Category: Texas Deer Hunting

The white-tailed deer bowhunting season opens this weekend in Texas and a lot of hunters are pumped-up about the prospects of sticking a good buck. One of my favorite places for chasing whitetail in the state is no other than San Saba County. I hunted this county for many years, and even tagged some nice deer, but now I do most of my deer hunting at a property closer to home. With all the dry weather many hunters are thinking this year will be a bust, but not the following San Saba deer hunter:

“I have 600 acres near Richland Springs. All of our whitetail deer herd looks good. Fawns are doing extremely well. I’ve heard some really bad deer reports about people seeing dead fawns all over the place further south of us, but animals are still holding up good here. I still have a couple tanks with some water and our landowner has water tanks all over the property being filled via well so our land has plenty of water. Continue reading San Saba County Deer Hunting Report; Dry, Still Good

Question: Went out to our deer lease in Anderson County this past weekend to gear up for the upcoming deer hunting season. We saw 10 bucks and two additional groups of whitetail deer, with another bachelor group of six bucks. There were several good looking eight point bucks, and an 11 point that is going to be a real nice buck in another year or two. It is dry out there, but it seems like we’re seeing more deer then we normally do.

A few years ago on our lease, we would only see a deer or two at a time, at best. Now the other hunters and I are seeing as many as 10 animals in a group on a regular basis. In addition, a young eight point buck actually came to corn feeder while we were hog hunting on Saturday, which is rare. Deer have not come to our feeders very much in past years. Will the drought cause us to see more deer activity this year due to the need for deer to find food? Continue reading Deer Hunting Looks Good in East Texas

Question: “We have been deer hunting for a couple of years now and I finally got a game camera this last season. So this year was the first that I had pictures of deer during the summer, and there were some nice bucks showing up on camera. Now I am fearful that I will lose them during the deer hunting season unless I supplement them with some type of food or mineral. What would you recommend? I have three places each with two to five acres of open grass. Would it be better to establish deer food plots or put up protein feeders?”

Response: There are many options when it comes to supplemental feeding for whitetail deer. The important thing to keep in mind is that there are many variables that come into play when deciding what feed source to use as a supplement. Do you have cattle or hogs? Do you have a tractor and implements to get the land ready? Do you own the property or lease the land? How many deer do you have on the place or that will utilize these plots? What is your average rainfall?

If you can not perform or cover most of what is in the questions above then I would use protein feeders to hold your deer rather than lab lab or any other type of food plot. When you calculate all of the expenses, it is usually less expensive for most people to spend the money on protein feed.

To plant food plots properly you will need rather expensive equipment, and then you are hoping once you make an investment and plant the seed that it will actually rain and grow. At least if you buy protein pellets you know what you have. Food plots are more of a gamble.

If you have the right soil and equipment and can get the food plots to grow well, then it’s cheaper than any pelleted protein. Lab lab is an excellent food plot selection, but if it rains and grows really well, then chances are you will have enough native forage that you will not need a food plot for the whitetail deer on your property.

If you are looking to just hold animals during the deer hunting season, then my suggestion for you would be to run a protein feeder or two and also have a couple of timed corn feeders going. A lab lab food plot can do the trick, but you will need the equipment and rain.

Question: “I am live in Austin, Texas, and used to be on a deer lease in Mason County. That was about 10 years ago. Now that my kids are getting older, I would like to get them outdoors and show them some of the things you can find stomping around on the ground. I have an opportunity to get on a Lampasas County deer lease, but was wondering if there are some good bucks in that area?”

Answer: I think it’s a great idea to get your kids outside and teach them about plants and animals and pass on the deer hunting heritage. Lampasas County is located on the northeast edge of the Texas Hill Country. The habitat found in that county can vary quite a bit. The best hunting can be found along the Colorado River, Lampasas River, and the major creeks found there, but good bucks exist all throughout that country. Continue reading Deer Hunting Lease in Lampasas County

Question: “We have a 600 ranch that we use for recreation and whitetail deer hunting during the fall. We recently had an accidental fire break out that burned approximately 80 to 90 on our ranch. We want to re-vegetate this area and would like to use deer-friendly species to prevent any possible erosion. I would like some thoughts on the options for reseeding our Blanco County ranch. Thank you.”

Response: I know first hand that the habitat out in Central Texas is very dry. Much of Texas is in exceptional drought so both the habitat and whitetail deer are just trying to hang on. Soil moisture is low across much of the state, but I bet there is a good chance many of the grass plants consumed by the fire are still alive and will re-sprout, but it also depends on how hot the soil temperatures got. It will also depend on when the next rain comes.

With the end of summer almost in sight, reseeding right now will be a tough proposition unless you have the ability to irrigate your plantings. If it does not rain then nothing will grow regardless of the species planted. I always recommend reseeding with native grass and forb mixes to improve habitat, but that is traditionally done during the spring, April and May. Native forbs and grasses are best for whitetail deer and other native wildlife species, but it literally takes a couple of years to get a satisfactory stand.

I understand that soil erosion may be an issue when it eventually rains, but working the ground to prepare it for planting will only increase the chances of erosion once your part of the world gets a sizeable rainfall event. With fall just around the corner, I would recommend a heavy over-seeding (broadcasting) of ryegrass (or even oats) at the first chance of rain, but not prior to that because birds will eat the seeds. One established, the ryegrass will stabilize the soil and also serve as a winter food plot for deer.

