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Duval Co Lease questions #5581819 02/04/15 04:16 PM
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rob valle Offline OP
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Fellas,

Recently an opportunity came up for me, my dad and brother to lease 165 acres about 13 miles north of Freer. We went to see it the other other day and it looks good. Lots of hog activity, I could smell the javelinas, and we saw a doe and a spike. The place also has not been hunted in 3 years. Apparently the previous hunters trashed the place and were kicked off. One side is high fenced and low fenced on the other sides. A few questions to those of you familiar with the area.

1. How is crime in the area? This place is not far off of Hwy 59. I have a feeling my travel trailer will be stolen if I leave it out there. And not so much by illegals, but by tweakers. Man there were some shady looking guys at the gas stations we stopped at. I know a lot of dope comes up 59 headed to Houston.....I just had an erie feeling out there. I was thinking about buying a cheap throw down pop-up trailer or even a tent. I know what goes on in those cheap hotel rooms in Freer and wont stay in them. As of now, the wife says the kids will not be going down there with me.

2. I heard that south of Freer near Benavides is heavily poached but the area north of Freer is ok. Any truth to this? The stop sign on the turn off had bullet holes in it, but I didnt stop to inspect them.

3. How are the low fence deer north of Freer? The landowner is not a hunter so he doesn't have any pictures. They had some nice sheds lying around the camp that had been there a long time. The place looks really promising.....overgrown but the roads are good and tons of activity despite the lack of feeders out there. It is priced right and I am sure we will take it, I was just unsure about that area. Any help is appreciated....thanks!


And by the way......good God I could not believe the amount of GARBAGE on the highway between Poteet and Tilden. For miles on both sides it was nothing but FILTH! The oil boom really has changed the landscape down there.....


Rob Valle
www.hillcotaxidermy.com
Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5581841 02/04/15 04:25 PM
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Is it in an old subdivision? I would be very leery of leasing anything that small in Duval County anyway. 3 yrs of no hunting and only 165 acres in the country is not going to do much for the land.


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5581864 02/04/15 04:37 PM
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It does'nt look like a subdivision....just old ranch land. Senderos look good, but slightly overgrown. There is also a seasonal tank on the place which is currently dry. Lots of thick brush with heavily traveled trails. It looks like the animals may have been using this place as a refuge from other places which were being hunted. No signs of human activity at all.......


Rob Valle
www.hillcotaxidermy.com
Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5581959 02/04/15 05:09 PM
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Im with ranchman. Duval has a bad rap for a reason... and we own land there. 165 acres for 3 people is way not enough land. We hunt 320 with 3 people and rotate out our bucks, only one quality buck a year and sometimes we don't get that. I wouldn't believe for a second it hasn't been hunted in 3 years. Drive around some of the near by CR's and you will see what im talking about. Drive down 339 between Benavides and Freer and you will see more blinds than you can count. There are others on the forum who have leased properties in that area as well, their stories are never positive.


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5581965 02/04/15 05:10 PM
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As for illegal traffic, we have never seen any we have never seen evidence of any. We have trail cams out year round since 2007 and we have gotten 1 picture of two guys filling up gallon milk jugs out of our water station and that is it.


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: redchevy] #5582000 02/04/15 05:23 PM
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I fully understand wanting a lease in south texas but walk with caution. That is an awfully small tract for south texas - hate to see you squander good money


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5582007 02/04/15 05:25 PM
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Originally Posted By: rob valle
It does'nt look like a subdivision....just old ranch land. Senderos look good, but slightly overgrown. There is also a seasonal tank on the place which is currently dry. Lots of thick brush with heavily traveled trails. It looks like the animals may have been using this place as a refuge from other places which were being hunted. No signs of human activity at all.......

How large are the places joining it? Is there county rounds along any of the borders?


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5582070 02/04/15 05:48 PM
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The eastern boundry is a 15,000 HF ranch......the southern is low fence unknown acreage, the western is owned by the brother also about 165 acres low fence, and the northern is a county road.


