[quote=(HTHC)jbs8307]I've read alot of bad posts about east texas. Before some of you guys completely discredit east texas all together i thought i would share the results of 14 years of management on a 2400 acre timber property in east texas. I shot the one on the top right. It scored 137 4/8. The big one not on the wall went 162 3/8. The buck by it self was killed this year thats why he isnt on the wall yet. I would put this wall against any low fence south texas lease.

Very impressive!!! Congrats!!!!

NIce wall for sure but I would stay away from being the best of any low fence place in South Tx b/c there are alot of low fence places in South Tx thay are huge and have some of the Best you will ever see ( PARTS OF THE KING RANCH ) There are 3 on that wall that are just culls on some of those ranches. You do have an awesome place and if you don't have the good ol boys problem then you are lucky... I have hunted East TX for many years and will never go back b/c I think half the Gamewardens family are part of the problem LOL... But anyway hell of a wall and it looks like you have a great place keep up the good work.

Ya we pay 1400 but that has really went up lately. it was 900 three years ago. Its a family lease. Most of the memebers have been on from the beggining. I agree with the statement about the king ranch and some of them being culls. The smaller deer up on the wall were taken in the first few years when we all weren't used to seeing deer of this caliber. There are two 2.5 year olds on that wall. One of them was a kids first buck though. There are also only 2 5.5 year olds up there too and we have never killed one older than 5.5.
And yes we have a 5000 acre place directly across the highway from us that has been managing for 25 years. So we do help each other, but thats the only place around us that does. all our other neighbors are smaller properties with cattle. there are also a couple small deer leases that shoot what ever they see. I cringe for the little guys (young bucks) every time i hear a shot from those properties which is very often.

That is an awesome wall.
I noticed some people disputing on east tx having bad poachers. There is poaching everywhere, but I know that in several areas of east tx it is insanely bad. A good friend of mine is from Malakoff and we went hog huntin with dogs down there last year with some friends of his from Athens. When we got to McDonald's in Malakoff there was a couple guys there telling my buddy and I that they were goin out spotlightin for a big'un. They said they had killed 11 bucks in the past 4 days.
Then we went on to his friends place. Those guys were even worse! They smoked left handed cigarettes all day long. They said they hunt deer all year-only at night, and they had a marijuana crop in the back yard
The hog huntin was freakin awesome though!

Left handed cigarette? I thought I heard it all until that.

Nice Bucks I hunt in east texas in Harrison county i got lucky last year killed a nice buck that scored 142.I had him mounted by a guy in east texas,while there he had alot of great east texas bucks.They are ther but dont show up at the feeders very often can be hard huntin

Great looking wall, but i disagree with the south texas low fence comment. If you properly manage a low fence lease in s tx. for 14 years, you will regularly pass on 130-140 class young deer and harvest mature deer in the 160's consistently. Obviously not everyone on the lease will shoot a 160 deer every year but I guarantee there will be one shot. The kicker is obviously proper management.

I think the biggest reason East Tx is so well known for poaching, is that there are so many more people out there. Over 1/2 the TX population (of people) live east of I-45. Take a look at a TX map, and you'll see why thats a big issue. Properties are smaller, and more folks are out there to hunt it. That means (by definition) fewer deer, and increased likelihood of poaching.

That said, I've traveled all over this state (and others) and the hillbilly factor is definately alot higher out in East TX.

For what its worth, that is some of the prettiest country around, and depending on the location, deer hunting can be pretty darned good.

I'd be doing a disservice not to say "NICE WALL". Attaboy.

Whoa,Whoa,Whoa.....whatchu talkin' 'bout?


edit: and so much of the land belongs to timber companies....so your really don't have owners keeping an eye on the places. It is basically an open invite to those who feel the laws are just suggestions to come hunt when they want to since there are weeks were lease members aren't on the property. One place we hunt borders a National Forest... every year there are a cpl folks that try to hide their vehicles and hunt our stands and once caught claim they thought they were hunting NF.

Thanks for all the posts guys. I wasn't trying to bragg or anything just trying to show that us east texas boys get ours too.

Wow that is an impressive collection of bucks! Congratulations! I know that bucks like that aren't just a good plot of land but a lot of work and managing.

This is my first year hunting in East Texas but I did a lot of hunting when I lived up in the Northwestern Panhandle, man what a difference it will take me a while to get used to all of the trees. My dad and his partners farmed and ranched almost 7,000 acres... not one tree!

Not to add fuel to the poaching fire but I thought I would share a couple of pics that were on my trail cam when I checked it TODAY! FYI I am the only person supposed to be on this little tract and yes it is posted no none of these people are me.

