This will be my first season on my new lease in southwest Stephens County not far from the Shackleford and Eastland County lines. I was hoping those of you familiar with the area could help me get an idea on what to expect. I've previously only hunted in the hill country, so I'm a bit in the dark on hunting in north Texas. Any comments are welcome, but I'm particularly interested in when y'all think the peak of the rut is approximately and realistic antler quality to expect on a low fence ranch. The lease is almost 1,000 acres with several strong tanks and basically mesquite, some large oaks, a lot of scrub oaks with a big draw that provides some significant elevation changes. The opinions of the guys already on the lease vary quite a bit, so I'm hoping y'all can provide a little clarity on deer hunting in the area. Thanks y'all.

Rattler, I hunt north of you in the SW Young/Stephens county line north of Breckenridge. Some nice ones in the area, smart to hunt mid-late archery and early rifle seasons to take advantage of rut. Good luck.

Rattler - I hunt in Stephens, about 3 miles north of the Eastland/Stephens county line.

Been here a couple of years now and we had 2 'nice' 8 points taken off our 850 acre lease. It really depends on your expectation level, but these were probably mid 120s to low 130s and for me that seems good.

My spot see's a ton of doe and pigs, but the bucks appear to be very weary of the feeders and my only hope is to catch one being stupid during the rut.

I posted about Stephens county a few weeks back, you can see some of the animals on my place and one another forum memeber's place here.

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5309755/Re:_How's_Stephens_County_Look#Post5309755

Good luck!

The buck in my sig pic was killed in Stephens County in 2006. Just North of Ranger about 10 miles if I remember the distance correctly.

How old was the buck in your sig Txmacinist?

I hunt north of ranger a handful of times a year. Low fence 1000 acres. Most of the time someone gets a decent 8 point. See quite a few does and hogs of course.

5 1/2

Remember what he scored?

Thanks guys! This has me excited for opening day. I agree TxMachinist's buck is a hoss ... I'd love to see something like that.

Sorry, I just saw this. He was 161 gross. I don't believe in deductions. We have a couple on camera at our new place in Hardeman County that are pushing this.

Last year was my first year to hunt Stephens County, and I really liked it. Saw a nice 11 on camera preseason but never saw him during season. There are a lot of hogs, which I have no problem with. If you've seen some of my posts I eat all of them I shoot. Saw a few doe as well. Not as good as where I was (Art Texas) but my lease in Stephens is half the price, half the distance and is all year round. The one I had in Art was only gun season.

I hunt 2-3 miles north of Ranger. Just got set up 3 weeks ago. I am glad to see this thread. We were not sure of what to expect since we have never hunted Stephens. I do know we need some rain desperately. So far we have seen a bunch of hogs on cam.

i shot this guy last year about 3 miles south of breckenridge. he scored 160 7/8ths

I'm SW Stephens county. Decent area if you have good neighbors. Problem this year is rain, or the lack of it. 11.35" so far this year.

Pretty sure the buck I killed benefitted from the neighbors food plots. We weren't feeding protein, just corn. He just ended up on the right side of the fence for me.