2021-22 east texas season

[Etxbuckman]

We've still got 2+ months to go at the lease, but right now it's on pace to go down as the biggest bust for me in 34 years.

I didn't kill a deer at our farm, not even a doe, and I may not kill one at the lease either. As so many others have stated I'm very concerned about our deer numbers as a whole.

All of the bucks I've seen are young, like 1.5 - 2.5, and all of the mature bucks I did have on camera at the lease have been MIA for well over a month. It's entirely possible they're already dead, but given the light pressure around our lease I find that hard to believe.

I just don't know what to make of any of it. I do know one thing though: I am not busting my *** as hard as I did prepping for this season ever again. It's just not worth the money and stress.

[Ætheling]

We've still got 2+ months to go at the lease, but right now it's on pace to go down as the biggest bust for me in 34 years.

I didn't kill a deer at our farm, not even a doe, and I may not kill one at the lease either. As so many others have stated I'm very concerned about our deer numbers as a whole.

All of the bucks I've seen are young, like 1.5 - 2.5, and all of the mature bucks I did have on camera at the lease have been MIA for well over a month. It's entirely possible they're already dead, but given the light pressure around our lease I find that hard to believe.

I just don't know what to make of any of it. I do know one thing though: I am not busting my *** as hard as I did prepping for this season ever again. It's just not worth the money and stress.

Every stranger or business acquaintance I speak with in Walker and Montgomery counties as well as a few others are describing the same situation. Some bucks taken but for the most part ghost town.


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[Anvilheadtexas]

Every stranger or business acquaintance I speak with in Walker and Montgomery counties as well as a few others are describing the same situation. Some bucks taken but for the most part ghost town.


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And yet when I tried to fire up my East Tx Deer Numbers Thread no one came to post except a few guys who said their deer numbers were good because they killed a big buck?

[Native Texan]

Slowest weekend of the season for me. I saw only one deer but he was one of my target bucks, a big 8 point with a massive body. First time in several seasons that I got the shakes...until I saw that half of his right main beam was busted off. I had a great shot opportunity but let him walk.
Other lease members said that the few deer they saw seemed very skittish around the feeders.

[Anvilheadtexas]

Since I punched out opening weekend. I spent time at farm with family. Hiking, watching wood ducks roost, exploring. Corn under feeders seemed to be sitting. Our food plots look great… green and tall. Serious, not one nipping or track in them. I would not be exaggerating say the deer just are not eating oats and peas or the deer are just not there? Will see what happens here in the next month with a green fields. Cameras indicating some activity around feeders but in the middle of the night. I was glad I was not hunting.l this weekend. There, I said it. We spent a lot of time in woods exploring…. Saw no deer.

[Etxbuckman]

And yet when I tried to fire up my East Tx Deer Numbers Thread no one came to post except a few guys who said their deer numbers were good because they killed a big buck?

I’m here to tell you in the three counties I hunt the numbers are WAY down.

My lease is MLDP and we’ve never got more than 12 doe permits. The last 4 seasons we’ve gotten 9, but I don’t think we’ve ever used them all. Even at just 9. So blaming MLDP is out of the question.

Our farm is not MLDP, but I know full well the blame lies on the 16 day doe season we’ve had for the last 4 seasons. Ever since they instituted that the numbers have plummeted steadily.

If anyone know who to contact at TPWD about petitioning to revert it back, I would love to know.

[Anvilheadtexas]

I’m here to tell you in the three counties I hunt the numbers are WAY down.

I have been seeing the trend for three seasons. Pulled plug on shooting does last year. Up until then took one a year (250 acres). But here is the crazy thing… I am at my place ALOT … I could count the deer I saw during summer on one hand. Cameras suggested this summer a big bachelor group in back, but few does. I took advantage of that Intel and took a buck opening day. With the lack of does.. I hate to think what next season will look like. And my neighbors, as far as I know, are not lighting them up!

