East TX vs. West TX leases

[BrianL]

I have hunted both for over 35 years. Size and racks are about the same both directions. Many times deer in East Texas don't repond to feeders as good as West Texas. You will see more deer in West Texas, but more likely to see a very large buck in East Texas. You may go 3 or more hunts in East Texas and never see a deer. I probably see deer 30% of the hunts in ET. I see deer 90+% of the time out west. You can get better deer country with less land in ET. WT you need more land because it is more open.

[jshouse]

Are your serious??????

I wouldn't have it any other way sir

plus, I live here, and travel time is important, as SOMEONE said above...

[Mayhem]

West Texas- see lots of deer

East Texas- will not see lots of deer


Seems like a easy choice to me.

West Texas proud 12 years now.


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[MASTERS]

If fed the same,, Ii feel east t will grow the largest bodies.. Look at Elgatos deer. They are the same east tx blood line and he gets them close to 300lbs by worming and making sure they are well fed.

While I can agree to an extent with that, Ive seen 275lb on the hoof 8-10 yr old deer come from Rattler7696's place near catarina. Watch the heaviest bodied deer in los casadores each year, they are big bastages. Apples to apples as far as the feed dept goes they will top end body weight near the same in a well managed deep south and far east Texas herd imo fwiw.

To the op, if you want to see higher deer numbers west is the west to go, if you don't mind hunting the black timber where you cant see the Indians coming go deep east Texas.

[cj_sandman]

Unless the price is right and theres a decent amount of land, im not sure of any pros for an east texas lease. but comparing the two, I would say west wins any day of the week. Larger bodied deer, better population, better opportunities to hunt other game. Of course this is all my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.


If I lived in houston I would be looking at a South Texas lease if you have the budget for it. Next would be hill country area then west.

The ETX lease definitely has some appeal to it, price is right, acreage is pretty low per hunter unfortunately. I've got a coworker over here that is in agreement with those of y'all saying ETX is good if you know how to hunt it, but its definitely a tougher hunt.

I've found WTX to be considerably more expensive.

[AgHntr10]

If fed the same,, Ii feel east t will grow the largest bodies.. Look at Elgatos deer. They are the same east tx blood line and he gets them close to 300lbs by worming and making sure they are well fed.

I agree 100%. If I ever start playing and win the powerball we will find out!

[Dudley]

Also depends on how you want to hunt and what your expectations are. If you want to sit in a box blind and see 30 deer come to a feeder every day - go west. If you want to sit in a pop up blind or a tree stand and watch trails or some hand corn in hopes of catching the right deer, east texas is a good place to do it.

[cj_sandman]

West Texas- see lots of deer

East Texas- will not see lots of deer


Seems like a easy choice to me.

West Texas proud 12 years now.


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Yeah, I am leaning hard towards the West. Problem is the lease I want in WTX I won't be able to officially get on until they open up another pasture (hopefully next year).. so I guess I'll be hunting over at my buddy's property nearby for the time being.

The ETX lease is available now, but there's a list of things needing to get done before hunting season. . apart from small acres per hunter, no mgmt plan, no blinds/feeders set up currently..

[7m STW]

Im from west texas and hunted lost of areas and for the most part your average buck will be a 120 to 125in 8 point that weighs 130 to 150ish with a few exceptions. Theres nothing special about most of the deer out here. East texas isnt my idea of a good time mostly due to the over hunting and small properties but I do know it can produce monsters.
Needless to say theres a reason I drive straight though west tx to get to my place.

[cj_sandman]

Wait....... There are no deer in East Tx. Move along

Funny! Have heard this one before

[GarGuy]

While I can agree to an extent with that, Ive seen 275lb on the hoof 8-10 yr old deer come from Rattler7696's place near catarina. Watch the heaviest bodied deer in los casadores each year, they are big bastages. Apples to apples as far as the feed dept goes they will top end body weight near the same in a well managed deep south and far east Texas herd imo fwiw.

To the op, if you want to see higher deer numbers west is the west to go, if you don't mind hunting the black timber where you cant see the Indians coming go deep east Texas.

Totally agree. If you havent read YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A FARM thread by Elgato. Go read it. That will show you what East Tx can do..

[MASTERS]

I've read through it several times and every time it pops up I hope he's the one updating it. The more results like that are publicized the better both states deer will get as hunters and landowners become more diligent in their land and herd management practices. The older generations of meat hunters left will realize there is more meat to run through the grinder on a 6-10 yr old deer than on a 18 month old buck.

[CaptainDave]

Also depends on how you want to hunt and what your expectations are. If you want to sit in a box blind and see 30 deer come to a feeder every day - go west. If you want to sit in a pop up blind or a tree stand and watch trails or some hand corn in hopes of catching the right deer, east texas is a good place to do it.

Perhaps not to this exact extreme, but I agree with the above. I used to lease some river bottom property not too far out of Houston as well as, I've hunted a few a East TX properties as a guest. The bottom line, you typically just don't see many deer hunting these properties. Don't get me wrong, the deer are there. Often you will get tons on camera, just not many in a sit. I don't know if it's because there is so much more cover or if these places are just pressured more, or a combination. Feeders also aren't nearly as effective. Get ready to be more versatile; i.e. get away from the feeder, hand corn trails, etc. Ladder stands, lock-ons and pop-ups are the way to go.

Not saying you won't have a reasonable amount of success in East TX. However, you will no question have more dry hunts and will need to be ready to rethink your strategy.

Obviously, this is in general. Regardless of region, some areas just have more deer than others. More deer = more opportunities

[Mudslinger]

True West Texas PANHANDLE deer are going to be fewer and farther between than most places, but can be bigger bodies and bigger horns and an absolutely different color than most deer in Texas. I, and this is my opinion, are they are more related to the OK, KS strain of deer, especially in the far North and North East part of the Panhandle.

[jooger17]

Ask yourself a series of Questions.

Are you the kind of hunter that needs to see deer every sit? Yes=West No=East

Are you going to be badly disappointed if you don't kill your target deer every year? Yes=West No=East

Is a challenging deer season going to ruin your season? Yes=West No=East

It's night and day different hunting and I have spent quite a bit of time hunting both areas. The things I really didn't like about West was how badly the deer heard could be affected by droughts. I didn't like being limited to bowhunting out of a ground blind most of the time. I didn't like the fact that almost every place I ever hunted out west had cattle or some form of livestock to contend with.

All that said, it's fun knowing you're going to see multiple deer just about every sit when the feeder spins. Deer were much easier to pattern and hunt. I just about knew that if I located a target buck that I was going to get an opportunity to kill him if I put my time in.

The things I hate about East... PIGS! I hate them, they ruin my life! The deer are much harder to hunt in most cases. You may make multiple hunts without seeing a deer at all, especially if you're expecting to camp out and guard a feeder.

I love the hunting more in East Tx. It's a challenge and you really need to put some thought into every hunt. I love the sound of oak leaves crunching under a steady gait coming your way. I love when it all comes together and you get an arrow or bullet in a mature buck.

For me I pick East every single time but I'm also not going to choose the first place that comes available that has a pine tree on it. If you're fortunate enough to get on a well managed lease in E. Tx the sky is truly the limit on what you might shoot.


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