So this was my 6th year now I believe that I’ve been applying for a bunch of exotic and deer hunts.. haven’t been drawn yet. How long did it take y’all to get picked for the first time?

I am 8 years in and haven't drawn anything, however I am putting in for the lowest percentage hunts so I know I have a long way to go. But you can't draw if you don't put in.

simple answer is if you want to draw often then you have to put in to the hunts with better odds I have been drawn 2 times in the past 3 years for hunts that didnt have many people putting in for them. That being said there are some hunts that have got nuts on the odds if you drawn powderhorn i think is the name should head to a gas station and buy a lotto ticket because the odds are crazy low to draw that. I have my categories that i use as my draw often ones and i have some that i only put in for the best hunt and save points
it just take time

I drew Garner Exotic one year with 9 points. Then drew two years later with 2 points.

I have been blanked the past two years on all my draws.

Due to the way the drawing works, you can't predict when you're going to draw. Even the "easy" to draw hunts are generally less than 10% odds. If you understand statistics, then not drawing in 2023, or previous years, has no influence on the 2024 draws.

Loyalty points increase your odds by getting your application in the pot more times, but you're competing against thousands of other applicants so it's not a significant advantage.

With all that being said, I've drawn a hunt in 16 years out of 23 years of applying and I don't apply for the lower quality hunts.

That’s one of the ones I REALLY want to draw

My last drawn hunt was at the Chaparral WMA for gun/either sex hunt in 2020. Oh what a hunt that was. i can't wait to get back there again when I'm 106 years old!!!

I drew palo duro with 3 points

I have been putting in for over 10 yrs for several hunts and have never been drawn

It took 10 years for me to draw my first hunt

In the last 8 years, I’ve signed up for between 15-20 hunts each year. These last three years I’ve not drawn a single hunt. The previous 5 years before that, I drew one hunt per year. I was beginning to think I was one of the luckiest guys ever, but the last few years has been humbling lol.

That’s one of the ones I really want to hunt too

I've never not seen an axis away from the area of the ranger station at that park, we go there twice a year.

First time in 9 years my three sons and I havent been drawn.

It's a good hunt, but I didnt shoot an axis on either of my trips. Both years I went it was really green. The chaffeye and corn was piled up under the feeders. My son drew Garner youth with 8 points a few years ago. He shot an axis and a whitetail spike.

I've read that some people dont like the hunt because they take you to and from your stand and you have dedicated shooting lanes. The huntmaster was a good guy and they really want you to shoot the axis. We saw lots of axis while driving to and from our stands at night and before sun up. I enjoyed it as there are worse ways to spend a few days.

I have been entering since 2017 and have only had 1 year of not being drawn at all. I have only been picked in the major categories 3 times. 2 for deer antlerless and 1 for feral hog. I dont count javalina as a major category but the 1 time I entered it I won teh Chap. And never saw an animal at all. No deer no javalina no hogs no nothing. The rest of the hunts were the higher percentage hunts that dont get many applicants. This year I was drawn for 4 hunts including deer antlerless which I only go for the hogs. I also won 3 hunts back in 2020. This year I had to drop one because it coincided with another hunt. Still watching my email today for hunt #5. But they still havent posted yet today.

I am not sure why I have been so lucky other than I usually win the same hunts now over and over. But not many people sign up for these hunts so i guess that is why.

Keep trying but dont expect to win those hunts that 5000 people sign up for that really is like winning the lottery.

Good luck today
Big

I started in 2007 and we have been drawn every year. Some good, some not. I have seen a lot of Texas that I probably would not have seen otherwise. Learned about the history of this great State in different locations that you can't get from a book. Last year I looked at cave paintings with a professional guide explaining everything to us to looking at dinosaur tracks at another place by myself because the park was shut down for the hunt. Both were awesome and I tagged out.

Thanks for y’all’s replies. I think maybe next year I’ll enter into some categories I haven’t been doing, just to up my odds. I have my own land that I hunt on for whitetail, so I’ve only been entering the places I know I can see a big buck in that category, but maybe I’ll enter the anterless/spike ones next year, just for the chance to get to hunt somewhere I never have before

I started putting in three years ago, and I've been drawn every year for at least two hunts. That being said, I definitely do the 'shotgun approach' and apply for a lot of hunts. There are only a few categories where I'm really selective with what I apply for.

I do it mainly for the ability to hunt somewhere new.

I'd also advise applying at least once in each category. I don't have any particular desire to hunt gator right now, but I've applied the past couple years because I know by the time I do want to check that box I'm gonna need the points I've been building each year. Likewise, when my kids were born I couldn't possibly make the pronghorn hunt 8 hours away from me, but I kept applying because I'm gonna need the points.

I've never drawn and have 6 points in each of 4 categories.

Seems like the draw hunts are more of a bust then boon. Why not just close the parks that they hunt, and have people come the day of and do day lease types hunts or few day hunts, sale them at the gate instead of a drawing type hunt, especially on the area's that it shows 100% success rate.

I wouldn't call them a bust. It's like anything else; there's some strategy involved. If you're only applying for Pronghorn every year, or the other top tier hunts, your odds won't be good. I applied for 55 tags, and drew two. If you did it day of, you'd still have more hunters than most places could support, so it'd be back to a drawing.

BIL and I were drawn for Richland WMA GDE hunt in 2004, the first time we put in for it. We drew a lot of hunts including Yoakum Dunes (Mule Deer me only), Powderhorn(GDE), and South Llano (Antlerless). We hit a little dry spell in the last couple of years but hoping next year for Exotics with us having 19 points.

6 is not much now that points are cubed. Stick with it though. The total each year grows considerably more than the year before.
6 = 216 points
7 = 343 points
8 = 512 points
9 = 729 points
10 = 1000 points
11 = 1331 points
12 = 1728 points
And so on. Cubed you don't really get into high points until you hit double digits.