where to do a deer hunt? (updated with review of trip)

Go spend the weekend or a day and night at Knobbhill Hunting Lodge in Ville Platte.
There’s a variety of animals to choose from and some good food in the area.
There’s also a really nice lake with monster bass for after the hunt.

Escondido Ranch near Junction Texas is a high fence ranch with white tail and exotics. For about $800 you can kill an exotic doe a d see all sorts of game. They have a beautiful place. If you want to spend more $ you can kill a white tail or exotic buck. I always opt for exotics bc the license is on $50 for out of state.

Merryville Outfitters

11942 Highway 190 West
Merryville, LA 70653

LINK /

Whitetail Hunt Pricing
SCORE
PRICE RANGE
130’s
$2,500
140’s
$3,500
150’s
$4,500
160’s
$5,500
170’s
$6,500
180’s
$7,500
190’s
$8,500
200’s
$9,500
210’s
$10,500
220’s+
Upon Request

Go to the Texas Hunting Forums website. There is a form for guides. Post what you are looking for and people will respond. Check references for anything that looks promising

Coming back with reviews of our experience at Pushmataha.

First, i haven't been to any other paid deer hunting places like this, so i don't have much experience in comparison.

the owner is an older man who is an attorney in Alabama. he has collected land over time and has about 20k acres now.

The land they have is gorgeous. have a mix between big food plots, swampy area, hardwoods, big soybean fields. countless hunting options.
negative about the land is the owner has TWO cameras out, so no clue where deer are. one of the guides has 10 cameras of his own, but those will be gone after February when he moves on from guide service.
also they do not use feeders. just go throw out corn occasionally.
no high fence, which i like. felt more natural and less "fish in a barrel". the stands and land were well maintained. kudos to the two guides who keep it up!

the facilities were average. again i don't have much to compare it too.
- but the room was very very basic. like 2 beds, possibly some sheets. the bathroom had what looked like a 20 year old bathmat. not very clean. it was pretty poor, but its just a bed to sleep.
- the food was awful, but he apparently is having trouble keeping cooks. so i will give this a pass, if he finds a more reliable cook obviously.
- the porch area and sitting area inside were all comfortable.

nothing is very clear upon arrival. we pulled up around noon. the other guests were trying to help us get settled because we had no clue what to do. thanks to the guy from Eunice if you posts here, he randomly walked up to give us some guidance and was the only other there from Louisiana. most of the people there were regulars, so its like they weren't expecting someone to show who has never been. the old man eventually got us and checked in. then we were told around 12:45 that we were leaving at 1:30 for the afternoon hunt. so sort of a shitshow on arrival, but made it happen.

they have your typical hunting limitations. 4 pt here, 8 pt there, etc. but don't say much else. Pop accidentally took a 4 pt where it was a 6 pt limit and the old man who owns it got all up i arms (he legit thought it was a 6pt or even bigger. it was a 4 year old deer, pretty heavy, needed to be culled anyway. threatened a $750 fine, etc. but we didn't even know there were fines. i'm aware they exists in general, but nothing was said prior.

most of this i could live with. but 2 big issues they'll have going forward.
1. it seems the owner isn't interested in putting any money into it. which is probably why he can't keep a chef and have ratty bath mats, etc.
2. once they lose the young guide then they will only have one guide left. the other guy is pleasant, but supposedly finding another reliable option in the area can be difficult. also the young guy will be taking his cameras. so it becomes a guessing game of where to hunt.

all in all for the money i would go back, but would see which guides are there first. but i'm not looking for anything special. if you are trophy hunting, then you might seek other options.
if you have a big group for fun, its definitely an option.

as far as our results. Dad went out on 3 hunts, i went on 4. dad saw one deer on each hunt and killed a doe and a 4pt. i only saw deer on the last hunt, 5 does, but none of them with a shot as i was in a wooded tree stand and they were moving. but i feel good about dad's success since i sighted his gun prior to the trip!

lastly, if someone dropped some money into it then it could be very very awesome. so much potential. just needs a little TLC by someone a little more interested in hosting and hunting.

May I ask the price per individual? I don't guess I've ever heard of a paid for hunt that you didn't see a LOT more deer. At least a few deer ever outing with bucks mixed in.

Just curious.

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Sounds like a place that does the min and caters to those only looking for same

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I would say that’s accurate. FTR I would go back, but would rather people know what they’re walking into.

I do have concerns of its future since the current owner isn’t interested in improvements.
But their land is gorgeous.

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jimjackandjose

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I have an old man that's never killed a deer before.

If you want to open that invitations to more people, let me know.

Post your email. I need a couple does shot

Sent