[Etxbuckman]

I have been seeing the trend for three seasons. Pulled plug on shooting does last year. Up until then took one a year (250 acres). But here is the crazy thing… I am at my place ALOT … I could count the deer I saw during summer on one hand. Cameras suggested this summer a big bachelor group in back, but few does. I took advantage of that Intel and took a buck opening day. With the lack of does.. I hate to think what next season will look like. And my neighbors, as far as I know, are not lighting them up!

I have the same three does on cameras at two stand locations at my lease, and another three on another stand on a different side of the property. So thats somewhere between 6 and 9 does total (assuming no duplicates). 2 seasons ago I had no less than 15 does hanging around one stand set. Then last year that same stand had less than half that on the regular, and now I’m down to to three there.

At our farm it was nothing to go and see 20 or mores does per sit at one of our stands just a few years ago, obviously not ideal, but this year that same stand had 2 coming around. 2!

I camped out on a different stand on the property most of the time I was there and saw no more than 4 total.

Before the 16 day season shooting was light and the deer were relaxed, but now it sounds like war every Friday - Sunday during the season, so you can’t tell me the does aren’t getting their teeth kicked in. Theres a ton of < 40 acre tracts around us and I know those are the places hurting them the worst. That is NOT sustainable.

[Ætheling]

I hunt bottom land. Does everywhere begining of archery and some bucks. Mid October corn piled up when the acorns got knocked down by high winds. Since then feeder has been a miss. It is still green everywhere in my bottom land. Wild oats and clovers everywhere. Ive watched the few deer that have come to the feeder sniff at the corn and go right back to eating natural browse. Im positive the deer are around, they just have an extended food source this year and dont need to venture far from their beds to forage.


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[Snowflake Killa]

Our numbers are way down to. Probably half we hunt a big place with high deer density. The only thing we can come up with is the freeze
At first I thought it was another food source other than acorns but I'm starting to think that it not that.

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[Allpublic]

I hunt 3 different counties around me and as far as sightings go, i have seen about the same number of deer as the last couple of years. Difference being, that i have seen way more bucks this year than does. It seems that the deer numbers are good everywhere i hunt, as i see deer on nearly every sit, but in the last several years i haven't seen the large groups of does that i used to. Im not so sure thats a bad thing though, because the does used to out number the bucks 10-1. I believe the population has been balancing out, but agree that does are down this year, at least where i hunt. But every year is a little different, maybe the freeze had something to do with this year, overall the hunting has been good though. I dont believe we need to change the doe limits. Majority of the people i know dont even shoot does, and those that do shoot does only shoot 1 or 2 a year. I personally havent shot more than 1 doe a year for the last several years, but i shoot 2 to 3 bucks every year. As i said most people i know hunt this way, and if that is true than there are way more bucks killed every year than does. I am betting next year does are back up from this year and the herds will be pretty balanced.

[AgHntr10]

I would say if anything our numbers are trending up. We had a dip for several years that we thought could have been from multiple surrounding leases going MLD but it could have been the drought as well. I thought our fawn numbers seemed to be down a little from cameras but after spending time in the stand I think they are just really healthy and further along than normal. They are hitting feeders and hand corn hard and have pretty much all season, still a lot of forage in the thickets too as we haven’t had a good frost so far.

[Anvilheadtexas]

The alternative food source for lack of deer movement seems like a plausible reason for not seeing deer in the fall, but if one observes a piece of land with good habitat all year long without seeing many deer, then one would not lean that way for reasoning. Personally, I have a mixed hardwood section that borders a 5 year old replanted long leaf pine plantation (part of a 30,000 acre pasture). If you saw this in person you would conclude the pine plantation deer pile into my hardwoods (if you bought into “they are all in the acorns”). But, I can assure you, there are not stacks of deer in my hardwoods eating acorns.

[Anvilheadtexas]

Came back into say… up or down and good or bad, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to go out and hunt in the East Tx Piney Woods. Sometimes I lose sight in the big picture.

[Pineywoodkiller]

We are in rusk county and are seeing the opposite. We have never had this many deer ever. Everyone will see anywhere from 5-15 just about every sit. And this is from 7 different blinds. Haven’t seen any real mature bucks yet but lots of 2 year old 8 and 9 points


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