South Texas Deer and Drought

[Txhuntr2]

I'm a Hill Country deer hunting veteran but this will only be my second season hunting in the South Texas brush. We haven't been down in a few months but talking to my landowner who is out there almost everyday, and another guy who hunts in the general area, the deer are looking healthy in spite of the drought.

We don't supplemental feed beyond bait corn so I chalk this up to the deer being able to switch to more abundant browse when things get dry like mesquite beans, prickly pear, etc.

Is anyone else in the brush country seeing this too?

[Walker]

There's a lot of browse down there. Even when i5s dry.

[S-3 Ranch]

There's a lot of browse down there. Even when i5s dry.

Kinda my thoughts it’s a lot more tolerant then central Texas East Texas

[Walker]

Most every bush is palatable for deer.

[Huntingfool]

My question would be is there water available? If the ponds have dried up and there is no water that is a big issue in South texas

[Deerguy]

If the place has been managed for a while and the deer density is low, the drought is having a much lesser impact than the places where the density is too high and folks don't shoot enough does.

[Txhuntr2]

My question would be is there water available? If the ponds have dried up and there is no water that is a big issue in South texas

The place is 2500 ac and there is one big tank that is kept full by pump. There are other smaller tanks spread across the place but they may be running dry. I'll find out in mid September when I go to dove hunt. I'm hoping having a reliable water source will bring in some new bucks.

[Txhuntr2]

If the place has been managed for a while and the deer density is low, the drought is having a much lesser impact than the places where the density is too high and folks don't shoot enough does.

The place has been under hunted for sure. But there are 2 sides to that coin because the age structure us really good. We see a ton of mature deer.

[Barney1971]

makes a difference

what i have seen is if a lake/tank dries up deer will move to where there is water. i am lucky- on our place i have two lakes within 4-500 yards of my stand. i have a good friend that hunts in an area of the same ranch where there is only water if we get good rains- his area has no water right now within almost a mile. he has only about 5-6 deer at his feeder each nite.
Since about May, my area has exploded with numbers-- because there is water. i cant even count the deer/ bucks coming in right now and alot of them were not there a month ago..

[kyle1974]

the deer have decent survivability, but the body weights and horn quality is down based on what I"m seeing from the first couple rounds of trail cam pics. There's still a lot of brush, but zero forbes right now. The deer I've seenin the last few weeks are almost all within 300-400 yards of a water source. I pullover a tank dam last weekend and there were 4 bucks on the other side in the middle of the day.


they'll get by, but I've seen several of the nice deer go from 10's to 8's, losing 15" or more from last year. I've seen a couple younger deer take nice jumps, but all in all, I'm expecting a much lower quality on what we kill this year.

[Big pig]

South Texas deer are adapted to heat and dry.
But if you aren’t supplemental feeding, I would expect the bucks to have lower body weight and some percentage less inches of bone.
It happens. I would be inclined to pass any marginal deer and hope for a true mature monster next year. Hunt more pigs, coyotes and dove.
But I seldom shoot a buck anyway.

[Mule Skinner]

They already live in a desert. Extended dry spells come and go.

[Big pig]

They already live in a desert. Extended dry spells come and go.

But those wet years really make the brush explode with wildlife and huge antlers.

[Czechfish]

Rain at just the right time has our place/animals looking really good

[S-3 Ranch]

Rain at just the right time has our place/animals looking really good

Yeah winter and spring IMO is keystone time for rain
Protein and cotton seed is to give em a boost or keep them alive in summer months