Once again I have been invited to south Texas on a hunt, the ranch is 9000 acres low fence and not managed for deer. It is a quail lease and they bring a few deer hunters down every year. Last year I was expecting senderos and the kind of hunt you see on TV. These deer do not know what a feeder is and only get corn a few weeks a year. I really like the place because it is undisturbed and probably has never changed in its history. But my hunt date is Nov. 20-22, my question is when is the rut in that area, I plan on bringing my horns and doing a lot of rattling. The place just looks like there should be a true south Texas trophy somewhere.
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Hebbronville rut
My family ranch is in the area. Peak rut is relatively late. Typically the week after christmas. Doesn’t mean you won’t see deer obviously.
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Yep. Last week of December. Rattle anyway, u never know. Good luckComment
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The rut starts later than most of the state of Texas here in the deep South. I was on a refuge hunt this past year and saw and heard from other hunters of rutting activity during our hunt which was in the beginning of December. I've seen bucks with does in the end of December also. I attached a chart I got of the TPWD website on the breeding dates for the South Texas plains. Hope this helps. Im sure you should still be able to rattle some bucks in.Attached FilesComment
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I quail hunted Hebbronville one weekend years ago. The thing I remember most is we limited out on birds and four of us killed 24 rattlers in a day and a half.Comment
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I hunt that area and have never even seen a hint of rut activity until early December and the peak is usually last week in Dec-early January. In my experience trying to rattle outside of any rut can run off deer.Comment
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you probably won't even see pre rut. bring a bunch of corn and feed the roads. The deer on my lease don't hit feeders very well either, but they smash the corn on the roads. You could try rattling, but honestly I think it's way too early for that. the deer should be very relaxed and just eating like normal.
If you can find a good caliche road to corn, even better.Last edited by kyle1974; 09-25-2019, 06:37 PM.Comment
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The roads here are just 2 tracks in the sand it is thicker than I have ever seen, last year was cold and the deer were not moving. One afternoon it warmed up and the deer really came out to feed, I seen about 30 in a really short time. I just know there are some monsters in that country that won't come out of the brush. This place truly looks to me like it did probably 150 years ago.Comment
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After 12/15.
In Zapata they would run pretty heavy around Christmas into January for usComment
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Corn the sheet out of the roads, spend a $100. on corn, that's the cheapest thing you'll buy during the trip.Comment
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last year we had about 25" of rain in october and november. The deer weren't moving very well at all, and didn't come to the feed like they would normally. It's very dry now, depending what side of hebbronville you're hunting.Originally posted by mrc View Post
corning roads will still be your best bet, I think.Comment
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Mid to late DecemberComment
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Dec 17 thComment
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We are 20 miles south, Puesta Del Sol if anyone recognizes it. I will corn the roads heavy anything to upy chances.Originally posted by kyle1974 View PostComment
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