I put corn in this feeder yesterday for the first time since Jan. I sat there this afternoon at 4:30 when the feeder goes off. These were just some of the deer I saw. Why does this area raise so many deer and others don't? We have far less vegetation than say East Tx. but have many more deer. And this is a LF 18 acre place that all the neighbors around hunt also.

I don't know, but I've had entire seasons in East Texas I didn't see that many deer.

Around us there are 100s of 5-10 acre lots that are not hunted because they are too small or deed restrictions. And everybody loves to feed the deer. We have 1000s of acres supporting wildlife with only the few 10+ acre places hunting, and they only shoot bucks. I think we could shoot every deer that we see and never put a dent in the population.
Similar to the Fair Oaks and Hollywood Park problem.

Yep, same as the difference between squirrels in the city and those that live in the forest.

Far more deer=far less vegetation than East TX. That's a matriarchal group. Old momma, two daughters a
year apart, and this year's fawns. All of them together weigh less than three mature does from STX.

As to why that region of Texas can support 1, 45lb deer/.25 acres vs. a different region that carries 1, 100lb. deer/25 acres? Even I can do that math.

Lack of predation is key. Timely rains are key, timely in that they hit in spring and fall. They cause a flush of new growth in the spring that carries the deer into late summer when the mast crops start. All that growth and mast crops lack protein content. Lack of predators mean higher survival. Lot of other factors involved but those are some the key one to me.

Predators might be the difference; but we do have coyotes, not nearly as many as S. Texas though. Interesting question for sure, I've pondered it for years.


Maybe we kill less deer around here? They made AR restrictions for some reason.

lack of predators is a big difference. years of heavy goat and sheep ranching and intense predator control seemed to almost eliminate predators in some parts of the hill country. my family owned 400 acres in blanco county from the early 80's until 2010. we didn't see or hear a coyote until about 2008. goat and sheep ranching has decreased a lot, but the deer population has gotten so big that the predators coming back probably won't ever make much of a difference now.

That still doesn't answer the question as to why East Texas doesn't have the same deer ratio.

I take probably 6 WT a year off that place plus a few Axis. The neighbors on all sides take no telling how many. There is hunting on all four sides of the place. And we do have plenty of coyotes. I talked to a neighbor a few days ago who owns the place on one side of this place. He told me he had seen 5 coyotes in one bunch on his place a couple of weeks ago. I have gotten pictures of coyotes and hogs on TCs I had put out. So there is plenty of predetation.