Central Texas Harvest Recommendations

[Muygrande]

Trying to put together a management plan for our lease in Mills County. Not MLD and no plans to be. Have some good deer habitat but a significant amount of acreage is open country that is mainly rocks and cactus and we don't hunt it. Talked to some of the wildlife management groups around us but their harvest quotas vary widely.

I know a proper spotlight survey and browse study is the best way to make these decisions but that isn't in the cards for this year. Curious to see if someone would share their management plan and also see if anyone else has dealt with a large property that has some good habitat but lots that isn't and how you adjust your number. We have some members that are insisting we should shoot one doe for every 20 acres and a buck for every 80 acres because that is what they did in a lease in Mason county. Those numbers seem really high to me. We have good deer numbers but not like the heart of the hill country.

[Buff]

Your state biologist will come out and tour your place and make a suggestion if you ask them.
You can chose to use it or not but it costs you nothing

[BolilloLoco]

Sounds like you’re hunting with some killers. If it’s low fence, I would propose to shoot as many does as possible every year and only kill a buck when you’re ready to put him on the wall. Don’t let anyone talk you into shooting “culls” or management deer. Feed’em as much as you can and watchem grow!!!! Good luck.

[DUKFVR]

We are in a co-op in San Saba county & have good cover & lots of deer. Co-op has been together for 12 + years. Last season our recommendations were a buck to 175 ac or so. I have 230 ac & was told 1 buck ,possibly 2 if one was a cull or spike. On does I was told 4 to 5 does. I think some of your bunch just wants to kill. We have a biologist come help the co-op,plus I had another TPWD biologist come out & help me write our wildlife exemption plan. His recommendation before we found out about the co-op was 1 buck & 4 does. I think with what you describe ,y'all would be putting a lot of pressure on the herd. We have killed 1 spike & 5 does in 2 seasons since we got the place. We feed year round & won't shoot a buck till he is mature.

[BrandonA]

Mills County is so diverse in Topography and deer numbers. On our part the Cnty ( Western Mills along the Colorado) ton of deer. Toward Lometa not as much. Survery will tell you.

[tbgascorer]

Mills is covered in does. Low fence, shoot as many as your licenses will allow. With food, they'll keep coming over that fence. Go easy on the buck segment. People tend to shoot too many bucks, not fully realizing that the herd cannot support that kind of buck harvest pressure. Shoot mature bucks and limit culls to those who truly know deer. I wouldn't shoot spikes (Mills tends to have a bunch) and risk your future age classes.

[cstrey18]

That sounds similar to the place I hunt in Bosque county. It's only 240 acres but we have probably 1000 acres behind us that is not hunted. Some other hunters within a mile of the property though. I'd say we have about 1 deer per 20 acres and good buck to doe ratio and only have 1-2 mature bucks around each year. I would only shoot mature bucks and shoot enough does to get the buck to doe ratio close to 1:1. Until then there is no point in shooting cull bucks. In general, I would say it takes at least 250 acres to produce 1 mature buck in central Texas, depending on buck to doe ratio and population density.