# Bowhunting South Texas Tips



## TexasGrandSlam (Apr 13, 2013)

We got a lease down in the SW side of Webb County and have been rifle hunting it for quite some time. The reason I'll be getting into bow hunting is because of some of the members really like to shoot.... Unfortunately, over the past few years, most of the mature bucks, (5+ years) have either become nocturnal or have learned to be weary.
I am about to make a move on a new (to me) bow and need some recommendations on where to make my spots. 
I understand that your scent has a big influence and that you need to be downwind and scent-free as possible.... Most likely, I'll cut some old tripods down to about 6 feet and back them up into some brush. Ill be bow hunting mostly during the bow season, so my best bet to start would be setting some spots up in between a water source and a bedding area.

Any tips or recommendations will help me out! :texasflag


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## Ancuegar (Jul 5, 2012)

find a spot on the ranch no one hunts. set up a feeder and see what happens. or what i did to find some big elusive deer is kinda the same but use hand thrown corn. i would spread a 5 gal bucket of corn out and every other day or so refreshen the bait pile. some folks say your scent gets on the corn but at the same you are getting the deer used to your smell. why beat a deers nose when you can get his nose accustomed to you. put a game cam on it and keep tabs. i dont know if you have the time to put in like that but it always worked on them big webb county bucks. with hunters we won both oct typical and pope and young typical at muy grande this year.


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## TexasGrandSlam (Apr 13, 2013)

That's great advice, I'll be sure to use it. I didn't think of hand thrown corn getting the deer accustomed to your scent. I'll be out there a good bit this summer doing prep work so I'll be sure to keep that in the back of my mind. Thanks


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

Not to discourage but bow season in Webb county is very tough. Hot with knats and not much buck movement. I would be setting up for mid to late December on into January. Wait till those five + year olds get stupid then find you a scrape line away from traffic or a trail back away from your feeder. Its hard not to hunt your feeder but you are better off a lot of time.


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## 10ERBETTER (Feb 24, 2008)

Mid December is going to be your best bet for an old bruiser.


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## Brushpoppin (Jul 24, 2012)

Scouting is key when it comes to bowhunting, setup as many locales as you do cameras and go from there.


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## Ancuegar (Jul 5, 2012)

i preferred hunting big deer before the rut. they are easier to pattern. once the rut kicked in they tended to move a long way from their home range. however you might get lucky and catch a buck coming for corn. if you want to hunt the rut, find an area with lots of does and start concentrating them now. during the rut you wanna find the does cause thats what the bucks are looking for.


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## Aggie87 (Jun 2, 2010)

use plenty of cameras and do your homework. The deer gotta move some time and usually stay pretty true to their ways. Id recommend that u use a taller tripod..> 10ft
might try pop ups also..tripods can be tough to bow hunt out at times especially if its only a 10 footer..set your cameras up and hand corn until u find something u like and post up on him


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## Jeep79 (Jul 6, 2009)

With your prevailing winds in mind set up some ground blinds. Set up at least one downwind from your prevailing south southeast wind and another downwind foerwhen your northers blow in. Set up back in the brush so you can brush in and be in the shade. light coming into a ground blind can get you busted. Get you a couple quiet high backed chairs and you can endure very long periods with the high backed chairs. Office Depot sells some for a low as $50 to $75. They are comfortable and quite. Just open enough windows to shoot in the direction you expect game. I have been using the Scentblocker Pants, jackets, gloves and cap with face cover for 3 years now and am sold on the product. Spray yourself down with a good scent eliminator. Don't let them catch you moving and you will be able to draw on them. I usually set up to where my expected shot is about 25 yards. 
No Pope and Young yet but what a rush when you connect. Following a blood trail to your trophy (buck or doe) is the ultimate for me.


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## valery865 (Jun 10, 2014)

*Corn*

I hunted South Texas with a bow, so is East Texas. Get them within 10-20 yards without the deer knowing that you are there. Bucks will stay away from feeders. What I did is put corn in gallon zip-lock bag and put it in backpack. Never touch the corn. Get where you setup and make piles from the bag, this way your scent will not transfer. Did the same when hunting with a gun.


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## J$hip (Jun 15, 2014)

The key to hunting in south & west Texas with a bow is getting high to scout and low to hunt PERIOD! Aug. and early Sept. Get up on a windmill or silo and glass down fence lines. Deer love to cross fences where they are deteriorated or lower. Set up cameras where they cross and throw corn just to get them to stop. You will also see the pinch points in the brush when you are in the air. These are the Buck Highways once the guns go off during rifle season. Set up ground blinds on the fences in the early season and in the pinch points during the rut... and brush them in good. If you hunt crop fields set up 40 yards off of the down wind side... the Big Buck will use these areas to scent check all the does in the field at one time! And to clear up on last myth.... DEER KNOW THAT WE PUT CORN IN THE FEEDERS!!! There for they expect to smell our scent on the corn. I stir my corn with my arms every fill and yet I manage to still have monsters frequent my feeders just hours after I leave.... UNTIL THE GUNS START POPPING! Then they only eat at night!!!


