hunting has been slow!!??? whats the deal

man it seems like the last few times we have been out the deer are non exsistent!! Anyone else seeing this? we are in western Coryell county..usually see numerous deer.. my dads stand for instance is usually the best as far as number of deer seen and the last 2 times out..0!!

I hunt right around Goldthwaite and it has been pretty good. Saw 15 Friday evening and 14 Sunday morning including 2 good 10 pointers. Maybe there is some kind of other food source around yall that is drawing deer to it right now.

good year for tha deer

Been slow for us. Just the past week we noticed the bachelor groups beginning to split, a few of the young bucks are running around but not serious or dedicated, and a few new bucks have showed up we hadn't seen before, but they are still in groups of bucks more or less.

In the next few weeks its about to kick off for our are, but its been pretty darn slow. Lots of does activity but the bucks haven't been out and about much.

On our new place it's an abundance of food, water and girls. Mature bucks have been very scarce this year and we know we have some good ones from trail cam pics, they're just not materializing during shooting hours.

I have only seen 2 deer (1 young doe and one young 6pt) this season during shooting hours. Have tons of activity from midnight till 4am but that's about it. I am in SE Brown County

I hunted yesterday morning until around 10 and didn't see anything so I took off. I cam back out later because I noticed one of my feeders was on its last few kernels of corn and filled both feeders as well as pulled cards since it will be a week or two before I can get back out. When looking at the card I noticed a few doe walked through about an hour after I left in the morning other than that even our night hunts have been slow

I have noticed though on my drives out to Kempner during the day that the fields are full of deer and looking very green still.

Wettest spring in a long time for most of the state. In my area wetter years = bigger racks, but tougher hunting till late in the winter. Deer and pigs have PLENTY to eat.. more than they know what to do with. They'll hit the corn but don't stay long.

well we do have a neighbor that has about a 6 or so acre patch of oats...ive scene a lot on it and the guy doesn't hunt it....im sure that doesn't help...it needs to freeze! lol..

Oats don't freeze. The colder it gets the more deer will go to it.

^^^This. What are his oats for? I'd find out and see if i couldn't gain access to that! Or get an oat plot of your own going for next year.

Off topic but would buying bags of whole oats do the same as an oat plot?

good question and yes next year gonna do some of my own planting

I want to also but my land is pure rocks, I think I would have to bring in a lot of topsoil

The draw for deer is the actual oat plant, they like the green growth, as long as it stay's tender and palatable.

It's been weeks since I've seen something. I did see a shooter Saturday night at dark but that's been it.

Lots of green in the pasture and deer are on wheat if its around. I have not seen a deer live this year eat corn so if you are sitting over feeders, it's been tough.

At the beginning of the season we would have piles of left over corn under our feeder each morning from the day prior. Now it is gone each day and also I pour 300lbs of corn all along our road and when I went to fill the feeders last night the road was completely cleaned up.

I think they are starting to move to corn more now.

That's good to know. Warm weather this week, gonna let my place lay low. Week after should be better.

Don't get me wrong though, the fields are still very green. I'm thinking maybe the acorn supply has dried up and they are starting to supplement with corn

Corn has a very small amount of use for a deer, but when it is cold and you have good quality corn out, they do get some energy from it. That would make sense that they are on it more when it is colder.

My deer have fertilized oats and wheat to munch on, but they still hit the feeder on occasion during daylight, but mostly after dark. I also have 16% protein pellets in with the corn (50/50), so I see more going for that. Tons of winter browse here, less acorns, but still a few, have seen them hitting late growth twigs and falling leaves (yellow ones that have highest sugar content) from Osage Orange (Bois d' arc) and a few other softwoods.

If you are sitting on feeders, a bobcat will keep the deer away from a particular feeder. If a lion moves through the area, the deer will move to avoid the lion. Lions generally keep moving so the deer will go back to normal behavior in a week or so.
Problem is with the bobcats are pretty territorial.
Adios,
Gary

In parker county we've seen deer at almost every sit. I do have deer hitting the corn frequently, but the deer I shot last week had a belly full of acorns. Seems they prefer the spots that I hand corn more than going to the feeder.

Saw deer deer this am for the first time in a while. Walked in on deer leaving the food plot. For my area it has been too wet, too warm, and that means nocturnal deer. Filled feeders and looking forward to about two weeks and hope it won't be record highs like this week.

Bow season was too warm, deer would show up about 5 minutes past dark and that trend has continued through gun season so far.

Having said that, had two young bucks under a feeder at 3 pm today....go figure. Tough animals to pattern well, at least I have trouble with the ones that frequent my lease.

I have seen an uptick in food plot activity since the recent frosts. And all the recent rains have taken their toll on the acorn crop.

Location, location, location.

Since the cold snap we had after thanksgiving I have seen an uptick in activity. Nothing huge or old, but the ladies are coming back and young bucks are showing up. Had one 9 pt I would take if I saw him one night around 8pm, but other than that it is spikes and forkhorns.

I sat Saturday morning from 6 - 1030 and saw two doe. I went back out at 2:30 and sat until 5:30 and saw nothing. I stayed in the stand to try for the hogs we have been seeing on camera. About 6:45 I shined my light in the field to my left and saw two doe and the field to my right had two more. From 6:45 to 8:30 there were 8 that came in. So they are just moving at night and there is nothing we can do about it.

The hogs never came in either.

I've been wondering the same thing. I'm in NW Parker county, close to peaster but east of peaster towards weatherford, and it is slow here too. Even the my cameras show less deer. I am thinking it is the warm weather and the deer still have a lot to eat, so they don't come out into the open as much or go for the corn. We have 3 coyote packs running here too, I think I may have to get out at night and reduce their count. I am hoping it is the warmer weather and not the coyotes. Heard a lot less shooting this year too..

I remember that ice storm a couple years back, in early december, the deer were all over the feeder because they couldn't get to any other food. just my 2 cents.. If I had to put a number on it, I am seeing 1/3 of the deer I saw the past 2 years. I am hoping for a good cold spell.