Rob Valle
www.hillcotaxidermy.com
Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5582132 02/04/15 06:08 PM
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Every place is different. Not all small tracts in Duval are bad. I've had both good and bad experiences in Duval & surrounding counties. Was on two different leases where the LO's family was coming out to hunt/spotlight when we weren't there. I caught them and raised hell about it, so then all of my stuff got stolen. Saw very few deer. Where I'm at now (have been for over 15 yrs) is totally different. Your neighbors have a lot to do with what you will see on a small place, obviously. I'm on 700 acres & we normally hunt 4 at a time. We have one neighbor that hunts up to 4 on 100 acres and they killed bigger deer than we did last year. You never know.

1) You never know about the crime. You may not have issues for years then one day you get hit. Don't leave anything of real value there. Where I am at (SE Duval), we have had a lot of issues with illegals. They have come into our camp several times while we were there wanting food, water, and a ride. So far none have been aggressive, which is good because all of us carry. My main bitch about them is twice they have taken out a section of our front fence running from the BP. They lose it on a curve and crash through our fence, bailing out on our property. Then, of course we have to fix the fence. All part of the risk you take hunting in this neck of the woods.

2) I would say there is no truth to that statement.

3) As stated that depends on a number of different things. The LO (his family) and your neighbors will have a lot to do with that. If you are good in that department, then start feeding corn and feed year round. If there is any way you/ya'll can drill a well to keep water year round I would definitely do it. It's a good thing that the place is grown up.


Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: skinnerback] #5582919 02/05/15 01:29 AM
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Originally Posted By: skinnerback
Every place is different. Not all small tracts in Duval are bad. I've had both good and bad experiences in Duval & surrounding counties. Was on two different leases where the LO's family was coming out to hunt/spotlight when we weren't there. I caught them and raised hell about it, so then all of my stuff got stolen. Saw very few deer. Where I'm at now (have been for over 15 yrs) is totally different. Your neighbors have a lot to do with what you will see on a small place, obviously. I'm on 700 acres & we normally hunt 4 at a time. We have one neighbor that hunts up to 4 on 100 acres and they killed bigger deer than we did last year. You never know.

1) You never know about the crime. You may not have issues for years then one day you get hit. Don't leave anything of real value there. Where I am at (SE Duval), we have had a lot of issues with illegals. They have come into our camp several times while we were there wanting food, water, and a ride. So far none have been aggressive, which is good because all of us carry. My main bitch about them is twice they have taken out a section of our front fence running from the BP. They lose it on a curve and crash through our fence, bailing out on our property. Then, of course we have to fix the fence. All part of the risk you take hunting in this neck of the woods.

2) I would say there is no truth to that statement.

3) As stated that depends on a number of different things. The LO (his family) and your neighbors will have a lot to do with that. If you are good in that department, then start feeding corn and feed year round. If there is any way you/ya'll can drill a well to keep water year round I would definitely do it. It's a good thing that the place is grown up.



I would agree with Skinner on this one..Could be a little gold mine but depends on neighbors and landowners. I know the area pretty well, been hunting down the road on Webb/Zapata county lines for about 40 years. If that HF place is right off 59 north of Freer, I know exactly where it is. Thick, really thick shortbrush country there. I wouldn't worry that much about illegals in that thick of brush country and that close to BP checkpoint south of Freer. Better chance of having locals or friends of landowners messing with your stuff but if camp is in off road, think you'd be pretty safe.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5583113 02/05/15 02:40 AM
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Not sure about the neighbors......they have what appears to be a very nice place that is well maintained. I know the neighbor is the brother of the LO, but they are both elderly gentlemen who live in San Antonio and don't hunt. They have grown kids who also dont hunt or party. It appears the brothers place is leased out by the nice blinds and good roads. Not sure about the neighbors to the south. The east side is a 15,000 acre high fence place and the north is a CR.


