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Low Fence Deer Problems #7671111 11/24/19 04:31 PM
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haslethunter Offline OP
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I am needing some help. First of all I am in North Texas so I have to compete with acorns plus I only have 200 acres. We still let everything walk unless 4.5 yr old. We feed our deer year round but the same thing happens every year. I have nice deer hitting my feeder everyday until last week of October when they break up and rut kicks in. They disappear from my place completely then and I only see the young immature deer until they bachelor back up in Mid December. I have lots of doe on my place so that is not the problem. My question is, what does everyone due to combat this. Has anyone had any luck mixing something in with corn to keep them around? Do you back off of your feeders completely and hunt elsewhere?

Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671129 11/24/19 04:51 PM
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I hunt on 1500 acres in Hamilton Co and experience the same thing every year. ( 20 years) I think there are preferred rutting areas and other reasons this happens. I talk to a lot of hunters who experience this all over Texas. I just wait till mid December to harvest my buck. Other members on the property capture pictures of theses bucks in November
two-three miles away after I get pictures August thru October. We share pics, really interesting stories about bucks.

Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671356 11/24/19 10:31 PM
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No...don't wait around. Get a grunt call and an Estrus Bleat call. Now the fun begins. This is the perfect time to use these tools. Make a grunt call twice ..then use the estrus call twice...wait 10 minutes then again. Keep repeating this process. Some use rattling horns...I find this will call in bucks but only small ones where I live. This breaks the waiting around doing nothing. This definitely works most of the time DURING THE RUT. I have a ball doing this. You will get movement. Don't just wait around waiting for something to change. Before ya hunt ...the night before,,,put out tinks 69. Cut out small paper towel squares(about 3 inches) by tearing a hole in it, then slide over a very small limb, wrapping top half one way then the bottom the other way...every 20 feet in a circle around your blind ...put "A" drop of tinks on the paper towel. Then after your hunt put another drop on each paper towel. I usually use at least 10 squares.
This definitely works and fun to do. You will feel good about your hunt rather than sitting around waiting. If this absolutely does not work ...then use the rattling thing...don't give up. Keep doing something in the right direction. If you are already doing this and it is not working...then take a nap. By the way ...Thanksgiving is the perfect time usually for me. The bucks are on the move looking for does..this is when i kill the biggest bucks or at least seeing the biggest. I will see new bucks in the area every year. Be patient...you will be glad you did.

Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671358 11/24/19 10:34 PM
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Buy a bow or crossbow and hunt in October. Adding an entire month to your deer season is great.

Last edited by bigjoe8565; 11/24/19 10:38 PM.
Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671377 11/24/19 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by haslethunter
I am needing some help. First of all I am in North Texas so I have to compete with acorns plus I only have 200 acres. We still let everything walk unless 4.5 yr old. We feed our deer year round but the same thing happens every year. I have nice deer hitting my feeder everyday until last week of October when they break up and rut kicks in. They disappear from my place completely then and I only see the young immature deer until they bachelor back up in Mid December. I have lots of doe on my place so that is not the problem. My question is, what does everyone due to combat this. Has anyone had any luck mixing something in with corn to keep them around? Do you back off of your feeders completely and hunt elsewhere?


Solution to that problem... North Texas Hunter here with same problem. We get off the corn because no matter what you put in feeders they don’t want it. We hunt trails and Doe bedding areas. Big boy is there if she is there. 90% of hunters also like to hunt morning, come in for lunch, and go back out for evening hunt. This is the most crucial time to hunt that lunch time as we see more movement from 10-2 then we do any other time. Now this is not your typical “feeder just went off” movement but more a moon phase, feeding at night, and moving more in afternoon phase. Our evening shots are coming from deer moving to water before feeding with good light at night. Our morning shots are coming from grunts, bleets, and rattles. Mostly rattles. A Buck right now will move 24-7 until he gets that Doe. You can’t stamp a timeline or location right now. It’s about 99.9% of the time that when I am ready to go in, they are ready to come out. Chasing November is what drives me to Deer Hunting every year.

Last edited by Paralax22; 11/24/19 11:07 PM.

