Texas’ public hunting program is a model of success and efficiency in providing exceptional opportunities for the masses.
It also is one that’s aimed at giving access to a number of cheap hunts that can be done across multiple areas of the state, specifically for waterfowl.
It’s no secret that the Lone Star State doesn’t offer the amount of public hunting area that other western states do, but even though roughly 95 percent of our lands are privately owned, there remain hundreds of thousands of acres open to hunters via our system of Wildlife Management Areas.
There currently are almost two dozen public hunting units on state-operated WMAs that are open to waterfowlers during duck and goose seasons each fall and winter.
Justin Dreibelbis, Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, noted that the overall public hunting program in the state is designed to extend hunting to a wide audience.
That effort definitely includes prime duck hunting habitat.
“We’ve expanded opportunities in many locations, which is what hunters have told us through our surveys is something they would like to see. We’ve also used hunting-specific funds to expand hunting in Texas,” he said.
Some public hunting areas are open to hunting each day of the season while others are open only two or three days a week for morning hunts. On some, walk-in hunting is the rule, while others are accessible only by boat. All offer good waterfowl hunting to those outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen willing to invest time and effort to focus on their learning curve of these areas.
For $48 – the cost of TPWD’s Annual Public Hunting Permit – hunters are allowed access all season to these duck hunting hot spots.
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Here’s a look at 10 of the best WMAs to visit during waterfowl season in Texas.
Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area
Hurst WMA, located west of Freeport in Brazoria County, also is named for a game warden who was killed in the line of duty in 2007 after a high-speed chase. The WMA is actually located within a league of land deeded to Stephen F. Austin by the Mexican government in 1830, according to TPWD records. The tract previously was known as Peach Point Plantation.
Owen Best, Hurst Area Manager, said the WMA is a known commodity for waterfowl hunters, who actually helped TPWD purchase the property through spending hunting dollars that have aided in habitat conservation.
“Hurst WMA was purchased primarily to provide public hunting opportunities for waterfowl,” he said. “It was bought using waterfowl stamp funds and migratory game bird stamp funds. Pittman-Robertson funding has been important to the initiatives we’ve currently got in place.”
Best noted that Hurst, like other coastal WMAs and public hunting areas, is open to duck hunting for multiple months and that hunters often arrive just to hunt for the day.
“Duck hunters can show up in the morning – they usually have to get in line – and then they’ll check in and we’ll issue them a number for a specific hunting area,” Best said. “Then they’re free to hunt and then when they’re done, they come back in with their ducks and check out. The duck hunts are done through the Annual Public Hunting permit ($48), but there also is a day permit for $20 that hunters can purchase.”
Best advised that hunters call beforehand to ensure that they are able to hunt on a particular day, noting that early teal season dates have typically run Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during the early season, while regular waterfowl hunting days were similar.
Mad Island Wildlife Management Area
Located in Matagorda County, near the hamlet of Matagorda, Mad Island is roughly 7,000 acres of coastal marsh and freshwater impoundments that harbor exceptional numbers of wildlife.
The WMA was purchased with waterfowl stamp funds in 1987 to preserve coastal wetland habitat for wintering waterfowl. Mad Island offers a variety of hunting options through the draw system as well as the walk-in route. The day hunting options include the early teal and regular waterfowl frameworks as part of the South Zone, with sandhill cranes, geese, rails and snipe also being available to bird hunters.
Mad Island, like other WMAs, uses a lottery drawing that occurs at 4:30 a.m. each day of a hunt to determine position in line. Check in begins at the hunter check-station following tag issuance. Tags are randomly drawn to determine order of check in and hunters sign in with tag number, name and hunt location.
Each hunt location is marked with a reflective sign to aid hunters in locating their hunt site. Hunters must hunt within 30 yards of said marker and no permanent blinds may be built. Walking distances range from a couple of hundred yards up to a half-mile so plan ahead to tote your gear. Limited hunting locations may be accessed by small boats or canoes, which must be hand launched and hand or electrically propelled.