Ryegrass will persist into spring, at which time you would want to spray with herbicide. Then use a native seed drill to plant a native grass and forb mix directly into the soil. Many of the browse species in the burned area should be fine, except for any blueberry cedar that was completely consumed by the fire. For anyone that wants to know how to control cedar, prescribed fire is a great choice. It’s a great tool, not nearly as scary as many believe, and can really clean up a lot of acreage in short order.

The property will benefit from the brush management aspect of the fire since cedar is a persistent pest in Blanco County. Best of luck with your habitat management and upcoming deer hunting season! I think it will bounce back, but especially with your help.

Question: I recently made a trip out to our deer hunting ranch in northern Concho County. We manage it for whitetail and that’s about it. Deer have slowed way down at the protein feeders. For the past few months, deer were eating about 2,000 pounds of 20 percent protein every two weeks at our 4 free-choice protein feeders. However, it now seems that they have cut way back, only consuming about 1,200 pounds every weeks. There has been little to no rain and the habitat is in pretty poor condition. It just looks way too dry.

I know that the whitetail deer have not left the ranch since it’s high fenced, so do you think the animals are finding food elsewhere? There are mesquite beans on the ground everywhere. Do you think that is why the whitetail have quit hitting the feeders? Or is it maybe because most of the antler growth is done or something else? Continue reading Whitetail Deer Hunting: Do Deer Eat Mesquite?

Question: I hunt on a deer lease in Fairfield, Texas and have had my trail cameras out for about 3 weeks now. I have been getting pictures of some whitetail bucks on the ranch, but their antlers are looking somewhat small, in my opinion. Is it too early in the summer to begin to notice whether or not the bucks on the camera will be shooters come October? I know that antler growth and deer hunting in Texas can depend on the weather, but what do you think about these deer? Attached are some of the buck pictures from the lease. Thank you!

Continue reading Deer Hunting and “Horn” Growth

Question: I am interested in whitetail deer management for better deer hunting. I guess I am just looking for some advice for our property. We have about 1,400 acres down in Frio County, located southwest of San Antonio. The habitat found on the property is about 75 to 80% thick brush with two good tanks approximately centrally located. Four of the five bordering ranches also have deer hunting, but are not hunted hard in my opinion.

Our ranch is not hunted very hard either, with only 8 to 10 hunts made out there each deer season. In the last 5 years there have been four does and four bucks shot on the property. We have 4 corn feeders on the property and a few small food plots that are effective when it rains. The property was not hunted in the past because of family conflicts, but that ended five years ago. Continue reading Deer Hunting, Management in Frio County

Summer in Texas is always a hard time for white-tailed deer. It’s just a given. But this year is tough on deer across the state, especially those located in ecoregions that primarily have thin soils. This includes much of the greater-central portion of Texas as well as the Hill Country. Unless you are actively involved in management on your property, I wouldn’t expect a stellar deer hunting year. Reports from Clay County looked pretty bad, but apparently there are some areas where deer habitat is still in okay shape.

“Hot and dry but our place is in Mills County is in really good condition. The creeks ran a couple of weeks ago, so there is water in the deeper holes. The brush, greenbriars and forbs are still looking decent too. There have been no cattle on our 320 acres since April 1, so the little bit of growth that we got is still there. Having no cows has really saved the browse for the deer. Continue reading Deer Hunting, Habitat in Mills County Okay

We may be three and a half months away from the beginning of a deer hunting season in Texas, but the dry weather has a lot of hunters thinking about what this year will entail. Deer habitat across much of the state is in poor condition at best.

The Hill Country is a bad as I can remember and reports from across the state are dismal. In fact, my buddy up in Clay County said it’s so dry on his deer lease that there just is not much for the deer to eat.

That’s the sentiment of landowners across Texas right now: habitat is bad and deer are on the prowl. Many are seeing deer out all hours of the day trying to find browse and water. With fawns on the ground, you can expect to see does looking for food to support lactation and their fawns. Of course, with habitat as bad as it is this year, deer are having to more than ever. One ranch owner had this to say:

“Even been seeing them up around the house and barn lately… never have before. They are emptying out the two protein feeders of 350 to 400+ pounds per week— that’s getting expensive. I’d say pray for rain, but at this point I’m not even sure that the forbs and browse would respond in a helpful way this summer. It will take several days of back-to-back or well-spaced rains to soak the ground and sprout the seeds in this heat.

This time of the year, all that will grow is grass and noxious weeds that do not do deer much good in most areas. New-growth grass will help some, but only short term. Rain will help deer browse, but it’s going to take the slow-soaking rains to get the new growth started.”

A ranch with a high whitetail deer density is probably going to look much worse than those with deer in-line with available habitat. Getting new growth browse will not happen where deer exceed the carrying capacity of the land. The landowner located in Clay County told me that what he fed in supplemental protein pellets all of last year is the same as what he fed in the first six months of this year.

It’s not looking good for deer this fall for antler growth, overall body condition or as far as fawn production. With habitat in poor condition, fawn numbers will be down this year but I suspect deer will be hitting feeders hard, increasing the number of whitetail seen while deer hunting this year over last season. I’d suggest that landowners and lease hunters perform at least some type of deer surveys to estimate the whitetail population and prevent over-harvest, because it may take a while to bounce back.