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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: Paralax22] #7671411 11/24/19 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Paralax22
Solution to that problem... North Texas Hunter here with same problem. We get off the corn because no matter what you put in feeders they don’t want it. We hunt trails and Doe bedding areas. Big boy is there if she is there. 90% of hunters also like to hunt morning, come in for lunch, and go back out for evening hunt. This is the most crucial time to hunt that lunch time as we see more movement from 10-2 then we do any other time. Now this is not your typical “feeder just went off” movement but more a moon phase, feeding at night, and moving more in afternoon phase. Our evening shots are coming from deer moving to water before feeding with good light at night. Our morning shots are coming from grunts, bleets, and rattles. Mostly rattles. A Buck right now will move 24-7 until he gets that Doe. You can’t stamp a timeline or location right now. It’s about 99.9% of the time that when I am ready to go in, they are ready to come out. Chasing November is what drives me to Deer Hunting every year.


Start hunting them and stop waiting for them to hunt you.

Last edited by Texas Dan; 11/24/19 11:48 PM.

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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671430 11/25/19 12:11 AM
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Correct Texas Dan


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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671503 11/25/19 01:47 AM
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Small acreage is going to make things challenging for you....unless for some reason it is more attractive than surrounding properties it is hard to 'hold' bucks on it.

While I support the idea that during the rut...you should hunt as much as you can...the fact is, bucks are traveling well off of your property. You could LIVE out there, hunt 24/7 and at certain times it just simply wouldn't pay off. I hunt 400 acres and have experienced what you describe before. Fortunately... my property creates a sort of 'funnel' for deer, owning to terrain features so I often see bucks that I didn't have during the summer.

Just the same...I always see my best bucks the last week of October and again in late December to early January (post rut). I didn't hunt at all this weekend and probably didn't miss anything special. Each property is unique and it is up to each person hunting it...to determine what is going on at any particular time. There is no magic food product you can put out to KEEP bucks on your property this time of year.

I spent this weekend doing chores around the place. I know from many years hunting this land...to be patient, the big boys on small parcels of land are often only seen (daytime) behind a hot doe...or post rut (back on food sources). Muzzle Loader season can add a couple of very important weeks to hunt the bigger, mature bucks. Something to consider. Still lots of season left. Not time to panic yet.


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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: flintknapper] #7671514 11/25/19 02:09 AM
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Originally Posted by flintknapper
Small acreage is going to make things challenging for you....unless for some reason it is more attractive than surrounding properties it is hard to 'hold' bucks on it.


There are exceptions to every rule, especially when it comes to bucks.

I remember the year a couple of guys who hunted a 2 acre tract took a very nice buck. The two acres were very overgrown and had an old falling down farm house on it. As bucks often do, it appeared the buck had learned to bed in the relative safety of that small, two acre tract and its farm house. The tract was surrounded by larger tracts, one of which was hunted rather hard. The two guys who hunted the smaller tract were the type who hunted just the first two or three weekends of the season. It was by pure luck they were there when that buck returned and walked past one of them early one morning to find his bed.

As I'm sure some of you have come to learn, it's not unusual for deer, and especially bucks, to bed within a stone's throw of old farm houses, including those where people still live. They learn over time that the sights and sounds of human activity provides them with relative safety from their natural predators.

Last edited by Texas Dan; 11/25/19 02:15 AM.

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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671553 11/25/19 03:02 AM
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Don’t underestimate the number of deer, especially bucks that go nocturnal at this time of year.

Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671567 11/25/19 03:29 AM
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If you have the equipment put in 3-4 food plots about 1-2 acres each scattered out over your 200. Doesn't have to be high dollar seed, plain old BOB oats work great & if you stand to get hard freezes then a mixture of oats & wheat. Fall & winter green food plots will draw and hold does and that will draw the bucks.





Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: DLALLDER] #7671593 11/25/19 04:04 AM
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Originally Posted by DLALLDER
If you have the equipment put in 3-4 food plots about 1-2 acres each scattered out over your 200. Doesn't have to be high dollar seed, plain old BOB oats work great & if you stand to get hard freezes then a mixture of oats & wheat. Fall & winter green food plots will draw and hold does and that will draw the bucks.