J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area
Located near the southwestern city limits of Port Arthur in Jefferson County, Murphree represents a unique ecosystem. The 25,000-acre WMA is composed mostly of brackish marsh and is one of the best habitats for migrating birds of all species. In 1963, the WMA was named in honor of John David Murphree, a game warden who was murdered by a duck poacher in Jasper County.
The WMA is the No. 1 public hunting hot spot for alligators – it’s in the core counties for the pursuit in Texas – but it also has excellent waterfowl hunting.
Early teal season and the regular duck season bring in day hunters by the truckload so expect company. Use of dogs during the early teal season is discouraged because of increased alligator activity during warm weather.
The area supports a large number of gadwall, blue-wing and green-wing teal in the winter. A significant portion of the Central Flyway canvasback population will spend several weeks in winter on the management area putting on weight for the migration north to their breeding grounds.
It also should be noted that food, lodging and supplies are not readily available, so plan ahead accordingly and make sure you bring the essentials.
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Matagorda Island Wildlife Management Area
Matagorda Island is among the largest WMAs in Texas, though much of the more than 50,000 acres consists of offshore barrier island and bayside marshes. The area is actually jointly owned by the Texas General Land Office and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and is cooperatively managed by the agencies. TPWD has the responsibility of managing the area for public use and Fish & Wildlife has the responsibility for managing the wildlife and habitat on the island.
The area is a hot spot for waterfowl hunting in the winter, with numerous species including redheads and pintails showing up in good numbers. Roughly 20,000 acres of upland habitat are available for hunting, according to TPWD. However, the hunter check station on the island is approximately 11 water miles from the mainland and takes about 45 minutes to reach, officials noted.
The waterfowl hunting, like other coastal WMAs, is done through the Annual Public Hunting permit and regular day permits. Waterfowl may be hunted in the Bayside Marsh Unit of Matagorda Island WMA without a regular permit, but hunters are cautioned that whooping cranes – protected as an endangered species – frequent the vicinity. It’s advised to ensure you’re up to date on your bird identification since killing a whooper can bring a hefty fine.
Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area
Guadalupe Delta, near Austwell and Tivoli in Calhoun, Refugio and Victoria counties, consists of multiple units (Mission Bay Unit, 4,500 acres; Hynes Bay Unit, 1,000 acres; Guadalupe River Unit, 1,140 acres; and San Antonio Unit, 800 acres). The WMA is a mix of freshwater and saltwater, making it an ideal wintering spot for waterfowl. Due to the discharge of fresh water from the Guadalupe River, the area bay salinity is extremely low compared to the salinity levels of other Texas bays.
Like the other coastal WMAs, Guadalupe Delta offers a variety of bird hunting opportunities. In addition to the early teal, south zone duck and eastern zone goose seasons, hunters may take rails, gallinule and snipe during open seasons for other species.
Scouting for waterfowl hunting may be conducted the day before the start of the teal season and each split of the duck season. It also should be noted that like some other WMAs, legal shooting hours for waterfowl end at noon, at which time all hunters must exit the property.
The use of airboats within the WMA is prohibited and hunting parties are limited to five individuals.
James Daughtrey Wildlife Management Area
This 26,000-acre WMA is divided into multiple compartments, with roughly 20,000 acres of public waterfowl hunting provided by Choke Canyon Reservoir.
The WMA, which also offers excellent deer hunting and bass fishing, is open each day of the early teal and south zone duck frameworks and all waterfowl species having an open season may be hunted. Sandhill cranes also frequent the area and may be taken during the zone C season at the South Texas locale.
It should be noted that when the land areas are closed, waterfowl hunters may access the lake through public boat ramps but must remain within the first 50 feet of the bank from the existing waters’ edge. Waterfowl hunting overall also is restricted to the surface of Choke Canyon and within the first 50 feet of the bank on both the north and south shores of the lake. Also, no hunting is allowed within 200 yards of the Calliham and South Shore State Park units or dam complex.
