the tall grass. I jumped deer each hunt walking the senderos, let alone the tall grass.

[VonHammer]

Pictures of the area

Pictures of the area

[TXOUTLAW]

It’s an interesting place


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