Gus Engeling WMA

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Phone: (903) 928-2251
Address:
16149 North US Hwy 287
Tennessee Colony, TX 75861

Contact: Kyle Brunson

Dates Open:

Open except for drawn hunts in Fall and Winter. Please call ahead when planning to visit during hunting season.

Dates Closed:

September 29, 2025 through March 9, 2026

Daily On-site Registration is required of all visitors. General public access to the area is during daylight hours through designated legal entry points only and by Annual Public Hunting or Limited Public Use Permits.

Description

Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located in northwest Anderson County, 21 miles northwest of Palestine. This 11,095 acre area was purchased in 1950 to 1960 under the Pittman-Robertson Act using Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program funds. The WMA's primary purpose is to function as a wildlife research and demonstration area for the Post Oak Savannah Ecoregion. The area is comprised of 2,000 acres of hardwood bottomland floodplain and almost 500 acres of natural watercourses, 350 acres of wetlands, marshes and swamps, and nearly 300 acres of sphagnum moss bogs.

The Gus Engeling WMA is an island of Post Oak Savannah surrounded by coastal bermuda grass pastures, harvested timberlands and fragmented wildlife habitat. The WMA's rolling sandy hills are dominated by post oak uplands, bottomland hardwood forests, natural springs, pitcher plant bogs, sloughs, marshes and relict pine communities that contain a rich variety of wildlife. Sound wildlife management tools like prescribed burning, grazing, brush control and hunting are used to demonstrate the results of proven practices to resource managers, landowners and other interested groups or individuals.

History

Historically, the upland sites of the Post Oak Savannah were open and dominated by waist-high grasses and large scattered trees. In addition, early observers reported large oak "motts" or islands of hardwood forests scattered throughout the grassland prairie. Massive, mature oaks dominated the deep, rich, moist soils of bottomlands. Both uplands and bottomlands supported an abundance of wildlife in early reports.

The Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission purchased most of the land comprising the Gus Engeling WMA between 1950 and 1960. Federal-Aid in Wildlife Restoration Funds purchased the area to act as a wildlife research and demonstration site for the Post Oak Savannah Ecoregion where trained personnel could study wildlife and wildlife management practices. The area was originally named the Derden Wildlife Management Area after Milze L. Derden, from whom much of this land was purchased. The area was renamed in 1952 after Gus A. Engeling, the first biologist assigned to the area, was shot and killed by a poacher on December 13, 1951.

The WMA has not been impacted by man's presence as much as most of the Post Oak Savannah. Although livestock grazed the area for many years, it was not extensively cleared. Mature bottomland forests still dominate Catfish Creek. Native tallgrasses such as little bluestem and indiangrass can still be found in the area's pastures and open woodlands.

Goals

The initial goal and intended purpose of the Gus Engeling WMA was to serve as a wildlife research and demonstration area where trained biologists could study and evaluate wildlife and habitat management practices. Around 1990, the majority of staff duties shifted from research to public use activities and development. Today, management of the WMA seeks to balance the need for continued research and demonstration of wildlife management practices and providing a variety of public use activities.

In 1989, the Wildlife Division adopted the following goals for the Wildlife Management Area system listed in priority order:

• To develop and manage wildlife habitats and populations of indigenous wildlife species.
• To provide a site where research of wildlife populations and habitat can be conducted under controlled conditions.
• To provide areas to demonstrate habitat development and wildlife management practices to landowners and other interested groups.
• To provide natural environments for use by educational groups, naturalists and other professional biological investigators.
• To protect populations of endangered or threatened migratory wildlife, plant species, related habitats, unique natural sites and relict vegetation communities.
• To provide public hunting and appreciative use of wildlife in a manner compatible with the resource.

Natural Resources

The Gus Engeling WMA is representative of the Post Oak Savannah Ecoregion, which encompasses approximately 13,300 square miles of Texas reaching from Red River County in the northeast to Guadalupe County in the south. Upland soils are generally light-colored, deep, rapidly permeable sands and sandy loams. Bottomland soils are mostly mixed alluvial, clays and clay loams, gray-brown in color and moderately permeable. Topography is gently rolling to hilly with a well-defined drainage system that empties into Catfish Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a "Natural National Landmark." The drainage system encompasses approximately 2,000 acres of bottomland. Average annual rainfall is approximately 40 inches. Generally, rainfall is distributed throughout the year with less occurring during July and August.

The WMA is home to over 1,000 plant species. Vegetation present in the uplands includes a dense overstory of oak, hickory, elm and gum with a shade tolerant understory of flowering dogwood, American beautyberry, greenbriar, farkleberry, yaupon, possumhaw, dewberry and hawthorn. Common grasses include little bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, slender Indiangrass, purpletop, beaked panicum and spike uniola. Some dominant forbs include tickclover, wildbean, goldenrod and doveweed. Oak trees, mostly water and willow oak, are the dominant tree species in the bottomlands. Common wetland plants include yellow lotus, common duckweed, sedges, rushes, pondweed, giant cutgrass and plumegrass. Depending on rainfall and weather conditions, spring displays of flowering dogwood and wildflowers can be spectacular.

