# Offseason Hog Hunting



## Lakeside_TXN

I'm always looking for places around the state to get into some hogs, but I don't want to pay a fortune to do it. Can't take public land anymore, too expansive and restricted, only way to find them anymore is dogs or blind, stupid luck. Looking for a place that I can set up a feeder/stand for free, very little charge, or hard labor if you have property chores that need doing. If you've got a hog problem I want to work with you to control it; I do not want to put your kids through college to do it though. Let me know if you have an opportunity/lead for something like this. PM if you like, I'm available.


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## Rancher86

It's hard to find a ranch that will allow you to put up a feeder/stand just for hogs. Most ranches are leased out to year round hunters, and the landowner would be stepping on the toes of his leased hunters. Who knows though, you might get lucky! I'd advise looking at and contacting some smaller "day hunt" outfits. You might be able to work something out with the landowner where you could set your stuff up, then have the day hunters that hunt when your not out there to compensate you for the use of your equipment. Good luck in your hunt bud


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## Nalajr

Hey Lakeside,

I wish I could give you the help you are looking for, but I can't. I would like to give you an idea of what I have ran into in my search for a place to hunt hogs.

I LOVE Texas and hope to live the rest of my life here. The people are great and willing to lend a hand when you need one. They are some of the friendliest and most helpful people I have ever found....except in one area, HUNTING.

I've never seen anything like it. When I found out I was moving to Texas I was tickled to death knowing that it was full of hogs and that it apparently is pretty easy to find a spot to hunt. I read so many articles and talked to so many people that told me how people hate hogs so much down here that they will literally welcome you with open arms to come and kill them or at least try to kill them. Not only have I NOT found that to be the case, but it's NOT EVEN CLOSE to what I've found and experienced.

Before I got here I started posting on sites asking for guidance. I joined some of the same places that get recommended for people to join that are looking for hog hunting info in Texas. I asked all the requisite questions. None of that turned out well at all. I did get one guy give me his number to call him when I got here, but he was from the Traditional Archery forum that I was already on and I kinda knew of him.

When I got here I made it my mission to find a place to hunt. I talked to the guy that gave me his number many times and he told me a great deal about Hunting Hogs down here. I was still anxious and looking forward to getting at it. The guy I talked to on the phone several times has lived near Houston all his life and has hunted Sam Houston for 20+ years. He no longer hunts now. When I asked about hunting Sam Houston and other PUBLIC LANDS...he told me that I would be **** LUCKY to even SEE a hog in the daylight hours at one of the Public Lands. Most of them don't allow baiting and even if they did, chances are you wouldn't do well anyway.
I set about trying to find some other place to hunt hogs that didn't get tens of THOUSANDS of visitors, hikers, fishermen, bird watchers, nature trail people, other hunters, bike riders and all the other groups of people that love to be in the woods too. As you know when hogs sense people and pressure, they don't come out in daylight and will go to pretty much 100% nocturnal. NOT a good thing for bowhunters.

