This year was our first year on my parents ranch. It is right on the brown/coleman county line. I have grown up hunting in San Saba county my entire life. We regularly see 140" deer, have killed numerous 150s, and even a few 160" on that low fence lease.

With their new ranch being about 40 miles NW, I expected some minor drop off in deer quality. 10" max on average is what I was expecting, however after this first year, I think it's significantly worse than that.

Anyone have experience in the area? Going to feed protein/cottonseed, but is consistent 130s-140s a pipe dream there?

Well depends on the acreage, your neighbors habits past and future as well. 140 is hard to get to where I hunt just because no one will let that 135-140 go that extra time and not shoot anything for a few years. Yall and others probably managed enough on the last place to get up to the standards you had there. Would add more but only have phone to type on.

It's a little over 250 acres. Two of the 4 neighbors are serious hunters. Met one of them and they are management oriented. The lease did take years of the grind of letting them get to maturity (luckily had 10x the acreage there to work with). But it also just seems like even the 2.5-3.5 year old deer there have a genetic head start from what I saw on the ranch this year. Was just curious of what consistent management (assuming neighbors are the same) will get us.

On a Hill country lease we went in 5 years from maybe 110 to 130s. This was on 400 acres and only group that seemed management minded was to the south of us and maybe to the west. Others not so much. That group to the south made a bg differwnce as our bigger deer were always on that south end of the place. Flat red dirt land.

I live in brown county. I hunt in northern mills county. Usually have dozens of deer. Pick and choose which buck to shoot, usually seeing 4-5 legal bucks per hunt. I've killed a deer just a touch under 150".

Not this year. Acorns. Everyone has grain. Feed everywhere. I've seen less than 5 legal bucks all season.

Don't judge by this year's experience. It's been rough.

My family has hunted in Coleman county for a long time. As the poster above said, this year has been a poor year for antler size for sure. We don't have a high fence and we don't feed protein but we hunt a decent amount of acreage. We have a ton of does this year and are working on that. Our neighbors don't hunt aggressively.

This year has been pretty slow. You anywhere near the massive solar farm out there, SW corner of Brown County east of the county line? 10 square km. Hunt a place near it and its definitely changed the movement patterns and general numbers I have seen over the years.

I'm in Coleman and bucks have been scarce this year. Saw some monsters in August then they disappeared. We took one decent 8 and everything else has been a baby this year.

I know that area well. From Brown County.

A buddy of mine has a place just inside the Brown county line & my uncle has a place just west of there inside of Coleman county. There are some really nice deer in that area and it is famous for having Turkey when no one else does. Not sure why on the Turkey thing, but its been that way my whole life.

Be patient. As was said above, this has been a tough year. Should be great dove hunting in that area as well. Don't know how much water you have but it is your most valuable asset.

O.G. said:

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I know that area well. From Brown County.

A buddy of mine has a place just inside the Brown county line & my uncle has a place just west of there inside of Coleman county. There are some really nice deer in that area and it is famous for having Turkey when no one else does. Not sure why on the Turkey thing, but its been that way my whole life.

Be patient. As was said above, this has been a tough year. Should be great dove hunting in that area as well. Don't know how much water you have but it is your most valuable asset.

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Sounds very close to us. We are between bangs and Santa Anna. We do have water and have seen numerous turkeys. Appreciate all the replies.

One other question while I'm at it. A significant portion of the property has very thick "bee brush" (think that's what it's called). Would it be significantly beneficial to clear this? Seems so thick it would hinder the habitat for holding deer. Assuming it's common in the area.

Howdy Dammit said:

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O.G. said:

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I know that area well. From Brown County.

A buddy of mine has a place just inside the Brown county line & my uncle has a place just west of there inside of Coleman county. There are some really nice deer in that area and it is famous for having Turkey when no one else does. Not sure why on the Turkey thing, but its been that way my whole life.

Be patient. As was said above, this has been a tough year. Should be great dove hunting in that area as well. Don't know how much water you have but it is your most valuable asset.

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Sounds very close to us. We are between bangs and Santa Anna. We do have water and have seen numerous turkeys. Appreciate all the replies.

One other question while I'm at it. A significant portion of the property has very thick "bee brush" (think that's what it's called). Would it be significantly beneficial to clear this? Seems so thick it would hinder the habitat for holding deer. Assuming it's common in the area.

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Bee Brush, or sometimes called White Brush. If if were me, I'd leave it. Its great cover. FAR better than cedar etc etc that will pop up.

I'm from the South Texas Brush country, and where we had "white brush thickets" was always good deep soil, in or near creek bottoms. So yes, it CAN be beneficial to clear those areas to allow for another protein source to develop, being careful not to allow an invasive species like "cedar", mesquite, or huisache to replace it. Not to mention that deer love edge and it improves visibility.