Cooper WMA

Anybody ever done any good there on deer or hogs? Thinking about trying it this year and wanted some input, also I didn't see a campsight on the map. Is there a place to camp? Thanks

The only place to camp is in the two state parks. I was driving across the dam yesterday morning and saw a big hog. There are a lot of hogs behind the damn and off Hwy 71 on the west end of the lake. Deer can be found in the same places. The whole area is bow only until after deer season and then you can use a shotgun for hogs.

seen several deer, got with in bow range, just didnt get shot off...

I was drawn once, doe only, does I saw were 200 yards plus away, young buck came with 25 yards twice...that's hunting. I shot and missed a big hog, but they were also seen at distance of 150 or more. It all depends on the compartment you pick. I suggest the levy area, its some sort of migrating bird area.

Hunted last season off of 4804. Saw a few deer and got a spike on trail camera that I would put out in the morning and pick up when I left that evening. Most of the deer that we saw were on the private land adjacent and we had hell not having the pop up blinds spotted when we set up near the trails going to the private land. Always hunted mid week and only saw one other hunter out there the whole time.

no deer there....

Don't plan on going to the part off hwy. 71 and the river any time soon. They found a camp and 10 ft. tall marijuana plants in that area. $6 million dollars worth. They say they've been there since April or May. Hog hunters found them. They are looking for 4 men.
http://ketr.org/post/6m-marijuana-production-discovered-cooper-wma

Yet another reason to go heavy when hunting on public lands....45 ACP and 7.62mm, plus some good blades, are my weapons of choice!

Mike H.

i was chosen for a hunt there last year, but didn't get to go. my wife broke her hip after i had purchased my permit. i believe it was 2-3 bow seasons ago that a young game warden was shot, and left for dead while he was bow hunting. apparently, he heard gun shots, and was checking them out, when 2 young men overpowered, and shot him. it is my understanding that both guys were from out of state, and visiting relatives around there. both ended up getting caught, and were prosecuted.

I dont think they "overpowered him",I think they were target shooting on adjacent private land right at dark,saw what they thought was a deer,shot it and it turned out to be a person...the game warden.They fled the scene and were apprehended later.

As I remember the story changed as the facts came out slowly ...the GW was charged with poaching & ?? more - see the threads here on THF about what penalties and the egregious nature of a LEO poaching yadda yadda about it - and the 2 guys who were plinking were shooting at a sign on a fence and charged with a bullet crossing a fence line & ???

A friend of the GW found him, who knew he was poaching and where to look when the GW went missing on private property....and even the friend had legal problems with the incident too ...ummm complicit, conspiracy to commit a crime yadda were all discussed but who knows all the details anymore after the Lawyers and Prosecutors got their 15 minutes of Fame.

No Winners or Good Guys anywhere in the deal...and lots of losers was the bottom line.
Ron

I remember when that happened, and after reading your post I had to go look for an update. Wow, that story sure did take a strange twist:

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/hea...es-kept-job.ece

During my hunt last year, I am fairly certain another hunter was hunting very close to me despite the area being closed and bow only. There were shots that were close, closer than the private land. It was kinda of F-uped, I notified the office, and they were pretty flippid about it. My occupation requires fire arms training, I know a rifle shot that is close by. I skipped my last day of the hunt. There are hunters in the area who know the area is closed and know their way around, if there was a time to be an outlaw its during the draw hunts.

I'm confused. The draw hunts on Cooper are gun hunts. That's the only time you can use a gun out here. I've been on 5 draw hunts here. You do hunt by area and nobody is supposed to be in your area.

The area is closed, and bow only otherwise, so the only person who should have been shooting are the draw hunters, and we were all supposed to be very far apart. Yet there were rifle shots within 200 yards of where I was set up. Its my contention that there are those who use draw hunt times as a chance to poach, as shots in the area would not be unusual during the draw hunts, but any other time, (archery only)gun shots would be an obvious WTF over.