Anyway, I set about asking EVERYONE I came across that I found out was a hunter, fisherman, outdoorsman or had anything to do with the outdoors or looked like they wood. In the 2 1/2 years that I have been here and ACTIVELY ASKING people I come in contact with for help the TOTAL number of Texans I have had that helped me is ZERO!!
Nope, not a single one has ever, not even once, offered to help me find a place to hunt. I've had a couple people tell me about PAY TO HUNT places that charge $175 per day or some such nonsense, but no one has even come close to giving me any kind of helpful information. Most will just simply say "I don't know" or "get on a lease" when asked. Then when I ask about where to get info on a decent lease I'll get "I don't know" again.
You might be thinking that it's because I have only come into contact with people that don't hunt, or hate hunting. I thought that might be possible too, but unlikely. Then I started asking people I KNEW were hunters and fishermen, people I would coax into telling me their hunting and fishing stories. I also would ask those I would meet and talk to that work in BOW SHOPS, GUN STORES and other outdoor retailers, but only after I KNEW they were hunters and fishermen. The GRAND TOTAL of these people that have offered me help to date......ZERO!
The best one was when I went into a local bow shop that I had visited a few times. Since I use TRAD hear, I only look at the compound stuff and pick up a few small things I need. One evening there were about 8 guys there just sitting around talking hunting and bows and such. I asked them about anyone that has killed any BIG HOGS. One guy jumped right in and told me how the hunt he just went on the previous weekend ended up in a BIG HOG for him. He lamented that he didn't have the pics on his phone to show me. He and his buddy went on on and about how awesome a place it was to hunt and the hogs that were there and how HUGE they were. After about 20 minutes of this I finally asked him about how I could hunt there. He simply said that he was on a lease and no one else could go to it. Unfortunate for me. Then I asked "well can you give me any information about how I can join that lease, it sounds like a heck of a place." He simply told me "there are no more openings and it stays closed usually." "Oh ok," I said. Knowing that this was yet another instance of not getting any help at all, I went ahead and asked "well can you all tell me how I can find out where these good leases are and about joining one, is there an internet site or a forum or something I can check on for lease openings" The 2 guys that were so chatty 20 minutes earlier now told me "I don't know." And with that they went back to their talking about whatever they were talking about before I started asking them about hog hunting. There were probably 8 guys in there, in this BOW SHOP, and they all could hear the talk that was going on with me and the other 2 guys about hog hunting. NOT ONE OTHER MAN in that shop said a single word to me. I just left. It was not long after that experience that I just decided that this is insane. These people obviously don't like "outsiders" trying to get help or ask for help.
In the 2 1/2 years I have been here, ACTIVELY looking for help, any help, to find a place to hunt hogs, I have probably talked to and asked 130 or so men and women FACE TO FACE. I have never had a single one of them offer any help at all, not even the most basic levels of help.

Lastly, here's an example of what kind of "help" I got from these "Texas Hunting" forums and such. I joined after having several people tell me how awesome it was and how much help I'd get from there.
I joined up and introduced myself and told what I was looking for and such. At that time I was still looking at going to NATIONAL FOREST lands to hog hunt. I had one that interested me, about 2 hours north of me. It has a road that kinda runs through it. Part of the land was on one side and part on the other. I SIMPLY asked what side of the ROAD would be the best to start out in when I went there to scout and hog hunt. They wouldn't even answer a petty question like that for me. This is not a rarely visited forum, it is WELL KNOWN and popular with TEXAS hunters and bowhunters. Yet not a single member would even bother himself to post an answer to that question I asked. After 2 weeks of seeing how many members visited and read my question without a single response, I decided I had had enough. I never asked another question there and haven't been back, what's the use?

The past 2 years or so have shown me that in some areas the people of Texas just aren't willing to help at all, even in the most basic of ways. It shocked and saddened me cause in every other area the people of Texas are the best I have ever lived around. I was so disappointed and let down and wondered if everything I had formulated about the people here had been totally wrong. I had the same kind of "help' when I asked about fishing too, but have decided to try one more time before giving up on asking for any help there too.

I don't want to drag you down or bum you out about getting help. You might have a totally different experience in getting help than I did. I hope you do. I hope you get so much help that you don't know where to go next.
For me, I have decided that it's just not worth it anymore to try and find out information that people just don't want to provide. I've talked to the Dept. of Resources people too, with not much more results.
Oh, one more that I almost forgot. I asked a guy that has been a head writer for a Texas Hunting magazine for the last 15 years or so about advice for hog hunting. He sent me a link to the Dept. of Texas Parks and Wildlife and nothing more. Some help.

I have decided to just shoot my bow at my foam targets in the yard and be done with it for hunting in Texas. One good note, just to show the difference here, I saw a guy on one of the forums I hang out on from Louisiana and he was talking about hog hunting and such in his state. I asked him how hard it would be to find a place if I wanted to go there and hunt. He answered me and told me about it and within a week he invited me to come down to HIS LEASE right on the border with Texas and hunt ANY TIME I WANTED. Just stunning. Almost 3 years of asking everyone I could come into contact with here in Texas about help with Hog hunting and getting nothing and emailing 1 guy from Louisiana and getting an invite to hunt anytime I wanted on HIS PRIVATE LEASE.

Anyway, I apologize for posting this and wish you great luck and success. I just wanted to let you know what you might run into when looking for help on hunting.

Good luck to you in your hunting journey.

