Johnson City Deer Lease

Just got on a deer lease around Johnson City. Have never hunted this area before, and just curious what the deer are like around here. Ive heard good things from locals but wanted to see what you guys thought.

Lots and lots and lots of deer

This. I've never seen so many deer in an area. Has to have one of the highest densities in the state.

My little place is west of you in southern Gillespie county. 'Would take a military campaign to wipe out the deer. You'll see plenty. Big racks - not so much.

Lots of deer. Don't expect to to see many breaking 100"

Lots of small deer.

Make sure to keep your eyes open when driving around there at night.

There good deer taken in the county every year low fence. There was a 182 NT taken in that JC/Stonewall area in 2014 on LF. There was net book typical taken north of F'burg in in 2011 on LF. A couple of 160 class NT taken in the county in 2012 on LF. Several 140 class typical taken in 2013 and 2014 on LF.
I would not call those "small deer" or they sure won't fall into the "many breaking 100"" class either It is just like any other county in Texas. It depends on the ranch/lease location and what they neighbors are doing around you.

JACKALOPES!

Most semi-mature Bucks will break a 100 easy with the majority in to the 120+ range.

STX, how do you come up with these statistics? Not doubting your statement at all. I am always amazed at your knowledge of hunting and ranches regardless of where the ranch location may be.

I have hunted in between dripping springs and Johnson city since I was 12. Lots of deer few huge deer mainly because it is non ar county( my personal opinion). My dad took a deer last year that scored 101 he was definitely on the bigger side of the deer we see but your game cams will show you a few good ones you just have to be willing to go get them. I will note your neighbors will greatly influence your hunting, friends that are near U.S. Have neighbors that have 6 stands on 25 acres with tons of trash all over the place. On our place majority of bucks are 2 years a few get to 3 years 4 and up is a rarity. We do not feed protein and take 2 or 3 deer a year on about 300 acres. Would not trade it for anything. You could tear it up in bow season for sure.

I've heard of places like that, but, thankfully, never seen one or been near one. Some folks ain't got no sense.

TBGA site is full of info with scores and pics of some of the deer.

Thank you sir, I will look at their their web site.

It was an interesting site, but I don't see how multiple people hunt (who would pay for that), 25 acres is just too small for 2 or more. They had trash everywhere, shotgun shells on the ground everywhere. One area had 2 stands about 100 yards in view of one another on the same feeder. I wonder how they decide who gets to take the deer that shows up??

good size deer in that area are like 7' people in china, not so much

I hunted the same property between Blanco and Johnson City for 15 years. If you can get a few bucks to 4.5 years old, you'll have some pretty good bucks. We took a few bucks in the 130s, but I'd consider anything over 115 to be a solid deer for the area. IME it really depends on your neighbors, there are a lot of small properties in the county and if you've got a neighbor or two that shoot too many young bucks its probably going to be pretty hard to manage for mature bucks. Its safe to assume that you'll see lots of deer, and you've got a good chance to have exotics, too.

I've got a much better chance to take a nice, mature buck where I hunt now, but if I had the chance I'd head back to Blanco County in a heartbeat. Hunting in a such a target rich environment was a lot of fun.

I've been on a 300 acre lease just south of J-City for two seasons now and I love it. I'm new to deer hunting, and like others have mentioned we're seeing lots of deer. I have had my pick of good sized bucks and does; enough for three of us to fill our freezers. This past season we've seen larger bucks, I think the previous guys got a little trigger happy. I'd be glad to stay here for a while, lot's of deer mean lots of chances to learn from my mistakes.

We also have turkeys and a few hogs, bonus!

there's lots of good deer in this area. it just depends on what your neighbors are like and the size of the ranch you are on. I was fortunate enough to kill several 120-140 class deer just a few miles north of JC when I was younger. and just today I saw an older buck 500 yards from the city limits that was in that range.

Excellent Sausage

thanks everyone for the comments i appreciate it. really looking forward to this season.
Rattler03-foodieguy- im in between Johnson City and Blanco about a mile from 290 and 281. the few times we have been to check out the place we have seen deer. was told they have hogs on the place as well as some exotics roaming the area that "escaped" down the road.

just curious, how did you find that lease? Seems like leases in that general area are very hard to come by...

The genetics are there. My dad has been on a low fence place in that area for over twenty years. They feed corn year around and a little protein. The main thing is they try to let young buck grow up. They have shot numerous buck between 130 and 150. Several drop tine bucks and true 12 pointers. The body weights can run smaller than other parts of the state though.

We were just west of the 281/290 intersection behind the Miller Creek RV park on a 400 acre ranch. The 2 best bucks we took in over 20 years (135"-ish) were both taken out of a stand that was probably less than 400 yards from the highway intersection. I think our place would have been a lot better as far as mature bucks if we didn't have a 110 acre neighbor (the notorious Don Jackson) that always leased to at least 3 hunters that never seemed to have an issue shooting young bucks. We had lots of hogs and turkey, a good population of sika, groups of axis would move in and out of our place and a very few auodads and fallow would occasionally be spotted. It was a great place to hunt. Congrats, I think you're going to really enjoy your new lease.

Go with an attitude that it's a place to enjoy the outdoors and fill the freezer. A trophy would be a bonus. I would strongly urge to focus buck hunting to the front end of the season, between the opening weekend and Thanksgiving, to coincide with the rut. That's your best shot for a decent buck. Typical Hill Country patterns with lots of acorns will only add to the challenge.

Hopefully this will tell you what you may see out on your new lease. The hill country is a great place. I've learned more about the outdoors and life rather than hunting. We do not feed protein and don't feed year round (i'm sure it would help out there, especially in the summer)

Rattler03- we're in the same area, we drive by the RV park and are a bit down that road. I hope our LO keeps us on this year, we're not sure what that status is. I love the area and it's close to Austin, can't beat it!