In addition to waterfowl, rails, gallinule, snipe, moorhen and woodcock can be taken during dates for waterfowl as long as those frameworks coincide with duck hunting.
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Tawakoni Wildlife Management Area
With a waterfowl hunting area encompassing more than 36,000 acres, Tawakoni is a duck hunting haven, with more open dates than other WMAs. The lake east of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex offers shooting hours similar to other WMAs – a half hour before sunrise to noon – but hunting is all every day of the north zone duck and eastern zone goose frameworks.
In addition, all-day hunting is allowed for the early teal season.
Snipe and woodcock also may be taken during the open seasons for those species during waterfowl hunt dates.
Of note, in the waterfowl only area, hunting is restricted to the surface of the lake and within 100 feet of the existing water’s edge. Waterfowl are the only legal species that may be hunted, with hunting prohibited within 300 yards of an inhabitable structure and within 100 yards of park boundaries, the dam, spillway and Sabine River Authority office area.
Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area
Like Tawakoni, Caddo Lake offers great hunting opportunities for ducks and geese due to having sustained water levels all fall and winter.
The 8,000-acre WMA in Marion County near the Louisiana border also features similar public hunting frameworks, with hunting allowed each day of the early teal, north zone duck and eastern zone goose seasons, including the special conservation order with liberal bag limits and means and methods.
It should be noted that permanent duck blinds are prohibited on the WMA.
The area also offers hunting during the youth-only frameworks at the beginning and end of the regular waterfowl seasons.
Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area
Engeling, at about 10,000 acres, sits just north of the unincorporated community of Tennessee Colony and is among the most diverse land holdings overseen by TPWD. The WMA in northwest Anderson County was purchased during the 1950s under the Pittman-Robertson Act using Wildlife Restoration Program funds.
Gus Engeling features impressive habitat for a number of species, including numerous creeks running through the WMA.
The WMA offers a number of good small-game hunting opportunities, though waterfowl hunters are urged to make note of specific dates that they can hunt. The WMA is open for waterfowl, snipe, gallinule and woodcock hunting on Dec. 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25 and 29 during the north zone duck season, with access beginning at 5 a.m. and shooting hours ending at noon.
Bannister Wildlife Management Area
This 25,000-acre public hunting haven is a good spot for waterfowl thanks to the proximity of nearby Sam Rayburn Reservoir, in addition to the numerous creeks and creek bottoms that intersect the massive tract.
The WMA in San Augustine County is part of the Angelina National Forest. It is operated under an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and is located on a peninsula extending into the reservoir. It is separated from the lake by private land or national forest service land.
Bannister is another WMA that features hunting each day of the regular fall and winter waterfowl frameworks, with hunting allowed until noon daily.
The WMA is a draw for a number of species, especially teal, mallards and wigeon, with hunting typically remaining steady throughout the winter due to the nearby supply of water.
Information: tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public
Don’t forget to clean, drain and dry boats after waterfowl hunts
Texas Parks and Wildlife continues to urge waterfowl hunters to clean, drain and dry boats and equipment before traveling from lake to lake to help avoid spreading invasive species including giant salvinia and zebra mussels.
All equipment that comes into contact with water is capable of harboring invasive species – including waders, boats, trailers and decoys – and can quickly spread them to new places and destroy aquatic habitats, TPWD biologists say.
It also should be noted that in Texas it is unlawful to possess or transport prohibited aquatic invasive species, dead or alive, anywhere in the state. TPWD regulations also require boaters to drain all water from their boat and onboard receptacles before leaving or approaching a public body of fresh water in order to prevent the transfer of invasive species. This regulation applies to all types and sizes of boats whether powered or not: personal watercraft, sailboats, kayaks/canoes or any other vessel used on public waters.
TPWD encourages hunters to help be the eyes open in their hunting areas. To report giant salvinia, call 409-384- 9965. If you find zebra mussels on your boat or gear, call TPWD at 512-389-4848 before moving it to another waterbody. The agency also has an online form that can be filled out documenting any invasive water species that you may come in contact with.