Nalajr


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## ReelBigFish79

My experience has pretty much been the same. I'll even throw in my wife's family. They talk but that's about all it amounts to.

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk


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## fluffycharm

**

I don't hunt but like to help...

**********************

also a fishing website but generally DFW area...

Google various combo of these words...

lake lavon dam creek railroad

basically it talking about the creek area south of lake lavon dam...there is a railroad track area...

I been told and warned if you go for the white bass here...better be able to run or carry a sidearm because there are wild hogs/pigs that will maul you...



have fun...just passing it on...


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## fluffycharm

*site*

texas

fishing

forum

dot

com


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## altez

Nalajr said:


> Hey Lakeside,
> 
> I wish I could give you the help you are looking for, but I can't. I would like to give you an idea of what I have ran into in my search for a place to hunt hogs.
> 
> ....
> 
> Nalajr


Hey Nalajr, I felt the same when I first got into hunting. A lot of "I don't know" when I asked basic questions. It's a business and you have to pay to hunt most places in Texas. Most of the hunters will pay 3 - 4k for a yearly lease and most good leases are taken or just too much money.

There are ranches that will run day hunts, some real expensive and some at a reasonable rate. Hog hunting is somewhat affordable, I've seen day hunts run about 100 - 150 and weekend packages run anywhere from 250 - 300.

I normally hunt day leases, it just works better for me since I don't hunt frequently. Send me a PM if you want me to list a few places.


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## RB II

Buy your own land or pay to use someone else's. Pretty simple really. No free lunches. Not sure why anyone would think they would get anything of value for free?????


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## Spooley

*Same experience*



HydraSports said:


> Buy your own land or pay to use someone else's. Pretty simple really. No free lunches. Not sure why anyone would think they would get anything of value for free?????


 x2


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## ReelBigFish79

HydraSports said:


> Buy your own land or pay to use someone else's. Pretty simple really. No free lunches. Not sure why anyone would think they would get anything of value for free?????


I think the comment was based on a lack of information and willingness to help as opposed to cost.

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk


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## altez

HydraSports said:


> Buy your own land or pay to use someone else's. Pretty simple really. No free lunches. Not sure why anyone would think they would get anything of value for free?????


I don't think he was asking for a free place to hunt. It's finding places to hunt or people who are willing to share any day leases information. Response is typically "uhhh.. well it's my xxx in law friends friend" or some cocky remark "well it's a lease that I paid 4k for to have individual access to and I've been on there for 10+ years".


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## RB II

Lakeside_TXN said:


> I'm always looking for places around the state to get into some hogs, but I don't want to pay a fortune to do it. Can't take public land anymore, too expansive and restricted, only way to find them anymore is dogs or blind, stupid luck. Looking for a place that I can set up a feeder/stand for free, very little charge, or hard labor if you have property chores that need doing. If you've got a hog problem I want to work with you to control it; I do not want to put your kids through college to do it though. Let me know if you have an opportunity/lead for something like this. PM if you like, I'm available.





ReelBigFish79 said:


> I think the comment was based on a lack of information and willingness to help as opposed to cost.
> 
> Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk


Did you read the post? He wants someone to take him to their place and put him on hogs "Can't take public land.......only way to find them is....luck". Heaven forbid he work at it, scout them out and then hunt them. He also wants someone to let him "set up a feeder/stand for free, very little charge".



altez said:


> I don't think he was asking for a free place to hunt. It's finding places to hunt or people who are willing to share any day leases information. Response is typically "uhhh.. well it's my xxx in law friends friend" or some cocky remark "well it's a lease that I paid 4k for to have individual access to and I've been on there for 10+ years".


See my response above. The guy signs up here this month and wants somebody to give him a place to hunt. Plain and simple, he has heard that 2cool is a cool place and good people help out good people here. He is a mooch and is looking for something free. Same thing for the guy who posted in #2. He wants somebody to give him information.

In both of these cases, you have to earn respect and make friends by giving way more than you give. Give out some info, make some good comments, hang around a while and people will get to know what kind of guy you might by and maybe somebody might have a spot where you can buy some corn, put it in their feeder and sit in one of their stands a few times.


