Forums46
Topics537,029
Posts9,719,580
Members86,989
|
Most Online25,604 Feb 12th, 2024
|
|
|
Freestone County
#7967485
09/09/20 10:57 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495
ctonsmitty
OP
Bird Dog
|
OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495 |
Any of you guys hunt in and/or around Freestone County? What is the general consensus as it pertains to deer hunting? Anybody plant food plots, have seed recommendations?
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7967563
09/09/20 11:33 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532
fishdfly
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532 |
Own land and hunt Leon County.
Deer hunting can really be tough when there are acorns. We are growing a lot of 12 1/2" deer. Hunting is dependent on your neighbors and if they lease. We judge how many folks are leasing by the number of beer cans on the dirt roads, seeing lots of cans latterly.
Land tracts are small compared to the west. A 600 acre tract is large, in fact 400 is kinda large.
Food plots, how much work do you want to put forth? You looking to broad cast and rake or disk, broad cast and roll? Can plant ryegrass and rake. If you go to disk, plant Elbon Rye and wheat. If there are lots of acorns food plots in kinds wasting money. Food plots are dependent on rain and if there are or are not army worms. Army worms, good bye food plot.
Seed, contact East Texas Seed in Tyler or check their web site.
I normally kill my better deer after Christmas Day.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: fishdfly]
#7967716
09/10/20 12:40 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495
ctonsmitty
OP
Bird Dog
|
OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495 |
Thanks fishdfly 12.5" deer are generally 2.5 year olds, so this isn't great news as it pertains to food plots, I am lucky to be well equipped. Ive got a 50HP 4x4 tractor with all appropriate implements. I plan to plant plots in the 2 acre range. I'll be on the lookout on neighboring activity----I also have a guy who comes in a few times per week to check on the gas pads. I'll ask him about the neighbors and neighboring hunting activity.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7967788
09/10/20 01:08 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532
fishdfly
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532 |
"12.5" deer are generally 2.5 year olds, so this isn't great news"
No, the problem is "if" a deer makes it to 13", that sucker is going on the ground. So your less then 13" are your breeding bucks. I have a lot of less than 13" high racked bucks. They have eye appeal, just not quite legal.
Unlike other parts of Texas with high fences, most of East Texas is low fenced and the bucks wander a bunch. You might try to manage the deer you see and have on cameras, but they do not stay home.
With AR, when a lessor sees a 13" his next home is an Igloo cooler.
Make friends of your well man, he can really be your ally. He can be on the look out for trespassers.
Food plots, spread rye grass on you interior roads. This gives the deer something to eat and it will cut down on your erosion. The deer like it on the narrow roads, they feel comfortable there.
Last edited by fishdfly; 09/10/20 01:10 AM.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: fishdfly]
#7967826
09/10/20 01:36 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495
ctonsmitty
OP
Bird Dog
|
OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495 |
that's for the additional recommendations re the roads---roads are pretty washed out from the recent 7" rains (and today's rain isn't helping)
As far as the 13" spread rule, perhaps I should start a campaign of 13" spread OR 19" main beam OR 4.25" base---there are really 3 criteria that makes a buck mature and spread is generally only 1 of the 3---if a buck has a 19" main beam, 90% of the time he will be 4.5 years old ditto the 4.25" base---this is for another thread, but its' the truth
I suppose I really need to get to know my neighbors and crank up the FEED!!
I have no interests in shooting a 13" buck, I want to grow 140" bucks (and shoot old mature culls)---sounds like its' going to be a real challenge
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7967883
09/10/20 02:10 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532
fishdfly
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532 |
"I suppose I really need to get to know my neighbors"
Be wary of your neighbors, you will always be a "move in". They will smile and appear to be friendly, but never leave your back unprotected.
People think country folk are such nice folks. some of the worst I know are Deacons in the Baptist Church.
Been hunting Leon County since 1966 and we have never killed a 140 deer. In fact I never had one on my cameras.
Lessors generally quit hunting after Thanksgiving, deer start moving about mid December.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7968314
09/10/20 02:05 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462
Gw123
Bird Dog
|
Bird Dog
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462 |
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: Gw123]
#7968323
09/10/20 02:11 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462
Gw123
Bird Dog
|
Bird Dog
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462 |
I’m not saying these were mature deer at all. 3 and 1/2 most likely, but with another year or two on them they had potential to be great deer I believe. But in that neck of the woods a 13” deer doesn’t make it very long is what I’m getting at.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7968366
09/10/20 02:41 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,185
hook_n_line
THF Trophy Hunter
|
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,185 |
Limestone deer
Sometimes it's hard being me! But somebody has to do it.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7968396
09/10/20 02:55 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532
fishdfly
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532 |
Nice deer for Leon County.
The better deer come from the Trinity River and Navasota River area.
I had a really nice atypical that was coming to one feeder. I went to fill the feeder and he caught me there. He disappeared after that. I hung another camera a mile from that feeder to monitor a gate area for trespassers. Went to check it a week later. There he was. He went back to where he started from.
I have one 100 acre track that has county road on one side and railroad on the other. The other side backs up to a high fence. The deer on my side will walk the high fence side to visit with the deer there. They have a trail that looks like a cattle trail.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: fishdfly]
#7968426
09/10/20 03:13 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462
Gw123
Bird Dog
|
Bird Dog
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462 |
Nice deer for Leon County.
