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Archery Season Ends at LANWF
- Updated: December 6, 2019
A LANWR game warden gives instructions to archery hunters during a mandatory orientation held Thursday, Nov. 21 at the refuge. Photo: Tony Vindell/LFN
by Tony Vindell/LFN
For the nearly 800 people who applied for the four archery hunts at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Los Fresnos, the 2019 season ended last week with mixed results.
People hunted five days during each of the four hunts scheduled, bagging some 30 white-tailed deer, about a half 15 nilgae antelopes and several feral hogs.
Not a record breaker, but hunters such as Polo Garza of Mission and Daniel Onsurez of El Paso as well as others, the thrill of having a game animal so close, or too far for that matter, can’t be replaced for anything else when it comes to pursuing deer or nilgae for freezer or for the wall.
On Nov.27, or the day last of the archery season, a hunter bagged a nilgae that weight 460 pounds, while another one took an 11-point buck, making it the biggest one of the four hunts.
The two hunters said the last hunt five-day hunt was hard, and they attributed that to warm weather, and strong winds on the day and to the greenery at the 80,000-plus acreage unit in one area side of the reserve.
“I just saw a 16 point buck but could not draw,” Garza said. “This is the biggest deer I have seen in the many I have been hunting at the refuge.”
However, he said he saw fewer deer this time, compared to all those years he has hunted.
The archery season was moved up to November rather than during the month of December and some hunters said that might have been a factor for the low success rate or fewer animals seen.
Next is the three-day five hunts rifle season, which will take in December through January.