Every effort should be made to make your property as attractive as possible to the deer (Does and Bucks), but odds are surrounding properties also have food plots, feeders, bedding areas. Does will typically choose (and stay in) a smaller area their entire lives than bucks, but even so...once the receptive Does on a small property have been 'covered', the bucks are moving on. It doesn't matter if the Does stay in one place or not, the attraction is over. That's just a fact...on small property. The property will only support so many animals and you only have so many places you can go on 200 acres before you over-hunt it.

Hunting small parcels successfully, means hunting it 'smart' not necessarily often. Sometimes it's best to just wait until conditions improve (second rut, post rut).

Small properties can produce....no one knows that better than me. I've been hunting the same property for over 35 yrs. and it's been pretty good to me, but when I moved to Deep East Texas from the Hill Country (where we had much more property) I had to learn to adjust. Hunt smart. Learn your property, know the deer density, know what neighboring properties look like. Spend your time wisely, hunt in earnest during peak periods...but also know when to leave it alone.

Last edited by flintknapper; 11/25/19 04:06 AM.

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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671717 11/25/19 01:24 PM
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I had this same issue on my ranch when I bought it. I ended up bringing the mountain to Mohamed so to speak. I bought a bow and started shooting it every chance I could. Now I LOVE it! Shooting a good buck at 20 yards is way more of a thrill that out a blind window at 200. As a bonus, for some reason not that many folks bow hunt so it is much more natural and quiet in the woods. The deer are not spooked. In my opinion it just makes for a more relaxing hunt. I stop deer hunting on my place by Thanksgiving, this way it gives the deer a safe place as well. I guess bow hunting just made sense for me when faced with this issue.

Good luck!
John

Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671881 11/25/19 04:26 PM
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I find that bucks flat out do not eat corn in North Texas. Montague county is where I am at. Sure maybe few times at night but nothing like does. Been this way where I hunt for 15 years. We have 1,000 acres. We saw a few shooters this weekend and they are traveling and glong no where near feeders except to see if a doe is there.

An no mater what, those October bucks will be somewhere in November.

Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7671892 11/25/19 04:35 PM
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Originally Posted by haslethunter
I am needing some help. First of all I am in North Texas so I have to compete with acorns plus I only have 200 acres. We still let everything walk unless 4.5 yr old. We feed our deer year round but the same thing happens every year. I have nice deer hitting my feeder everyday until last week of October when they break up and rut kicks in. They disappear from my place completely then and I only see the young immature deer until they bachelor back up in Mid December. I have lots of doe on my place so that is not the problem. My question is, what does everyone due to combat this. Has anyone had any luck mixing something in with corn to keep them around? Do you back off of your feeders completely and hunt elsewhere?


When the rut starts and Acorns start to fall that's a double whammy against you. And they could care less about corn as a source of snacks. I mix record rack golden deer nuggets, berry flavored with my corn and it seems to keep them in the area. But your best bet is to set up a scrape drop with Estrus, I like Rubline Scents, fresh and unprocessed. every few days this time of year I have a new buck I have never seen before come by and check it out (11 acres). I have killed and 8 point and a 12 point on my property this year and my son just killed an 11 point. Lampasas and Burnet county run thru my property so I have it set up to hunt both counties.

Also rattling late morning like or 8:30 seems to do well to bring some in that may not be showing their face.


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Re: Low Fence Deer Problems [Re: haslethunter] #7672218 11/25/19 10:13 PM
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We have the same problem, only we have 100 acres. We are surrounded by mostly smaller places and everyone where we hunt is mostly meat hunters, which is what I am. I typically dont let a decent buck go because someone else will shoot it. We get lucky on occasion and someone in the family gets a nice buck but just not that often. I did see a stud yesterday right the corner of our fence line driving in after eating breakfast. I'm gonna hunt him wednesday instead of sitting in the stand. I killed a buck Saturday that had lost one side of his antlers. Probably most would say to let it walk but as I stated, we dont get bucks all that often.

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