Gleaton Chip Ranch Updates

[PittBoss]

Outstanding thread, really enjoyed it. Just went through the whole thing this morning. What y’all have done so far with the land is amazing. Thx for the time you spent updating…..Livin the dream!

[bgleaton]

Thanks! My dad is headed out there now and I'm taking my family and my nephews and brother-in-law out there on 12/18 through 12/21. My goal is to shoot two doe and two bucks. Our main objective for this deer season is to reduce our deer numbers so these bigger bucks (4yrs +) will have more forage and supplemental feed. We've shot 4 cull bucks and 3 doe so far this season which means we have 6 more buck tags and 7 more doe tags - 20 total deer. According to our camera survey, we have identified 41 different bucks. This is why we are removing 10 bucks this year. We would like to have around 30 bucks and 22 doe (post season).

Here are some pictures that show some of the bucks and what they've done over the past couple of years:









This is one of the bucks we are trying to shoot.


We are going to give this guy at least one more year and see if he blows up next year but he hasn't done much over the past couple of years.

I do these yearly comparisons because it helps me figure out the age of a buck. For me, without history like this, it's really hard to pinpoint the age. As you can see, some of the bucks didn't do much from last year while others did really well. We are hoping by reducing the # of total mouths and continuing to clear cedars on an annual basis that it will help provide more quality forage, thus bigger antlers.

I'll provide another update after next weekend!

[PittBoss]

What a great thread! I’ve been a member here for awhile but drifted away and just came back. I spend a LOT of time on another message board but see now I’ll be here much more frequently….between yours and the McMullen thread, I’m not gonna get anything done today….lol….I’m heading south in the morning, need to pack!

[TildenHunter]

This has been a very fascinating thread. Yall got lucky with having great deer to start with! Yall are doing it right and I appreciate you taking the time to keep the thread updated. Keep plugging away and I think you guys will meet all your goals!

[bsills]

What a great thread thanks for taking us along. I am guessing yall dont have water rights to draw water from the river to irrigate the food plots?

[bsills]

I have Loved this thread, cant believe I have never seen it.
We recently purchased a place on the San Saba river between Menard and Hext, how far from Hext are yall. We have similar country so I have greatly appreciated how documented you have been. Many ideas have spawned off this thread for us.
Ultimately did yall high fenced you place more because the neighbors wouldn't shoot enough deer or because they were shooting target bucks to young?
Do yall have any feeders in your low fence river pasture?

[bgleaton]

I have Loved this thread, cant believe I have never seen it.
We recently purchased a place on the San Saba river between Menard and Hext, how far from Hext are yall. We have similar country so I have greatly appreciated how documented you have been. Many ideas have spawned off this thread for us.
Ultimately did yall high fenced you place more because the neighbors wouldn't shoot enough deer or because they were shooting target bucks to young?
Do yall have any feeders in your low fence river pasture?

Thanks for the kind words! We high fenced our place mostly to reduce the # of deer due to lack of harvesting doe by the neighbors. We worked with our neighbors for 8+ years doing deer counts and working with biologists on what to shoot. The biologist would tell the leased hunters to shoot 25 doe and 10 bucks and they would end up shooting 3 doe and 12 bucks. This went on for years and the straw that broke the camels back was when they shot a 4yr old typical 12-point that I had sent them all pictures on to let them know we were all passing on him to give him another year or two and to allow him to breed and they shot it. We knew that in order for us to reach our goals, which is to grow the biggest native deer possible, that we would have to high fence our place. We would have much rather not fenced it but it is what it is. Now, we are just managing our numbers and don’t have to worry about managing our neighbors.

We fenced as close as we could to the river. Our fence is probably 100ft up from the river and we don’t have any feeders on this side, only in the fenced section.

[PondPopper]

Thanks for the kind words! We high fenced our place mostly to reduce the # of deer due to lack of harvesting doe by the neighbors. We worked with our neighbors for 8+ years doing deer counts and working with biologists on what to shoot. The biologist would tell the leased hunters to shoot 25 doe and 10 bucks and they would end up shooting 3 doe and 12 bucks. This went on for years and the straw that broke the camels back was when they shot a 4yr old typical 12-point that I had sent them all pictures on to let them know we were all passing on him to give him another year or two and to allow him to breed and they shot it. We knew that in order for us to reach our goals, which is to grow the biggest native deer possible, that we would have to high fence our place. We would have much rather not fenced it but it is what it is. Now, we are just managing our numbers and don’t have to worry about managing our neighbors.

We fenced as close as we could to the river. Our fence is probably 100ft up from the river and we don’t have any feeders on this side, only in the fenced section.

I hunt literally within a few miles of your place and fully understand your reason for high fencing the property.... I am just a few miles north, as the crow flies, on a 580 acre tract..
I sure wished that the hunters in this area would realize the high level of native genetics that we have in that area and I dang sure wish they would stop shooting all of those great 3.5 and 4.5 year bucks... Just because he is 130"-140" doesn't mean he needs to be shot.. In just 2 or 3 years he could blow up into something much bigger.. It is really sickening..

[bgleaton]

I hunt literally within a few miles of your place and fully understand your reason for high fencing the property.... I am just a few miles north, as the crow flies, on a 580 acre tract..
I sure wished that the hunters in this area would realize the high level of native genetics that we have in that area and I dang sure wish they would stop shooting all of those great 3.5 and 4.5 year bucks... Just because he is 130"-140" doesn't mean he needs to be shot.. In just 2 or 3 years he could blow up into something much bigger.. It is really sickening..

You nailed it! The only way a buck can get to 150in or 160in is to allow the 130in & 140in bucks walk another year or two. I totally understand if it's a kid and it's their first buck or their biggest buck. Most of the time we are talking about grown ups who claim that they want to grow big deer but yet they shoot the 3yr and 4yr old's every year.

That's great to know you are close to us! Let me know if you ever want to do any cedar mulching/dozing or prescribed burning, maybe we could help each other out? Have a great day!

[bgleaton]

Caught 3 more coyotes so that’s 4 this deer season. I reset 6 snares yesterday. I shot one of the cull bucks, I’ll post a other picture of him.


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[bgleaton]

My son and I were able to clear about 100 cedars in an oak thicket. Hoping to clear 100 cedars by hand per trip in 2022. These cedar skeletons will allow the greenbriars and other oak seedlings establish, at least that’s the hope.

[bgleaton]

Tried to shoot a doe this evening with my bow alongside my son. We had two big ol’ doe come in and as soon as I tried to open the one window they scattered. It’s almost as if they saw the reflection change or something. It was good to sit in this bow blind bc I haven’t sat in it in over a year or two. We are going to make some drapes or something to block light bc there is way too much light due to all the windows. Another project for another day!


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[bgleaton]

Here’s a picture of the cull buck I shot a couple of days ago.


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[Big pig]

I know you cull in each age class. I really like that technique.
How old was that last buck?

Windows behind you in that bow blind you got busted in?
For better or worse, I only have windows on front and “sides” of my Krivo.
I put that side into a tree for shade anyway.

[bgleaton]

We believe this buck was around 4 or 5yrs old. We have 3 years of history with him and he has been the exact same each year. He was one the biologist thought could have been 7-8+ yrs old but who knows. When we see a buck who hasn’t shown any improvements in 3 straight years then chances are that he is going to get whacked as long as he is at least 4yrs old.

For the bow blind, there are no windows in the back. just those four in front and 2 on the side (toward the front) but the windows in front just let too much light inside. The box blind is 7ft deep so we sit towards the back to try to sit in the darkest possible place but it didn’t work out this evening.


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