Has anyone else gone to the lease only to find the land cleared?? We had a great little place with thick mesquite and we drove to find a big machine piling those up in piles. After pulling cards today after 3 weeks there were ZERO deer one cameras.... We had no contract, just a hand shake and good faith so [spoiler][/spoiler]I guess it is what it is!

Is there no cover left?

There is about 100 yard wide swath of trees still there runs about 1000 yards long, but so is the equipment! I don't foresee the trees being there much longer....

The deer will still use the land once the equipment and activity are gone. You will to adjust your hunting style to the open country. I grew up hunting open farm and pasture land with very little cover. It can be done you just have to adapt to what you have. Should be great rutting activity in that open country. If it rains it will cover in new growth grass and weeds. Deer will be all over it like a new food plot.

Man, sure hope so! I have hunted open country before but it was agriculture land with crops... Guys, we shall see.

The deer that were there are not far away, they will be back. Maybe not in the same numbers, but they have to go some where,

yeah you would like to think the LO would have least given you a heads up -

Good luck - they’ll be back

It would have been great to know but it’s a farm and ranch operation so.... live and learn! We can only hope that as the season gets closer the operation will stop!

I havent had that happen, but I hunted the a Ranch in Webb County in the 80's and they would start burning pear between 9:30 and 10 just about every morning. Trucks and ranch hands all over the place. Rancher made it clear it was a working cattle ranch. I got lucky and ended up on part of the ranch with the least amount of cows and not considered to be the best part of the ranch. I shot deer but the other guys didn't we only hunted that place one year and were gone.

The rancher also made everybody remove all stands and feeders after season and could not put them back up untill end of August as I recall. Most which we didn't know until he had our money.

That ranch pretty much had new hunters every year.

The key is to not let them feel anymore hunting pressure from you than they are already used to......

Yessir

How many acres?

Had that happen years ago in red river County on paper land 1000 acres split into by a main road no warning at all week before season opened 500 acres gone nothing left except for the trees that had lean up stands in them

I would guess 150+ acres of brush, possibly more!

It is Texas, remember, be realistic.

Those land owners who appear to be apathetic about what their hunters want, really don't need their money, and the hassle that goes along with it!
They don't need it, but they like it, and know that there is a long line of hunters that will take the place of the disgruntled ones.

yes. I had the area in front of my blind cleared Thanksgiving week....I arrived after lunch Thanksgiving day and saw it had been partially cleared so hunted elsewhere that evening. On Friday, i could hear the dozer back at work while hunting a different stand. Drove away that weekend and didn't go back except to get my stand and feeder. It's a working ranch and I get that....but really?

I saw a place on 281 between Lampasas and Lorena getting completely cleared back in June.

Bummer.

Happened to me earlier this summer but deer still there and traveling the terrain. If you get rain it will be nice. Just got a figure out low pressure and way to sneak in and out for a set undetected with wind to your favor

There is a government program for funds to remove mesquites and turn it into pasture. Mesquite robs the water off other plants. Happened on our a few years back in Jacksboro..Deer returned no problem..

I was on a 7000 acre ranch not far from Snyder and they brought in an excavator and grubbed up about 500 acres of mesquites to make some new wheat fields. Deer started using that area as soon as the equipment pulled out.

I hope for the positive... but not 1 deer on 2 stand cameras in 3 weeks is hard to swallow!

Who owns the land? Should he have told you what was going to happen? Probably. If he had offered to refund the lease money would you have took it? Probably not. End of story.

It always amazes me when hunters who pay a few grand think they can dictate what goes on, on a multi million dollar ranch.