East Texas hunting 2022-‘23 season

[Low Fence]

Mine is about the same size. All I ever do is run 2 corn feeders year round.
1. Should I continue to run the corn feeders or should I shut them off after season?
2. Should I try protein?
3. Should I burn the property or let it grow? It is pines with a lot of underbrush. A tornado in 2017 wiped out most of my hardwoods and the underbrush and briars are so thick you cannot walk around in it.

I honestly can’t remember the last time we wasted a minute hunting a feeder. If deer want corn near me they are less than 200 yards from it at any time. They know it’s dangerous…. Cause everyone of them has a hunter near by.

Us Texans are under a false notion that you have to kill a deer with its mouth full of something we introduced. They are a glorified goat. They don’t need what we put out, and in heavy pressure they got all that anyway and avoid it

[Gumbo Man]

Had a cool one show up last week that I haven't seen since late summer, if that beam wasn't broke off he might be in trouble...he has been all over the cam every dang morning too lol





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Stud buck right there. I love the palmation. Hopefully you can get him next year.

[Gumbo Man]

Mine is about the same size. All I ever do is run 2 corn feeders year round.
1. Should I continue to run the corn feeders or should I shut them off after season?
2. Should I try protein?
3. Should I burn the property or let it grow? It is pines with a lot of underbrush. A tornado in 2017 wiped out most of my hardwoods and the underbrush and briars are so thick you cannot walk around in it.

Low Fence makes a solid point concerning sanctuary areas to provide a safe place for the deer once the pressure of hunting season arrives. And you must be completely disciplined in never entering these areas other than to retrieve a deer if necessary. A controlled burn will always benefit wildlife by providing fresh Forbes and browse that is natural as well as beneficial for wildlife. Will be intrusive for a while but the rewards will be proven in short order. I won’t get involved in the “ No need for feed” argument. Good luck with your future development sir.

[jshouse]

The feeder thing has stumped me for years as well, but I don't think deer "know" there is a hunter watching a feeder therefore they steer clear of it. We have pics of big A deer standing underneath them every year, but I do feel like a mature buck will prefer a corn pile.

I took mine down on the "west side" of that place in October because of lack of pics, and started getting buck pics immediately. then I get that "east side" feeder going to see what was on that side of the creek and a couple of my biggest bucks are under it.

Maybe take 1 down and compare what you see between the feeder and the corn pile.

[Low Fence]

I won’t say feed is “bad”. Problem (in my area, and growing state wide) is frequency. More than 1 feeder per 250-300 is too much. But few have hat much land much less per hunter. So you have 40-100 acre blocks with 3 feeders…. And those overlap with the neighbors doing the same…. And there neighbors doing the same. We put up a feeder cause the neighbors do it. We have become our own worst enemy in most private hunting land in Texas as a whole

Go to large ranches with 1 feeder per 500-1000 acres. It’s insane when a feeder goes off

[U.S.ArmyRetired]

Thanks for all the advice. Maybe I will pull 1 feeder. I hunt a pipeline that runs the length of the property and I have 1 feeder to my West and 1 to the East on the pipeline.

[ElfEyes]

Thanks for all the advice. Maybe I will pull 1 feeder. I hunt a pipeline that runs the length of the property and I have 1 feeder to my West and 1 to the East on the pipeline.

Why don't you share a satellite image of your property to see if others might have suggestions on how they might make some changes to how they would setup. I know the guys that hunt pipelines on my lease sightings drop off considerably as season goes on.

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[Gumbo Man]

Thanks for all the advice. Maybe I will pull 1 feeder. I hunt a pipeline that runs the length of the property and I have 1 feeder to my West and 1 to the East on the pipeline.

