Our lease is on 200 acres in Harrison county. Surrounded by at least 1 property to the south that has no hunting. This season my hunting buddy decided he didn't want to take doe before the rut to help his chances at seeing a big buck. I didn't even have a shot at a doe. The end game is that doe season is now over, and so far I know of ony two deer killed in our immediate area. My question is are the deer herds in East Texas over populated? Would you consider the substitution of a yearling spike in place of killing does. I don't know the buck:doe ratio, but if you put a gun to my head I would guess it is coose to 1:1. Thanks.

200 acres in east Texas not manageable not enough land and too much pressure IMHO

I understand, but my question is what is the responsible thing to do?

We don't shoot yearling spikes. A lot of people do and thats fine with me. I will say though that our lowest quality mature bucks will still score in the 120's or better. So if they were spikes at one point they still make a lot of people happy.

I would contact one of the TPWD Biologist in the area or around DFW and ask them. I've called them and quized them in the past. Most of them work with the MLD permits on the bigger spreads and wildlife associations, but could give you some great advice. We had a class in college that visited the Kerr WMA. They did studies years ago that showed spike bucks that turned into decent 8-9pt bucks.

Our place has about a 10-1 doe to buck. And i figured is that way with most larger places in east texas just becuase there is not a full doe season if any at all. Last weekend we seen about 70+ deer in a field and maybe 5 bucks. The deer are there but it as alot ot do with pressure on the deer. Are you getting many pics of deer on trail cams at night? Or are the numbers just down? I wouldnt shoot anything if the numbers are not there.