Hello THF! My name is Tony. I'm from Wisconsin, and 5 years ago, Moved to Texas. Currently, I live in Frisco, north of DFW. Last Time I hunted bird was probably 6 years ago, and I miss it greatly. A buddy of mine and I had a very nice blind set up on the edge of a Lake and we boated out to it, every weekend. I'd like to get back into the Swing (not swing and a miss..) of things.

These are things I Know I need:

*Hunters Safety Certificate (in mail from wisconsin)
*APH permit
*HIP
*Waterfowl endorsment
*federal stamp

Am I missing anything?


Also, I'm on my own now, and do not have access to a boat / built in blind, or a hunting dog, so I'm looking for a place close (within an hour or so) of 75035 (Frisco). Also, I do not own a truck or capable off road vehicle (I own a Volkswagen rabbit) so accessibility may be an issue. I've got a map of "access points" on lake Ray Roberts, and I was wondering if there are any other areas I should look into; Lake lewisville? Lake Lavon? I'm pretty lost as far as public hunting in texas, and have been out of the loop for quite some time. Thanks for any and all information and help!

We should plan a hunt sometime monkey! I'm just gettin started back up too.

Yeah! I'm not asking for anyone's secret spot here or anything, just a little advice as i'm new to the texas hunting scene.

All three of those lake are huntable. You'll need a COE permit to hunt the last two. All I can say is scout them out...

COE permit? That differs from the APH permit?

that is good advice,


pick the lake or body of water that works best for your situation, available hunting time, your equipment choices: a boat, no boat, a kayak, etc. and stick with learning that body of water by scouting and spending time on it. I think too many people try to scout and understand too many places each year and end up having a bunch of below average hunts on a bunch of different lakes. All of our public lakes hold good numbers of ducks. Good luck with your scouting.

call the lakes you are interisted in hunting, and talk to the folks in the office, they can help you 10x more then anyone on a message board. they can give you the lowdown on everything you need to be legal and what areas can and can not be hunted.

COE permit is Corp OF Engineers,,,if is free. GO to any Corp office and get you one. You jsut need a license and hunters safety permit.

Not all COE permits are free. Some COE lakes have the TPWD administer hunting and then you need an APH permit. Some lakes the COE manages hunting and then you need a lake specific COE permit.

But calling the lake office is great advice.

in order for me to even Scout out lake Ray Roberts, Do I need a permit? I guess rules and regs. are different from lake to lake. In Wisconsin, the state was split up into North, central, and south zone. As long as you got a permit for your zone, any lake legal to hunt off of was fair game.

I think you should call the lake office and ask about scouting and entry point. You can post up here and let us know if you need a permit to scout. I know on some of the APH lands you have to have a Limited Use Permit or an Annual Public Hunting permit to even be on the land scouting.

I just got off the phone a while ago with the COE of lake lewisville and they said to hunt I need the APH permit, their COE permit costs a smile, and i'd get a map of lake lewisville's access points. Looking at google maps though, it dosnt seem there's much as far as walk-in-huntability. I think this weekend, im going to scout out Lake Ray Roberts South/eastern branch out by buck creek. 2 access points over there. Gotta call/ talk to Ray Roberts WMA to see if a Permit is needed there.

I think you are on your way!
Good Luck.

If you haven't done so yet, go get your APH. After you purchase it, you'll get a map book which has all of the management areas; with a complete break down of what you can hunt. It all will show you access points that you can get to in your car.

I say it breaks up the state real good for you to figure out where you want to go.

I should be pretty solid going to Walmart for this license right? Would I be better off with a different retailer? Wally-world is just convenient-

A lot of times wally world has some yahoo that doesn't have a clue about hunting working back in the sporting goods. I would recommend going to an Academy.

Go to Academy; only get your lic. from walley world if you have no other option.

I had a bad experince where I waited for 2 hrs trying to get a fishing lic. for the wife at walley world. Never ever again.

Fool me once shame on you! Fool me twice shame on me!

Annual Public Hunting permit. I don't know if it has another name, but my book came last week. Make sure they have your address right in the system.

I haven't recieved my book the last 2 years, hoping it shows up this year. The address is correct on my license.

Yes some people refer to the APHP as the type II permit. I think that's what it was originally called when they frist started the program.

monkeyexpress,
you may want to check with the Lake Lewisville COE again. Based on the info that I have, we need a Lake Lewisville COE Permit to hunt lake lewisville and Grapevine Lake. Also, we need a permit from City of Denton to hunt some areas on Lake Lewisville that is leased to the City of Denton. Lake Ray Roberts is part of the state's APHP program and you will need to have the APHP Permit to do some scouting after Sept 1st. Like you, I too am trying to get back into waterfowl hunting.

I don't think the address on the license is the issue. I think there is a separate one in their system that they updated before they did my HIP certification. It had a 3 year old address even though the license I've had since then always had the right address.

Chuckbro: I believe the deal with Lake Lewisville is, up by 380 is sanctioned by denton, the rest is the COE. Their permit is free, and is good for Grapevine as well.

As for getting my license, i'll stop by academy sports this weekend then. Do i get my license immediately, and then a map in 2 weeks, or does my license come in the mail? Also, Does the APH also cover fishing if im in the mood?

permit is printed out while in the store. It prints on the same paper as a regular license.

Books come in the mail 2 weeks later.

You still need a fishing license but the APH covers getting on the lake and surrounding land.