White Tail in San Jacinto County

My dad and I just got on a lease in southeast San Jacinto County. I am in my mid 30's and he is knocking at 70, we have never hunted together before, so this is the year and we are both very excited. I have noticed the abundance of hog, which generally doesn't bother me as I like the meat especially the young ones, but I haven't seen any evidence of deer yet. We set game cams and caught many hog at the feeder, and a few animals which couldn't be identified (to far from IR flash). My question is, what is the deer population like in this part of the county, anyone have much luck, being a 4 deer county I would think they had plenty here. We are on the southeast side of Highway 59 / 69, the lease has some thick wooded areas and pipeline right of ways, areas that I am use to seeing plenty of deer. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.

If it's thick, hunt where you can see, which means the pipeline ROW. Usually see deer down the pipelines between Shepherd & Cleveland traveling on 59 early morning/late evening. If hogs are a big issue around corn, ground scrapes should start showing up in a few weeks to put the cameras on to get an idea of what's in the area. Good luck to you guys this season.

Check for sign and then put out some trail cameras to see what is around.

And awesome you are getting to spend time in the field with your Father Sir

What are the thoughts about putting short hog fences around feeders to reduce the amount of hog activity. Also has anyone heard of people stealing equipment in that area?

Can't hurt if hogs are keeping the deer away anyway. Might as well start conditioning them.


And yes, hear of stuff walking off every year along 59. Don't leave 4 wheelers and such out there.

I have a Kawasaki mule, and would never leave it out there, even if secure. I was thinking more along the lines of game cameras and feeders. Someone warned me that things walk off out there so I put my game cam about 10-12 feet in a nearby tree. Kinda limits my IR flash distance but worth it if I don't have something disappear.

Sounds like you're doing what you can. I always feel more comfy about cameras not walking off by getting them off the beaten paths.

Hunting pressure and poachers are a high possibility in that area. Might only see night action if the pressure is too high. Good luck to you and your father.

We are up north of you and on the opposite side of 59 in Polk Co. We haven't had any issues with theft, but most of our guys are local and are out there weekly to keep an eye on things

That being said, don't take any chances with high dollar equipment. Sadly, my old stomping grounds aren't the safest place from theives

As for the deer movement...it's been slow at feeders this year, but I think that has a lot to do with the rains and the abundance of forage. I'm leaning towards hand corn vs a feeder this year in my bow spot, and just picking off doe at the spin feeder. It's usually a better option, although during the drought with the lack of food, the spin feeders had some young bucks coming to them

Good luck this year!

Oh yeah, if you're near the old truck stop, you'll need to wage war on the hogs. They're bad! I lived across 59 from the truck stop for several years back in the early 2000's, and it was nothing to see 40-50 hogs in the pastures