Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game South Texas hunt

I'm heading down to Pearsall, Tx for a combo hunt in a couple weeks. Pigs, doe and other varmints. Never hunted Texas and wondered what the terrain is like, how traveling on foot across country is( I like to walk around). Just some general info on what to expect. I'm hunting for 5 days on a 5k acre ranch with my father and 3 friends, hunting will be good whether we do a bunch of shooting or just end up shooting the $&$!.

God bless,

MM

Terrain is flat and the brush is thick unless you are hunting cleared farming areas. A 'stroll' may entail a noisy push through some pretty nasty thorny stuff that will scratch you up and make you bleed. Easiest play is to use the wind to your advantage and walk the ranch roads if you aren't into stand hunting. If it's warm, watch out for rattlesnakes as they are huge and omnipresent in that part of the world. Hogs, deer, javalena, and turkey are commonly seen.

Thanks PB , that was pretty much what I was figuring with the sharp stuff but was hoping to hear otherwise. My contact at the ranch told me that the snakes were hibernating now, but I imagine if it warms up a bit that may change.

MM

There is a reason for blinds and vehicles with elevated blinds.

You'll most likely be less successful if you opt to walk. My advice is to hunt from a blind.

I agree with all that's been said. Ranch manager wants you to be successful, follow his advise. Snake boots are always a good idea, chaps if quail hunting is included. Enjoy your stay you will have a different idea of brush country hunting when you leave. Hasbeen

Forget walking.Too much thorny brush.It's a good idea to bring you a pair of leather gloves in case you do have to go into the brush looking for an animal.The brush is a wildlife buffet as well as cover,corn is usually fed to bring the animals out of the brush.Get in a blind and wait.There is no telling what you might see.You should see a lot of quail,deer,hogs,coyotes,maybe a bobcat or even a mountain lion.I'd sight your rifle for 200yds.Oh,I like a couple of 154qt ice chest full of ice.

Must be an MLD ranch since season is over today at sun down. powdr

General season runs to the middle of January. Then doe and spike till about the end of January. Quail till end of February. Hasbeen

I'm only hunting for a doe as far as deer got but that is not what I am gunning for because we have plenty of those up north. Thanks for the heads up on the hunting tactics, but I was wondering if anyone uses calls for coyotes or other varmints. I have a good app on my phone and a good wireless speaker that I wanted to give a try.

MM

Not unusual to see bob cats and coyotes. I keep a Burnaum bros. long range call with me. Hasbeen

Most big ranches have strips of cleared land called senderos. Others have full pastures that are cleared. The rest is generally a combination of scrub brush and mesquite trees. Everything has thorns!

If you don't want to be stuck in a blind, I like the ol' drive around until you see something method. Hogs are a lot of fun to hunt spot and stalk.

As for calling coyotes, absolutely. I use an electronic call personally and it works fine. Same principles apply here in S Texas as anywhere else...wind, camo, sun, etc.

How prevalent are the Javelinas? I'm sure it depends on the area but I wouldn't mind at least seeing some. Wondered the same about bobcats.

Mm

Should be plenty of both in that part of Texas. I believe the bag limit on javelina is 2.

Great advice, Baldhunter. You' ve obviously hunted down here

FWIW you can hunt on foot in S Texas, but you have to pick the right areas. I"ve done it lots and seen/shot the biggest deer on foot by far.

We hunt the javelina with a bow, and even though its grain the roads, the stalks are awlays inside the brush so it can be done.

But not a thing wrong with using blinds. For overall success, usually more boring, see lots more stuff when you sit still, and more productive.

Javelinas have fleas. I'm just warning you. More fleas than you can ever imagine.

RE snakes, it can get to 95 plus this time of the year, they can be out in that weather.....

Re sight ins.. 200 is smart, I prefer to dial with a rangefinder and always have down there.

Break em down on the spot for most folks. Most don't like trailing period. And down there it can be even more work though IMHO its easier to find blood with all the brush to rub on... and I have more fun following the trails in the thick stuff... but its why lots of folks shoot mags and light for caliber ballistic tips to try to shock them into falling and could care less about the meat damage.

