This is my second year hunting Lampasas county and was wondering if these are average for the area? Low fence property with estimated 330 acres for hunting. Does anyone have pictures from this county?

Hunting there last 5 years.Average size there.With tons of doe on our place and A.R's there getting slimmer due to all the 3-5 year old basket 6 and small 8's.

We have the same problem. Lots of doe and average amount of bucks but most are 2-3 year olds that don't meet AR. We have quite a few that need to be culled but with AR's in place no way to do it. The genetics for the county seem to be favoring the 6-8 points that never reach 13".

Average may get a little bigger than that but not much. The western side of the county does seem to hold bigger bucks though.

The first pic is of a non mature Buck.
One key is look at his chest and draw a straight line to his rump. Notice how his stomach is higher than that line?
His ears still seem pretty pointed.
I would say 3 y.o. Buck.
Keep in mind deer are still growing the skeleton until their fourth year. You will see a big improvement on quality of antlers with age.

The other issue is genes of a herd are 50% doe!!!!
Basically poor genetic does also reduce antler quality.

You need to develop a game plan and clear understanding of what you wish to hunt. Once that is done talk with all of the neighbors and create a co-op with the same mindset and understandings in place. Then as a group discuss harvest guidelines and share pics and info, because you are sharing a lot of the same deer.
Also remember as bucks mature they are more cautious around the feeders. Move game cameras into the woods 100 or so yards from the feeders. Put cameras near known bedding areas.
These are just suggestions.
I think that you have a great looking young buck that in 2-3 years will be a horse IF he lives that long.

Good luck

I agree ccrock, since I have been on this current lease I have only seen 1 buck over 3. I have attempted to talk with current lease members about possible protein feed, as plots are not an option. It just seems if the other land owners are not doing the same it would have little benifit. Another problem I have noticed is the taking of all young bucks just because they reach the 13". These deer will never grow to their max potential in the current setting. I guess all we can do is hope and do my own part in letting the young bucks pass.

Mountain man
Change it up a bit this year with ur cameras. Find a game trail near thick stuff and dump corn out in an area and put a camera up.
The other thing is find a fence crossing and lower the top barb wire using zip ties and put corn about 15 yards on your side and set up a camera. I bet you will see some mature deer.
The other thing is try golden nuggets by record rack. They cost more but my deer herd are actually waiting for the timer to throw and rush in. We also have a lower deer density than the hill country or south Texas.

I will definetly try that. I have just moved to a new spot on the lease and last month cows demolished my tripod feeder. So I will be going back next week to do some work. Where do I get these golden nuggets at?

i hunt in coryell county and have some real good deer. i do have a lot of young ones as well. but we see a couple 140-150 class deer every year. when the rut kicks in, we get bucks everywhere that we did not see earlier in the year. we feed protien all year around and we are real picky what we shoot.

I did notice last year that when the rut was in full swing there were many deer we had never seen. I guess with the abbundance of doe in the area it is to be expected.

Congrats on the 140-150 class deer, I would like to see a few and keep them around for a while. Try and spread those genetics.

Tractor supply has them sometimes

I have bought Golden Nuggets 2 times, both times they were waste of $ IMO. The deer started hitting the feeders after they were gone and I had shoveled the nuggets away from the area after the nuggets piled up 3inches deep under the feeders. Another time they were all I could find on a Sunday morning for the protien feeder. Once they got to those the feeder sat unused until I cleaned it out months later.

I guess it all depends on the area, deer and what they are used to feeding on. I have tried a few attractants but had the best luck with milo, corn and acorn rage pellets.

My deer aren't hitting the protein at all. I just emptied the feeders and "remixed" it with additional attractants (ie corn and rice bran).

The grass is green right now, lots of natural forage. I would like to try some rice bran...does it only come in powder form?

i use protien pellets you use for cattle, dont know the exct name for it, i mix it with feeder intensifire. and it works great. wait till that rut comes around and you will see some nice bucks. my buddy shot a 147 in 12 point last season in kempner. there are good deer out there just give it time

I'm on the west side of lampasas just a few minutes down naruna rd. Those are average bucks for our place. We have tried to get out neighbors on a game managment program with us, one has joined, a couple others have not. We are moving into our fouth year on the place, always run 4 or more cameras on 1000 acres and have yet to see a buck on camera or in person that would score 140. We have not killed anything over 130. But there are lots of deer, and the dove/duck hunting is great. A small section of our lease crosses into Burnet county. There are no AR's there, but we have never taken advantage of it for culling purposes.