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East Tx vs Hill Country Deer Debate

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    #16
    Originally posted by HogHunter34 View Post
    Good points & I agree on hunting pressure & the spotlight masters keeping numbers down in East Tx

    What’s the thoughts on natural food sources sustaining the deer population in the hill country & areas that are rocks & lack of nutrition?

    I agree with DryCreek there are areas with thick live oak groves & deer love those softer live oak acorns
    Pine forests and hay meadows are not the most nutritious things for deer.

    What you see as lush, green and productive can actually be very a very sterile environment.


    Lots of natural browse in the hill country

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      #17
      Originally posted by HogHunter34 View Post
      My main question is how are there so many more deer in the hill country but less natural food sources to sustain them?

      .

      Where is your data on this? Is this just a guess?



      Common sense says, if the food isn't there it wouldn't be able to sustain them......period. They are there and they don't live on hope and prayers.

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        #18
        This goes back to 1970 when hill country deer weighed 50 pounds on the hoof - there were zero deer in east Texas - and south Texas had a few large survivors. Since then there have been a lot of additions and subtractions in all the regions mentioned.
        The biggest doe I have ever seen killed was 5 minutes from Carters Country off Telge, blocks from Intercontinental Airport N. Houston. So is it a E Texas deer or a S Texas deer? Maybe a bit of both...
        Last edited by Johnny Dangerr; 09-24-2022, 06:45 PM.

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          #19
          Originally posted by Smart View Post
          Where is your data on this? Is this just a guess?



          Common sense says, if the food isn't there it wouldn't be able to sustain them......period. They are there and they don't live on hope and prayers.
          General observation from areas I’ve seen lots of deer but terrain was lacking imo
          Like mentioned above the area appeared rocks & cacti, just didn’t appear to hold the level of natural browse, etc

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            #20
            Originally posted by txtrophy85 View Post
            Pine forests and hay meadows are not the most nutritious things for deer.

            What you see as lush, green and productive can actually be very a very sterile environment.


            Lots of natural browse in the hill country
            I’ve got property in northern Anderson Cty that’s not as thick with pines
            However tons of oak trees plentiful with acorns
            Lots of persimmon tree groves, deer berries, huckleberry bushes

            Anyone have biological studies from local biologist that can shed light on what deer mainly browse & eat?

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              #21
              I think fawn retention has suffered more from doe harvest to manage the deer herd in a lot of east Texas areas more than folks realize. In the late 70s through the 80's there were many places in east Texas we hunted that seeing 40 to 50 deer a day was the norm. During that time there was zero doe harvest on these properties.

              Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

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                #22
                I’ve never hunted the hill country other than a couple of draw hunts.
                As far as East tx deer, they are there. You just have to actually hunt them. I’ve been thru the hill country many times and the deer there are very small compared to East Texas. As far as bucks, there are some monsters in East tx. They are mostly nocturnal but if you time the rut just right, you will see some.
                If you want to see a lot of deer, then the hill country is for you. Want to kill a big ole buck, not only antlers wise but weight wise, then go east, but it won’t be easy.

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                  #23
                  Originally posted by HogHunter34 View Post
                  General observation from areas I’ve seen lots of deer but terrain was lacking imo
                  Like mentioned above the area appeared rocks & cacti, just didn’t appear to hold the level of natural browse, etc

                  I'd say you observation is incorrect because they aren't going to stick around without food. You are probably missing all the green forbes that grow throughout the year. Our place out west holds a high deer density and is very much like the hill country terrain with a bunch of rocks, cedars, cactus, live oaks, shinoaks and some mesquites. You could say we are on the downslope of the Edwards Plateau. Our deer are bigger bodied deer for the most part with some hill country sized type deer mixed in and they live on mostly forbs, some brush, cactus tunas and acorns when they fall. When we get a big rain the deer go to the fields and under the trees looking for new growth and the feeder activity shuts down..