I don’t see this as a problem at all. I’ve done the same thing on pipelines with great results. I think that your problem is that your property really has nothing to offer wildlife other than cover. The best habitat for deer,IMO, is going to be abundant natural vegetation and cover with water close by. Supplemental nutrition does nothing but enhance the overall appeal for the wildlife to want to stay on or close to your land. My real reason for feeding protein year round is to have healthy does so that they are in the best shape they can be in during fawning season. Especially after. When your does are healthy you should notice more twin fawns resulting in a better herd number wise. I hunt 6500 acres of mostly timber with 7 other hunters. Some areas have been thinned and some haven’t resulting in underbrush like you have described that offer absolutely nothing to deer other than cover. But that’s where your supplemental feeding and food plots come in to play for enhancement giving the deer everything that they need to stay in the area. We will be doing some burns this coming year to open up some new areas that are only beneficial to hogs right now.

As Kyle has mentioned earlier, pick your stand locations wisely so you can get in and out with minimal intrusion. Preferably on one side of the property. All properties are different and deer act and react differently on each property. What works for me may not work for the next guy so I hope none of this has been misinformation. But developing a great property takes time, effort, total commitment and discipline. Good luck sir.

[AgHntr10]

We are only about 700 acres but I think what helps us is an area right in the middle that’s about 185 acres that nobody touches. We hunt the edges but other than a couple of lanes going down into it is pretty much untouched.
We also have a good mixture of habitat from fresh clearings to 35-40 year old plantations with lots of elevation changes.

[Gumbo Man]

We are only about 700 acres but I think what helps us is an area right in the middle that’s about 185 acres that nobody touches. We hunt the edges but other than a couple of lanes going down into it is pretty much untouched.
We also have a good mixture of habitat from fresh clearings to 35-40 year old plantations with lots of elevation changes.

Sounds like a nice place. Hopefully you don’t lose it.

[U.S.ArmyRetired]

Why don't you share a satellite image of your property to see if others might have suggestions on how they might make some changes to how they would setup. I know the guys that hunt pipelines on my lease sightings drop off considerably as season goes on.

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Not sure if you can understand what this is.

My stand sits at the bottom of the l in pipeline. The pipeline crosses the tram there. The small blue line running North/South is a creek where it is growed up in underbrush. The two track is a trail we keep bush hogged each year.

[ElfEyes]

Not sure if you can understand what this is.

My stand sits at the bottom of the l in pipeline. The pipeline crosses the tram there. The small blue line running North/South is a creek where it is growed up in underbrush. The two track is a trail we keep bush hogged each year.

I assume all the properties around are just big blocks of woods just like yours? How's the hog population on your place? You said you haven't seen a deer this year, is that while hunting or are you actually not getting any pictures either? If all the properties around you are just like yours, you have to set your property apart is what Grant Woods preaches. It looks like you enter the property on the southern border close to the middle?

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[Snowflake Killa]

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Not a giant by any means but a mature East Texas bully of a deer. Every time we saw him he had broken more off. Riley my 6 year old has logged a little over 50Hrs in the stand with me this year. We shot that deer today from the same spot I killed my first deer 25 years ago. With any luck we will get to keep the lease long enough for her to get her first deer in the same spot, but if not we went out on a high note and will find somewhere new to keep it going.

Congratulations Kent

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[NewBallCoach]

Had a good season, saw deer in 90% of my sits, and multiple deer in 78% of those sits, just never saw the buck I was after. Made the decision 3 days ago to take a spike that showed up almost everytime I went and had shown up the 2 sits before I made that decision, he never showed after that lol. Kicking myself a little for not taking one of the 13 different doe I saw this season early on but that's ok. I will just have to fish more to keep meat in the freezer.

Anyways, what's yalls favorite seasonings for tag soup?

[NewBallCoach]

Had a good season, saw deer in 90% of my sits, and multiple deer in 78% of those sits, just never saw the buck I was after. Made the decision 3 days ago to take a spike that showed up almost everytime I went and had shown up the 2 sits before I made that decision, he never showed after that lol. Kicking myself a little for not taking one of the 13 different doe I saw this season early on but that's ok. I will just have to fish more to keep meat in the freezer.

Anyways, what's yalls favorite seasonings for tag soup?