This will be my second year hunting the LBJ grasslands.. I have a ton of doe on cameras, and one spike, but can't seem to locate any legal bucks... Saw 2 last year, but it was during rut and they were chasing doe. about 80 yards away in a wide open field. Any tips for locating bucks now in the early season on LBJ? Things to look for?

Keep track of the does, when the rut hits the bucks will show up.

It's the grasslands. Overcorwded. I suggest you hunt all day in the stand.

Find the feeders on adjacent private land and set up accordingly.

That’s really the only way , a friend of mine lives backed up to a portion and you’d be amazed the amount of people that go through his yard

I'll tell you what I tell everyone that hunts LBJ. Pick a unit. Learn it for a couple years and decide if it is productive enough to get serious about. After about 3 years in a unit you will get the pattern down of where deer are moving and where hunters usually set up. I have places that I feel pretty confident I can shoot a doe in archery season and where doe will congregate during the rut. The most successful hunters find the places where deer will routinely pass and set up on them. Still hunting is a low percentage activity for most hunters. But you will need to scout and learn a unit both during season and just after season. That means burning hunting days to learn more about a location. LBJ, for the most part, isn't a high deer population area. Even in the units I hunt most I don't see many rubs and scrapes. When I find them I take notice and try to learn a pattern. I think the hunting activity pushes them to private in early October and November.

Even if I can't scout and hunt and definately if I am scouting, I will drive past units on Saturday morning and see how many trucks are parked. Then, if I can I'll drive by in the middle of the week and look again. That tells me the pressure a unit is getting. A unit with a couple trucks at each gate is getting a lot of pressure. If there aren't a lot of trucks at a unit and I'm looking for a new place to learn, I'll try to scout it after they leave in the morning.

As far as public land, the old adage for duck hunters is a good rule. Scout at least twice as much as you hunt. You're looking for pressure and sign. How many boot prints are entering an area and where are they going? How many tracks that appear to be different ages are on trails? How concentrated are the food sources. Are there feeders or plots on private nearby? What are the tracks around water like? Where are animals crossing fences? Are there signs of browsing on plants/trees?

If you can, put cameras on any scrapes or rubs you find. Rubs are likely not going to see much follow up use, in my opinion. But scrapes will. Scrapes are the golden ticket as far as I'm concerned.

I really look at hunting public as a three to five year process. Maybe I'm just slow.

Let us know if you see any hogs this year. I am wondering if they will open another Feral hunt in LBJ after deer seasons.