I am on a lease close to Ballinger TX in runnels co. haven't been out there sense the first of June dose anyone in that same area have report on how the deer are holding up? when we were out at the lease we notice the Mesquites had a ton of beans on them i have heard that they are high in protein an that the deer will it eat them. what are yawl's thoughts on this. thanks!

We are not too far from you in Nolan county. Deer are holding up and looking pretty good despite the drought and fires we've had. There is a chance of rain out there today. Keep your fingers crossed.

We have noticed that in last few weeks deer have been coming to feeders less and there are a lot of mesquite beans available.

Thanks! RedSnake no kidding about the rain,what are your thoughts on the mesquite beans do the deer eat them pretty good? i have heard that they are a good source of protein,we have a lot of beans on our mesquites this year.

lot of looks at this blog not many response.

Could be not many hunt or have leases in Runnels.

I hunt to the south of you and the deer aren't looking too bad. Health wise, the deer look average. We haven't seen enough to determine how they are doing horn wise. We have actually seen more fawns than we expected.

The mesquite beans are a good source of protein and there are alot of beans across the state. From the little I know about the mesquite bean crop...the more stressed the tree is, the better the crop. I remember reading that they contain up to 30% protein, but I am no expert. I can't say I have seen a correlation between horns and the bean crop in the 17 years that I have been out there.

Good Luck to ya!!!

I've read that the deer will eat them pretty good and that they are a good source of protein.

I tried some mesquite beans and they are extremely sweet,high protein,if I were a deer I would be chowing down.Don't eat green ones.

Speaking of Runnels county were thinking of getting a lease out there. We heard through a friend of a friend of a friend and it sounds like a reallllly good deal so we called the guy up. Were going next weekend to look at it and were wondering about the deer out there? Were going to work to grow the numbers but would like to know what's out there right now. We hunted in Coleman Co. for years and there were plenty of deer there, and Ballinger aint to far! Thank y'all mind letting us know! Much appreciated...

Speaking of Runnels county were thinking of getting a lease out there. We heard through a friend of a friend of a friend and it sounds like a reallllly good deal so we called the guy up. Were going next weekend to look at it and were wondering about the deer out there? Were going to work to grow the numbers but would like to know what's out there right now. We hunted in Coleman Co. for years and there were plenty of deer there, and Ballinger aint to far! Thank y'all mind letting us know! Much appreciated...

I was at our lease over a month ago(comanche-mills county) and there were mesquite beans everywhere under the trees. I have been back twice in the last two weeks and they have dissappeared. There are a few on some trees but not many. Don`t know what they are going to eat after all the mesquite beans are gone.I was really surprised at how good the deer looked.

To everyone that has put there input in on this blog good luck to everyone this coming yr. Thanks!

To Cameron Anderson we are located about 5miles west of Ballinger an we have a good population of deer and turkeys we have a great lease really good genetics the big thing we have learned is to let your bucks get to that 5yrs an up we have killed some really nice deer off our place 140s/160.we have a lot of water on our place an we feed yr around corn,protein an alfa. having good neighbors will go a long way as well....

Thank you! Were going to be putting up quite a few feeders as soon as we get on the land. And if we can, some food to be plots. But those are going to keep right now with no water. It has several tanks, good news. And yes neighbors are a must. One of the reasons were no longer in Coleman is because our neighbor was an idiot, no-good felon that wasn't supposed to have any kind of rifles and did. He thought sitting on top of his barn and watching some of our feeders was a good thing!

Sounds like they are finally getting some rain out there!!!

You all will be fine. Ballinger has recieved some rain this year you should have no worries. I work all around that area good deer.

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Bigbass, I've lived, hunted and worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Runnels county for the last 20 years. I have a place on the Colorado about 7 miles west of Ballinger and have hunted all over the county. Even though it's been excruciatingly dry this year, cameras have shown us some good deer recently, especially those in the 4-6 year old class.

We got some much needed rain this weekend and that will help all classes of wildlife. Does have either kicked off fawns or they have not survived the heat well. I am not seeing many fawns with their mothers lately. Dove on my places have been getting better recently. I have one place that is covered up with whitewings.