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## Nalajr

Posts like these are no surprise. I've come to EXPECT them. Unfortunately they are all too typical here.

The sting in any rebuke is the TRUTH.

If you don't want to give anyone any information or "help" those that ask, that's your business and good for you, but don't run your mouth and assign motives to people that you don't know from Adam.

After seeing your posts, I don't think I'd take "help" from you anyway. Maybe when you get the GIANT CHIP off of your shoulder.

Let me educate you on how other places in the country work.

Where I grew up if a new hunter came into any number of places and explained that he was new and would like a place to hunt the HUGE BUCKS he has heard about and read that are all over the area, but he hasn't been able to find a place or had no luck getting any help, someone in that shop or wherever he was at would make **** sure that before he left, he'd have a place to hunt. If they couldn't get him a place on some of the hundreds of thousands of acres of state land that virtually no one knows about or uses, they'd get him on their hunting place or one their buddies hunt on. That stranger would NEVER experience the kind of "assistance" I have had the past 2 years. I can guarantee you that.

I couldn't even fathom someone walking in to the local gun/archery shop during season and telling someone, ANYONE in there how much he'd like to hunt but hadn't been able to find a place and them telling him "go buy your own land and hunt all you want...MOOCHER." That would NEVER, EVER happen. Not in a MILLION YEARS.

That's why I don't try to get any info on hog hunting in Texas anymore. It's just a waste of time. If I hog hunt it'll be in Louisiana or Georgia. Seem to be pretty easy to find hunting help there. I wonder what the difference is?

Nalajr


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## Quackerbox

Im NOT really sure WHERE this thread is GOING. I do KNOW that I didnt read that small NOVEL on the first PAGE


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## RB II

Nalajr said:


> Posts like these are no surprise. I've come to EXPECT them. Unfortunately they are all too typical here.
> 
> The sting in any rebuke is the TRUTH.
> 
> If you don't want to give anyone any information or "help" those that ask, that's your business and good for you, but don't run your mouth and assign motives to people that you don't know from Adam.
> 
> After seeing your posts, I don't think I'd take "help" from you anyway. Maybe when you get the GIANT CHIP off of your shoulder.
> 
> Let me educate you on how other places in the country work.
> 
> Where I grew up if a new hunter came into any number of places and explained that he was new and would like a place to hunt the HUGE BUCKS he has heard about and read that are all over the area, but he hasn't been able to find a place or had no luck getting any help, someone in that shop or wherever he was at would make **** sure that before he left, he'd have a place to hunt. If they couldn't get him a place on some of the hundreds of thousands of acres of state land that virtually no one knows about or uses, they'd get him on their hunting place or one their buddies hunt on. That stranger would NEVER experience the kind of "assistance" I have had the past 2 years. I can guarantee you that.
> 
> I couldn't even fathom someone walking in to the local gun/archery shop during season and telling someone, ANYONE in there how much he'd like to hunt but hadn't been able to find a place and them telling him "go buy your own land and hunt all you want...MOOCHER." That would NEVER, EVER happen. Not in a MILLION YEARS.
> 
> That's why I don't try to get any info on hog hunting in Texas anymore. It's just a waste of time. If I hog hunt it'll be in Louisiana or Georgia. Seem to be pretty easy to find hunting help there. I wonder what the difference is?
> 
> Nalajr


Your reading comprehension skills are about on par with your willingness to earn what you get.

I never said you were a mooch. I said that the OP was a mooch.

I said that you wanted free info. And my response to that was to give some info, hang out and make some good comments, etc. and once people get to know you that they might help you out. There are over 40,000 members on this site, plus probably that many lurkers. Not easy to determine the good guys from the bad guys until they have been around a while.

You have been on this board all of one month and you want to bad mouth those here because they don't tell you where to hunt?????? Get over yourself.

As far as where you come from and the info/places to hunt that they give you, my suggestion is to go back there. Not to mention that I call BS on those guys giving you locations of HUGE BUCKS!!! LOL, whatever.

I have read most of the posts that you have made on here, almost all of them are asking somebody to give you something or to gripe about not getting it. Here is a thought, get out there do the work it takes to earn a place to hunt.

