A buddy and I are wanting to hunt Whitetail in a new area this year, and I'm trying to decide between Sam Houston or Davey Crockett National Forests. Both are more or less the same distance from Austin, and we'd be hunting during the week to minimize crowding.

Any and all Pros/Cons would be appreciated, from quality of lodging available, game numbers (including hogs), the scenery, etc.

Lastly, I see both list Exotic Mammals, what game are they referring to?

Many thanks in advance!

I want to hunt both w/ my buddy too sometime this season. Besides the public hunting pass what else do we need? Any special permits or tags?

I've hunted Davey Crockett but I haven't seen any exotics. Haven't seen a lot of hogs either but I have seen sign. I usually see deer. It's big. Plan on spending most of your time scouting. My personal feeling is public land is a multi year process. Scout a lot in the early couple of seasons and right after the season ends and by year three you should have it dialed in. That's been my process on the grasslands. I admit I didn't spend a lot of time on Crockett deer hunting. Spend more time squirrely hunting in the WMA. I find there are places that will hold deer every year as long as the pressure isn't too bad.

You need an Annual Public Hunting Permit for the Sam Houston NF because the entire area is a TPWD Wildlife Management Area. Only the Wildlife Management Area-Alabama Creek in the Davy Crockett requires this permit. The regular portion of the Davy Crockett can be hunted with just a hunting license.

Thanks for the reply! I did assume there'd be more scouting than hunting. I also assumed Davey Crockett would be the less crowded of the two?

There are some red stag in the Sam somewhere, pretty interesting story here about it. https://lonestaroutdoorshow.com/202...orgettable-father-son-trip-to-deer-camp/

Well that's interesting. Why would TXPWD say unlimited Exotics if we're not actually allowed to harvest them?