Between 1860 and 1920, year-round hunting with no bag limits greatly reduced the deer and turkey numbers. From 1948 to 1950, 280 white-tailed deer, 128 Rio Grande turkey and 13 beavers were released on the area. The deer population steadily increased resulting in the opening of a deer season in 1955. This population remains healthy and provides a major source of recreation. Beavers are now abundant creating many acres of wetlands on the WMA and surrounding lands. Wild turkey populations have fluctuated and have been the focus of ongoing restoration efforts that has included several releases of both Rio Grande and eastern wild turkeys throughout the years. Restoration efforts continue for both wild turkeys and northern bob white quail.

The WMA has a rich variety of wildlife. Currently, 37 mammals, 156 birds, 54 reptiles and amphibians, and 57 fish species have been documented. There's no guarantee, but the observant visitor may see white-tailed deer, eastern wild turkey, gray squirrel, fox squirrel, raccoon, beaver, wood duck or pileated woodpecker just to name a few.

Cultural Resources

Archeological resources and historic resources are defined in the Antiquities Code of Texas (Title 9, Chapter 191 of the Texas Natural Resources Code of 1977). This code defines TPWD staff's role in the location and protection of all archeological sites on lands owned by the State of Texas. Any violation of the terms of the Antiquities Code is a criminal act, punishable by a fine and/or jail term.

Research and Demonstration Activities

One of the principle goals of the Gus Engeling WMA is to provide a site where university-based research of wildlife populations and habitats may be conducted under controlled conditions. Through this research, biologists hope to gain a better understanding of the interrelationships between native wildlife species, domestic livestock, management practices and habitat resources. This will enable biologists to make recommendations for a sound, multiple-use management program tailored to the Post Oak Savannah region of Texas. As of 2025, over 50 approved research projects have been conducted on the WMA including:

• White-tailed deer aging techniques
• Factors affecting white-tailed deer fawn survival
• Comparisons of feeding habits between white-tailed deer and cattle
• Site-specific competition between feral hogs and white-tailed deer
• Effects of selective clearing on wildlife habitat
• Controlled burning to improve woodland habitat for wildlife
• Diet and genetics in inland populations of American alligators
• Reintroduction of wild turkeys
• Translocation and reintroduction of wild bobwhite quail

Current projects are investigations into the impacts of different habitat management techniques on the flora and fauna of our upland Savannah Restoration Site and the WMA's bog communities.

In addition to formal research projects conducted by universities, Gus Engeling WMA provides a site for TPWD biologists to demonstrate and fine-tune management practices for east Texas. Landowners, property managers, university groups and other interested individuals can see the results of management practices such as prescribed burning, brush treatments, native grass restoration and other management practices.

The WMA's Small Acreage Demonstration Area shows East Texas landowners how important management practices can be applied at a smaller scale. This 30-acre demonstration area is managed using equipment available to most landowners such as a small tractor, mower, disk, ATVs and ATV sprayers, hand tools and manual labor. All management practices are from the Comprehensive Wildlife Management Planning Guidelines for the Post Oak Savannah PDF available from TPWD and conducted in a way that qualifies for the 1-d-1 Wildlife Management Tax Valuation Program.

Recreational Opportunities

Anglers and hunters interested in small game must have an Annual Public Hunting Permit (APH) and valid hunting license to access the WMA's hunting and fishing areas on designated days during the appropriate season. Waterfowl, small game and furbearer/predator hunters are randomly selected during the E-Postcard hunts drawings process to ensure a quality hunting opportunity available with the APH permit. Deer hunters, both archery and gun, do not need an APH and are randomly selected during the Special Permit hunt drawings to avoid over harvesting of deer on the WMA. Antler restrictions on white-tailed deer have produced mature white-tailed deer available to harvest, including bucks that qualify for the Texas Big Game Awards.

Visitors may access the Gus Engeling WMA with the Limited Public Use Permit (LPU) to enjoy nature viewing, bird watching, photography, hiking, camping and the general beauty of nature on the WMA. The WMA also serves as an outdoor laboratory for local colleges, universities and schools. A self-guided driving tour guides visitors through nine stops on the WMA showing the wildlife habitat and management techniques applied on the WMA. Watch your step as all four varieties of venomous snakes live on the WMA.

Visitors seventeen years of age and older must have either an APH or LPU Permit to utilize use the WMA. These permits are available at all license sale locations in Texas or by calling 1 (800) TXLIC4U (895-4248). Permits are not for sale at the WMA. Refer to Wildlife Management Areas of Texas for more information about opportunities on the Gus Engeling WMA.