EDIT: It seems like after my original post here, you did ask about crewing on a boat and paying your part. THAT is the way to get people to know you and to begin to figure out what is going on.


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## Trouthunter

Nah, not going to do it. 

TH


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## Quackerbox

Trouthunter said:


> Nah, not going to do it.
> 
> TH


Pretty much what happened to my thoughts


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## Chunky

Trouthunter said:


> Nah, not going to do it.
> 
> TH


I can't help myself.

Okay, the first point. I came from a place where there was lots of public land and it was easy to get permission to hunt. I was shocked when I moved to Texas and found out I was going to have to pay to get decent hunting.

As you know Texas has little public land, and it is over crowded and over hunted for the most part. You can find some drawings to get on decent hunts, but of course that is a lottery.

The simple truth is hunting is big business here and it costs to play. Many landowners make more on their hunting fees than they do on agriculture or livestock. There is a big demand for places with many hunters and limited spots.

People are not helpful in finding cheap or free places, because this just doesn't happen here very often. To find this, you need to make friends with someone who owns land and can take you. Someone from your church, coworker, neighbor...but even then they will probably only take you once in a while, because of the above mentioned supply and demand.

I can recommend several good places where in a weekend you will have a chance to kill a hog, but it will cost you a couple of hundred bucks to go. That is just the reality of it. I have been hunting (as much as almost anyone here I bet) for the last 30 years, and I don't have a place to hunt for free or even cheap. I have a place where I trade ranch work for hunting, which turns out to be the same as paying for it if you figure the gas up there and my time.

Point two, a lease.

If you decide to get on a lease, try and find someone you like who is on a lease and tell them to put you on the list for when an opening comes up. It is best to get on a good lease with someone you like, than to take a chance in the classifieds or on one of the web sites, in my opinion. You may have to wait a year or two, or even longer. I once waited four years to get on a S. Texas lease.

If you just don't know anyone, go to the better classifieds, like TBH (Texasbowhunter) and wait for someone to post they have an opening.
There are normally a few spots open at the last minute for bow season. An occasionally during the year as someone gets transfered, divorced, dies unexpectedly, etc...

If you do get on a lease, make sure you ask lots of questions as they all run a little differently and you want to be clear on everything before signing up. Too many things to go into here.

It is not that people are unfriendly or don't want to help. I loaned a complete stranger a bow last week, so he could get started in traditional archery until he bought his own or decided he didn't like it. It's just the help you were asking for was not something many of us can offer.

Good luck,

Mark


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## DEERHUNTER280

I don't what y'all have against public land hunting, but the Sam Houston National Forest is loaded with hogs. Ever since they banned running hog dogs a few years back the population has exploded. Their thoughts was that hog hunting with dogs had no impact on the population... boy were they wrong! I caught 30-40 every year on average for nearly 10 years in the short 2 month hog dog season. They decided to open it up year round to gun and bow hunters... well guess what? After deer season, the woods are empty! I drive thru 20 miles of forest everyday, pass 6 forest service gates and have yet to see a hunter any where after deer season. I see hogs on the highway all the time now, sides of the roads rooted up, hit 3 hogs in my truck and counted 12 bodies that an 18 wheeler plowed thru. One morning I seem a group of over 30... even turned around to get a second look.
I guess the point is... for a hunting license and a $48 permit... you can go kill some hogs.


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## Wiredhernandez

Nalajr.... In Texas if you want to hunt for free.. Chit in one hand and wish in the other .. As stated before.. Public land opportunities are scarce..leases are expensive so just getting an invite probably not gonna happen either... People are not unkind.. Just the way it is....

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## mastarter

I have only been a hunter and in TX for 2 years.I had gotten on a decent lease and joined a Xbow hunting club in W. Texas. I let the lease go I just didn't have time to go. I got a lot of I don't know when I asked questions at first too. I am from a midwest state where I begged people to teach me to hunt and they wouldn't. So Texas really is not that different. While on the lease I met some cool people who have helped me over the time since. When I joined the Xbow club ($75 weekend for unlimited hogs BTW) I have been taught a ton of hunting stuff and been invited to several of the members properties to WT hunt next season. I guess what I am saying is I had to become part of the community first then I found the help I was looking for. Don't give up. Expect to put in time and $$. The money will be based on what you are looking for and when.


