Guys,

Any of you have any opinions on East Texas Deer Hunting. I have an opportunity to look at a lease that is affordable and family friendly in St Augustine County. I know the overall reputation of East Texas, but am looking for some feedback. Family friendly/affordability are important to me. It is also important to be centrally located between my dad and I (Ft Worth & Magnolia).

Would love good feedback.

Wes

I have hunted in East Texas off and on all my life. IMO it is very hard hunting. Some years we never even saw a buck. It gets pretty discouraging. Made the move out west and haven't regretted it. If I can help it I will never hunt deer in East Texas again. Sorry wish I could have given you a brighter outlook on the subject. There are certain spots inn East Texas that are pretty good but you must do a lot of looking and scouting to find one. I think a big problem with East Texas is that the tracts of land are much smaller than west and south Texas. Good luck in your search. If you get a good place that you can get deer off of then you will have earned it.

EAST TEXAS CAN BE HARD BUT FUN. IS THERE ANY HOGS?? CAN YOU GET DOE PERMITS? BEING PRIVATE YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IDIOTS. ITS LIKE ANYTHING ELSE ITS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT. HUNTED IN EAST TX FOR YEARS I NOW PREFER WEST BUT IT COSTS ALOT MORE.

OFBHWG brings up a good point. If you can get some doe permits then you will have a lot better chance of harvesting a deer. Also if you are a bowhunter your chances will greatly improve. I usually saw quite a few deer during bow season but when general season got here they seemed to vanish.

Aggiewes, let me be the optimist here. I've hunted a private lease in Houston county for over 5 years now. While we don't have the numbers that the western counties have, East Texas does have alot of deer. San Augustine county is like Houston county in that it's a 1 buck county, so I wouldn't pay too much for the lease. When we first got on the lease, we didn't do very good the first year, but we started planting food plots each spring & fall, and we have 5 feeders running year round on a 320 acre lease. We have taken several very nice bucks off this place over the last few years, and most of us that bow hunt usually get doe's during bow season. If you'll notice, all the counties around San Augustine and Houston county are mostly 2 buck counties, and San Augustine includes a portion of the Angelina National Forest, and Houston county includes alot of the Davy Crockett National Forest. This do not include all the lands that the paper companies own, so I'm not so sure that the tracts of land out west are all that much larger. Our lease actually borders the Davy Crockett National Forest, and while I hate fighting off trespassers all the time, I love our location because our place is like a haven for deer when all the hunters start moving around in the forest. Bottom line, if the price and location are right, get it. You may have to sacrifice a year or two, but with a little work, you can be very successful.

BTW, I can't find it a picture, but a few years back, there was a buck taken out of Angelina county that was hailed as a new state typical record. I don't know if this was ever confirmed, but it was a huge.

Hope this helps.

What I hate about East Texas Deer hunting is the deer move more at night. Too much to eat so they dont come to corn much.
After saying that I hunted in Anderson County from the age of 7 to 19 .We had 80 acr place that was the prime spot. We had a pipe line on the place that my grandfather planted winter rye on .We had lots of deer because of that. Other people who hunted around us didnt do so well. It was just a good lease. Like Redneck said it all depends on the place.

Good luck.

I have a lease in Trinity county, what some people call "Deep East Texas". It's a 4 deer county, two bucks, two does, and I've been on it the last two seasons with no complaints. We took less deer this year than last, but I think it was due to the acorn crop. Food plots are going in the summer! If you find a good price, give it a shot.

Did I say the deer move more at night!!

Yes you did, but I'm not following you Mike. ??????? What does that have to do with East Texas?

In hunting season they move at night. Sit in a stand all day and you dont see anything. At midnight you put a spot light in the feilds and deer are everywhere. Thats the bad thing about East Texas deer hunting.

I think that is the situation everywhere if the game is under pressure. I'm not saying we didn't see tons of deer, just didn't harvest as many as the year before. I'm not so sure that is an east Texas thing.

I think it has to do with hunting pressure. Some areas see alot more pressure than others, so the deer may become more active at night. On our East Texas lease, the period between sunset and dark is the most active time of the day. I've got 4 trail cameras that I keep out throughout most of the year at different food plots & feeders, and I get alot more pictures just before dark than any other time of the day.

We have only one camera going and get the exact opposite. Most of the activity is in the morning between 7:30 and 10:00am on the camera. When I sit in my stand at the other end of the lease, the opposite happens again, nothing in the morning, but lots of movement in the evening. Makes deciding where to hunt pretty easy though......

They come out just before dark and feed most of the night. I hunted in Anderson county from the age of 7 when I killed my first deer to the age of 19 that was the case there.
I live between Kaufman and Canton now and the deer here are out more at night. I do see some around 6:00pm. There is lots of good hunting in East Texas. But most of the people that hunt here will shoot the small bucks (4 and 6 points)so it over hunted. Just my .02

Where do you live Mike? I live in Garland, but have an office in Forney and call on a business in Terrell once a week. Looks like hog country all along 80 from the Trinity thru Terrell. Any opportunity along the Trinity area or is that off limits?

Guys,

Just wanted to say thanks for the good info. I am in the process of investigating some properties and will let you know how it works out!

Wes

Good luck and happy hunting Wes!!

I was on a lease in Polk/Tyler county line and we always saw deer every single day! I have my own little farm in Panola County and have always seen deer early (daylight), noon and evening hours. Sure deer will move at dark depending upon the moon phase, but don't knock east Texas deer hunting because I've had some great seasons hunting there. Not only that, but most counties have either doe days when you can take antlerless or some by permit depending upon the amount of acreage you have...need to call the Jasper Wildlife Office to obtain those and get the paperwork started. 409-384-6894 for doe permits.

Some nice bucks have come out of Panola county.
My step dad hunts in Merion and his cuz hunts in Polk. My stepdad didnt get anything this year and his cuz shot a basket 8 point. The best East Texas bucks Ive seen shot came from Smith county.
Post some pic of you good bucks Kyotee1

I have hunted a few times at some family land outside Marshall and shot some big fat does over the years...Went once with my cousins to a ranch that LBJ owned and shot does out of a oat field.....I think the more south you get in East Texas the better...If you consider lake Livingston East Texas then that is a good area. My friend has a lease there and lets just say they took some really nice bucks off it.

Per your request. Here's a few pics of some East Texas Bucks.

Seriously, Here's a few pics of the deer we've taken in the past 2 seasons. Each one was shot right before dark from the same stand.



There has been much larger deer taken off this lease in previous years, but I don't know where the pics are. About 5 years ago, one of the fellas shot a 12 point, and a couple years before that, there was a 14 point. Three years ago, I had spotted what I thought was a 16-18 point, and a short time later, a neighbor shot a 17 point.

East Texas does have some good deer in certain locations.

They would have been nice bucks in a nother year. Ok just joking. Nice deer.
Most leases in East Texas are not as good as your but they could been with good management. I got some pic's of the Smith county buck a freind shot. I will find them. I will have to scan them. Van Zant county has some bucks in the big game awards every year. Now that I said that I will good look to see.