I retired from the NRCS in December and have started an outfitting business headquartered out of Ballinger and I will do everything I can to give you a successful hunt for whatever you are looking for, be it hogs, deer, doves, turkey or exotics. I have not advertised quail as the last 4 years have been weird. See them in August and September and they're gone in October. I actually saw a covey this afternoon that had half grown birds. That really made my day. According to Dr. Quail, Dale Rollins, with this rain, we might get some hens into a broody state and try to lay a clutch. It's late but if they can do it, that would be great.

Check out my webpage at www.twistedwillowhunts.com. If you have any questions about any natural resource in this area, I'd be glad to offer you my opinion based on my experience and work history in Runnels county. There aren't too many places I havent been on and I keep up with what's going on in this area.
I have places to hunt in Runnels, and Concho counties and am looking for more to offer.

Ron Vanicek, Twisted Willow Outfitters LLC

We were at our place 10 miles east of Ballinger this weekend. It rained a total of 3-4 inches between Saturday and Sunday. Pulled some game cams and had quite a few pictures of healthy bucks. We only had a couple fawns on cam. The area we hunt gets quite a bit of pressure and the really good bucks are nocturnal after September and only show up during the rut.

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Thanks Ronman!! keep use updated on how thing are looking out around Ballinger Tx.

As you would expect, the rain was a blessing, especially where we got 2-5 inches. Other areas didnt get as much and are still hurting. This rain was hopefully a starter, as it didnt do much to soak up the deep ground. Still can dig a post hole and at 3 feet hit dry soil.

Checked cameras today and like before, the older deer are still looking good around here, but the fawn crop will be off. The only thing that is really going to hurt in the long run, is that we wont have good mature class deer 4 years from now, when this years fawns will be reaching early maturity. Less numbers of deer and fewer cattle due to the drought selloff will only help the survivors do better with more to eat and less competition for what's out there. Take care. Ron

www.twistedwillowhunts.com

Ronman,

What can I plant for a food plot that the turkeys wont scratch up? Have you had this problem?

JS you have a problem that is hard to deal with. Turkeys will scratch up basically anything green that is planted for a food plot. My question to you would be, how large is your food plot and how many turkeys do you have doing the damage? It's been my experience that turkeys can be just like hogs, fun to have, fun to shoot but a pain to manage.

An option to consider would be to, plant a larger food plot. If possible, establish a new food plot in an area that would not be as conducive to the deer and hunting as it might be for the turkey to utilize.

The fortunate part about turkeys is that they only do their damage during the day, unlike hogs that predominantly work at night.

I personally have never tried to keep turkeys out of a food plot but they have definitely been a pain around corn feeders and usually showed up later in the morning and around midday in most cases.

Somthing you might consider is using a radio on a timer that was tuned to a radio talk show channel that was set to run from about 11:00 am to about 3:00 pm. A client of mine did this on a catfish production pond to keep blue herons from festing on fingerling catfish. It worked for him.

This would be an option to consider as soon as you get your plot planted and hopefully the effect would work to keep the turkeys out long enough that the plants would get a chance to emerge and grow enough to benefit the deer and you could take the radio out in plenty of time to let the deer get used to using the plot without the interference and be their for hunting season. It's been my experiendce that normally turkeys will leave an area that provides too much interference or manmade activity that disturbs them in their normal daily activities.

Let your creative abilities go to work and see what you can come up with that can disturb the turkeys to keep them at bay from your food plot. The radio idea would be the first thing I would try. Set some cameras and see if you can tell if there is a positive response that you are looking for. Let us know if you have luck with what you try.

Take care and good luck. I will check with some of my turkey experts to see if they have any other recipes to help you out.

Ronman at www.twistedwillowhunts.com

I would think you would be better off throwing out some alfalfa this year. Rumor has it next month will be a wet one so you may get some oats up. Alfalfa is a sure thing food plots are a gamble this year.

High, that's good advice also. Like you said, unless we get the rain, it's not gonna matter what you plant, it's a crapshoot whether it's gonna come up or not. Basically depends on where your lease is located. Hopefully east of 35, to be able to depend on enough rain this year. Ron.