2019 Austin/Fayette/Washington Counties Thread

[TxDispatcher]

Saw a total of 14 before we shut down at mid-day and headed back to pick up our daughter. 3 bucks, one legal but young, a 2.5 that’ll be really nice in a few more years, and a yearling 5 pt...the legal buck cut out the one doe and chased her down into the creek, and the 2.5 year old was trying unsuccessfully to find an interested doe

We’ll be back next weekend, but not sure if my wife will have time to hunt. It’s her families thanksgiving get together, there’ll be 75-80 people there. But if I can convince her to, we’ll be sitting in the bottom pasture in hopes that one of the mature bucks cruises through

[BURTONboy]

Saw a total of 14 before we shut down at mid-day and headed back to pick up our daughter. 3 bucks, one legal but young, a 2.5 that’ll be really nice in a few more years, and a yearling 5 pt...the legal buck cut out the one doe and chased her down into the creek, and the 2.5 year old was trying unsuccessfully to find an interested doe



We’ll be back next weekend, but not sure if my wife will have time to hunt. It’s her families thanksgiving get together, there’ll be 75-80 people there. But if I can convince her to, we’ll be sitting in the bottom pasture in hopes that one of the mature bucks cruises through

Better luck next time. Hopefully in another week we’ll have some more hot does being chased around.


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[gtsticker]

Shot this one Friday morning. Saw 25 deer. The most ever out of my bow stand. 11 points 145 5/8. Also killed me a slick antlered buck 10 minutes later. Awesome morning.



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[BURTONboy]

Shot this one Friday morning. Saw 25 deer. The most ever out of my bow stand. 11 points 145 5/8. Also killed me a slick antlered buck 10 minutes later. Awesome morning.



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Dang good deer! Congrats


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[Mex. Bowhunter]

Weirdest Season I have seen in a while. Zero rutting activities seen and mature deer have yet to even show up on camera. Buck movement was better this weekend but, still nothing to get excited over. With every nearby shot I am down to only 1 spike left in the area. This spike rule has to be the dumbest thing to ever come out of the AR program.

[JMKro]

I saw a buck bumping does around Friday evening, but that's been the only rutting activity I've seen in 11 sits.

[JMKro]

Shot this one Friday morning. Saw 25 deer. The most ever out of my bow stand. 11 points 145 5/8. Also killed me a slick antlered buck 10 minutes later. Awesome morning.



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Gettin' it dun'

[Hockley]

Weirdest Season I have seen in a while. Zero rutting activities seen and mature deer have yet to even show up on camera. Buck movement was better this weekend but, still nothing to get excited over. With every nearby shot I am down to only 1 spike left in the area. This spike rule has to be the dumbest thing to ever come out of the AR program.

I agree, the whole area has been on a downward trend because of social media and threads like this. I also agree that the spike rule needs to be done away with.

And don't even get me started on allowing does to be shot over Thanksgiving with a rifle...

[BolilloLoco]

I agree, the whole area has been on a downward trend because of social media and threads like this. I also agree that the spike rule needs to be done away with.

And don't even get me started on allowing does to be shot over Thanksgiving with a rifle...

Definitely been different this year, but we’ve had hogs move in and disrupt the “normal” movement a little bit. Things are getting better though. Mature bucks are showing back up now that hogs have scattered.

I’d like to hear more about this downward spiral that the internet is creating in the Post Oak Savannah region of Texas. Sounds interesting. Please post some statistics or a link. Thanks in advance.

[Stuck]

I agree, the whole area has been on a downward trend because of social media and threads like this. I also agree that the spike rule needs to be done away with.

And don't even get me started on allowing does to be shot over Thanksgiving with a rifle...

Not sure social media has the area on a downward trend as much as ranches being sold off in 20/40 acre tracts and a feeder being put on every place with non selective hunters. Although not a fan of pics being posted. People have no idea how easy it is to figure out where a deer was killed or worse assume where it was killed. You kill a big deer this year and pull the “look at me” crap every non hunted 10acres around you will have 2 stands on it next year. Small acreage and bragging don’t mix.

As for the doe season I have mixed feelings. If I don’t find a buck to shoot I can now kill a couple of does for sausage instead of killing a “cull” 3yr old (have a couple of places with probably too many does). But I also saw areas shot out when we had end of season doe season a couple of decades ago. Early season and only 4 days I’m hopeful we don’t see the same thing we did as before.

