Hey guys, I've been looking a little harder at getting my own place and really like the areas around Sulphur Springs/Lake Fork/Tawakoni and even a little further south down to Canton/Athens/Cedar Creek Lake.

Can any of y'all comment on the quality and numbers of deer in those areas? Obviously it will be property specific.

I also would like a place with hogs and a small lake for duck hunting....do any of y'all have any insight on how that type of hunting is in those areas?

Appreciate the feedback.

How big a place you looking at buying?

I will consider anything 50-300 acres, prefer it to have a small lake of at least 3-4 acres, but bigger is better.

Both deer quality and quantity is spotty and varies heavily on exactly where it he property is located. There are plenty of good bucks to be found on the right places, but there are many areas that are all but void of deer existence. Too difficult to say In general if a property within that area will be any bit worthwhile for hunting based on acreage alone.

I would pull up a deer per acre chart from the state. That would help you narrow down the county population. Also if you are worried about quality I would pull up Texas big game awards records in counties like Smith, Wood, Rains, and Upshur to see the number of quality deer killed each year. You can compare them to counties that you are familiar with and come up with a conclusion. I would make an effort to NOT buy property that is not next to a hunting club. Try to find a heavily wooded area that will hold deer. You need good thick bedding areas, good pasture area for the winter hold, and steady water delivery, whether it be ponds, creeks, rivers, or lakes. If you do not have a thicket for safe bedding areas, you will not hold deer. Clear cuts and select cuts are great for this. Young pine thickets work good too. I would do some heavy research on land before buying it for hunting. Land that is hard too get to is normally a good choice. You may even visit the locals to see what you might not want to live next to. Good luck.

I would look at a minimum of 150 acres

My buddy owns a 50 acre place that is what you described but his tank is 2 acres. End result is the deer hunting is okay, duck hunting ok, but not great.

Buy as big as you think you can, and then buy a little bigger.

Have not hunted that neck of the woods since the late 80's early 90's, we had a olace outside if Dyke we ran cattle on and it was horrible but they seem to have made leaps and bounds..have seen some quality come out of that area that we used to have never seen.
Some outstanding property up in that neck of the woods and love the big Timber

I would not rule out a little bit further south of DFW. Falls County has been producing some really big deer in some areas.

I hunt near Athens on a 100 acres piece of property.
It's just me and my son and between us we have killed 3 bucks, a doe, 2 hogs, and 2 coyotes the last two years.
Have had opportunities at 130 class bucks both years.
I do have to say if your used to hill country hunting you might need to work on your patience because sometimes you see deer sometimes you don't. East Texas Hunting though is not up to the caliber of Hill Country or South Texas but can be very rewarding with patience and can have some decent deer.

Biggest con though: the counties you mentioned are 1 13 inch spread buck allowed per person and no does during general season.
You also are allowed a spike with your buck and can kill does during bow season and thanksgiving weekend.

If you go south say buffalo the deer antlers start getting smaller all the way down to the san Antonio area and then they start getting bigger. If you go east or west of the area you are talking about they antler size gets bigger. I would stay Palistine or north of that. The central texas deer are a smaller species overall. I prefer as far east as I can get in east texas. There are counties that are tricky because of so much livestock land. It takes away a lot of the native grasses and forest. Find an area with a hole lot of woods and youll find animals.

Thanks for the info, guys.

I wish I had an unlimited budget to buy a huge place, but I'm swinging this one by myself so I have to keep the price reasonable. Also, time is one thing that I never have enough of so I want a place that doesn't require too much work.

I hadn't even thought of the deer bag limits in those areas...guess I need to keep that in mind. My goal is more of a recreational place with both hunting and fishing for myself and family. I am not completely concerned with huge deer, but I would like to see some decent ones and I would like to have the opportunity to hunt ducks, hogs, and varmints as well as a nice lake for fishing.

"time is one thing that I never have enough of so I want a place that doesn't require too much work "

I can say as a small land owner you will always have something that needs/you want to be done...keep that in mind. Also a more "turnkey" place is going to more expensive than something that is more raw. One last note is don't limit yourself to one particular area, I ended up finding a great place in a county (Navarro) I never really consdiered initially.

Good luck in your search! PM me if you have any questions...

Look at the Hawkins, Lindale area. You have some good public areas like Old Sabine Wildlife Area.

We own just over 100 acres in Wood County near lake fork. The number of deer is pretty good and has gotten a lot better over the years. The quality of the racks is still lacking but still getting better. For us, AR's have made a huge improvement. I have a friend that has property outside of Emory that almost backs up to Lake Fork, he has some monsters on his place.

That is good news. Can you describe the layout of his and your property? Creeks, pastures, all timber, cleared pines, thick underbrush, etc?

Just curious what type of properties they are...Thank you!

Lol, you're trying to get me to go into more debt! I can't afford 26k acres....at least not in ETx.

My Wood County place is all hardwoods with a couple seasonal creeks that run through it. The property is almost a square and has open pasture on 2 of 4 sides with the other 2 sides also with thick hardwoods. We have roughly 5 food plots and feed protein year around.

My buddies place is half the size of mine and is mixed hardwoods and pasture, he also has a couple food plots and feeds year around.

BlackZ28--thank you!