Tom Behrens
I remember my first year, 1975, living in Houston. I lived along I-10 west. Starting Friday, the day before the gun deer season opened, I saw trucks pulling campers, ATV’s, feeders, all kinds of hunting equipment heading west to somewhere beyond Houston. My favorite radio station was broadcasting live traffic reports for deer hunters. Man … the start of deer season was almost as big as Thanksgiving!
At that time most of the deer hunting was done on leased ranches and farmlands. A good lease could easily cost over $1,000.00. That cut the possibility of hunting for a lot of hunters down considerably.
Fast forward to today. The chance to score with buck or doe is probably best on leased land, but through Texas Wildlife Management Areas, Some of the Texas State Parks, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Grasslands Areas, and National Forest Land, it’s possible for any hunter, provided they have a Texas hunting license and an Annual Public Hunting Permit to spend the first weekend in November in the woods and grasslands deer hunting.
A couple of the Public Hunting deer hunting opportunities within roughly 100 miles, or less, from Katy include a Wildlife Management Area and a National Forest.
D.R. Wintermann WMA
Freeport, TX 77541
More information: (979) 233-9548 ….
Sam Houston National Forest
The Forest’s Ranger’s office is located 3 miles west of New Waverly on FM 1375
More information: (936) 344-6205
Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) represent habitats and wildlife populations typical of each ecological region of Texas. Today, there are 50 Wildlife Management Areas, encompassing some 748,768 acres of land. Each ecological region in Texas is represented. Sam Houston National Forest, 416,037 acres, lies between Huntsville, Conroe and New Waverly.
Hunting Texas public hunting lands:
Be sure to review the details of each area when planning your hunt. Some areas may only offer drawn, postcard, or youth hunts. The land may have specific dates when hunting is available for certain game, such as deer. An Annual Public Hunting Permit and Texas hunting license are required to hunt on these properties.
An annual Public Hunting Permit costs $48.00. The APH gives access to over 180 hunting areas, including wildlife management areas (WMA), state parks, and approximately 120 dove and small game areas leased from private owners. Youth under age 17 may access these areas for free with a permitted adult. Fishing, camping, hiking, nature watching, photography and equestrian use are also available on certain areas.
Lists of public hunting lands available include:
tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/annual_public_hunting/search.phtml
www.fs.usda.gov/activity/texas/recreation/hunting
This is not an exhaustive list; there are others such Private Company timber lands, Texas State Parks, etc. Let your fingers do some pre-hunt hunting.
A resident Texas Hunting License cost $25.00; if you are over 65 years young, the cost is $7.00. A youth hunting license is $7.00.
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department hunting licenses and an Public Hunting permit are available at any TPWD field offices and retail hunting and fishing license dealer such as your favorite sporting goods store. A hunting license can also be ordered by phone at 1-800-TX-LIC-4U; have your Visa, Discover or MasterCard credit card handy.
Okay now … private lease deer hunting land is still the most popular way to hunt Texas deer, but if you are on a tight budget, you can join the camo clad men, women, and youth, in the fleet of trucks, cars, campers and other assorted hunting vehicles heading out on the interstates to initiate the beginning of Texas general gun deer season. Good luck, good hunting, and above all, be safe. If you have a hunting story you are willing to share, let me know.