I was invited to hunt a small 100 acre ranch with a friend of mine. He owns it and has done some great improvements. However, my question is this..."why are there such few deer at the feeders?" I would think the feeders would be crowded with deer.4 feeders and 1 protein feeder that is fenced in. Small ranch on one side that is hunted some. 500acres on the other side that is not hunted. He has two water sources, a stock tank and a cement tank that is filled by the water well. All the makings of great possibilities. He has been out hunting 3 times all season So hunting pressure is not a problem. The numerous hogs may be though. Should we fence off the feeders from the hogs?? Live Oak county south of Three Rivers.

How long has he owned the property and been feeding? It may take a couple years to get them coming. I think fencing the feeders would help, but make the pens as big as possible. Is the property cleared out mostly or brushy? are yal running cameras? You say he has only been hunting 3 times, but what is traffic like is there sonone in and out of the property all the time, new well site getting worked on???

matt

By all means fence the feeders with hog panels to keep them out. They will overrun a feeder and keep the deer away escpecially if there is little hunting pressure on them. And yes make the pens as large as you can afford.

Agree with redchevy.
Cameras?
Traffic outside of hunting?
Definatly need to put the hog pop in check.
Fencing around feeders doesnt hurt as long as its not crowded..need to have room and comfort for feeding...
May take time to re route deer to your feeders..Corn doesnt always make them change their normal routines..

He has owned the place 5 years now, but has been hunting only 4 seasons. The first year was spent trying to perimeter it for driving a UTV. The land had zero improvements to it. Including not fenced around. I like the suggestion of fencing the feeders. We will try that. How high should the panels be? He has one protein feeder fenced in. But the camera showed zero deer had been in!! Only damn 'coons. Maybe the panels are too high. There is no outside traffic except the occasional pipeline truck. I did see a doe bolt out of site because hogs wanted in, on Saturday morning. Immediately I thought of fencing.
thanks for the ideas. More suggestions and ideas welcome.

Are there still acorns on the ground? some places like our area still had a great acorn crop this year...and plenty of trees are dropping late because of late rains...also alot of browse this year kep the deer from needing to use a feeder

You might do some night time surveying after the season is over. We use to do deer counts on the ranch I hunt and the biologist did them at night.

How far from Three Rivers and the area around it? Is it in the old farm land that is regrowth mesquites? Close to the river(s)? Fence the feeders off and let the hogs move on. Depends on the area it is in as to how many deer will be on it. Poaching used to be a really bad problem in Live Oak County.

Never seen a hog jump a fence, so i'd say waist high. WOrks for us.. make sure you have plenty of room in the pen.. If you're throwing corn out of the pen, its too small..just try to imagine multiple deer in the pen..is it too small?

I personally wouldnt mess with protien. 100 acres? you are feeding the neighbors deer if they are eating it.. Protien feeding is not an over night attraction for deer that are not use to eating it..takes time to adjust and a lot of time to see results.. Try mixing somthing with the corn or protein like acron rage or a persimmon mix..

That area I'm fairly familiar with and there are a lot of small ranchettes if you want to call them, and some have been hunted pretty heavily for years, so if your neighbors have the "if it's brown it's down" syndrome you may have a hard time trying to increase the population on your own.

Try fencing out the hogs and see what happens.

The area is known for the occassional big buck though, since most are highly educated and have learned to avoid hunters and go nocturnal.

Fence off the feeders and spend time shooting the hogs. Try putting a corn feeder in the pen alongside the protein feeder as a draw. Also mix some corn in with the protein. Another trick is to "salt" the spouts of the gravity protein feeder with some corn. Probably time to do some raccoon trapping.

All this takes time but is a good excuse to head out to the lease during the off season