Rob Valle
www.hillcotaxidermy.com
Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5583126 02/05/15 02:44 AM
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Rob, if you get a decent vibe and the price is good like you say, I'd give it a try myself.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5583260 02/05/15 03:45 AM
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Well talked it over with my dad and bro and we are going to go for it. With the three of us being the only hunters there, I know there won't be any problems like u sometimes have on other places. (Guests, "that was my deer why did u shoot it?", drunkeness,trash, etc.). I haven't hunted South Texas in about 6 years so it will be nice to be back. We decided to look for an old pop-up trailer that wouldn't kill us if it were stolen. Wife is nervous about rattlesnakes and illegals so the kids may not make it out but we will play that by ear. Very excited so far!


Rob Valle
www.hillcotaxidermy.com
Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5583265 02/05/15 03:48 AM
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Rob, I wouldn't be too scared of Freer myself, it has one or two cleaner motels. I think some of the activities you mentioned are probably more prevalent during the week with workers in the fields than on weekends, especially weekends during deer season.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5583715 02/05/15 02:43 PM
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I wouldn't be scared of illegals or snakes. Don't let the kids run around by themselves and they will be fine. In the 7-8 years we have had our place we have found less than 10 rattlers, they have all been big, 5+ feet, but they all fought to get away from us.

Last edited by redchevy; 02/05/15 02:44 PM.

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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5584515 02/05/15 08:47 PM
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Hope it's a great experience for you all up


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5584578 02/05/15 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted By: rob valle
Well talked it over with my dad and bro and we are going to go for it. With the three of us being the only hunters there, I know there won't be any problems like u sometimes have on other places. (Guests, "that was my deer why did u shoot it?", drunkeness,trash, etc.). I haven't hunted South Texas in about 6 years so it will be nice to be back. We decided to look for an old pop-up trailer that wouldn't kill us if it were stolen. Wife is nervous about rattlesnakes and illegals so the kids may not make it out but we will play that by ear. Very excited so far!

Good luck. cheers
3 hunters on 165 is a lot in that area when a lot of the area only holds a deer to every 20-30 acres.


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Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5584831 02/05/15 10:50 PM
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Well my bro is in the Air Force so he will only be hunting when he comes down for Thanksgiving break. So in essence it will be just me and my dad. Hopefully it will work out!


Rob Valle
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Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5585206 02/06/15 01:26 AM
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165 acres in duval.... keep looking. 165 acres isn't enough land to hold deer without them moving off it, so it's not relevant if it hasn't been hunted in 3 years or not.

North of freer isn't as bad about poaching as south and south west, but the locals still hunt year around all over the place in that area.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5585543 02/06/15 03:56 AM
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Rob if you get the place in South Texas can I put up a feeder up in your back yard, I know hill country deer might be a little smaller but I think I could tag out pretty quick.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: BowsnRods] #5585839 02/06/15 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted By: BowsnRods
Rob if you get the place in South Texas can I put up a feeder up in your back yard, I know hill country deer might be a little smaller but I think I could tag out pretty quick.
I was thinking the same thing. I have a buddy that lives in that area that has more WT and Axis come to his feeder you can imagine.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5586119 02/06/15 03:32 PM
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Come on guys you know every couple of years you have to break up the monotony with a new place! John and Don, I know both of you are covered up in deer at your houses too!


Rob Valle
www.hillcotaxidermy.com
Originally Posted by Texsun
The three things you need in life are a good doctor, lawyer and taxidermist.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5586152 02/06/15 03:49 PM
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Rob, give it a go, nothing ventured/nothing gained. Easy to get off if doesn't go the way you like, right.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5586422 02/06/15 05:58 PM
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Well said DQ Kid, I also agree you just never know! put up feeders and camera's as soon as you get it.

Re: Duval Co Lease questions [Re: rob valle] #5586439 02/06/15 06:11 PM
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X2 - DQ, good point most miss.


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