Lake Houston Public Hunt

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Monday and Tuesday were more successful than this weekend. Finally we got to hunt the Lake Houston WMA for does/spikes. Monday evening, after the initial orientation on how things work, the rangers take each person to the assigned blind. My blind was on a long power line that stretched from Peach Creek all the way to the San Jacinto River (approx. a 7 mile stretch). There was thick woods on both sides of the power line, and the opening was approx. 60yds. The rangers drop you off at 2pm on Monday to start the hunt and pickup at 6ish (actually got to me at 6:25pm). It was mild out, around 65-70 degrees. There were tracks EVERYWHERE as I walked to my blind. We were allowed to feed, so I spread a bag of corn along the path in front of my blind, more on this later. So, I watch and watch from 2 until about 5:45, when a doe peaks her head out at about 150 yds down the line. She and a yearling walk out to my corn. Soon, another skittish doe walks out. The other doe and yearling bolt off into the woods. The skittish doe makes it all the way to the wood line, and I decide to take her. BOOM, she ran into the woods, but I got her at 115 yds. Just under 80#, a medium to small doe. I was happy :)

Tuesday morning brought rain, 40 degree temperatures, and excitement. We had to be at the park for 5:45am so they could take us to the stand at 6am. I get dropped off at about 6:10am and am walking down my powerline trail. I have my flashlight hitting the ground about 5-10yds ahead of me to make sure I'm on the trail. I know I am getting close to my blind when I start seeing my corn. "Not far now...", I think to myself. Then I see a hoof. I move the light up a bit, and less than 10yds in front of me is a hog. I flash behind him, and there are 14 more. They didn't pay me any mind. I took a 45 degree angle and made it to my blind. Got situated, wind blowing, rain falling, and no roof on the blind. It was pitch black. I could see the shapes of the hogs on my corn about 15-20 yds ahead as they moved back and forth, but I was just glad to have made it to my blind! I wanted to shoot, but the rain and wind kept my gun at bay for now, and it was DARK! Didn't want to make a bad shot. By the time I could see enough to shoot, the hogs had moved on, but I figured they'd be back. The didn't. About an hour later, a doe steps out at 160yds. She came out of the woods twice and ran back into the woods. On her third attempt, I got a head shot on her at 160 yds! A little bit smaller than the first doe at 70#.

I had a great 4 days of hunting, and got plenty of meat in the freezer! The season is over now, and I am now thinking about next year, and fishing this summer :)

Comments

Anonymous said…
sounds like the hunt went well, A Doe taste better than a buck anyway, of course fawns taste even better. They are trying to ban all baiting/feeding up here due to the CWD scare.
6:30 PM, January 12, 2006
FrankFlannery said…
The hunt was a lot of fun! The Lake Houston park was closed down, and sold to a private company to manage. No longer Lake Houston State Park. Guess we won't be hunting there next year!
9:16 AM, March 27, 2006
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