Question: “I’ve lived in the northern part of South Texas for my entire life but may be getting a job a bit further north. I enjoy whitetail deer hunting and am thinking about buying some amount of land near in my new area, Limestone County. I just want to find out more before buying some real estate. Can you tell me if deer hunting in Limestone County is good, decent, or what? Thank you.”
Response: One of my college buddies hunted in Limestone there for about five years. Currently, it is a two buck county, one buck greater than 13 inch inside spread and one buck with at least one unbranched antler can be shot each year. Limestone County has a lot of deer hunting pressure. It will not have the quality of deer that you may be used to, but maybe it could. It all depends on the location. There is a lot of hunting pressure, so the early part of deer season is the best.
There are a lot of feral hogs in Limestone County, so expect the hog hunting to be pretty good. I’m not a fan of hogs on a property, but I do like shooting and eating them. Shoot them when you see them. They will interfere with your whitetail deer hunting. If you want to keep the hogs off your corn you will need a feeder pen made of hog panels.
My buddy never shot any great bucks, but he did bring home some deer. The antler restrictions have helped, but the pressure keeps most harvest bucks just wider than 13 inches. There are some three and four year old bucks that slip through, but there were not that many where and when he hunted there. I suspect that think the antler restrictions can be effective for producing older, better bucks when used in combination with some deer management efforts.
Limestone County does also have some good duck hunting down there later in the season, into January. There are not any turkey, so don’t look for land that offers any of them. The deer hunting in Limestone County ranges from fair to good, but it all depends on location and expectations. Expect a good number of hogs just about everywhere. Good luck in your real estate search.