Hello guys Ive been sitting back in the shadows reading alot of posts here lately, and it seems like everyone is ready for deer season. The posts that really caught my eye are the ones about management. What I got from 90% of the vote was if you have alot of money you can kill a huge deer. Which I totally agree with, hell I would just love to go to a high fence place and have my guide park his truck under the stand and wait 5 minutes for the feeder to go off and pick out which buck is going to match the other one on the other side of the mantle (now thats deer hunting). Has anyone ever really thought how these places work, you buy a bunch of genetics and protien and get big deer in a small place, of course you have to sell the semen until the ole boy is dry then you put him out in the field. If your like me, I dont think this is hunting I feel when your grandad shows you what trees provide food for deer and a good tree to hang your stand is good hunting. Not everyone had a grandfather like mine, some had theres tell them what gear to be in when you drive by and how to hold your beer between your legs before getting a good shot. My upbringing got me into hunting but my own knowledge got me into deer management. If you wonder why theres no deer on your place then move out of the city. There are deer all over Texas, but they have to have a reason to be on YOUR property. I bet you if you had a place in llano (deer capitol of texas) and I had a place anywhere in east Texas(which I have noticed everyone hates on) I would not only have more deer, better quality deer, but also better "meat" deer, not every place is going to have 100% grade A genetics (except for high fence, if boone and crocket or pope and young wont score it then it dont count) there will always be deer that need to be eliminated that are not inferior, and that is great for many hunters that like to hunt for "meat" ( I have to put that in quotes for the people who spend just enough money to kill deer for meat). I just love the guy with the 2 year old 6 point in his truck telling his buddies how good the deers going to taste but you cant eat the horns, hell you sure cant eat the horns on a doe either and I bet the meat tastes the same. I know I know git that guy outa here!!!!!

here we go, another hunter whineing about how he will never kill a big deer because he is poor or dosen't want to spend a arm and a leg on killing a boone and crockett whitetail.

wake up buddy, the reason you probably won't kill a big deer ( and for those who don't know, anything over 150 is a big deer, hell, 140's is still a really nice buck) is that you don't know how. you sit in your box blind and watch your feeder and complain that if only you were on a high fenced ranch, you would be surrounded by 160's and up ten minutes ago.

i have hunted all over the state, on both high and low fence places, and have seen deer that would have scored at least 140 B&C on every single one, including our lease in walker county ( north of conroe). the only exception to this is the coastal plains of colorado county. but your probably not goin to kill one of these bucks under a feeder.

you think, like most other people on here, that highfence hunting is a piece of cake. let me tell you someting, since our ranch was highfenced, it has increased the number of deer, the average size has went up(due to keeping our finger off the trigger)but the top end bucks have stayed around the same size. in fact, even though we do protien, food plots and the whole other bit, i have only seen about 4 deer in 8 years that i would bet money that would go over 160. none were at a feeder, and they sure as hell took more than 5 min to show up once i hit the ranch gate.

your post tells me that your just a armchair hunter who likes to whine about stuff rather than get out there and make it happen.

heres a tip, instead of sitting on the computer complaining, get out in the woods and start scouting NOW! you might suprise yourself on some of the deer you see.

Sounds to me there Txtrophy you have got all the answers, what I like is how you tell me how I hunt. Sounds to me like you have been everywhere done its all or you atleast know someone who has. By the way money is not a problem for me and deer quality neither, hell I spend more time in the woods then you 2 yahoos put together. The title is derived from most of your posts over last few months. Next time read the post twice and try thinking before blurting something out, I know its a wild concept but go ahead and give it a try.

Back to subject please.

I read a quote that said " If you kill a 160 class deer that doesnt make you a better hunter than me, it just means you have more money than me". Everyone seemed to agree, with that said more money = bigger deer

Yep, I am the one that said that, and that is why I agree with the title of your thread "MORE MONEY=BIGGER DEER".

My statement and the title of your thread is true for the most part, but not always.

My only question is why in the world did you call me a "yahoo" for agreeing with you.

I believe this subject has pretty much been beat to death. I'm not sure why someone would even bring it up unless they don't have anything better to do.

There's very little middle ground - people are convinced that hunting is going to hell in a handbasket or they don't. I don't think any amount of jaw-jacking is going to convince either side otherwise.

How about something a little more productive?

