Lake Ophelia NWR
 

Any of you guys ever bow hunt this place? Thinking of making a trip in a couple weeks... Any pointers or helpful tips would be appreciated... PM me if you don't want to share publicly :-)


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Check out the bayou bucks forum...

Gets a lot of pressure now. Better hunting is in the thickets/grass fields.

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I haven't but I think a few guys from work have .. I'll see if I can get some info

How about camping areas? I saw there is no camping allowed on the refuge... Just need a place to pitch the tent... I could bring the camper but dont really need it


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There are 2 campgrounds on the way into the reserve. I usually stay at Red River Campground. It is about a 20 minute drive into the reserve. They have 5 spots, I think, with sewer. All the others just have water and power.

This was 3 years ago, so it may have changed.

We go to Mac's Everytime and will always go there. Good people there

Talked to the guy at Mack's and we can pitch a tent for $10/night... he told me he has a shower house with electricity for my dad's CPAP machine... He was very nice.

Glad they have a shower house so I can take my scent free shower before each hunt :)

Game warden is *****. Best make sure u don't have any flaggin on you or anything that can screw into a tree. Study up on da rules out der it's not like our wma's

This is VERY TRUE. Never had a run in with him but heard plenty of stories.

Yep, the shower house was very nice when we were up there. Very good people, right on the side of an oxbow and close to Ophelia
As somebody said, study the rules.

I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the rules... I've hunted Tensas before and the rules are fairly similar. Hopefully I don't get into any trouble.

No doubt , I have hunted many state and Federal lands , I think by far it is the most pressured area I have ever been . Weekdays do not mean anything here .
Hunt the edges on a trail , or a hot feed tree.

DO NOT leave anything of value in your truck that is not chained and locked .

And when you meet Dexter , let us know how that goes .. :)

Scouting trip went well on Saturday... there were ALOT of people out there but we managed to find a little spot with some fresh sign away from other people... Looks promising for this weekend if no one else has that area picked out.

Lots of white oaks but not much Mast Crop to be seen from what I could tell... Not sure if they just didn't drop much this year or dropped really early but I didn't see any good sign around those trees.

Either way I am pretty excited about staying up there this weekend... should be a fun time with my dad in the woods. :cheers:

Lots of people during the rut! That was the last public land i have hunted and it was 2 years or so ago. Trailered a canoe on the four wheeler for 2 miles down the four wheeler trail, then paddled across a lake, dropped my cousin off, walked 500 yards and got in my stand. 10 minutes later someone sets up 75 yards from me and at 8:00 a big buck busted him and ran past me at 15 yards on the trail i was hunting. Im pretty sure there was a good chance i would have gotten that buck had it not been for that other guy! It would have been my best buck with a bow.

Keep everything locked up and park your truck on your four wheeler ramp!

I wont be hunting public land much.