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

I still say a huge factor in bowhunting deer is not to leave a scent trail as you go to your stand by wearing the wrong footwear or touching brush. No matter how well you do everything else, if a deer crosses your trail before it gets close enough for a shot, all is lost.


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## txdukklr (Jun 30, 2013)

wind wind wind scent scent scent

I was hunting a 50's deer a few years ago and I came in the opposite direction that he normally came. Well I'm sitting in the blind when i see the deer coming from where I'd parked the stealth. no joke that sucker hit a bush right where i started walking through thick grass and stopped . . . . moonwalked backwards and didn't come back to that area for a week. I learned a lot watching that deer and the way it responded.

people pay a lot of attention to wind at their hunting block, when after a bruiser I pay very close attention to wind entering my hunting area. you are so close and often you have to go through his bedding area to bow hunt.

Find a spot that is traveled but off the normal beaten path, scout from long distance and then start hand corning an area that is outside the normal spots that are hunted. pay attention to entry into the hunting area and you'll surprise that big boy.

set up cameras now and corn off feeder spots . . . .you'll be shocked the deer you see that were never seen before.

Straight line I could have gone from camp to the hunting blind in a 1/4 mile after this deer. Instead I circled the entire ranch and went at least 3 miles to come up wind after this deer. bright full moon overhead and he was at the feeder just before shooting time. Zero chance I kill him if I'd rolled through the normal path.


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## Ancuegar (Jul 5, 2012)

great story. we had an old buck we started hunting. found him on a corned spot in sept. set up the blind and corned him every day and he was regular. the hunter showed and we hunted the deer. he never showed. hunter left and the deer was regular again. i put a cam on video mode and got video of the deer coming out right next to the popup. the hunter returned the following week and we had a north wind so i set a blind up that morning for north wind. hand corned and dropped the hunter off. arrow away in 5 mins. the hunter said the deer walked out 5 feet from the other blind. 30 mins after the shot we had our hands on another jacket buck.


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## SpecTakleLure (Jul 8, 2011)

Hand corn has its advantages at all times of the year. The very best stand that I have ever hunted was hand corned the minute I got to the lease. The deer are not very leery at hand corn, bucks or does. Early season the bachelor group of bucks will run off the does, mid December the bucks are looking for those same does. I would never shoot a doe, hog, or a javelina off of my hand corned stand, it's a sanctuary until the big boy shows up.

The main thing you want to do after a great spot is located is, make a great stand. Do not be sky-lined, conceal your stand with net, even on top and then brush it in (ground or tripod). Make your shooting hole where you can lean back and draw your bow totally concealed then ease forward for the perfect shot at your shooting lane. The shooting hole should be about the size of a basketball, bigger will cost you! 

When hunting South Texas I always place my stand where I can enter from the west side, with the stand being on the west side of the hand corn. The reason being, there is almost never a west wind in that part of the country.

Be proficient with your bow, you owe it to the animals targeted. Compound bows are easy to shoot and many folks think they don't need to practice because they can go out and hit a snuff can lid at 40 yards. Practice with your leafy wear outfit on with mask (hunting clothes) to make sure you are clear of any shot costing material. The last place you want to find out that you're not ready is at the moment of truth with big boy at 16 yards. Practice shooting sitting down, practice using good form, if your body alignment is the same every shot your shot will not be a surprise.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!!

Ben


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## twang56 (Nov 21, 2010)

Great advise in this thread. Bow hunting is a close quarters game and scent and sound can be your friend or enemy. A little wind is good because it is predictable where a calm amplifies even the sound of your arrow sliding through the whisker biscuit. You may not have noticed the light coating on your arrow from your practice target that caused it to make the sound. Even a stomach growl can alert a deer on a calm day. You washed body, clothes, boots and stored them in a scent free bag and did not put them on until you were ready to walk into your stand. Did you remember to spray your bow, quiver and binos? What about your breath? My point is "it's the little things" that add to your success. As stated earlier in the thread, practice shooting from a seated position. Raise your feet off the floor and then draw. If you can not draw smoothly then turn your weight down. If you can not draw now when you are not cold or excited just imagine all the time and work you have invested into getting the shot only to muff it because you could not draw or draw without excess movement or noise. Shooting from a seated position will also tip you to if your draw setting is a little to long. Do you always hit your sleeve or Arm? Usually 1/2 fixes it.


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## TexasGrandSlam (Apr 13, 2013)

Thanks for all the great information! I set up some bow "stands" last weekend. They are pretty much brush piles between mesquite trees about 20 yards from the feeders. I've been getting my practice in every day and can't wait to get out there. The rain has been great all over south texas and I can't believe how green it still is. Next year's going to be a great year for all the animals. Good luck out there to all of y'all!


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