I totally agree!!

Probably right Txduckman. I like Planeshank for the simple reason money is no object for him. I love to see people with lots of money and I love to see them spend it on hunting. I wonder if he would bring some of his money to my place and hunt? How bout it Planeshank?

Cool Hand when you get thorugh fleecing the money pit send him to me, I have some world class mule deer coming through our place in Ruidoso, have to use a bow as there is a noise ordinace. You won't need a spotlight, porchlight works just fine. No need for a corn feeder, my daughter in law hand feeds them Cheerios, no milk or sugar. There is also a chance at the dumpster diving bear, we can bait it with leftovers.

Normally I wouldn't even join this post but I think I have the SARS/Ebola hybrid summer cold and my decision-making part of the brain is sputtering.

First off, I don't know when it was decreed that a deer had to be 160" to big or a trophy. In my book, a 140" deer is something to crow about.

I hunt 2,500 acres with 8 other guys. I have only been on the lease about 10 years but a couple are the original hunters that leased the ranch in 1961. That's right, we've had this lease for 46 years now. We take a maximum of 1 buck each and it's a rare year when all of us take one. That's not because we don't see tons of bucks, we just always try to shoot a personal best each year. We hunt 1 week each year and no one else hunts the ranch. There are no stands and no feeders. I've posted several pics of live bucks photoed on our place so you can make your own decision about quality. At least 2 and sometimes 4 140+ bucks are killed in our group each year. We have tons of pigs, herds of turkeys, a 15 acre lake full of catfish, and a big spring-fed creek full of perch and bass. A dream lease? You bet your a$$ but they ARE out there, you have to invest time, energy, and be luckly but you do NOT have to have $10,000 to kill a big buck. We have seen 3 or 4 bucks in the 160-170 range but they're hard to shoot. Cost? $500.

By the way, it's not high-fenced. Some of it isn't even fenced; it's bounded by a stone wall laid inthe 1860s. Sorry this was so long.

Good post and awesome place that 99% of hunters would dream to have but never see or come close too regardless of how hard they worked for only $500. Sounds like you have to know someone to get on there. That's easy hunting though actually without blinds and feeders to maintain and fill, burn gas, rapairs, and see all that game for only 500 bux. I would rather hunt that way too but most places like that would cost 6 to 10 times more than you pay for that amount of land you get. You realize that is $1.60 an acre? The landowner must be really nice and has a comfortable living already to not charge market rate. if you know him then that doesn't count.

I don't know what a lot of money is for the guy starting this post but my buddy sub-leases his place for deer for $1,450 a hunter for 3 hunters on 700 acres and every year 130 to 140 are killed. There are bigger there. Feeders are filled for them even and blinds provided. There are some good deals out there if you do look, meet the right people, or don't mind driving 4 to 6 hours from the DFW metro area to pay much less. jmo...

Wow didnt expect this much jive over this subject but first of all I didnt mean sound if I was rich at all. The money thing I was talking about, if I worked plenty of overtime and saved up sure I could go shoot a 200 class deer, but thats not what I was trying to say. For JCB I apoligize, heck I was just offering you a yahoo, I was calling Txtrophy a yahoo . Didnt mean to stir a hornets nest I will just go back to reading instead of posting. Oh yeah what are your guy opinions on the antler resrictions, High fences, deer management, and bow hunting versus gun hunting.

Fortunately, I appreciate the deal we have. The ranch has been in the same family since the late 1850s. The original guys had a gentelmans agreement with the old maid that lived on the place. She told them they could hunt there as long as they liked. When she died, her nephew inherited the place and told us he would honor his aunts agreement. Hopefully, he keeps that promise. There's one 600 acre part that hasn't been hunted in at least 20 years because it's so rough you can't get a jeep in it and if you walk in, you can't see but about 10' around you. It's all either steep hillsides or deep canyons. I think having that safe haven is one of the big reasons we see so many nice bucks. The only reason they come out is to chase does or grab a quick bite to eat. We never go in after them. It wouldn't do anything but chase them out.

