Texas Elk

[blue_ridge]

I live in east Texas and recently learned you can hunt elk with a general hunting license and there is no season, so they're open to hunt year round.

Would like to hear from people who know the best places to hunt.

Also are there any good public land spots for DIY hunts?

 

[marioq]

Tagging in. I'm in south Texas. Nilgai are crazy down here and great to eat. I would love to be able to get elk local instead of driving to NM or MT

 

[Rick Richard]

Only elk in Texas that I know of are the ones on preserves or high fenced areas. I believe you pay only for the cost of shooting such animal.

 

[Sneaky Apasum]

There are free ranging elk in far west Texas. Good ones, too. There are no public hunts, that I'm aware of. You'll have to go through an outfitter. Last I checked, the going rate was 5 or 6 grand. The hunts are supposed to be well worth it, but they are done on a very limited basis. There's usually a year or two wait. You'll have to book in advance. Mulie Mike is an outfitter who comes highly recommended. Check with him.

https://www.westtexashunt.com

 

[Bbear]

Friend of mine hunted out in the Chocolate mountains on a guided elk hunt a couple of years ago. Got one heck of a bull. He told me he paid around $9500-$10K for the hunt. I don't know if that was just for an elk or if it included anything else.
I'd figure it was about like any other guided hunt, a very wide range of prices depending upon what you want.

 

[blue_ridge]

Well, so much for the hopes of an in-state DIY or budget elk hunt. Dang it. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Treynol1]

There are a few elk out in the deserts of Far West Texas. I have seen a few, and I know ranchers that report even more. I think they probably got loose from the high fence establishments, and some have drifted down from New Mexico. (Those elk don't care about State lines.)

Unfortunately, there is very little, if any, public land. I have been cultivating a rancher to let me hunt his ranch. His daughter just took a good size bull on a Thanksgiving hunt.

 

[the444shooter]

The only way I was able to get an elk while I lived in TX was to put in as a non-resident for a tag in my home state of MT, fly up here, and shoot one.

The lack of public lands really hurts your chances in TX of getting anything other than what you're lease holds or what you're paying the high fence operator to chase.

 

[BH107]

I have a former customer that hunts elk in West Texas. Back in the 80s he and his buddies got tired of driving to Chama, so they all chipped in and bought some property in the mountains. There just isn't any public land and the private is usually leased out to outfitters.

 

[Jonoton]

I have seen big elk on a private ranch in the Marathon area. They are free range and I saw dozens without going looking for them. Lacking a regulated season on them as in other states, any found on public land would not last long, so I figure it is just as well.

I don't know if they sell hunts or not.

 

[.30US]

When talking "far West Texas," are we talking the Big Bend area (I saw the Marathon post), or is there a chance they may be even farther west? My family has 12,500 acres in Hudspeth County. Not much on it, but I'm interested to find out what's in the mountains north of our property.

 

[Bbear]

Alpine-Marfa-Ft. Davis is one area that has some. There are suppose to be some north of I-10 between and north of Sierra Blanca and Van Horn.

 

[Treynol1]

When talking "far West Texas," are we talking the Big Bend area (I saw the Marathon post), or is there a chance they may be even farther west? My family has 12,500 acres in Hudspeth County. Not much on it, but I'm interested to find out what's in the mountains north of our property.

Northern Hudspeth County borders some prime New Mexico Elk country. I would bet there are Elk there.

 

[.30US]

Northern Hudspeth County borders some prime New Mexico Elk country. I would bet there are Elk there.

Unfortunately, my Great Grandfather was an oil wildcatter, and bought about as far south in Hudspeth Co. as you can get. Lots of potential for oil, but not much else. But, at 23 cents per acre, it wasn't too bad of a purchase.