WOW! I would be f#%$$ pissed!Time for some middle of the week hunting trips. Thats what helps our place alot. alot of us work shift work and there is almost always someone up there.

night shooting is awful as well. There was a guy out there that would shoot 15-20 deer a year himself. They had it down to an art. Drive certain areas. Shoot drive off. Back in an hour. @ guys get out. He drives off. Thirty minutes later he pics up guys and deer and is out of there. He would just tell you, didn't bother him a bit. I know people today out there that shoot deer year round on their places. "It's our land, we do what we want". Your lucky you still have a camera. It probably happens more than you think. Neighbors kids next to my place in Harrison county used to just start crossing fences, no big deal. I am not a big fan of high fence but I can sure understand why some people do it. Of course wire cutters they got to.

You can bet those two guys and girl live close to there I would take it to the gamewarden and show him then wait on them. As soon as they pass by the feeder shoot right over there head watch them run like crazy but do it from behind a bush. I bet they won't be back. But if they hit the ground make sure they don't leave unless it's in the back of the truck...

The problem I have with east texas is the trespassers and the damn hog dogs, if they would stay the hell off my lease I might kill a nice deer. I keep thinking im going to thin em out but might run out of bullets before that.

Ya i hate when people think they can run their damn dogs where ever they want. If you dont have a big enough piece of property then dont run dogs. Because some people might "mistake" them for coyotes. I have alot of pics of dogs with cut collars and even a guy with a knife strapped to his chest on my other lease near woodville.

Pretend this is a link. While it is not an article written by whomever and posted on the internet, it is my personal experience.

I have been deer hunting for 43 years. Of that 43 years, 14 years were spent hunting near Fairfield. On that one lease, the GW arrrested poachers hunting at night and hunting out of season 6 times on our place that I am aware of. On numerous occasions, we would come across people hunting our lease because their grandfather used to own it so they figured they had lifetime hunting priviliges or they claimed to be lost. I was talking to one of the guys that lived along the County Road and he told me that if I needed to use a phone to call about poachers (pre cell phones) that I should drive to town because if I stopped at a house, he was most likely a poacher and it would be trouble. Take that however you want. No less than 4 times, I pulled up behind vehicles driving very slowly down the county road with a gun barrel sticking out of every window. One man walked into our camp (over a mile from the road) with a rifle slung over his shoulder. If I hadn't met him with a Colt Python in my hand, I got the feeling it would have gotten bad. He was reaching for his rifle when I pulled the Python out from behind my back. Why was he there? Seems he climbed the fence, walked a mile to camp, and mistakenly thought he was on his own lease down the road. Right.

Sorry I don't have a hyperlink with this story but you can bet your bottom dollar it's all true. I know, if it's not posted on the internet, how can it be true? Don't have an answer for that one.

Oh yeah, in the other 29 years of deer hunting other parts of Texas, I have never once encountered any evidence of poaching on our leases.

That sounds about right. I don't know what i would do if i caught some guys on our property. I know i have our game wardens number and the sheriff's dept number in my phone so i would hold them there and call the game warden and if they took off i would probably follow them until the authorities could catch up.

i agree i will try to get some pics up that came out of good ol east texas, (between overton-kilgore) all low fence. 4 bucks killed in last 6 yrs that all were over 140+ deer.

they dont do anything as far as supplements or even corn. just spend alot of time hunting and scouting. all they have on thier lease is stands and those get ran over and tore down all the time. it is open gates and they cant stop a$$ holes that break in when they put one up.

well Hunt in west texas but I live in east texas and while I know there is alot of poaching in east texas I still have seen and had some west texas experiance in catching poachers on our lease in west texas.

in 7 years on our west texas lease we have caught 4 poachers and let a few get away. the last two years have been much better but there for a while I think I cought more poachers than i shot deer... its always nice when they come back to there truck and it is setting on 2 flats and the game warden is waiting for them at the gate...

the # of leases that can do that in East Tx is rapidly growing. I know a guy on a low fence lease where his last 5 years of hunting he has shot 5 bucks that range from 145-165...lol, and his guest one year ended his season quick by shooting a 140" opening day on the morning hunt and he got to back that evening with the stipulation to only shoot if it was the biggest buck he had ever seen in his life......right before dark he pulled the trigger on a 197" NT.

they are there they are just harder to find and hunt i think in the thicker denser area we hunt.

i havent pulled the trigger this year on a deer becuase i havent seen any that were worth it. i have seen plenty of does that produce twin everyyear but only a few buck and all were young.

Sorry, but Etex is full of poachers. Had one of them shoot a 6 point by my feeder and just left it there to rot. Constantly had all kinds of traffic on my stands. No more Etex leases for me.