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by Smart View Post
                    I'd say you observation is incorrect because they aren't going to stick around without food. You are probably missing all the green forbes that grow throughout the year. Our place out west holds a high deer density and is very much like the hill country terrain with a bunch of rocks, cedars, cactus, live oaks, shinoaks and some mesquites. You could say we are on the downslope of the Edwards Plateau. Our deer are bigger bodied deer for the most part with some hill country sized type deer mixed in and they live on mostly forbs, some brush, cactus tunas and acorns when they fall. When we get a big rain the deer go to the fields and under the trees looking for new growth and the feeder activity shuts down..
                    Good info here. That’s what I was curious about from others with more experience hunting those areas what you see deer eating & their changing habitats throughout the season. I guess I’m just jealous seeing all those bigger racks you guys keep flaunting from hunting those areas

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                      #25
                      Originally posted by sqiggy View Post
                      I’ve never hunted the hill country other than a couple of draw hunts.
                      As far as East tx deer, they are there. You just have to actually hunt them. I’ve been thru the hill country many times and the deer there are very small compared to East Texas. As far as bucks, there are some monsters in East tx. They are mostly nocturnal but if you time the rut just right, you will see some.
                      If you want to see a lot of deer, then the hill country is for you. Want to kill a big ole buck, not only antlers wise but weight wise, then go east, but it won’t be easy.
                      True. Most shooters I see are at night
                      Our place in Anderson cty is thick bottomland & is about 95% wooded with scattered openings
                      You’ve got to really put in the work to find the hot spots

                      Our place has more potential now that a property owner across the farm road has purchased 650 acres over the past 10+ years & he is very management minded & feeds protein year around
                      I spoke with him this past spring & he said he’s got two on camera last fall/winter pushing 140s & the larger one could hit 160s

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by Smart View Post
                        I'd say you observation is incorrect because they aren't going to stick around without food. You are probably missing all the green forbes that grow throughout the year. Our place out west holds a high deer density and is very much like the hill country terrain with a bunch of rocks, cedars, cactus, live oaks, shinoaks and some mesquites. You could say we are on the downslope of the Edwards Plateau. Our deer are bigger bodied deer for the most part with some hill country sized type deer mixed in and they live on mostly forbs, some brush, cactus tunas and acorns when they fall. When we get a big rain the deer go to the fields and under the trees looking for new growth and the feeder activity shuts down..
                        The forbs are a big thing when conditions are right. I had a lease in Runnels Co. for 18 years, right off the Colorado River. The ground was covered in forbs if we had any rain at all and a deer’s front teeth were made to pick and choose, just right to harvest those low growing forbs. When we had a drought year, (about one out of four), the forbs weren’t as plentiful, but still there. We usually had 75 acres of oats too for the first five years, then our rancher passed and his wife turned it into grass. The deer were still in that field in decent numbers, eating forbs I assumed, but not like when the oats were there. We tried to kill 20 does a year and you could never tell it. We just kept our heads above water. Didn’t kill many good bucks we had a bunch of fun !

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                          #27
                          There’s no shortage of food in the hill country imo. You just gotta know where to look.

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                            #28
                            Originally posted by txtrophy85 View Post
                            Pine forests and hay meadows are not the most nutritious things for deer.



                            What you see as lush, green and productive can actually be very a very sterile environment.





                            Lots of natural browse in the hill country
                            This right here. Everyone always see all the green vegetation in east tx but it's hard to grow horns on sweet gum and pine needles. I think it's hunter density followed by nutrition is the east tx downfall

                            Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

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                              #29
                              I took my son on a hunting trip in south texas and the guide was very knowledgeable about the plants and their nutritional value. He pointed out a lot of shrubs and browse that was very high in protein when I mentioned it didn’t look like anything there was edible for the deer.

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                                #30
                                As far as quantity of deer in the Hill Country vs East Texas, I have no idea. But regarding quality, I would put East Texas above the hill country. I am fortunate to hunt on MLD managed property, and there are very nice bucks year after year

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