Hello. I am going to try my luck with the TPWD Drawn Hunts this year. I have heard that there are other lottery type hunting opportunities in Texas that aren't with the TPWD. Maybe private ones? Do you guys know any info on anything like this? Any help would be great! Thanks!

Welcome to the THF.

There maybe be some private ones, but I do not know of them.

There is sort of a lottery for doe tags on the LBJ Grasslands.

I have not heard of draw hunts other than TPWD...

I did one at Matador for Mule deer last year and it was run first rate. I am looking forward to putting in applications for a couple of hunts this year.

I have went on several of the TP&W hunts, and they have all been good hunts, and even though many of them are on high fenced areas, they are not a guaranteed deal.

I have been skunked more times than I have been successful, but I still keep putting in every year and I will go any time I get drawn.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has some on their wildlife refuges...

I forgot completely about those.

I think both the Aransas NWR and the Laguna Atascosa NWR have drawings for deer and feral hog hunts.

I hunted down at Aransas twice.

Not sure how much the economy and fuel prices will affect the hunts this year, but it might be an easier draw because of it, or it might be harder, considering how many people are without a lease.

Also, the Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife Refuge (outside Austin) has a drawing for deer as well.

Aransas
National Wildlife Refuge
P.O. Box 100
Austewell, TX 77950
361-286-3559

Laguna Atascosa
National Wildlife Refuge
P.O. Box 450
Rio Hondo, TX 78583
956-748-3607

Balcones Canyonlands
National Wildlife Refuge
24518 FM 1431
Marble Falls, TX 78654
512-339-9432

And for all the USFWS Wildlife Refuges: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/ByState.cfm?state=TX

Good Luck!!

ok i have a question should i put in for a cpl draws this year even thogh i wont be able to do any thing if i win?
or should i skip a year and call it good.

Because the Texas drawings are set up the way they are, putting in each year, while giving you a preference point in each category you put in for, does not really increase your odds of getting drawn.

If you put in for a hunt this year and get drawn, you will not accrue a PP, if you don't get drawn you will gain a PP in that category.

What you might look at doing is applying for those hunts this year, that have a high number of applicants for a small number of permits.

Take the Pronghorn hunt up at the Rita Blanca.

Last year there were 4233 applicants for 7 permits.

The odds of getting drawn are small, but you will gain a PP in that hunt category.

Then next year when time comes to apply again, your name will be in the pool twice, once for your new app. and once for your PP from this year.

Just off on a tangent here, but one of the things I do not like about the Texas Draw system, is that it is not a "Weighted Draw".

Colorado has a "Weighted Draw" system.

In a "Weighted" system, every year when you apply, your PP's move you up in the system.

In Colorado's system, tags are allocated per GMU(Game Management Unit).

Those tags are further allocated according to the number of PP's an applicant has accumulated.

Where in Texas, if you have 5 PP's and some one else is applying for the first time, their application is put in the same pool as your 5, and even though you have 5 chances of getting drawn and they have one, it is possible for them to get drawn, and you not get drawn.

In Colorado's system, your 5 PP's are placed in the pool for whatever hunt it is you have applied for, with everyone else that has 5 PP's.

With that type system, if the area you apply for is going to issue say 30 tags, and 20 people have 5 PP's or more, each of them will get a tag.

The remaining 10 tags will be divided between all those people in the pool with 4 PP's.

Putting in for a tag this year that you can't use, will probably result in you getting a PP, unless you are really lucky/unlucky as the case may be, in which case you won't be able to do the hunt and you won't gain a PP.

On the other hand, if you don't get drawn, when you put in next year, you will have two chances to win in each of the categories you put in for this year. JMO&E.

thanks

Crazyhorse has the rules right on. Although I will disagree on liking the Colorado and alot of Western states better. I kind of like knowing that although my chances are slim with one or two pp that I still at least have a mathematical chance unlike alot of the trophy units out west where for the first 5-8 years you are putting in just for the point because there is no chance of getting drawn.

The reason I like the weighted draw system, is because for those folks that keep applying every year, they will eventually get a tag.

Unless it has changed, I know of one person that has put in the draw at the Chaparral for over 20 years and has never been drawn.

With a weighted system, he would have been able to hunt the area at some point.

The funny part is, his name is David Synatzske, and he has been the head biologist at the Chap for all those years.

I have been extremely lucky over the years and have been able to go on many of the hunts.

However, In MY Opinion, there is some tweaking that could be done to the system, such as making it a weighted draw, along with letting applicants have a second or third choice on areas.

I really dislike the Texas public drawing system especially the preference point issue. I've been applying for several particular hunts since the early 80's but never been drawn. Yet, I personally know a fellow from out-of-state that applied and was drawn for one of the hunts last year and he was a first time applicant. There is something broken with the setup. Also, the application process could be defined as "rope started". Most States have been handling their application entirely on-line for years.

That is my point Michael.

On the whole, I like the fact that TP&W provides the opportunities, I just feel that the system needs to be tweaked, so that folks that keep putting in every year, have a realistic chance of getting drawn, hence my leanings toward a weighted system, and being able to choose more than one area in any category. JMO.

Yeah, just relating my experience and support your ideas. It's broken.

I have been putting in and going on the TPWD draw hunts for many years. Like CH, the hunts I have been on, I have been skunked more times than I have been successful. But I have come out way ahead on quality and value. Out of those drawn, I have taken record book Auodad and Ibex. And a gator over 11'. Other hunts where I may not have made kills, I still thoroughly enjoyed because of the opportunity to hunt such unique areas.

