East Tx vs Hill Country Deer Debate

[Snowflake Killa]

You’d have a better chance of him posting feet pics.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How much do you think I could get. One of them have a little fungus

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Snowflake Killa]

These people who are talking crap about east texas would crap if they saw some of your pics!

This is the pot dude yours are looking good

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Snowflake Killa]

Sounds like Pat has a honey hole in East Tx

He’s afraid of the outlaws finding it

No brother they found it [emoji16]

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Snowflake Killa]

NOW-- imagine that 1500 acres with 3 hunters on it-- after about 3 or 4 years of that what kind of deer do you think it would be producing?

(just curious on how you think it would change the hunting)

Imagine 1 hunter per 1000 acres

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[175gr7.62]

I grow some great deer and know several on here that grow bucks that blow away most herds in the state free range

East Texas biggest problems that keep it from exploding:

Land fragment is largest. In the 90’s everything was 200 acres and a father, son and cheap skate uncle. Now that same 200 is busted into 40-50 acre tracks and each 50 has…. A father son and cheap skate uncle

Then add ALL want to shoot biggest on camera reguardless if it’s mature. Leases are the same. They kill waaaayyyyy too many young deer

Take a place that has the habitat and limit it to 1 hunter per 300-400 acres reguardless of cost and it’s a different world.

Yep. Our 3000ac East Texas place is part of a 30,000 ranch and the landowner limits the number of hunters. We see as many deer per hunt as I have experienced anywhere in the state.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ElfEyes]

Well once again I will disagree. Ragweed both common and giant, Goldenrod, Smylax, Black and Dewberry vines, American Beauty bush, Arrowwood and many other plants are more than available for consumption. Several mentioned above are over 20 percent protein, high in Phosphorous, Calcium, Selenium and many more trace minerals.
It sounds as if both regions are proliferate in nutritious browse. I would like to hear from the EP boys about what browse is a available there.

Agree with the pressure aspect. Our lease is 1500 acres/11 hunters, all bowhunters. So the hunter density is high, but we bowhunt and are picky. Only 3 deer taken last season. Members saw plenty, just wanting a wall hanger.

Calvin if I remember right the soil health/PH have to be in line for those numbers to be attainable. I'm sure y'all all have listened to Dr Harper, Bronson Strickland, and Marcus lashley on the MSU deer study videos. It's amazing what sunlight can do and TSI can do.

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

[KingsX]

This should help some. it is pretty complex ,deer have a wide variety of choices from region to region.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_1675_07_11.pdf

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_1017.pdf

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_0193.pdf

https://agrilife.org/wildlife2/files/2010/05/Key-Food-Plants-for-Deer-in-West-Texas.pdf

[HogHunter34]

No brother they found it [emoji16]

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Good grief
RIP Pats honey hole RIP

[Gumbo Man]

Imagine 1 hunter per 1000 acres

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Yea I think our place might be over hunted as well. 8 hunters on 6500 acres.

[Gumbo Man]

Well I’m betraying Pat by doing this cause he made me promise not to show any of the deer pictures that he sends me. This is one of his 5 year olds that is expected to explode any year now. Most hunters would have already shot him before he reached his full potential. I’m sorry Pat but I just got tired of seeing em rag on ya.

[bloodtrailer28]

I grow some great deer and know several on here that grow bucks that blow away most herds in the state free range

East Texas biggest problems that keep it from exploding:

Land fragment is largest. In the 90’s everything was 200 acres and a father, son and cheap skate uncle. Now that same 200 is busted into 40-50 acre tracks and each 50 has…. A father son and cheap skate uncle

Then add ALL want to shoot biggest on camera reguardless if it’s mature. Leases are the same. They kill waaaayyyyy too many young deer

Take a place that has the habitat and limit it to 1 hunter per 300-400 acres reguardless of cost and it’s a different world.

East Texas herds blowing away most free range herds? King Kennedy and several other free range herds down south? Multiple 200s 170s 180s all over.
Panhandle the pitchfork 4 6s and several others are the same.

We run 1 hunter per 1000 acres and it could still be a little more. Biggest bodied buck I've killed in Texas was in Williamson Co and was 223 pounds. We regularly kill 200 plus pounders on our place in the panhandle.

[KingsX]

Yea I think our place might be over hunted as well. 8 hunters on 6500 acres.

Really doesn’t matter how many or how few members are on a ranch if you take the right amount of deer off the ranch every year.

[Snowflake Killa]

Well I’m betraying Pat by doing this cause he made me promise not to show any of the deer pictures that he sends me. This is one of his 5 year olds that is expected to explode any year now. Most hunters would have already shot him before he reached his full potential. I’m sorry Pat but I just got tired of seeing em rag on ya.

Big is in the eyes of the beholder

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[lovemylegacy]

If the hill country didn't have much food it wouldn't be able to support the populations. If what you say was the case, the deer would all be walking around like mini deer skeletons....and it dang sure wouldn't be able to support all the wild free range exotics. Have you seen an axis buck on the hoof in the hill country? They don't get to looking like a spotted volkswagen because there is nothing to eat and they are starving. ...Red deer?.....Fallow?.....

Yeah I get that Smart, so why are the Whitetails small vs a large Axis eating the same stuff. Different subspecies of Whitetail? I have hunted the EP and shot full grown doe and they may be 80lbs live weight. Friends of mine hunt there, they experience the same thing. Not knocking them, just what I have seen. The cattle are butterball fat.

[Smart]

Yeah I get that Smart, so why are the Whitetails small vs a large Axis eating the same stuff. Different subspecies of Whitetail? I have hunted the EP and shot full grown doe and they may be 80lbs live weight. Friends of mine hunt there, they experience the same thing. Not knocking them, just what I have seen. The cattle are butterball fat.

I'm no biologist. Genetics and nutrition/protein levels in actual food available is my guess.... when say compared to SoTx.

We have two distinct size deer on our place. Deer that max out weight wise (with age) like a hill country deer and deer more like west Texas deer that push 185-190lbs . Luckily they both can throw solid horns....on the flip side they both can throw trash.