We have lots of public lands and there is the Texas tideland thing, too. If the land floods at mean tide, it's public. I just hunt the TP&W public area near me, though. I have hunted an area up at the head of Lavaca Bay the locals call "the Bonal" a lot, but it's so much easier not having to use the boat. We have two areas near my home where you just drive up, sign in, drive to your hunting area, and walk to the pot hole. And, the hunting is excellent.
Any upland hunting requires private property/lease and dogs which I've never had. I do hunt doves on my little place and I have some quail down there that I've never hunted due to lack of dogs. A guided quail hunt is around $150 a morning. I've never done one. I had a lease for a few years for birds not far from here, little over 700 acres of farm land. It had quail, lots of dove, and geese on it. I've since dropped it. I was in a hunting club for a while and hunted a lot of geese in that and chased scaled quail out in west Texas a few times. Don't take a dog to shoot scaled quail. In fact, they'll run a dog to death. LOL!
Costs me $48 a year for a public hunting permit. I've done some of the best duck hunting in the country down here and it only cost me the ammo and maybe boat gas. If anyone is in the coastal bend area of Texas during hunting season and has a hankerin' to shoot ducks, just PM me and maybe we can set somethin' up.
Some day, I'd like to try pheasant hunting. There ain't a huntable pheasant withint 300 miles of here, though. There were a few let loose around and I saw one cross the road in front of me 22 years ago on the highway, but I think the fire ants killed 'em off. They've played havoc with the quail, too, any ground nesting bird.
Got a dove hunt planned with a friend who has a farm north of Waco. We went to college together, was my best man when I was married. We've been pursuing a living all these years, but we're going to get together like the old days this fall. I'm quite lookin' forward to that.
