Bought my own little slice of heaven and there are deer...

Alright fellas. I'm not new to deer hunting but I am new to it in Texas and on my land. I've never set up a feeder but just purchased 19 acres to build a house on and put up a feeder 4 weeks ago. Got the pictures below in the first 8 days but here are my questions.

1) Since I only have 19 acres, should I be letting anything I like "walk" for next year?
2) There seem to be a lot of deer in the area, so should I be concerned with filling my tags on just 19 acres?
3) I've never shot a "big" buck. I've always hunted for meat and the fun. Some of these look like good deer and are certainly more trophy worthy than anything I've ever shot. Are any of these "big" and what would they score? I have no idea on how to score a deer.

Thanks in advance gents.



Snaggletooth. Not shooting him, I just thought he looked cool:





The ladies fighting over food...

Congrats on your place! Nothing like owning your own land!

Thanks man...It's a lifelong dream to own a property like this. Now my wife gets to build the house she wants (within our budget). Life is pretty good right now!

Congrats. Nice deer.
I would hunt it, but being selective. Cull the bad ones. Doe here and there....

Congratulations, you certainly do have your own little piece of Texas Heaven! There are two 10s in your pics. that look to be quality trophy deer for a 19 acre place. If the opportunity presents itself I would take it unless your neighbors are managing their property to build genetics, then I would meet with them before deciding.

SCORE! If you don't hunt it let me know! lol go off of age and you cant go wrong... I live on 38acres and hunt it.. its turned into one of my best spots.. take about 2-3 deer off of it every year for the last 5 years

X2

That last buck is a stud!

Congrats on your land. What county are you in? My dad has 100 Acres but it doesn't hold a lot of deer. I would figure out how many deer you pull to the feeders and then figure out how many you can take out.

That buck in the slightly daylight photo is a stud. I can't say I'd pass that deer especially on 19 acres.

About 35 minutes to downtown Dallas...this place is out east.

I'm getting 10+ does per day. Maybe more...hard to tell those gals apart from morning and evening visits but at least 10 different ones. Bucks are hit and miss and almost always at night.

I've got 3,000 acres behind be that is timber, so I'm pulling off of that land. 400+ directly behind is for sale so no one is managing it now. (Let me know if you're interested and I'll connect you with the seller).

I plan on being selective but I've never taken a buck as big as most of these and my boys have never taken a deer at all. Any worries with me taking a buck and then my two boys taking a doe or buck each?

That's my thought as well. He's got some mass. Any idea on what he'd score?

You cannot manage deer on 19 acres, so shoot any deer you like and don't worry about. I wouldn't take more than one deer per year. At MOST one buck and maybe a doe. You shoot any more than that and you'll have zero deer in no time at all. Not that you will shoot them all, but they'll learn pretty quickly to stay off your property - and that will be very easy to do with 19 acres.

And BTW, I'd shoot that big one in a heartbeat and keep quiet about it with your neighbors

Congrats, looks like lots of excellent opportunities.

very nice and congrats on the place!!

I would hunt it. Shoot what you want, it's your property.

In the past, we've shot lots of deer off of a 15 acre property with two stands that each cover about an acre of land that is open to where you can see deer.

Deer either come to the feeders or they pass through the property. All the neighboring land is hunted but not much pressure.

Is this an antler restricted county? If so, that will help improve the quality of bucks.

Not in the right areas... you find a good hotspot and you can take much more than one a year.... run plenty of feed, make sure you got water, cover and cover around you... sounds like hes in a spot that offeres alot to have that many animals..

But yes I do agree its easy to "train" deer from coming through an area.. one thing iv done on mine is strictly bow hunt... has it helped who knows all the neighbors do.. but everyone kills deer every year and seems like there are even more the next. I like keeping a property quiet

I have 50 acres in far east Texas and I can't manage that with any serious impact. Deer range further out than my land. I would adhere to the law and let your ethics be your guide. You cannot control what happens when they leave your land, so....

Really depends on the amount of hunting pressure around you. If you are covered in deer that might be a dead giveaway of less hunting pressure, and listen for gunshots during the opening of deer season. Lots of gun shots, then you know there is hunting pressure so letting a deer walk may be good for your neighbor.
I almost forgot, if you bought acreage in an area that was newly subdivided from a large ranch, the hunting will be great for about a year or two then it will decline rapidly. Just sayin!

I know my neighbors hunt. One has 2,500 acres so that's not pressured. Another bought 19 right next to me and he will be hunting. The land behind be is for sale...400+ acres. The realtor owns it and will hunt it.

There is plenty of water and nothing but timber surrounding the property...one of the reasons we bought it. I know there are hogs in the area but we haven't seen or heard any and they haven't hit the feeder yet...knock on wood. I'll let you guys know how it turns out come November.

Agree with John Humbert. If you hunt the feeder there is a good chance that the deer will only show up at night. I would either try to bow hunt it or hunt a trail leading to the feeder.

Saw this dude at the feeder while I was on the tractor yesterday. I've seen him more than any other buck out there. How old does he look to ya'll? Most of the bucks I'm seeing look fairly young...

He's mature.

+1

That last one u just posted is a big ma ture 7 point. Bust him.

Forgive my rookieness...what's mature mean in ya'll's book?

mature deer are at least 4 1/2 in any books. Until then they are not considered mature. Many serious trophy hunters won't shoot a deer until it's 5-7 depending on their herd.

5+

You have some nice deer! Have the pigs found your feeder yet?

I guess this is Hunt County? Hunt County holds some nice deer for sure. Just go light on the trigger and try to get your neighbor on board with a management plan. Good luck and enjoy your land!

We are beyond excited about this property! Lots of deer...not a single hog on camera and no sign that I've been able to find thus far. We'll start building our home soon...so we'll be out there all the time. Truly a lifelong dream to live on a place like this.

BTW, the neighboring 460+ acres are for sale if anyone is interested. The owner said I could have a finders fee, so let me know if anyone wants info. Still Kaufman county...only 30-35 minutes to downtown Dallas.

IMHO deer seen on 19 acres should be considered vanishing assets and I would harvest the good ones and hope the others do not get taken. You may see a change after you apply pressure.

Good luck and welcome to Texas.

That's awesome, congrats on the property and I hope the home building goes relatively smoothly.

My wife and I are talking about doing this within the next 5 years. We don't have kids yet but hopefully will have a couple of kids by then. We want to find a place that is within about a 1.5 hour drive of San Marcos where both of our parents live. We are currently in the DFW metroplex so it'd be a big move and a large change in lifestyle, for the better at least in my opionin. Land prices down that way have gone through the roof over the last 10-15 years, so I don't know what size of property we'll be able to get. I would love to find a small tract that is unrestricted and not in a subdivision, that way we could build a small cabin or live in a nice RV for a year or two before building our home. We could get to know the lay of the land, take our time designing the home and be picking choosing the general contractor. If we could get at a minimum 10 acres, and I could at least bow hunt the back end of it that would be a dream come true. I love the idea of raising our kids on a property that allows them some room to roam, and they could grow up with nature and the outdoors being part of their everyday life. That would be impossible where we currently live in Richardson. I grew up in a situation like that, and I know having woods to build forts in and play paintball and build bike trails made my childhood so much more enjoyable and has instilled a passion for the outdoors firmly in my conscience.