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## redduck

I have hunted the National Forest in my youth and was very successful. When my son was born I decided I wanted a lease to offer privacy and safety. Took a couple of years and I have been in Texas since 1954 (was in the third grade, I think). Anyway, I found a lease through the vast lumber company properties in Texas. I now manage a lease of about 1400 acres in Tyler county. Not real expensive for hunting compared other parts of Texas but not cheap either. Plenty of hogs. But like mentioned above, there is a waiting list to get on the lease and not everyone is 'invited" to be member when there is an opening. If you are ugly or have an ugly wife forget it. Had to add that.


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## Salty Dog

Nalajr, have you put in for any of the draw hunts TP&W puts on? Mad Island WMA, Guadalupe Delta WMA and Nanny Stringfellow WMA all do hog hunts that are pretty dang good, and cheap. And that is just in my area. There are lots of other opportunities for hogs on other WMAs across the state too. You need to get a Public Hunting Lands booklet from TP&W and start studying. You can enter the drawings and get drawn but you can also just show up on standby if you want to just take a chance on it. They take lots of standby hunters on the hog hunts.

If you want on a good lease it takes two things, money and friends. There is no shortage of people looking for leases and folks are willing to spend money to hunt. Most of us don't have to take random strangers on as members. We usually have a good number of friends and coworkers who want to join. That said there are leases looking for members pretty frequently on the Texas bowhunting website. You just have to watch it daily and be ready to jump when the opportunity presents itself. They don't last long.

There is almost always some spots in East Texas that are pretty affordable on timber company land. I just did a Google search for "East Texas hunting club" and turned up a pile of clubs that would be worth checking into. Buck Daddy's Hunting Club, Camden Hunting Club, 3 Point Hunting, Circle h Hunting Club, Old Hickory hunting Club, Twin Lakes Hunting Club. And the list goes on and on. That was just with one 30 second search. I don't know anything about them but if I was really looking for a place to hunt I'd dang sure be researching them. 

If you are interested in hunting the National Forrest you need to just take yourself up there, get a map, get a GPS, lace up your hiking boots and get to scouting. People are not going to put you on them on public land. You have to earn them the old fashioned way. Get out and scout. Start with the map and get busy with Google Earth to narrow down areas you want to check out. Then go put your eyeballs on them and see what looks good.

You also ought to be researching the Army Corps of Engineers website for opportunities. I know you can hunt hogs on some of the CoE land at Lake Somerville and Granger Lake. I bet some of the other lakes under their control offer hog hunting too.

Maybe look into the bow hunts down at the Laguna Atascosa and the Aransas Wildlife Refuge too. 

Then there is the day lease option. There are tons of day leases, guided, semi-guided hunts. There is a whole section on the bowhunting website that is just day hunt reviews. Most include lodging in the price so there are some pretty good deals out there.

There you go Nalajr, now you can't say you never got help.


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## pshay4

I'm a landowner. There are hogs on my family's river bottom and prairie property. We don't want them there. Would I invite a total stranger to come shoot them? Nope. I couldn't just give you the combination to the gate and turn you loose. I would have to take the time to communicate with you several times, meet you there, show you around, etc. I don't know what your hunting skill level is. It seems like there must be thousands of hogs running around destroying the place, but if I go look for them, they are not any easier to find than on public hunting property. My neighbor is a farmer and lets some local hog hunters go on his farms to keep the populations down. Gates have been left open, run into, locks cut, trucks driving where they shouldn't, etc. I don't even listen to someone who promises to take care of my land like it was their own. I want them to take care of it like it's mine. It's hard enough to find honest, property-respecting hunters who are willing to pay for a lease and sign a contract. I sure don't want the headache of complete strangers looking for something for nothing.


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## RB II

pshay4 said:


> I'm a landowner. There are hogs on my family's river bottom and prairie property. We don't want them there. Would I invite a total stranger to come shoot them? Nope. I couldn't just give you the combination to the gate and turn you loose. I would have to take the time to communicate with you several times, meet you there, show you around, etc. I don't know what your hunting skill level is. It seems like there must be thousands of hogs running around destroying the place, but if I go look for them, they are not any easier to find than on public hunting property. My neighbor is a farmer and lets some local hog hunters go on his farms to keep the populations down. Gates have been left open, run into, locks cut, trucks driving where they shouldn't, etc. I don't even listen to someone who promises to take care of my land like it was their own. I want them to take care of it like it's mine. It's hard enough to find honest, property-respecting hunters who are willing to pay for a lease and sign a contract. I sure don't want the headache of complete strangers looking for something for nothing.