If a deer stays in that area, he/she will live their entire life without seeing a human. That's our version of deer management.

how do you know you spend more time in the woods than me? you do not know me from adam. as a matter of fact, i'm a guide who helps people from all over the country take animals and catch fish,a little over 100 days spent in the field, as well as another 50 on top of that on the water, which is just under half a year. and i also have a 50+ hour a week job. so don't give me that cock and bull about spending more time in the woods.

you made the comment about the highfence/trophy deer down in 5 min type deal, which tells me you don't hunt a high fence ranch very often.

i agree that many high fence places are "pay and shoot". i do not condone hunts on such places nor would i ever take a hunter to one, even a first timer. i abhor the "get a kill, feel like a hardass" attitude that a lot of city folk get after a few seasons. like you i had family who taught me not only when and where, but why and how.

you made the comment on if someone had a place in llano, and you had a place in east texas, then you would without a doubt have bigger deer, more and healthier deer than them. what a load of crap! you sure must think high of yourself to make this statement. i know people who have been owning and managing ranches for 30+ years and are still learning new things. let me tell you something else. if you were to take two 500 acre peices, one in east texas and one in the hill country, and think yours is going to have more and bigger deer than theirs without a high fence, then you have got to be dreaming.

i'm not going into the whole " if i had money i could kill a big deer" argument. truth is, if you had alot of cash you were WILLING to spend on a deer hunt, you could get on a ranch where you could have a reasoable chance of getting a buck that would be upwards of 160. but don't for a second think that just because a parcel has a high fence around it that the deer are hand fed pets waiting to be shot by the highest bidder.

Ok i don't want in on this other than to make a statement.
All this makes me think of what I love about hunting. I really want to shoot maybe a little ole 140 or so. I really love the taste of deer meat. The reason I go is for sitting/stalking around the deer lease for weeks at a time. Foggy,cold wet warm morning to hot afternoons and freezin evenings comming back getting skunked. Camp fire food getting excited looking at game cameras. Clearing out hogs. Man I do love both meat and horns but the peace and serenity I get all year long working and hunting the lease is the reason I hunt. Makes me kinda laugh at people arguing if bud or miller is better. Just shut-up and drink, enjoy your beer.

PlaneSkank, I’m glad your granpa taught you how to hold your beer between your legs while shootin a deer from your truck while road huntin. Quote; “(now that’s deer hunting) un quote;. Sounds like your grandpa had the same respect for huntin you have. Very noble of your grandpa to teach you this way. Sounds like you are “spending just enough money” for a 6-pack and some “road huntin gas” and that’s it. Who’s worse, you or the high fence land owners?

It gets old hearing about how much deer hunting costs. How come some of these whiners don't complain about how high their house payment is or how much they have to pay for their new pickup. or maybe those new high dollar deer rifles. I worked as government employee my entire working career, never made any great money, lived within my salary, and I never had a problem paying for a lease when I leased .

I think the entire key to a lot of this so called high prices for deer hunting is getting your priorities straight. Live in a house you can afford drive that pickup until you need not want a new one and cut out some of the luxuries that everyone thinks they cannot live without. Then save enough each month so you can afford deer hunting when the time comes to pay the price.

If you think it rough paying to deer hunting now, just wait until you retire and you are on a fixed income if you did not do a lot of planning in your younger years. Social Security and company pensions are not enough to sustain the lifestyle many are used to.

The straight facts of deer hunting, all hunting and everything else in life is it is going to cost more tomorrow than today, and the same the day after tomorrow. As a land owner I can guarantee that if I was leasing I would charge more for the lease every year, my taxes go up every year, my insurance goes up every year, price of repair materials are always increasing, and the list of the costs to the land owner goes on.

Ask yourself a few questions. How much money do I spend on eating out each week? Did I really need that new set of golf clubs? What was really wrong with that old pickup? Could I use that $400 shotgun instead of that $1000 shotgun? Do I really need that big screen HDTV? Do I need those designer jeans for $60 bucks or could I get by with the cheap wally world jeans?

One last question, what am I going to do if I lose my job, do I have enough money to last until I find another?

When you were born there was no guarantee that said you could afford everything you wanted in life. If you cannot afford it I would recommend finding another hobby, because there is no end to the rising costs of deer hunting

Enough of my soapbox. Just my pennies worth.

Mills_CTY_Hunter This site would be a lot more beneficial for you if you would learn to read, why don't you start out with phrases like "not everyone had a grandfather like mine". Words are not the only thing to reading, those little dots are periods and commas do some research on those then get back to me. Homework look up word sarcasm.