East Texas help needed

[Dudley]

43 acres just isn't nearly big enough to manage and have a positive impact. One of the big things that separates East Texas from the rest of the state is that there are so many small properties. That means so many neighbors pulling the trigger and affecting "your" deer herd. I have a small property and deer travel through it. They also cover a half mile, a mile, or more each day and that puts them on 3-10 different properties. I don't try to "manage" the deer in my area. I do my best to provide good habitat and enjoy the hunting experience. That's about all I can do with what I have to work with.

[OUTDOORSMANEVERETT]

If you have ever looked at the Wildlife Exemption management plan from the State they recommend (indirectly) that you only impact habitat at a rate of 10% per year. With the house on 3 of your acres (not including your pond) you only have 40 acres left to mess with. So at a maximum you should only impact 4 acres per year. But, as an example, 15 of those 40 acres were open field and not cover then you only have 25 acres to impact/clear which leaves you 2.5 acres per year.
As others have stated you have probably overworked your area in attempt to improve. Often time less is more, especially on small tracts.
Before you started working the and did you have any ideas about how the deer used your property? Is it all bedding area, what are the travel routes, etc. As you may already know, having this information first is key to making the right changes.

As a side note, the aforementioned plan also recommends 1 protein feeder per 300 acres. Needless to say, 2 on 43 is too many.

Great info, thank you.

Yes, before ever touching the property I ran cameras for 11 months, on key scrapes, rubs, water, trails. Doing my best to leave next to no impact on the place coming in and out. Based on that info -where I placed feeders, food plots and my sets.

So that i may clarify, the house, senderos, 3 small cleared areas and a pond all existed before I ever bought the place. People actively lived there in the house and mowed the front, senderos and the cleared areas consistently.

My change to the property involved placing feeder, setting three sets and planting crops. No trees have been cut. No new areas cleared from before i arrived, just continued maintenance of the property.

[OUTDOORSMANEVERETT]

In Jasper its been a slow start to the 2018 season. Be patient the mature bucks will be back.

I'm hoping. More bucks on cameras last week and all of bow season

[AntlerCollector]

It's also possible that situations changed with neighboring properties since you bought the place. Maybe nearby land wasn't hunted that now is. That's nothing you can control, but it could definitely impact the deer you have.

[RaginCagin]

I don't believe there is any way in the world you have a 9:1 buck to do ratio. You are only holding a few deer on 43 acres as the majority are probably passing through so maybe at certain times there are more young bucks passing through the property than does but I believe you need a bigger survey area with your neighbors to determine that. I also believe 3 spin feeders and 2 protein feeders are way to much for 43 acres. 1 protein is plenty and if the neighbors aren't doing it i'm not sure its even necessary. 1 spin feeder is probably enough also but I can see 2 for different wind directions if they are close to the property boundaries on opposite ends of the land.It seems it's just to much time and pressure prepping the land for mature bucks to say. Sometimes simpler and quieter is better than a buffet.

[Hix]

What they said. All you need is a acre food plot and a feed station. Then stay away till the big boys move in.


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[OUTDOORSMANEVERETT]

My place is just north of you. I'm in montalba but the acorns are everywhere. I've been managing my place now for 4 yrs and it seems all my big bucks are disappearing. I know my neighbors have a lot to do with it but not much I can do. They say they don't kill anything but I know better. I've got plenty of food, plenty of water and plenty of cover, it's like this every year at this time. We usually have about 4 shooter bucks around 130 to 140 but they are gone when the neighbors show up. I have not killed a buck on my place yet and I am still wondering where they go. I guess I'm growing them for my neighbors. I'm very picky at what I shoot but I guess if I want to kill off my place I'm going to have to beat them to it.

Thanks bownut.

[hpdrifter]

Good deer country might have 1 deer per 10 acres with pockets maybe holding 1 for 3 acres. East Texas is not "good deer country". Lets say it's still 1 deer every 10 acres. That's 4 deer that "might' reside on your property. Of course, as others have stated, deer from all around travel about freely. No telling what is there at any given point in time.

I think all you can do is make that 40 acres more attractive than the surrounding. Fertilize your mast trees, keep traffic to a minimum, create shelter areas and one honkin feeder.