Guys,

I got drawn for a bow hunt at Hill Country SNA. Looking at the books for the past several years, I observed that despite being in the middle of what ought to be stellar deer country (right outside Bandera), success ratios for the hunts have been, at best, poor. (1 of 50 in 2003, 0 of 30 in 2004, and 0 of 33 in 2005) Each of these hunts has been for about 4 days, so thats ~452 man-days worth of bowhunting.

I've bowhunted for a long time, so I expect success ratios to be relatively low, but 1 deer in 452 man-days is sad. Anyone on this forum been one of those ~113 guys who've hunted it? I'd sure like to get advice from those who've been there already. Looking at the area on googleearth is encouraging. It looks rough and hilly. With 1 deer in 3 years, I'd think you could kill that many deer in the parking lot of a Dairy Queen in town....

Any advice would be well recieved. My freezer is empty, so I'd like to try and make it 2 deer in 4 years....

Thanks in advance,

shane

anyone? Buehler? Buehler?

Everything I have read about the place is it's a tough place to hunt, very thick and they also have some sweat places on there but you/we do not get to hunt those areas.

They also have a well balanced deer herd.

i rifle hunted it in jan 2006, its all uphill literally, very few deer, we managed to get two does in four days, sucess ratio was about 25%, you are able to bring corn in, but there was corn everywhere from the week before, good horse trails to follow

dang!

Wfont,

I dont suppose you'd happen to have a map of the place, showing how they have it zoned off for hunting, do you? I have a map of the area, but I'd be real interested in knowing how they zone it out in advance.

Thanks for the feedback.

shane

Dont worry about numbers, just go hunt and remember you are getting to hunt, have fun and good luck.

no i do not keep the map with the zones, we hunted the main road from the check in station to the west boundary, north side, if i remebered directions correctly, i agree go enjoy your hunt, do not worry about the numbers, they are some pretty views, good walking trails, if you get a deer good if not it was fun

there is a house on the place you can stay in, no reservations, so get there early if you want a bed, if not bring you a mattress, it was a free for all for space