Got a buddy who's BIL has a decent sized farm in Coleman. He has basically given us an open invite to come hunt. Don't know much about the area except that his land borders a High Fence place.... what's a good buck out there gonna average, and what are the approximate rut dates?

I hunted Coleman a few years. I witnessed a buck mounting a doe on opening weekend, but it probably peaks a little closer to Thanksgiving. I killed 130 to mid 140 bucks. Had a couple of 150s killed on the same lease. Depends on hunting pressure around you and if bucks can get mature, as is the case anywhere.

If it allows you time in the field and around a deer camp with good friends, shooting a deer would be a bonus. If it's free, why that's an even bigger bonus.

How large is the farm and has it been managed?

The Coleman, Brownwood, Brady area has the numbers and you should see a lot of deer either way. The issue is the 100 acre farms with 5 Hunter's taking every young 8 that walks out. If I remember most bucks didn't get much heavier than 140lbs so body size is usually pretty small. If pressure had been low and the farm is 800-1000 acres+ you could see 140 inch plus deer.

You've also got the possibility of one of those HF Bucks getting loose...

It depends on where in Coleman the property is at. I have seen a few places near there with some Giants in the 160+ range. Most average deer will be 120-140 or so. Rut is usually the week of or the week before Thanksgiving depending on when the good cold from comes in

We have 1300 acres leased just north of town. We only shoot 4 1/2 year old bucks. Haven't had a problem not having several nice bucks to pick from.

I hunt about 7 miles south of Panther Creek - 1 mile north of the Kennedy park turn off for the lake. Pretty much hunted there all my life. It used to be pretty good hunting but then the areas around us started getting hunted pretty hard and then the drought hit. I killed the biggest buck i have seen on the place in about 8 years last year. Numbers have been looking much better the past 2 years but we have laid off the doe very heavily. Lots of little young bucks and a few trashy bucks that we just dont know about cause of age.

Coleman has some pretty good deer. alot of it depends where you are. IF you are anywhere near the Brown County line you could have some GREAT deer i have seen several really good deer killed on that side of the county!

I don't know a ton about the property... I want to say it's in the 300-500 acre range but gets very little hunting pressure. His dad killed a 170 a few years back but they are pretty sure it was an escapee off of the high fence place. He sent us some trail cam pics last year of a buck that would easily be 24 inches wide and score 160 or better, I just wondered if that was typical of the area or an exception. My only previous trip to Texas was in the Santos area on a HF but the deer outside the ranch we saw were a lot smaller than inside the HF.
I suppose the $300 license is worth a trip to see if it's good or not.
Thanks for the info.

Well man all i can tell ya is if you have a chance to come and afford it it could be a pretty cool trip. Got alot of options on hunting all in one trip. Whitetail, Quail, Turkey, Dove, and possibly varmints at night if you wanted to and theyd let ya. Also possible of some axis depending on where the place is located. Hollar at me if you need a varmint hunt haha. Im always up for some good action there!

will do! If we can figure out a date we can all make work we are coming! Got to be a weekend that 3 guys from Arkansas and 1 guy from Longview can all make work and I'm a HS football coach so that makes it kinda tough until Thanksgiving or after.

It's a good area. I've hunted Coleman pretty much my whole life. Were between Talpa and Valera close to the Runnels county line. We kill 140s every year, and have bigger ones around.

It's a good area. I've killed some good deer and a lot of quail there 25 years ago.

I also hooked up with some wild chicks from Coleman and Santa Anna. Watch out for them.

haha small world i am football coach at Zephyr right outside of brownwood. Also the Head Boys Basketball and assistant track so i understand the dilemma of finding time to hunt. That big one i killed last year i actually killed it thanksgiving weekend 2 days after we came back from 26-0 to win our quarterfinal game. I didnt get much hunting done last year due to making it to the state semifinals and starting basketball the next day haha. sounds like we could get along well!!!

Outstanding Area.
You will do well.
Be patient. Wait on the Rut.

absolutely.... if it looks like we are going to make the trip we might have to get in touch!
Our team looks decent this year so we could possibly go a couple of rounds deep in the playoffs. All depends on the draw after that!

Make the drive to Big O's in Valera one Friday night to eat ribs or Saturday night to get a ribeye.

Sounds like some good eating.... I'm a bit of a rib junkie myself.

My in-laws have a 50 acres they live on between Talpa and Valera, I've had feeders and cameras running for 2+ years and have seen a few nice 8's in the 120's and a decent 10 point may have been 130's, have yet to shoot anything yet though. Same as others have said we see new bucks around the rut so never quite know what you may see, we have numerous does and turkey that live on their place year round. Big O's makes a good chopped brisket sandwich as well...

Go to Big O's and order anything. Its all good! Man I miss that place...