Experience: Hunting Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

Spoiler Alert…by the definition of success as demonstrated by the average hunting show on the Outdoor Channel, my public hunt at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge was a failure.

A monster Grayson County buck was not downed by one of my arrows…in fact, a doe wasn’t even downed by my arrow.

But, for someone who has become accustom to hunting a 100 acre, low-fenced property in East Texas, it was the single most impactful and educational hunt of my short, deer hunting life.

The Draw

Hagerman NWA offers 3 archery hunts per year that are awarded through a draw. My father and I put in together and drew Segment A, running from November 6-8.

This gave us roughly three months to scout during park hours for locations we would want to hunt within the three eligible units: Big Mineral, Sandy and Harris Creek.

Having spent most of our time in the deer woods of Texas focused on funneling deer to our small property, this presented a different challenge: how do we anticipate where the deer are going to be in November and position ourselves accordingly. No bringing them in to a fixed blind over a food source, no cameras, no altering the environment…this was going to be both challenging and fun.

Scouting

If you can’t tell from the comments above, success at Hagerman is predicated on scouting…that and having multiple sets of backup plans.

The refuge allows you to scout during park hours up until the week of your hunt. Knowing that sign found in July is drastically different than the sign we would see in November, I broke my scouting plan as such:

• Summer – learn the refuge and the units and anticipate fall changes and opportunities
• Early Fall – confirm assumptions from the summer
• Late October – scout fresh sign and identify opportunities in “clumps”

In all, I probably made 5 trips to Hagerman, one with kids in tow, a couple with my dad and a couple solo. Given my inability to get the time to scout all units, I somewhat arbitrarily homed in on Big Mineral and that is where I spent my time.

By the time of the hunt, I had several spots marked but hadn’t officially decided where I’d hang my stand until the week of the hunt.

Stand Hanging Day

The Hagerman hunt is broken down into 3 hunting days and what is called “stand hanging day”. This day consists of folks checking in early and lining up at the various entry points to the refuge, champing at the bit to get to their spot of choice.

At 9am sharp, a scramble ensues with hunters walking, sprinting, biking, e-biking and even paddling to their previously scouted spots in hopes of hanging their set before another hunter gets there.

My chosen mode of travel was a bike. Dad and I arrived early at the main entrance to Big Mineral.

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I was actually surprised by the amount of people…I honestly expected more. After some introductions, dad and I took up with two other guys that we kept up with throughout the week. We had a cordial discussion of target spots and a bit of a gentleman’s agreement to try to spread out.

When 9am came, we took off on our bikes and headed for our target spots. I was the first person to arrive in the area I planned to hunt, success!….or so I thought…

In an attempt to minimize impact, I took a circuitous route to my spot which was my first mistake. By the time I worked my way through the locust trees, I had wasted quite a bit of time. Enough time that when I strolled up to my spot, another hunter that had arrived after me was about 30 yards away from where I planned to setup.

As I was chatting with the hunter trying to figure out how he planned to hunt, a small spike strolled up and was browsing right next to us. I bowed my head and said I would look elsewhere.

By this time, even my backup spots were ruled out so I began to speed scout a small area of timber close to my first spot and attempt to tuck-in. As I was scouting, I came in downwind of a nice buck that was none the wiser that I was there. I had found my spot! I waited for him to move on and set my hang-on stand in a group of three oaks with great shooting lanes and overlooking the trail the buck was traveling. Tomorrow morning couldn’t come soon enough.

Tip for your Mobile Setup:
When hanging my stand, I found that there were some limbs just out of the reach of my handheld treesaq. I lashed my saw to a branch and was able to clumsily trim a lane…since I’ve invested in a Hooyman Extendible Tree Saw for my public land setup.

Day 1

To say anticipation was high on the first day would be an understatement. By the time I settled into my Lonewolf Assault, my senses were so tuned in, I could have heard a footstep a mile away. I was on the verge of shaking from all the excitement.

The day started off strong with a small 4pt crossing right under my stand, none the wiser to my location. I pulled back on him to try to make any mistakes when the consequences were low, then I let down slowly and watched him pass.

Meanwhile, one of my new buddies sent the following video from about 150 yards away. He didn’t take the shot, and I don’t blame him given it was day 1 and the potential Hagerman holds.

As it warmed up, the action seemed to slow a bit. As the afternoon went on, there came word of one nice buck down, but relatively slow all around.

Around 3pm, I heard the familiar steps of a deer coming from behind me. I caught a glimpse of a mature doe, and given the orientation of my stand, she was downwind and higher in elevation than me. Within 20 yards, she blew and took off.

Normally, this wouldn’t have disappointed me as I was after a buck, but there is another enticement at Hagerman that plays into your shot selection. Its called “The Golden Ticket”; if you ethically arrow a mature doe, you are automatically invited back to hunt the next year without going through the draw…and I just missed what I would later realize would be my best chance at a Golden Ticket.

Day 2

Biking to my stand on Day 2, I still was filled with anticipation of a big buck encounter. The weather was unseasonably warm, but this would be the first day with moderately cool temperatures.

Unfortunately, the property owners surrounding Hagerman had other plans in store. As day broke, the communications app used by hunters to report issues to Hagerman staff lit up with reports of loud music being played along the fenceline of a neighboring property. The Hagerman staff was great and promptly took care of the situation.

Shortly after the music situation, reports came of multiple groups of dogs running deer. There were several folks who claimed to see the “biggest buck of their life” run under their stand at a full sprint with a dog trailing behind it. There was little the staff could do about the situation other than to offer to come in to remove the dogs, but the hunting collective opted against this and decided to wait it out.

As the day drug on, no action picked up. The highlight of my night was a sounder of hogs coming in at about 45 yards. I nocked an arrow and let it fly, only to have it redirected by a small vine. I wasn’t upset…I have plenty of shots at hogs in East Texas and I was after a deer.

Day 3

Lying in bed before Day 3, I decided I needed to call an audible. Many hunters were already pulling out, and I knew for certain that my father planned to adjust his position. This left a wide-open portion of property for me to push into a bit more without affecting another hunter’s day.

My plan was to get in as early as possible, pull my set and brush into a natural ground blind near the freshest sign I could find. When morning hit, I raced in early and pulled my set before anyone was even in the area.

Using a headlamp, I pushed to a spot I had previously scouted in the summer and brushed into a cedar tree right along a main trail. A new spot brings new anticipation…unfortunately, it didn’t bring new results.

By midday, nearly all folks had pulled out of the area. I, being antsy, pushed in a bit further…so far in fact, I bumped a buck out of its midday bed.

The bright spot of the day was a text from my dad that he had a buck just out of bow range, but it was enough to get his heart racing.

A bit defeated, we packed it up for the day and began walking out…ironically, we bumped 3 does bedded in the middle of the field on the way to our bikes.

Conclusion and Lessons Learned

As we packed up the truck, I wasn’t discouraged…only eager to get back out there for the next draw.

Hagerman NWA has a reputation for big bucks, but my biggest learning is you are going to have to work for it. Only a handful of bucks were taken in Segment A in 2020…only 2 of notable size…but plenty of monsters were seen…they just got the better of us.