Jackson county / low fence hunting

[Fishcat91]

I currently hunt in Jackson county off FM 822 north. Every year when we are checking game cameras or sitting in the stand we see that 3.5 or 4.5 year old buck that we hope makes it through the hunting season. A lot of times when the shots ring out from across the fence we wonder if they are management minded hunters and respect the beauty of growing old mature bucks... I have caught my self contemplating on if I should harvest a certain deer because if he walks out in front of somebody else they might take him, and that if I let him walk all the money and time I have invested is just a big waste. If I was to harvest that young buck it would be contradicting to what my beliefs are, and I would become "that" neighbor......... So with that being said what are yalls management programs and what are the goals your trying to accomplish with your land/lease. Who knows maybe we hunt next door to each other or across the river from each other. It's Easier to manage a good deer heard if everybody is on the same page.

[texashunter74]

I think one of the main things you have to keep in mind is the size of the land you hunt. We hunt 500+- acres and our neighbors are all <200 acres. I know most of them shoot anything that walks even though they tell us they are management minded. That being said I still hold to my own goal of shooting mature deer 4.5 years or older. I have passed on 5-10 deer in the 130's over the last few years knowing they were under that 4.5 mark. I also know that the neighbors have shot almost everyone. Am I crazy??? Maybe so, but I have to do what I feel is right.

If you have more acreage then you are at less risk of losing every deer you pass on but if you are <1000 acres you know those deer are crossing fences.

Long ago I lost faith in most hunters and their ability to show restraint. That is not a shot at anyone on this forum just years and years of experience with hunters from Texas to Missouri. I have had to kick good friends off of leases I managed because the itch to shoot was to strong to pass on young good looking bucks.

[Rack Ranch]

I have a friend that hunts that county and they see good bucks very early that disappear because of the timing of the rut. The rut has come and gone where he is by the time bow season gets rolling good. I agree with the above post as well. Good luck finding your answer.

[Fishcat91]

I think one of the main things you have to keep in mind is the size of the land you hunt. We hunt 500+- acres and our neighbors are all <200 acres. I know most of them shoot anything that walks even though they tell us they are management minded. That being said I still hold to my own goal of shooting mature deer 4.5 years or older. I have passed on 5-10 deer in the 130's over the last few years knowing they were under that 4.5 mark. I also know that the neighbors have shot almost everyone. Am I crazy??? Maybe so, but I have to do what I feel is right.

If you have more acreage then you are at less risk of losing every deer you pass on but if you are <1000 acres you know those deer are crossing fences.

Long ago I lost faith in most hunters and their ability to show restraint. That is not a shot at anyone on this forum just years and years of experience with hunters from Texas to Missouri. I have had to kick good friends off of leases I managed because the itch to shoot was to strong to pass on young good looking bucks.

Yes sir I agree the amount of land you have to hunt has a lot to do with deer management. I have lease around 250 acres that I hunt on and I know the deer cross into neighboring pastures. I have been hunting on this place for the past 4 years. My gf took one mature 8 point that scored 132. It was her first bow kill and the only buck taken off the property in the 4 years. I have past on a couple 130s that I did not believe was their prime. So I let them walk and breed to carry on their genetics. So does it help that we pass on these good deer idk. I would like to think that it would. We all hunt, we all want to get a shot at the big trophy buck, but they will never be a big mature dominant trophy buck if we don't let them grow in age and in size. two years ago I watched a young 2 year old 11 point pretty much all year. The next year I seen him as a 3 year old that would go probably in the mid to low 120s. Had him around my feeder while he was in velvet, during bow season, part of rifle season. stopped seeing him and never got any more pictures of him. I sure would of like to see him in a couple years but I guess that's just how the story goes sometimes.

[Hockley]

They have a 0% chance of living of you shoot them. You are doing the right thing and will be rewarded for it. The only extra unsolicited advise I can give is to try to give them everything they need so that they don't feel the need to go to the neighbors. This isn't just in deer season, but 365 days a year.

[kch73]

Isn't Jackson county considered Coastal Prairie region? Id say a 130 low fence buck would be a really nice deer then...just my opinion.

[TKK]

I think one of the main things you have to keep in mind is the size of the land you hunt. We hunt 500+- acres and our neighbors are all <200 acres. I know most of them shoot anything that walks even though they tell us they are management minded. That being said I still hold to my own goal of shooting mature deer 4.5 years or older. I have passed on 5-10 deer in the 130's over the last few years knowing they were under that 4.5 mark. I also know that the neighbors have shot almost everyone. Am I crazy??? Maybe so, but I have to do what I feel is right.

If you have more acreage then you are at less risk of losing every deer you pass on but if you are <1000 acres you know those deer are crossing fences.

Long ago I lost faith in most hunters and their ability to show restraint. That is not a shot at anyone on this forum just years and years of experience with hunters from Texas to Missouri. I have had to kick good friends off of leases I managed because the itch to shoot was to strong to pass on young good looking bucks.

This - unfortunately when you have no control over neighbors you can waste much money and time and effort trying to manage and grow bigger deer to no avail. At the end of the day if you are on a small property with neighbors who just want to kill whatever walks out you are pissing in the wind.