^^This^^ is exactly where I was coming from on my previous statements. Unless you own land and have had people, who swear that they are ethical hunters and will take good care of your place, trash your stuff and shoot your livestock, etc. you will never understand.


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## AR

*Hog Hunts*

We had a guy come out to our place and trap hogs. He offered his services to us and said he would pay us 15 cents a pound and remove the hogs for us. Well it went great for about 3 months, we made a few dollars and the hogs were thinning. Then December came, he removed all his traps and said he was done for the year. Next day we went to the ranch to feed cattle and he was taking his family deer hunting which is NOT part of the agreement. Lucky for us we got there before any animals were harvested. So ever since then we do not allow anyone to go the ranch. 
I grew up knowing folks with land who let me hunt their property as long as i always called or checked in with them first and cleaned up after myself. I would love to be able to give kids the opportunities I have had. However grown adults can ruin that pretty easily.

In short pay something up front, build trust worthy relationships, and keep your word. Then Texas becomes an endless hunting ground because that's how you make the best connections.


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## JBuck132

Canâ€™t help but laugh at a thread like this, so let me stir the pot a little. 

There are a few different types of hunters in Texas. Thereâ€™s the guy who pays for day hunts and owns one rifle but has many picture albums. Then you got the guy who spends his retirement on a club to hunt decent deer and wants to tell the world about everything heâ€™s shot at. Then you got the guys who works, works and works to have rights to hunt on someoneâ€™s private property. Then you got the land owners that hunt on their own land by themselves. 

Personally Iâ€™m one of the lucky ones who happen to have a chunk of land in the family. Yes, we have hog. Yes, we have deer, ducks and dove. Will anyone I donâ€™t know personally hunt on it? No, not a chance. 
Why?... people who find out what you have, tend to jump the fence when youâ€™re not around. Also what would I as a land owner do if someone accidentally shot themselves or someone else while on my land? (remember, were talking about people that have not signed a contract of any kind and are just about complete strangers.) Thatâ€™s just a few to list.

Anyways Iâ€™m sorry you havenâ€™t had much luck finding a lease. It can be tough when asking around about land to hunt on especially when you donâ€™t know who youâ€™re talking to. Usually the first person to speak up is the guy telling you to â€œGO PAY THE PRICE!â€ The only reason that gets shot out there is because they think thatâ€™s the only way AND Iâ€™m sure they were probably like you just a few years back and decided to just give up looking and spend a bunch of money to get on a place..

Anyways, I think your best bet is to stop looking for a hunting lease and start looking for hunting friends. Yes, that sounds a little off but honestly if you want to have the opportunity to get on a lease you need to have the people that hunt on the lease like you. Also hunting in Texas is a great way for land owners to make good money so even if your just shooting hogs (pest) youâ€™re going to pay for it. Itâ€™s rare that someone finds a chunk of land to hunt on for free. You can either work your tail off for it or pay for it. If you want free hogs go build a trap and advertise hog removal. 

Something to consider is the first type of hunter I was talking about. Go pay for the day hunts. If you want to kill something and have fun doing it, thatâ€™s the way to go. Think about all the money you would spent on feed and building/transporting stands and gas going to and from. You actually save a ton of money going on a few guided hunts. If I were you, I would go on find a guide that you like going with (every guide service is different) and go hunt.

Good luck and safe shooting!

P.s. â€œI donâ€™t knowâ€ LOL


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## altez

JBuck132 said:


> Canâ€™t help but laugh at a thread like this, so let me stir the pot a little.
> 
> Good luck and safe shooting!
> 
> P.s. â€œI donâ€™t knowâ€ LOL


You forgot about bow hunters! I actually have one rifle but it is because I don't care for guns as much as I use to. Sold most of them - I rather have a bow anyday.


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