Red River County (Avery, TX)

Does anyone have advice for hunting in Red a River County specifically around Avery,TX? I’ve hunted for years and shot one deer. Most deer don’t go to the feeder if they do I’m not round to see it. I feed year round and see deer on camera, that is if the hogs don’t run em off. There’s a creek on the property that holds water year round and part of the property floods with a lot of rain. The property is mostly trees with small clearings here and there. Motel sure if I need to be doing something differently or not as the deer hunting is not good compared to what I’ve been used to (central Texas) where the deer run to feeder sound.

Is your place mostly pine with hardwoods around the creek?

If so the acorn crop in the hardwoods will override your hard work until mid to late December. If it’s all hardwoods you still have to find the areas that produce the best acorns. Red river produces some nice fat deer with decent racks in the 18-20” range but it’s hard hunting until late December. I’m convinced the trees check with TP&W to see when opening day is to start dropping those acorns.

In all seriousness our best bucks are taken every year after December 15th from feeders. The ruts long gone, the bucks are grouping back up, the acorns are gone, and they’re typically starving. Most people are disillusioned by the beginning of December and saying “we’ll get em next year”.

You’re other option, which I don’t do anymore myself, is to actually hunt the deer. Scouting trails, rubs, scrapes, walking, discomfort, etc... then you can nail that big deer opening weekend. For me these days it’s about the social and heated deer stands. Does early and big bucks for some late season.

Next time you there and frustrated just look me up. We will have a fire going, food cooking, plenty of laughs, and maybe a cold beer.

The place is all hardwoods, maybe a few pines thrown in somewhere. Usually later in the season it sometimes floods from excessive rain in the back making the deer move up towards the front. I had a couple shooting lanes cut last year and it helped to better see the deer as they tended to move into those lanes for the new growth; otherwise it would be hard to shoot past 40-50 yards unless they were stopped just right, I also keep any of the grassy open areas cut low too, I heard the deer enjoy freshly cut grass, plus its easier to see them.

I started feeding protein year-round last year so time will tell if that does anything. I usually keep the corn feeders full from Oct-Jan and limit the protein those months. Do you think its worth it to feed all year or just feed during hunting season? I was also thinking of creating a small food plot area but not sure if that will help any either, maybe?

I too am more of the social and heated deer stands type of hunter, definitely if I'm not seeing anything that sounds like a great idea.

This sounds like a place I bowhunter for 15 years on the Lamar/Fannin county line. I never used feeders for myself and it took me about 3 years to figure out the deer movements on that property(early 90's). When my boys started to get into hunting age I did something stupid....I started putting feeders out to make things easy for them. What i quickly found out was that deer hit those feeders hard over the summer, but sometime in mid sept. when the acorns started falling the corn started piling up under the feeders and rotting. I fed hogs and coons until late Dec. 2 of my 3 boys ended up shooting their first bucks away from feeders. My mother boy never got a chance as the place was sold and I had to go another place. The one advice I would tell you is the find east/west movement trails, funnels. I had 2 stands on this place where it did not matter wind (north or south) I could bowhunt them spots as I had a stand on both sides of the trail/movement corridor. Other stands were very wind/spot specific but those 2 stands were a bowhunters dream! Sounds like you have a property suited for bowhunting but if your gun hunting I'd open up some senderos lanes or something. Don't fart with feeders until dec.

I hunt north of Clarksville, been on that property for about 4 years now. When I first took it over I saw 2 doe the first two months, July to August. During the season I finally saw a couple of spikes and and a total of 4 doe. I made the mistake of thinking " if you corn, they will come". The next year I spent a lot of time walking the property and finding trails, rubbs, bedding areas, etc. Then I put feeders in those areas, bad mistake. Once I did that they changed their habits and I had to start all over again. I, like you, have limited shooting distance, basically bow stands. I have small clearings that may be from 25 to 75 yards in diameter. Put feeders in those areas but go back to finding trails, rubbs and bedding areas. Once you find those areas, stay out of the bedding areas. Put cameras up to find out what direction they are traveling in and out. Set up some ambush sites on out skirts of the trails. I still corn all year long just to keep deer used to it. Just keep plugging away, hunt the wind, don't over pressure them and scout the areas.

Use the time and money you are putting in the feeders and put in food plots. Don't have to be big, a half acre will draw a lot of deer. 2 or 3 half acre plots will last a long time but nothing is going to trump the acorn crop if you have one, even then a few trees will produce acorns and in a poor year for the acorns those will be the trees you need to hunt.

Where at are you exactly? I have a place south of Avery. And we have the same problem feeders don’t do much with all the acorns.

I hunt 4-5 miles south of Avery an I have lots of deer on couple places I hunt. I have gotten to where I pour just a bag of corn out on the ground every two weeks. They seem to like it better that way.