How's the HOG Hunting in Spring, TEXAS??

[Nala]

Hey all,

I'd like to get a rundown of how the hog hunting is in the SPRING, TEXAS area.

The family has decided that this is the place we are moving to.  It is about 30 miles or so NW of Houston.  I have never been there, never been to Texas.  I am really looking forward to it though and can't wait to get after those BIG, NASTY Texas HOGS.

I know Texas has about 2 million ferals in the state and the populations starts shrinking dramatically when you start heading west towards New Mexico and past Amarillo.  In the distribution maps I looked at from the state it shows basically every county colored in with the exception of about 25 of them.  Doesn't really tell ya a whole lot.

So if you Texas fellas can chime in here and tell about how the hog hunting is in Spring, I would really appreciate it.  How far outside of the burbs am I going to have to travel to be in prime hog hunting country?  Do you think it will be difficult for me to find property to hunt without getting on a lease or is it just something that I am going to have to face up to eventually?

Anything you can tell me about this area would be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to getting my longbow and 1970 Grizz into some action, if ya know what I mean.

Thanks for your time and help.

Nalajr

[TxAg]

The hogs should be thick as thieves in that area. As far as public land, you could look at Sam Houston National Forest.

[Night Wing]

Spring, Texas is basically a bedroom town community just north of Houston, Texas. It's mostly houses in subdivisions. What land there is to bowhunt on is private land.

Since most of the land in Texas is private land, you'll have to get on a season lease or hunt public land. Like someone else mentioned, the Sam Houston National Forest is the closest place of public land to bowhunt from Spring.

 http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=30  

Another good place to bowhunt public land is the Big Thicket area which isn't too far from Spring.

 http://www.nps.gov/bith/parknews/big-thicket-national-preserve-to-issue-hunting-permits-at-visitor-center.htm  

With the economy the way it is, the Big Thicket website hasn't been updated in 2 years.

As for the rest of Texas public land to bowhunt, check out the link below for all of Texas WMA's.

 http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/?wmaselect=%2Fwma%2Ffind_a_wma%2Flist%2F%3Fid%3D25&action=Search+for+Wildlife+Management+Areas&hunting=Y  

BTW, the Amistad WMA, near the Mexican border, is a great bowhunting place.

[klight]

Well I live right down the road from spring. Hogs are a real problem around hear. We have a 20 acre field behind where I work. I set up a trail cam near a retention pond back there and got tons of hogs on it. Some of them 200+ pounds. Some times Ill see 15 to 20 hogs at a time. we have lots of yotes and deer as well. I hunt the Sam Houston National forest often and the hogs are thick in there as well. They are smart but if if you do your part you can get on them.

[Nala]

Thanks everyone for the info.  It just keeps sounding better and better.

Boy I can't wait to get there.  This is going to be a totally new experience for me.

I hope friends are easy to make.  I'm an easy goin' fella and am able to make friends pretty easily.  My fingers are crossed that the neighborhood we are going to has lots of friendly people in it.  I'll need to find a place to shoot my bow though, because the yard we are going to have looks like the best shot I can get is about 10 or 12 yards....MAYBE.

    One other thing....how soon am I going to have to visit the cowboy boot and hat store?  Please tell me they have them there, like the ones you see in movies like "No Country for Old Men."  Never had a pair of cowboy boots or hat either.    

Man I am feeling like a kid with Christmas coming!!

Thank you all for the info and help.  Keep it coming.  Feel free to PM me with any other info you want to share.

Nalajr

[straitera]

You;ll like Spring! We got hogs on hogs in hogs! Live in Cleveland here but you;re a hop skip & jump away as my one legged friend says.

[Ragnarok Forge]

One suggestion would be to find farmers with hog problems.  I have found most farmers will let a bow hunter on their property while rifle hunters get a refusal.

[MajorJim]

Originally posted by Ragnarok Forge:
One suggestion would be to find farmers with hog problems.  

That would be all of them.  Talked to one rancher that had a place about halfway between Houston and San Antonio, and hogs were doing over $250,000 in damage every year - fences, irrigaiton systems and the occassional goring of cattle.  

Some of the farms and ranchers actually "sell" hog hunts, which only adds to the hog problem.  Females can drop a litter 3 times a year, with an average litter size of aroiund 8 or 9.  Coyotes get some, but mother hogs are very protective - have one butt our truck once when we got too close to her brood.

And I can recall very few times when female hogs taken did not either have a litter in tow or were pregnant.

So, while these operaitons think they are making a little money with hog hunts, they are only adding to the population explosion.  Some state (like CO) prohibit any paid hog hunting.  

When I lived down there, the hog populaiton estimates I heard were closer to 4 million.  Who knows what it is these days.

Have fun and try to make a dent in the population there!

[Nala]

Thanks everyone.

I literally cannot wait to get there, get moved in and start finding my way around.  I am hoping the yard is big enough so that I can set my target up and be able to shoot.  My fingers are crossed on that one.  I don't want to have to hop in the car and drive somewhere to just practice with my bow for 45 minutes every time I get the urge.

As for the hunting.  Oh man that is really exciting for me.  I have been wanting to hog hunt for the last 3 years and haven't had the first chance to do it.  LONG STORY.  Brighter days are ahead it sounds like and I just can't wait.
You wouldn't believe the daydreams I have had going through my head for the past 3 days or so.

I hope to be able to talk to you fellas that are close by down there when I get settled in.

Thanks again for your time and info.  Texas here I come.  I hope I can do more than just put a dent in the hog population....I'll try anyway.

Nalajr

[BDann]

There is a place called the Bow Zone in Spring.  Pretty much all compounds, but they do have a nice indoor range. Give me a shout sometime and we can meet up and shoot. I'm just down the road in Kingwood.

[El gran J]

A friend of mine has a step dad who works for Texmati Rice-they hire guys with rifles to fly "shotgun" to take out the hogs in their rice paddys!  Kinda like the door gunner in Full Metal Jacket!! "anything that runs is a pig...anything that dosen't is a well trained pig!!"

The pic above is from the Ingram Mall in San Antonio, Tx.-yes I went home to get my bow but they were gone when we got back!! You'll be hard pressed NOT to find pigs!! Much luck bro!!