Odds are very odd. When the alligator hunts where more popular, we actually went a stretch where we were drawn 5 years in a row for like the first alligator hunt date of each season and that was part of over 15 gator hunt drawn for since they began. The WMA manager began to know us by name and voiced his concern in that he suspected we had a friend in Austin. Now that the gator hunts are less popular and have more hunt type choices, we should have better odds of drawing, but we have not been picked for one in at least the last 5 years.

CH's idea about putting in for a hunt with least odds of getting drawn just to get a preference point is a problem in that those that who do get drawn with no intention to get the permit, potentially keep someone else from drawing/hunting in that spot. It would be so simple for TPWD just to create a preference point only code for the hunt application process. It may not make much difference since it is not a weighted draw, but the fact is people are putting in for hunts as suggested just to get a preference point in a given year. And TPWD would still get the application fee for revenue.

And like CH suggested. Currently you can only put in for one area with different dates for second, third choice. Most people are tied to dates more so than where they hunt.
Again it would be easy for TPWD to manipulate the application codes to allow one to put second and third choices of different hunt areas that have similar hunt dates.

And last, Many other states are not friendly to non residents with lotterys, permits, and license draws.
Other than high license fees, examples.

Some limit non resident tags. Kansas Mule Deer would be one.

Others do not allow non resident hunters to apply for some lottery hunts. The Arkansas Elk lottery for example is only for Arkansas residents.

And others require a current non resident hunting license before one can apply for a lottery or draw hunt. Oklahoma is an example.

So why in the world are we allowing non residents the same weight and application fee as Texas residents in our lottery hunts!

When I was at the Caprock Canyons hunt, there were out of state hunters there from as far away as Colorado trying to get on Standby. IMHO, it makes me think there are probably quite a few non resident hunters applying for the more desirable hunts like this. I know I would if I lived out of State, I have applied for Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and the Valles Calderas Elk lotteries myself so far this year, yet all those have limits on non residents or require you to buy a hunting license before applying. You better believe there are a LOT of hunters across the country like me that have some Texas hunts on their list of draws to try for. Expecially since it only costs those non residents $3 or $10 to apply with the same chance of getting drawn as you or me.

Let me see if I can add some stuff to the conversation without talking down to anyone.

One of the reasons some states seem to be less friendly toward Non-Resident hunters, has to do with the resident hunters of that state.

Colorado is a prime example.

The Colorado DOW had gone to depending upon Non-Resident hunters for the bulk of their annual income.

Resident hunters felt that they were being forced out of hunting, because the Non-Residents were willing to pay for the chance to hunt, and did not care in many ways what they paid.

Sound Familiar?

Because of the differences in the way the governing body of the various states fish and game departments are placed in power, the voting public can and does hold power over those agencies.

This all hinges on the attitude of the residents of the state and the attitude of the PTB's in those states as it concerns income from hunting.

The states that have % caps on Non-Resident permits, those caps were instituted by complaints by the resident hunters of those states.

Maybe that is something that Texas residents could try, but how many folks actually get that involved in the Public Draw hunts in Texas, in comparison to the number of folks that buy hunting license every year?

The changes I would like to see to the system are as follows:

1. Go to a weighted system instead of the one we have.

2. Change the system from listing all the different dates on each area, to just listing the area and that there will be hunts conducted on those areas, and allow applicants to list up to 3 choices for the areas they want to hunt.

If they get drawn for an area, they will have to take whatever dates they are given.

3. Perrmit fee would have to be submitted in full at time of application, and if applicant is not drawn, the amount remitted, minus an administrative fee would be refunded and a Preference Point awarded.

I think in many ways the Texas Draw system is good, I just think it needs tweaking, and I agree with others, in that these drawings should be for Texas Residents Only, the program was originally set up to provide hunting opportunities for Texans.

If some one wants to come in from out of state to hunt in Texas, there are more than enough private operators in business to provide those opportunities.

Colorado, thru pressure from resident hunters did basically this a few years back, when they limited the draw permits for the properties in the Ranching For Wildlife Program to Residents Only.

Who is the draw hunt program supposed to be helping, whoever wants to apply, or Texas residents having trouble finding places to hunt?

I have hunted several of the draw hunts here and have found them to be an extremely good value. Every place we have hunted has had a super staff that was always help-full and knowledgeable. I have been on about 10 hunts (mostly archery) and have never seen out of state-rs. I like the system the way it is. Every year it seems like there are more categories. I like being able to pick your dates because some hunts might be at the same time, if you are lucky enough to get drawn in different categories. These hunts are awesome. Play your cards right and you won't have time for a lease.

Welcome to the THF.

I too have been lucky enough to have been drawn several times and the hunts are good, but as in anything, there could be some improvements.

While you have not experienced out of staters, some of us have.

The point some folks are trying to make, is, should Non-Residents have access to the drawings?

I don't hunt archery, gun only, but as I stated elsewhere, for the most part I enjoy the program and support it.

I just feel that somethings could and possibly should be tweaked to make the program more acceptable to more Texas hunters.

Many Thanks for giving your input, hope you stick around and enjoy the site.

I do agree they do need some small changes and yes I agree it should be for us Texans only. If it gets to popular with northerners we won't get drawn. I have noticed that more of the hunts are now four days instead of three. That helps alot (especially when bow hunting).
Thanks, Great site!!

Thank You for joining us.

TP&W is doing what I feel is the best job they can under the conditions they are having to work under, and I do agree that the extended hunt periods are a better deal, even for the rifle hunters, simply because it takes two days minimum to figure out game movement on an area.

There are a lot of really good folks on this site and they do have lots of good info. Hope you stick around and enjoy it.