hunting in Houston area (Katy, Sealy: leasing, home, costs)

[Dcav]

So since I am going to be coming down shortly in the next month or so I figured there must be a few hunters on here.

1 What is the hunting like in the area? I usually do big game and a few small game species in NY. not much of a bird Hunter (yet anyways)

2 What are the general hunting areas? I checked out the Texas hunting regs and am curious about landuse for hunting (ie public land open to any licensed hunter etc)

3 Tell me all about pig hunting as it sounds great but we have none in NY.

Thanks.

[jimmyev]

Unless you're willing to drop a few thousand on a hunting lease, forget about it. You could apply for a public-land hunt. Your chance of actually getting a slot is 1 in 60.

[jimboburnsy]

The pickings are very, very slim on public land hunts anyway. Guiding outfits tend to get first dibs on public lands that are worth hunting and even if you do get a license most of the other areas are poached year round and have a tendency to be very shot-out.

There is reasonably good deer hunting as little as 2 hours away ("meat" hunts are closer), but you can generally expect to drive for a hunt of any prestige. Lease costs will vary greatly from place to place, but as a very general benchmark you can expect to pay about $10-$15/acre for a rudimentary lease and probably a goodly bit more for a lease with facilities and well-managed deer.

Waterfowl hunting is probably the most easily accessible and leasing costs are considerably lower. The problem is that the Katy prarie, which was once home to some of the best duck and goose hunting anywhere, is more or less dead for migratory bird hunting and it isn't coming back. There are still some hunts to be had around Eagle Lake and I've limited out a time or two in recent years as nearby as Sealy, but the big ducks all seem to be flying along the coast these days and farther inland than what is generally within reach for Houstonians. There are some guiding outfits that will be happy to sell you a membership for bird hunting around Brookshire/San Felipe/Sealy, but talk to some members before you sign up because you can find sub-limit hunting close to town on your own for a lot less money.

Hog hunting tends to be pretty brutal, but if that doesn't bother you it is a lot of fun. Pigs are a major pest and can be killed by just about any means and at any time completely legally. Further, the more you kill the bigger your pat on the back. It's kind of like slaughtering nazis; everyone thinks you're a hero no matter how dirty, sneaky and immoral/unethical your methods are. Try signing up for a hog hunt with dogs sometime. Running through the brush surrounded by angry dogs attacking a hog before killing it with a knife really adds and element and you will feel very much in touch with your pre-historic ancestors afterwards. It's still fun to hunt them with a rifle or bow, however.

[DrLizardo]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Pigs are a major pest and can be killed by just about any means and at any time completely legally. Further, the more you kill the bigger your pat on the back. It's kind of like slaughtering nazis; everyone thinks you're a hero no matter how dirty, sneaky and immoral/unethical your methods are.

Hilarious description - accurate - but hilarious all the same.

[Dcav]

Pretty funny hog hunting post. And it sounds like there is quite a bit of exspense to be able to hunt on land out there. might have to do some checking around after I arrive. Thanks for the tips.

[rigas]

There is plenty of public land hunting, no drawing, you just have to compete to get a decent spot in a national/state forest like say sam Houston. Not much fun though

[DJboutit]

I think in the county but outside of Houston you might be able to do dove hunitng

[Grainraiser]

I would not step foot on a public land deer hunt. To many newbies willing to shoot at anything that moves. I have up deer hunting years ago because public hunting is to dangerous and private hunting is to expensive. I have been hog hunting and it's fun and cheap.