Thanks everyone for the input. I should have waited a week to start this thread, reading it just gets me more and more excited. Rost, fleas creep me out but I'll still whack a javelina if the opportunity presents itself. I usually vie for the mountains but this Texas hunt came up from a friend that just moved back there to manage his dad's ranch so I'm not quite dumb enough to let the opportunity pass.

MM

if there are a lot of hogs you won't see javilenas.

True on hogs, most places used to not have that many hogs, but thats a very true statement.

I recall when we were lucky enough to bowhunt the Callahan when you could afford it javelinas were all over. Then pigs showed up... and slowly we saw more pigs, less javelina.

I clean javelina if i have to, with very little on... and on a feed bag, well away from anything I dont wnat infested... often I do it out in the field with them.... at least I can see/feel the fleas on me....

I"ve picked off over 100 at times after a cleaning when we used to rip into them with no regard.... you pick imaginary ones for weeks after that...

If you simply must kill a filthy, smelly javelina, shoot the small ones. The big ones smell like chit and taste even worse.

Ya, but the big-uns' make for great wall ornaments.





JAPPFT,


GWB

I can smell it from here.

I've hunted the Callaghan in south tx twice. We killed javelina and hogs both times. I made breakfast sausage out of the javelina and it was tasty. We bow hunted, so spot and stalk was a big part of the game. Hogs by moonlight with the bow by sneaking down the senderos was a hoot. We found lots of arrowheads, great way to spend mid day. We never saw a snake. The terrain is thick, and everything has thorns. I picked them out of me for the better part of a year.

I've done a lot of brush work on the Callaghan. Wildlife mgrs are friends of mine. Knew Mr. Finley and been to dinner several times wife his wife and daughters. JD boys built me a runway once when I needed a landing strip for a duster coming in from Uvalde. Great place.

If you go for Javelina bring a spray bottle of alcohol for the fleas. If you get it saturated and let it hang most will die or jump off. Or better yet get someone else to skin it.

Bring your shotgun as this is a banner Quail year and that's a good area, especially if they have some open pastures.

And the little ones ain't far behind.

GW nice bavarian carbine. I've got one in a swede. It's itching to get back to Refugio to whack some deer and hogs.


If you take your predator call make sure to bring a decoy or two. Oh, and bring a 22 pistol, last time I was in that area the way it's were thick. Have fun.

Just a quick update, Texas was awesome and was much better than I expected. Saw lots of game everyday, almost got everything the outfitter offered but I missed my opportunity on the bobcat. Also hunting pigs at night by moonlight is a thing of beauty, man those things move fast when the lights go on. Will definitely be going back. Pictures to follow.

MM

Glad to hear you had a good hunt, MM! You need to post some details and especially pics.

What outfit did you hunt with?

Glad you had a good hunt with plenty of memories made! Looking forward for the photos!!!!

Hunted with south Texas brush county hunts. I've known the owner for a while and he did not disappoint . The cooking was as good as the hunting too.

This site takes forever to type on for some reason so I am not going to give a play by play but I personally got 5 pigs(4 night hunting) one javelina, 2 doe( but lost one in the brush) a coyote and missed the bobcat which was probably good since I was shooting a 308. We had clear skies and lots of moon so the night hunting was my favorite part, I was using my AR and it took awhile but I learned how to lead them when they started running. I was usually the follow up shooter after we snuck up on them. I could not believe how close you could get if the wind was right. But when they start running those pigs were much faster than I ever expected. I also couldn't believe the damage they do to oat fields, like a bunch of kids digging holes I the yard. And lastly javelina do stink, and the old boar I shot was the worst of the bunch, yet to try them on the dinner table.

Here are 3 of the 5 pigs, didn't get pics of the other two. My buddy shot one of the 4 that night.

Here is my first and only coyote I have ever shot. Took a couple of misses, he was moving quick but he gave me ample opportunities while running up the sendero.

Do they have a website? Couldn't find them.....


Thanks!

No they don't , it's a side job for him. But he is looking to turn it into something bigger. I could give you some contact info if you want pm me if you're interested.

10-4 Thanks!

Congrats on all the success and thanks for the pics.

I'm getting antsy for my javelina hunt in AZ in a couple of weeks.

Don't let some of these folks fool you, the little desert pigs are quite tasty if cared for correctly.

Geno