CalNewbie:

There is actually over 1 million acres of public land in Texas, most of it being in the western and the eastern part of the state. The problem with public land in Texas is that the WMA are normally ran like private ranches. If you want to hunt public land in Texas then you must order an application booklet from the TP&W Department and fill out the applications. The deadline for deer archery is normally in Sept and deer rifle is due around the same time. If you do get drawn, then your hunt will normally be 3-5 days long. You can only apply for 1 WMA per catagory. The best units for whitetails are probably the Chappareal unit and the James Daughtrey unit, both are in the heart of deep south Texas.

Most people in Texas either own there own ranch, or they have a deer lease. The price of deer leases can very greatly, but like all things in life, you get what you pay for. A lease on a good, large, well managed south Texas ranch will cost in the $5,000 per hunter range. Altough you can find good leases for alot cheaper then that on occasion, just look around.

San Antonio Texas is in Central Texas, not South Texas, which is even better for you. WHY? Well because deer leases in Central Texas are generally alot cheaper then deer leases in South Texas. Plus alot of central Texas has free roaming exotics, like axis deer and rams, which is an added bonus if you can find a lease that has these animals on it.

Good luck, if you need any more help or have any more questions just ask. I'm glad that your moving from CA, just make sure that you dont bring any of the CA liberals with you.