Ok I am curious so see what everyone thinks.
1,000 Acre HF land. Live water, never been hunted, been HF since 2006. What do you do for management? My thoughts are for this year, put up as many trail cameras around the water as possible since this is where everything will come to drink. Sit back for the next several months and see whats there. Then start knocking off all the old deer. At least for this upcoming season.

Whats everyones thoughts?

Need to know your carrying capacity and if your over or under it.

You should start there.

okeydokey. What is carrying capacity? I am guessing its the amount of deer that should be on the property to thrive?

Yes. Then if want numbers you can be at CC if you want trophies you need to be under.

Keep the gate closed and locked.

Keep in mind what is fenced in is also fenced out. Any deer on this place? A pile of corn and a camera would be a good start.

trail cams and census. either aerial count or night count or both
then you can figue out your deer per acre and b:d ratio
but first you need to know what you want it to be and what you can afford to make it into

A good start would be letting me come out and do some herd management! lol

Fork-lol I may be doing this very thing at some point but I think it might be for my less fortunate hunters....Ok so I know I need a census. Yes there are deer on it and maybe axis too. My brother n law says he saw axis pooh but I won't believe it til I see it. So how exactly do I get a count of the deer without getting up in a heli-and using the flir?? Is this the only way? And FYI, I did not HF this place I just have the opportunity to hunt it. So I have no idea what's really on it until I start some recon...I think putting the cameras out over the water is a better idea than putting corn out. No?

Helicopter survey. Most of them can survey 2,000 acres per hour (give or take). It won't cost that much & you'll be able to see exactly what's there.

Ok I guess I will be looking into the survey! Thanks!

Are there some big whitetails on the place? What county is it in?

Shoot every doe in sight the first year.

Get your data started up and get in the motion of taking all records on deer taken and seen through the year. 3 things to increase as much as possible food, water, shelter.

I would even go the length of watching the deer more than hunting the first year... figure out what you got then work on a plan.

So what have you paid for a helicopter survey? Say one hour?

Well this is in Kerr county.....the land of deer lol. Anyway, I haven't even stepped foot on the place yet, I don't want to count all my ducks until the deal is "sealed" but I wanted an idea of what to do if the stars and moon align correctly and we get to hunt this place. I am not going to go shooting everything I see either way, I am not that kind of hunter. But I am sure there will be at least one or two good old deer on this place for me to take when the season rolls back around. Hopefully I get them on camera and I suppose I will keep everyone updated. I will start looking into a survey once the contract is signed which should be within the next couple of weeks. I will be going to do some recon on sat the 18th and if I can get some photos I will post them up here.

Why would he do that when he doesn't even know the herd numbers and composition? Bad idea.

Okay my statement is not really a management plan but if you are going to do some recon I would suggest take a tailgate feeder and feed some roads in different parts of the ranch then ride back thru the Fed areas and see what may have came out to feed do this morning and evening then you kind of get an idea of what may be around this is the best time of the year to do that with less natural food available.

Anywhere from $350 to $750 per hour. Plus mileage to/from your property.

Hey littleD that's a good idea.

Currently working on Managing my girlfriends families ranch in Freer. Its about 1300 acres HF, best thing to do is helicopter survey at first. This gives you a good idea of deer population, also try your best to count does and bucks.

Like stated above first thing to do is get more food, protein and corn, second thing is make sure water is available easily. After you get food and water, get some stands set up and go out and watch deer and setup a few game cameras.

Cut the fence down and put a low fence.

You own a house Tx?

Like others I recommend starting some kind of census records.

I also do not recommend going solely on helicopter survey. I know some folks who have been basing their numbers only on helicopter counts... they have already shot more does this year than their survey says they have and still have does.