Char-gar my ancestors may have been in the same wagon train as yours. They came to the Liberty Hill area just before the War of Northern Aggression and stayed, owned saloons and hotels in Austin before the turn of the century (the last one), but didn't leave me any hunting land except for a piece in Sierra Blanca.
As you said, Texans never expected the government to give us a place to hunt. For many years I leased land west of Blanco year-round and had some great times. Recently we moved over to New Mexico, and dang, there's tons of public land over here. I have thousands of acres of NF behind my place, and BLM land just down the road where I can drive my Jeep wherever I want, hike wherever I want, and shoot anything I want. Life is good.