The area has also changed in what is being killed. I sit in the same stand every year opening morning since I was 10. Back then opening morning I would hear around 20 shots being fired, and this was before we had hogs in the area. Now 1 maybe 2 shots on opening morning, this year I heard 3, and 2 of those were my dad shooting hogs. In the end it’s greatly improved from my youth but still difficult watching a young 130 class deer disappear at some point during season. All I can do is feed them and hope a few decent deer make it to next year and make a big jump.

[TxDispatcher]

Weirdest Season I have seen in a while. Zero rutting activities seen and mature deer have yet to even show up on camera. Buck movement was better this weekend but, still nothing to get excited over. With every nearby shot I am down to only 1 spike left in the area. This spike rule has to be the dumbest thing to ever come out of the AR program.

I won't argue with that it seems seriously counterintuitive to what they're trying to accomplish in my opinion

Not sure social media has the area on a downward trend as much as ranches being sold off in 20/40 acre tracts and a feeder being put on every place with non selective hunters. Although not a fan of pics being posted. People have no idea how easy it is to figure out where a deer was killed or worse assume where it was killed. You kill a big deer this year and pull the “look at me” crap every non hunted 10acres around you will have 2 stands on it next year. Small acreage and bragging don’t mix.

As for the doe season I have mixed feelings. If I don’t find a buck to shoot I can now kill a couple of does for sausage instead of killing a “cull” 3yr old (have a couple of places with probably too many does). But I also saw areas shot out when we had end of season doe season a couple of decades ago. Early season and only 4 days I’m hopeful we don’t see the same thing we did as before.

I have mixed feelings as well...but after watching closely for the last decade, we average 4 doe to every buck at most times. I will not be killing any doe myself, but I may let the kids take one or two. But I'll wait and see what the folks around us do for a year or two. I think for the most part, at least with the immediate neighbors that I've talked to, everyone is proceeding with caution. Luckily for me, we have mostly large places around us with owners who have been here for decades, and they remember what it was like to not see many deer

[BURTONboy]

I agree, the whole area has been on a downward trend because of social media and threads like this. I also agree that the spike rule needs to be done away with.



And don't even get me started on allowing does to be shot over Thanksgiving with a rifle...

I tend to lean more towards predators than humans for the deer population in my area. We have 5 does that we see everyday all year long and I only saw 1 with a fawn this year. I doubt the other 4 mis-carried or didnt take. Although it is possible. But I watched a coyote run a 2-3 yr old doe into our pond and wouldnt let her out until I sent some lead his way. And even then I had to go run her out of the pond. That tells me a lot about the coyotes around here.

As for doe days, im totally against it. And im not a fan of the spike rule either. Both for obvious reasons.


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[TxDispatcher]

I tend to lean more towards predators than humans for the deer population in my area. We have 5 does that we see everyday all year long and I only saw 1 with a fawn this year. I doubt the other 4 mis-carried or didnt take. Although it is possible. But I watched a coyote run a 2-3 yr old doe into our pond and wouldnt let her out until I sent some lead his way. And even then I had to go run her out of the pond. That tells me a lot about the coyotes around here.

As for doe days, im totally against it. And im not a fan of the spike rule either. Both for obvious reasons.


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My son and wife are both itching to take out coyotes and bobcats...so if one pops out, they’re goners

[gtsticker]

Ton of coyotes this year! We have shot one and snared 3 but so far we have not made a dent. I will disagree with most on the spike rule. We kill every slick antlered deer we see each year. We consistently kill 145”+ bucks for our trophies. We don’t shoot other deer until they are 6.5 or older. Yes neighbors kill some we let go. The theory and research by TPWD back up shooting spikes. Most turn into those 6.5 year old 12. “ spread deer everyone gripes about. Can they be bigger yes. Not looking to debate the spike issue just saying what has worked for us.


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[BURTONboy]

Ton of coyotes this year! We have shot one and snared 3 but so far we have not made a dent. I will disagree with most on the spike rule. We kill every slick antlered deer we see each year. We consistently kill 145”+ bucks for our trophies. We don’t shoot other deer until they are 6.5 or older. Yes neighbors kill some we let go. The theory and research by TPWD back up shooting spikes. Most turn into those 6.5 year old 12. “ spread deer everyone gripes about. Can they be bigger yes. Not looking to debate the spike issue just saying what has worked for us.


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Cant disagree with what works. I just happen to be one of those 20 acre tracts folks dont like so I try my best to attract and keep attracting all I can. Therefore I dont shoot young deer as I want all the deer in the area I can so I can be selective and have 6+ year old deer around. Still havent killed a deer off our place and hoping this year will be the one if the right one shows.


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