I'm moving to the Decatur area next month. I'll be about 20 minutes from this National park. After reading about it, it looks like public hunting is allowed there.

Can anyone point me to information or experiences dove hunting there? My only experience hunting has been on my family's private land in central Texas. But having the opportunity to go after work on random days seems very enticing.

You can hunt there. That much is for sure. Never dove hunted there but I've duck hunted a few times. One word...crowds. Be ready to fight the crowds. Pretty sure you need your APH. But at $48 give it a try. Quite a bit of land there IIRC.

After work/during the week might not be so bad. Can't speak to weekday hunting at LBJ.

I've hunted there plenty... I would say that bow season is vastly better. The biggest problem is that it is hunted so heavily that your odds are slim with the restrictions. I am not sure if they still do Doe Days, but it was terrible. Maybe someone else will have the latest rules. I got sick of going out and being 100 yards from the next guy.

As far as dove goes... no idea. Most people stick to all the dove leases on 380 (paid day hunts.)

You can get all the info at the Grasslands office on 287. It is right about where 287 crosses 380. The folks in the office are very helpful and have lots of paperwork you can read over. This is federal land so the rules are different than a state WMA. State game rules still apply by county though.

Since I don't have a lease and haven't been successful drawing at Grapevine the last 2 years, this is the primary place I hunt (archery deer). I've never dove hunted there, but I imagine you might try to locate a unit near crops via Satellite images. Of course these might be the crowded units mentioned above. You do not need an APH permit, only your Texas hunting license.

Thanks!
Where can I find info on the legal places to hunt?

Call them directly always works for me. The maps can be found online but there is always someone who will talk you through the map if you ask.

Dale Earnhardts Stache said:

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You can hunt there. That much is for sure. Never dove hunted there but I've duck hunted a few times. One word...crowds. Be ready to fight the crowds. Pretty sure you need your APH. But at $48 give it a try. Quite a bit of land there IIRC.

After work/during the week might not be so bad. Can't speak to weekday hunting at LBJ.

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How did y'all end up, duck hunting wise?

I used to go out there quite a bit for some dog training with NAVHDA, but haven't in a couple of years. Several of the members out there did pretty well I think.

The Grasslands has a field office on 287 on the north end of Decatur - they can sell you a nice map and help answer questions there.

I've tried dove a bit up there but have never seen many.

We used to camp up there alot when i was a kid. Never bird hunted, but got my first deer there when i was 14. It was a decent little 8 pointer with 20 gauge buckshot from about 30 yards. I was sitting on a five gallon bucket under a tree in some bushes when he came out from between the trees and turned himself just right.

I wouldn't ever try that again and expect to get so lucky, but it's a great memory.

I know a group of guys that duck hunt the big pond on the central part of the grasslands. It never seemed like they did all that great vs going to one of the other WMA's near by.

You can get a lot of info on LBJ and the WMA's over at texas bow hunter.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17

Lt. Joe Bookman said:

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Dale Earnhardts Stache said:

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You can hunt there. That much is for sure. Never dove hunted there but I've duck hunted a few times. One word...crowds. Be ready to fight the crowds. Pretty sure you need your APH. But at $48 give it a try. Quite a bit of land there IIRC.

After work/during the week might not be so bad. Can't speak to weekday hunting at LBJ.

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How did y'all end up, duck hunting wise?

I used to go out there quite a bit for some dog training with NAVHDA, but haven't in a couple of years. Several of the members out there did pretty well I think.

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Never did that great at LBJ. Killed a few birds but nothing to write home about.

Grew up hunting and shooting out there, hadn't really thought much about it in 20ish years. Always did my best on the smaller isolated pastures. Granted, with the Google Earth, scouting the entire area would take me about 2 hours.

Thanks for the responses! I'll probably give it a try or two in the middle of the season since it'll be practically in my back yard.

Anyone have any luck on this place?