IMO you are better off taking your money and finding a lease where you have enough property to really manage and where it does not matter what neighbors are doing

[Banded Drake Calls]

I work on and help manage a ranch about 6.5 miles up 822 from Edna. The hunters there see good bucks each year and are surrounded by other good size properties. Our property there is about 800 acres. They put a high fence up across the road a few years back that hurt us a little. We also have the river that borders us, so not much issue with deer really leaving. Now for me I hunt a separate property in morales area. It's about 300 acres I have to myself, however I'm surrounded by multiple small tracts. I see good young deer disappear every year after the first couple weeks of bow season

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[RMW]

We've got about 700 acres on the Wharton/ Jackson county line on the Mustang Creek that has some real nice deer. I never hunt it because the neighbors are always shooting on the other side of the creek. Had some soybeans planted one year and saw over 100 deer in the fields at 1 time. Didn't know there was that many deer in the area. One was a nice 150 class buck

[Tx_Wader]

I own land out 822 north of Edna and I can tell you this.

You will not be able to have a buck population of bucks over 4.5 on 200-300 acres in Jackson County.

I know this.

I inherited the property in 96, it's been in my family for well over 100 years and my son and I immediately started doing things right.

We didn't kill a buck the first 5 years that we had it, we got our MLD 1 so we could kill the doe. We joined the LRWMA and continue to do the diligence with the assistance of the state biologist. We have improved the habitat and created food plots that the hogs just love. The property borders on 822 and the Lavaca River.

But on that acreage, mine is 240 acres, it will only hold so many mature bucks and we can't get our age class over 4.5.

We will see older bucks during the rut but have only had one come into bow range once in all the 20 years that I have owned the place.

The rut always hits us just before bow season starts then the second estrus is during rifle season. I put my bow away and hunt with a rifle but my son stays with his bow.

I've just come to the realization that 4.5 is the age class that we have and that's what we take with our bows.

My neighbors are all part of our Co-Op and we all agree on what we shoot. I know them, they know me we agree but just like us they might see one or two nice ones during the rut then never see it again.

PM me some time. I'll have you over for supper next season.

[Fishcat91]

Im about 6 miles down 822 the river runs along the backside of the property. Like I said before I see some good bucks the first couple weeks of bow season but I always pass them up. I know we have really good potential for deer to be in the 140s and 150s. I have seen and hunted for one deer the past two seasons.... 2 years ago I had a big 10 on camera that would be between
145-150. I had him come in one evening but hung out around 60-65 yards the whole time he was eating. All I do is bow hunt and at that range I just didn't feel comfortable taking a shot. Especially with how nervous I was haha. So I watched him eat for about 40 minutes and he would never come any closer. I don't like taking shots at deer if they are over 40 yards and I dam sure wasn't going to risk wounding a high caliber deer like him. He came in with a group of does. They came and ate at the feeder but he stayed further out eating the corn that I hand fed all around that area before sat in the blind. I went 3 weeks with no pictures or sightings of him. Finally he showed back up this time buy himself only to show me that he broke almost all his tines off on one side leaving him with a main beam on his right and his left was pretty as could be. I watched him for 25 minutes eating in bow range and I couldn't do anything but laugh to my self on what I was seeing. So he mosied on out and that was the last time I seen anything from him. No pictures last year or anything but I was for sure hunting him hoping he would make his grand appearance, but it never happened. So i know we can have big deer big deer like that. From the sounds of it Fulldraw_529 and Tx_Wader we all hunt pretty close to eachother and we all like to manage and take care of our deer. Thank you for that! Tx_wader I shot you a pm.

[byrne361]

So it seems we are all neighbors. Are family land is about 4 miles north on 822 on the left with the river running through the back. So Fishcat the things you are saying are the same issues we run into every year we see plenty of mature bucks before season and the start of bow season when the rifles start popping the deer disappear... I guess it's just nature of the beast. We have been trying to manage the place the best we can since 09. We have seen some awesome results in these past few years. Have you seen any of these bucks on your cameras?



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[ostey22]

Beautiful Jackson co. buck! ^^^

[Slick8]

I own land out 822 north of Edna and I can tell you this.

You will not be able to have a buck population of bucks over 4.5 on 200-300 acres in Jackson County.

I know this.

I inherited the property in 96, it's been in my family for well over 100 years and my son and I immediately started doing things right.

We didn't kill a buck the first 5 years that we had it, we got our MLD 1 so we could kill the doe. We joined the LRWMA and continue to do the diligence with the assistance of the state biologist. We have improved the habitat and created food plots that the hogs just love. The property borders on 822 and the Lavaca River.

But on that acreage, mine is 240 acres, it will only hold so many mature bucks and we can't get our age class over 4.5.

We will see older bucks during the rut but have only had one come into bow range once in all the 20 years that I have owned the place.

The rut always hits us just before bow season starts then the second estrus is during rifle season. I put my bow away and hunt with a rifle but my son stays with his bow.

I've just come to the realization that 4.5 is the age class that we have and that's what we take with our bows.

My neighbors are all part of our Co-Op and we all agree on what we shoot. I know them, they know me we agree but just like us they might see one or two nice ones during the rut then never see it again.

PM me some time. I'll have you over for supper next season.

I hunt just north of you guys near Hallettsville and completely agree with the above. I feel those deer tend to move on or die at 3 or 4. Just very rare to see a small pasture deer hang around.

I hunt 450 acres with slightly less than average hunting pressure in the ares ando definitely below average on the fence line. Only two feeders on my western boundary and no feeders on the line like many places. I have a very low to sometimes non-existent hog population. I feed protein have planted honeysuckle and installed water. The rancher takes excellent care of the pasture, plants 100 acres or corn and oats into his hat pastures for winter-spring. I hunt it in an extremely low pressure manner do all I can to make it a place deer want one be.

I've killed three deer in the 130'same in 5 years and am extensive proud of that but would like to see a 140'show off the place. I know I have the genetics and nutrition just need to see some more age.

[Tx_Wader]

Here's some pic's various deer various years. All I have on this PC.