Looking to hunt Rio Grande Turkey in Texas next spring.

[Lennyjoe]

Have taken an Eastern and Merriams and would like to get an opportunity to take a Rio next spring. Me and my turkey hunting buddy are looking for an area that is open for non-resident hunting in Texas. If anyone has land to offer for a turkey hunt then let me know. We will pay up if need be and can camp just about anywhere.

We are both ethical hunters, clean up after ourselfs and are professional military men. If you know of an area or can offer up a hunt then please let me know.

Also, if I can return a favor hunt wise here in Arizona then let me know and we'll see what we can do for you. Be advised though, most rifle tags are by drawing as is turkey with shotties. Over the counter tags are for deer and mountain lion.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Wow, I thought there would at least be some public land somewhere to hunt turkeys. Guess Texas isn't that big after all.

 

[slow944]

Rio Grand Turkeys

Get one of the newspapers from Dallas or Houston thay always have a lot of hunting ads. Hope this helps.

 

[22-rimfire]

Most of the turkey hunting is south of San Antonio on private land. You have to find a lease or pay a ranch a fee to hunt.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

There really aren't a lot of hunters on THR. You might have better luck on this forum: http://www.texashuntingforum.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

 

[OK-gobbler]

Western OK has good public land

If you are interested in Rio's, Western OK has some good public hunting. Especially Black Kettle, located just North of I-40 near Cheyenne. There are other WMA's around that area that are also good. I believe Out of state tags are available over the counter. You can check out the dates and regs at <www.wildlifedepartment.com>. Good Luck!

 

[Lennyjoe]

Even better. I'll give Ok. a look.

 

[redneck2]

Guess Texas isn't that big after all.

Our corporate headquarters is in Dallas. The guys tell me that nearly all the hunting land in Texas is leased. Seems hard to believe but true. They gave me a chance to buy in at 1/7th on a big ranch but it was $7,500 a year. A little rich for me.

 

[Oldnamvet]

$7500 a year OUch! You have a lot of company in not affording that. Here I thought $800 for a 5 day hunt on private land was getting steep in Michigan. Living on a pension makes you cheap I guess.

 

[Lennyjoe]

That is a bit rediculous as far as I'm concerned. I did hear that Texas is getting a bit out of control on leases for hunting. Guess the days of old are going astray. I know when I was back in SC (1985-1990) we would just knock on the farmers door and introduce ourselves. Explain what we were after, asked if he needed any help around the farm and if his family ate the game we were after. Offered up some of our quarry and helped out around the farm. That seemed to work back then.

Now adays though you might get run off with a shotgun.

 

[Art Eatman]

A few months back I was halfway-seriously looking for a whitetail lease deal. Got offered 3,000 acres at $4/acre. Trouble was, it didn't really look like more than four or five guys could really hunt that particular area, and the owner's notions of "trophy" bucks just wasn't all that great.

A buddy of mine has 4,800 acres over on the Pecos River. He told me that he makes about $40K a year from deer hunters. Roughly, $5K a week for eight weeks...

But, all that sort of deal is why I got into my present setup some 34 years ago. Not all that many deer, but dove, quail, javelina, coyotes and cougars.

Art

 

[redneck2]

This was a huge ranch. You had the right to hunt anything that was legal, and it's not real far from Dallas which shot the price up.

That is a bit rediculous as far as I'm concerned. I did hear that Texas is getting a bit out of control on leases for hunting. Guess the days of old are going astray. I know when I was back in SC (1985-1990) we would just knock on the farmers door and introduce ourselves.

I thought it was more than a little ridiculous, but I'm not in that league as far as money goes. You have plenty of guys in Dallas that would blow $7,500 on a poker game on a week-end, so it's just chump change to them.

I'm the chump that gets changed out.

I think the bigger problem is (at least in this area) that farms are getting cut up into little parcels. What used to be a 640 acre farm (you could hunt) is now a series of 20 acres mini-farms. Loss of wildlife habitat and landowner liability all add to the problem.

 

[Art Eatman]

Check out http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us

All the info about fees, seasons, bag limits, etc. is there.

There are areas where TPWD has made arrangements for public access hunting. Info on that should be on the website.

Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/lands/
Just took a look at it.

Thanks for the heads up.

I'm in search of a Rio Turkey so if they are running around OK and are more accessible without major fees than OK would be the better route. Don't know if they are in NM but am in the process of checking on that now.

 

[Art Eatman]

Dunno if they were Rio Grandes, but one time on the way from Folsom to Raton I saw some turkeys. Looked like pretty good habitat country.

Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

Most likely Merriams.

 

[keystone hog hunter]

how hard would it be to swap turkey hunting south of san antonio for elk hunt in new mexico????how much extra would it take??? have turkeys and hogs dont have a nice elk on the wall...and yes the hunting prices are unreasonable...but I still have a waiting list...

 

[Art Eatman]

keystone, a Google search would probably bring up some south Texas ranches, and you could email and ask.

Somebody at the offices of Texas Wildlife Associates might know; they have a website.

Art