The better deer come from the Trinity River and Navasota River area.
I had a really nice atypical that was coming to one feeder. I went to fill the feeder and he caught me there. He disappeared after that. I hung another camera a mile from that feeder to monitor a gate area for trespassers. Went to check it a week later. There he was. He went back to where he started from.
I have one 100 acre track that has county road on one side and railroad on the other. The other side backs up to a high fence. The deer on my side will walk the high fence side to visit with the deer there. They have a trail that looks like a cattle trail.
Thank you, we’re probably 10 miles or so from the river bottom and the and we always see way more deer and better deer when the bottom land is flooded. The best year we hunted was 2015 or 2016, they were letting water out of lake limestone and the whole bottom was flooded and pushed a lot of deer to us. We were seeing 12-20 deer a hunt. Most of the time though it’s 3-5.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: Gw123]
#7968442
09/10/20 03:25 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532
fishdfly
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532 |
The deer from the river bottoms tend to have darker horns than deer miles from the rivers.
I heard that is a result of better access to water and there are more nutrients in their food source from fertilizer being carried down stream from fields.
River flooding brings a down side, it congregate the hogs also.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: fishdfly]
#7968460
09/10/20 03:36 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462
Gw123
Bird Dog
|
Bird Dog
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 462 |
The deer from the river bottoms tend to have darker horns than deer miles from the rivers.
I heard that is a result of better access to water and there are more nutrients in their food source from fertilizer being carried down stream from fields.
River flooding brings a down side, it congregate the hogs also. That is true. Luckily for us we haven’t had much fresh hog sign all year. I know they’ll be back as soon as we turn on the feeders though. The place we hunt has a probably a 20 acre tank and two smaller ones that are mainly just slews. We tend to never be without hogs for long.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7968937
09/10/20 09:40 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 12,822
PMK
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 12,822 |
what size of property and general area of Freestone county makes a difference.
one of my leases is NE from Lake Fairfield bordered on the east by the Trinity River (a couple miles river frontage) in Freestone county. We are mostly surrounded by large properties that have pretty strict game management, MLD3. We have planted fall food plots with oats and wheat with pretty good success. We planted peas this spring that the does seemed to go nuts. We were out shredding about a month ago and noticed that the tops were all gone from the peas, but I suspect grasshoppers came thru.
We start seeing some pretty good bucks coming up to and past the old power plant on out to our place. 140+ is definitely possible with age.
"everyone that lives dies but not everyone who dies lived..."
~PMK~
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7969052
09/10/20 11:37 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532
fishdfly
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,532 |
My deer are spending time in the lake now eating aquatic weeds. They get belly deep, keeps them full and cool.
Since I lease out a small portion I do not do any planting there. Big part I plant a little rye and run a feeder to keep me entertained. I spend more time watching them. Mainly shoot hogs with my muzzleloader.
Planting peas and clover keeps them home.
Cameras go up this weekend in the woods.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#7969284
09/11/20 02:17 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495
ctonsmitty
OP
Bird Dog
|
OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495 |
I planted a beautiful 2 acre pea/milo/sunflower field and the deer hammered it daily in June/early July until my neighbors cows found their way onto my property and demolished it
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#8028412
10/29/20 02:04 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495
ctonsmitty
OP
Bird Dog
|
OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495 |
Anybody have any reports from Freestone County??
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: fishdfly]
#8028748
10/29/20 12:56 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 19,129
Biscuit
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 19,129 |
The deer from the river bottoms tend to have darker horns than deer miles from the rivers.
I heard that is a result of better access to water and there are more nutrients in their food source from fertilizer being carried down stream from fields.
River flooding brings a down side, it congregate the hogs also. I love the darker horns
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#8028950
10/29/20 03:02 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,679
pop r
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,679 |
Very few small acorn falling this year. Deer eating a lot of corn and winter pea's and oats. Bucks are still running together and are starting to spar with each other. It won't be long before the rut. We are also covered up with pigs this year.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#8028980
10/29/20 03:38 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495
ctonsmitty
OP
Bird Dog
|
OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 495 |
pop
we are covered up w/ Hogs too----I will be putting up hog panels on more additional feeders this weekend. The deer are hitting our feeders daily, but the Hogs are cleaning up the corn. I am noticing more and more rubs and some scrapes too.
As far as the oats/peas, when did you plant and did they come up? I have not had any rain in October until last Thursday/Friday and planted on Saturday.
|
|
|
Re: Freestone County
[Re: ctonsmitty]
#8029085
10/29/20 04:49 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,679
pop r
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,679 |
ctonsmitty I planted my 3 food plots the first of October. I sprayed 100 gallons of water ever 4 or 5 days on my plots to get it up and growing till this rain hit. They came up on Oct. 22. I'm hunting off of FM 2547 just north of Fairfield. Good luck!
|
|
|
Moderated by bigbob_ftw, CCBIRDDOGMAN, Chickenman, Derek, DeRico, Duck_Hunter, hetman, jeh7mmmag, JustWingem, kmon11, kry226, kwrhuntinglab, Payne, pertnear, rifleman, sig226fan (Rguns.com), Superduty, TreeBass, txcornhusker
|