Texas Hunting Leases

Texas is blessed with 262,000 square miles of land that boasts some of the world’s greatest hunting opportunities.  Hunters from all over the country and the world converge on Texas every year for all sorts of winged and four-legged game to hunt.  But, with 367 miles of coastline that boarders 600,000 square miles of ocean known as the Gulf of Mexico, there are other big game targets to look for as well – and they have fins!  These aquatic trophies may not have the horns, but they can lead to “big bucks” – the green kind.

The big game fishing season in Texas starts around April and runs through November.  During this time, boats of all sizes venture offshore in search of various fish species in the near-coastal and deep waters of the gulf.  Snapper, Cobia (Ling) and Kingfish are near-shore fish that can be targeted by most “mosquito fleet” boats depending on the weather conditions.  Further offshore (and in most cases hundreds of miles offshore) bigger sport fishing yachts target the pelagic and open-ocean species that inhabit the deepest waters of the gulf.  These include Tuna, Wahoo, Dolphin (Dorado) and the highly coveted Billfish.

BIG BOYS AND THEIR TOYS

To go after the pelagics, you need to have a serious commitment to do so.  First, you need a sea-worthy craft that can handle surprise weather conditions and can take on enough fuel for the long run to the fishing grounds.  That means leaving the Jon boat at home.  Next, you need to upgrade those $6.00 Zebco 202 reels to something a little more substantial like a Penn International PEN30VSX at about $550.00.  Finally, just put a little aside for baits, rigging and general maintenance for all the above and you have a nice little nest-egg in a guaranteed depreciating asset.  But, then again, a round of golf really never grew in value – did it?

If you are up for it, you can even try your luck at one of the many offshore fishing tournaments as they work their way down the coast.  After several tournaments on the East Coast and the Bahamas, the Gulf Coast tournament scene begins in Alabama in late May and continues down to southern Texas in August.  Tournament rules, regulations and prize money vary from venue to venue but prize money can be as high $500,000 or more for a winning billfish.  The 2008 Big Game tournament dates are as follows (subject to change):

Mobile BGFC Tournament, Orange Beach AL          May 25th – 28th

Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic, Venice LA          May 29th – June 2nd

Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, Biloxi MS         June 6th – 10th

New Orleans Invitational Billfish Tournament, Venic LA          June 14th

Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic, Destin FL          June 19th – 24th

Houston Big Game Fishing Club, Houston TX          June 26 – 28

Pensacola International Billfish Tournament        June 29th – July 1st

POCO Bueno, Port O’Connor TX          July 16 – 20th

The Rockport Offshore Challenge, Rockport TX          July 23 – 27th

The Texas Invitational, South Padre Island TX          July 30 – August 3rd

Orange Beach Billfish Classic, Orange Beach AL        August 1st – 5th

Texas Legends, Port Aransas TX          August 7 – 10th

Outcast Blue Marlin Classic, Pensacola FL          August 15th – 19th

Texas Woman’s Angler Tournament, Port Aransas TX          August 22 – 24th

If you got the money and the time, not to mention the equipment, then there is a billfish tournament waiting for you.  A rifle or a bow are not the only way to go for “big bucks” around here.  And these you hunt out of season!

Going to the gun range?  How about some different targets to shoot at?  A web search for “free rifle and pistol targets” will probably yield various results but here is a website with quite a few.  Once you have picked some out, you might want to email them to your local copy store and have them make you a few copies and sizes.  Once you know what you like, you can have them copy them in bulk.  Of course, you can always print them on standard 8.5 x 11  paper on your own printer and go have them enlarged if need be.  For pistol work, they may be just fine as they are.

My favorite is this guy.  He just looks good with a few holes in the forehead.

Range time to hunters is like range time to golfers, but neither hunter of golfer seem to spend enough time at them to improve their skills.  Maybe some creative targets might make it more fun?  Good shooting!

Recently, I read a great story by David Sikes about a young man on leave from Iraq who had two important things he needed to get done.  One was hunting a pig.  The other you can read for yourself.  The story gave us the idea that there is a real need to help our service men and women find good hunting opportunities while home on leave or, sadly, coming home with a Purple Heart.  I would imagine that it is hard for many of our Heroes to search for and plan a hunt while protecting our country from harm.  With this in mind, LeaseHunter.com has started a “Take a Soldier Hunting” campaign on the website.

We are looking for landowners, outfitters or lease hunters who can take an active or disabled veteran hunting.  If you can help us with that, please go onto the website and post your opportunity as a “Soldier or Vet Wanted” lease with description and terms.  Here is an example of a recent post.  You establish the terms that fit your opportunity and we will make sure to get it up on the website and to put a link to it from the home page. 

LeaseHunter.com is proud to support our troops and we thank our members who have given their time and resources for this cause.  God Bless America and God Bless our Troops!