Texas Hunt is on?

[English]

Hi there Guys,

Well some friends of mine (here in the UK) invited me at the start of the year to go to this place with them, back then I declined as my time was pre-booked for a trip to Montana:

http://www.tacproshootingcenter.com/

in TEXAS!

Anyway one of the guys knowing about how my mums illness and subesquent death caused me to cancel my holiday to Montana in Septemeber got onto me to join them for a week in Texas in a week or so's time.

So soon I'll be off to Liverpool - flying to Chicago and then Dallas for a week or so.

Apparently one of the partners from this English is a friend of a friend as the usual story goes.

We have a couple of range days, a couple of days pig or Javelena hunting? A visit to see the Alamo and where JFK was assasinated - any more suggestions would be welcome as would be gun shop details if you know one?

Any advice on the hunting would be good too!

Never having been to Texas before I would love to make sure I have clothing appropriate to the hunt and the time of year.

any advice on hunting these creatures, kit or clothing would be appreciated?

Thanks,

English.

 

[Lan-Lord]

Hey English, I'll give you a preliminary howdy and welcome to Texas! You may have this figured out already and just didnt indicate it, but Dallas and San Antonio are about 290 miles apart (5-6 hr drive). I assume you have a means to get from Dallas to your hunting location near San Antonio ? Another popular area for tourists to visit in San Antonio is the River Walk (right next to the Alamo). If you want some awesome Texas Bar-B-Q, take a short drive northwest of SA (towards boerne) and stop by Rudy's BBQ.

As far as gun shops/ranges, I'm not too familiar with the SA area to recommend any. But post your news in the Texas Hunting forum. cjinsa, IndianGhost, and I think GoneHunting (and maybe some others) are from the San Antonio area, and they check in at the Texas Hunting forum quite often. They could probably give you some good info about SA gun shops, ranges, and other worthwhile activities while there.

Pig hunting down here is a blast. If you are hunting south or west of San Antonio, it could be rocky terrain, cactus, mesquite scrub trees, and possibly some oaks. Wear a good boot (std hunting or hiking) Temps this time of year fluctuate. Low temperatures can be quite cold (low 30's F) if a cold front moves through, or rather warm (60's F). Usually hunting in Texas is still hunting (box blind or make shift stand) So warmer clothes will be needed than if one were moving. If its really cold, I wear coveralls to keep me insulated.

Is your hunting access with a ranch/outfitter or a private land owner? Either way, they could probably give you some good info also. Also, a really good game processor is located west of San Antonio (in Castroville), and they are called Dizuick's . Although, there are many other good processing setups down there too.

Have fun and good luck, keep us updated with your hunt and details. Here are a couple pics from an exotic hunt I took west of San Antonio.

 

[RLL]

lan-lord gave you some good advice. Temps in Dec are hard to predict. You could hunt in T-shirts or freeze. You just don't know. It could be 80 one day and 30 the next. Don't be deceived into thinking that just because we have hot summers that the winters can't get cold. While the temps may not get much past freezing ... we have what we call a "wet cold". We have really high humidity, even in winter, and it gets under your clothes, makes you wet, makes you freeze. I have spent time in the north when the temps are well below zero ... and felt much warmer than in a deer blind in Texas when it gets cold. The wet cold can be tough.

Otherwise, as long as you have your hunts booked with a good game ranch, they will go off without a hitch. That is one thing we do really well here in Texas. December is deer season here, and there is lots of hunting pressure in the woods. You will probably be in a box blind and hunt over a feeder. The feeders we use are 55 gallon barrels filled with corn, suspended 7 or 8' in the air on 3 legs, with a timer on the bottom that throws corn in the morning and evening to attract the deer, hogs and turkeys. Don't be surprised to see axis, sika or fallow deer if you hunt in the SA or Austin area. Of course, you better check the prices of any deer with your guide BEFORE you shoot one. They are often times several thousand dollars.

As to terrain, if you hunt near Dallas, it will be anything from oaks to pine forest, or woods along creek bottoms and grain fields. If you hunt south or southwest of SA, (high dollar deer hunting) the terrain is flat with mesquite, huisach, and cactus. Tons of hogs there. Everything there will stick, sting or bite you though. If you hunt west of Austin, it is rolling hills, lots of rock, oak, mesquite. Quite lovely and plenty of hogs too.

 

[English]

Thank you for the prompt replies, guys, from what you have said it's colder than I had anticipated it would be?

I know that damp cold that chills to the bone we have that here too

So if it is cool and not so good, do you get a lot of rain this time of year?

We will be stateside from about the middle of November?

BTW the photos are excellent - I'm eally looking forward to seeing county like that in a part of the US I havent visited before!

 

[Lan-Lord]

If you can handle the wet cold of the UK in the winter, you will be fine here in Tx. On average, Texas isn't as cold as the UK, but it does get a blast of cold weather from up north occaisionally. We dont typically get a lot of rain this time of year. If a storm does roll through, it will usually clear out by the afternoon or next morning.
I'd say bring the basics for surviving moderate cold weather, and if it gets extreme, swing by Cabelas or a Wal-Mart and pick up something heavier if needed.

 

[Lan-Lord]

Also, you can reference the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for game laws, wildlife identification, and licensing. If you were born after Sept 2, 1971, you will need a hunter's safety certificate also.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/

 

[English]

Ian

Many thanks for the continued advice.

Now I knew you would find a Wal-mart more or less anywhere but I didnt realise that you guys had Cabellas that far west!

I must look that up, Thanks.