Category: Texas Deer Hunting

Comment: I deer hunt a 1,750 acre lease near Robert Lee in Coke County along the Colorado River. We have 11 paid deer hunters and this year not a single mature buck was taken. In fact, very few bucks at all were even seen during hunting season. This is unheard of for our whitetail hunting lease. Almost every season each hunter is able to harvest at least one 120-ish inch mature buck, with the occasional 140 incher taken, and a couple of mature does.

I spoke to a few deer hunters around us this tough hunting was not just limited to our ranch. I know that the water is way down in the river from prior years, but there is still plenty of water around and on our ranch, so I can not blame our poor deer hunting on that. Someone even rumored that a mountain lion was killing deer, but I doubt that would cause such a widespread issue. We thought everything was going fine, but deer hunting this past year was slow. What’s the deal? Continue reading Deer Hunting Tough in Coke County

Although white-tailed deer hunting has been around as long as there have been hunters, it was not until recently that one could find whitetail deer for sale. The practice of breeding and selling deer is not for most hunters, but many understand how genetic manipulation combined with other deer management techniques can be used to improve deer hunting on a piece of property.

Many states allow deer breeding and the sale of deer to other breeding facilities and private ranches for deer hunting. Most antler traits, such as number of points, mass, and tine length, are highly heritable and make the management of deer, whether penned or free-ranging, viable. Many ranches look to buy deer to jump start genetic improvement on their properties. Since research has shown that does are as important—or even more important—than bucks, you can see why quality does are an important part of any managed deer herd. I received this email:

“To Deer Hunting ranches: We have 19 adult doe out of Billy Martindales “Lumpy” (208 B&C) blood line that are bred to our buck “Bambi Saw Buck”. He is out of Robert Williams “Bambi” blood lines and scores 257 3/8’s at 4 years old. He was 240 at 3 years old. We are offering these deer to hunting ranches for $1,500 each and would be an excellent addition to your operation.

We can deliver to you. Attached is a flyer of “Saw Buck.” Best way to contact me is my cell number 903-340-XXXX. We are moving our breeding facility and must move these deer in the next sixty days. One or all 19. We also have limited semen from him at one straw $750, five straws for $3,000, or ten straws for $5,000. Collected by Champion Genetics in Canton, Texas.”

The state of Texas has become a hot spot for deer breeding in the past 15 years because of interest in producing big bucks. With that said, Texas had been rather slow in allowing captive breeding and the sale of of white-tailed deer compared to some states in the mid-West. In Texas, and deer “liberated” from a breeding facility is considered a wild deer and can not be recaptured.

Each year hunters create some great deer hunting stories while chasing deer in the woods. Let’s face it, every deer hunter loves hearing about those really big bucks shot each season, but we also like hearing about those encounters of the one that got away. But what about those crazy stories that seem more like lore than truth? What about the story of the two headed deer shot in Texas? Yes, you read that right. It seems like the story about a two headed buck is burning up deer hunting forums around the country.

But as amazing as the story may be, it is being reported that the story about the two headed deer is not real. And after looking at the photo—and not even that closely—it is easy to determine that, yes, this photo really is a fake. Although two headed animals have appeared in nature from time to time, the heads are always on the front end of the body. I’m not a photoshop pro at all, but the work done in this photo, or lack thereof, is horrible. Continue reading Two Headed Deer Shot Near Del Rio, Texas

I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods deer hunting and have never been fortunate enough to have seen a mountain lion. Now, it seems a lot of hunters have admitted to seeing lions–and the “alleged” black one too–but I am more than a bit skeptical when I hear most of these reports. Usually it is something along the lines of, “I saw something low and moving, and I couldn’t see what it was, so it had to be a mountain lion. It was big. It had to be a mountain lion.”

Case in point: It was back in 2009 that photos of a mountain lion dragging a buck it had killed surface. As it turns out, the photos were real and the buck was in fact killed by a lion on a South Texas ranch. So today I get an email from a guy with the exact same photo, but this time he claims the cat is in the Texas panhandle. Here you go Continue reading Mountain Lion Kills Deer

In Texas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) administers a program called the Managed Lands Deer Permit (MLDP) program that is designed to help landowners better manage the deer herd found on their property. This program is available for both white-tailed deer and mule deer and gives participating landowners a better understanding of the deer and habitat found on their property. It also allows more deer hunting opportunity in areas where healthy deer populations exist. From my experience, the MLDP program is great, but permit usage can be confusing for those new new the program. I recently received this question:

“I have been getting a lot of good deer hunting information from this site for some time now. There really is lots of great info to be found here. Anyway, I am on a MLD permit Level 1 deer lease and we have some leftover doe tags that need to be used. My question is concerning whether or not there is an extended season for MLD Level 1 permits? I have been hearing differing opinions on the matter, so what is the deal? Also, can these MLD permits be used by adults during late youth season? I deer hunt in San Saba County. Any info will be appreciated.”

This is a good question. First, let me just point out that there are 3 Levels to the MLDP program. Level 1 permits are typically only issued to landowners in doe-only counties OR to first-year participants in counties that allow both buck and doe harvest. Since this question is about Level 1 permits, lets discuss this a bit further. Continue reading MLDP Level 1 Permits for Deer Hunting

The state of Texas is known for some great deer hunting, but there is no other place like the Texas Hill Country. I have hunted in Llano County from time to time throughout the years, and although it’s not know for producing giant bucks, managed properties are really starting to produce some good whitetail deer. This year my wife really took an interest in deer hunting, so we made a trip out there to see if we could get her on a deer.

I should preface this by saying that she she has been sitting with me from time to time in Llano County for a couple of years now, and loves checking out the wildlife. Although it always seemed as though she wanted to shoot a deer, she just has never made up her mind to pull the trigger. However, earlier this year she told me it was time for her to begin her whitetail hunting career. I thought this is great, so after perfecting her shooting skill over the summer she told me last weekend that it was her turn. Continue reading Llano County Deer Hunting

It can be quite difficult to find a deer hunting lease in Texas because there is high demand for high quality property. Even finding mediocre hunting property is not much easier. However, there is another option for hunters willing to head out on public land and bust a little brush. Texas has 2 options for public hunters: the Annual Public Hunting Permit (APH) or the draw system. One of the draw areas that offers great white-tailed deer hunting is the Matador Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

The Matador WMA is located about 8 or so miles north of Paducah, Texas in the lower-eastern portion of the panhandle. This property varies from slightly rolling to downright hilly with steep hillsides. Not only do white-tailed deer call the Matador home, but so does a good population of mule deer. Of course, feral hogs make use of the creeks and drainages that are scattered across this place. Continue reading Deer Hunting at Matador WMA