OK, already....DEER lease. I need to proof my work a little more. I hope I never have to lease a "DEAR."

Thanks for the input.

Well, they are drilling most of South Texas right now and they've cut seismic grids all over that country. Guess all those deer are going to move to Central Texas or swim across the river. Prices should be dropping drastically in South Texas. I'm holding my breath for that.

Have a small bit of oil/gas activity on the ranch. Deer are used to their coming and going. New activity usually only creates a temporary disruption. I had an interesting situation a couple of years ago though. Lease operator had a work-over unit and crew doing a job in a remote area of the ranch. Checking cattle that week, I discovered a 100 yard string of corn down the middle of a lease road. Had a discussion with the operator and the crew became unemployed. He didn't have any idea what "corning" a road meant but his ex-employees did. :-)

Some articles / studies on the matter:

IMHO Probably the best stand, if you could do it, would be sitting up on the Monkey Board on the drilling rig. In my past life, at a couple of drilling wells, just at the break of dawn you could see the glowing eyes of the deer standing just outside the rig light circle. Curious little critters!

AEB-

Ive had that happen as well, had a 250 plus pound boar shot a couple weeks ago, oilfield gloves laying on top of him. Pulling unit had just left that day and I found him that evening. Didnt see it so hard to lay the blame, but it was over a half mile from county road and property line, but only about 200 yards from the well. Go figure.

I would not look for lease prices to be dropping in South Texas anytime soon. I would think most landowners are not going to want the extra income to pay more taxes. Deer get used to all the activity and learn to adapt very well in a short time. If you have a lease keep it if they are going to lease it again and hope that the neighbors do not lease giving you a better area to hunt and manage with less pressure.

if anything, lease prices are going to go up, because there will be a shortage of leases in south texas.

people that depended on the income for a long time are now set...

price per acre in the sweet spots of the eagle ford are going from 2000-8000 per acre. why would they want to mess with $14-$17 per acre for hunting?

As an old company man in my previous life, I can guarantee you that if any of my crews ever did that without landowners permission in writing, and I found out, they wouldn't be working for me again. I did have a couple of LO's bring us a tagged doe and let us cook it in the rig grill (standard equipment), but again we had permission and in each case the LO was there!

I am looking at a rig that just went up in Karnes county now. I am under a tree waiting on the hogs. They have put them up everywhere here. The deer do not seem to mind the noise.

they drill mon us and the dee end to get used to i but you gotta watch the workers they may try to poach

Also have to watch the upkeep traffic (treater trucks and such). They have free reign and nobody watching them.
Down with poachers!!!!!!!

Any time you have an increase in traffic there are going to be incidents of theft and poaching.

They can't watch everyone all of the time!

Drilling affects cattle operations much more than deer. When cattle sees a truck, they think they are going to get food. Some truckers haul butt through ranches and have killed cattle. When those cattle die, trust me, they are always the "prized steer" with a bloodline that goes back to Bodacious.


The main complaint I get from the surface owner is the water haulers, deck hands and other people leaving gates open, it's just a fact that plagues every single oil and gas lease/unit with production. Many of those guys are contractors hired at a dime a dozen.

We've had problems with poaching this year and even people trying to steal cattle, we know it's related to our O&G operations, but you can't keep track of every single contractor as they may work there for a day, then quit, find another job etc. All you can do is change the lock code so if it's a past contractor then they'll have a hard time getting in.

If you are invested heavily in the lease, then I would get in contact with the surface Landman from the O&G company and get his card. I'm sure the surface owner and the Landman would definitely appreciate it if you report suspicious activity.


No hard feelings to deckhands or water haulers on this board, this is solely from my experience.

i hope they dont drill on my land

I don't know about the drilling but those stinking siesmic trucks scare everything off in the freaking county!!!!!

hunted Bluffdale area, Erath county, three years ago.. poaching was the problem, not the drilling

I'm a LO in Erath and Hood country and like a previous poster stated.Most landowners only complaint is the gates getting left open because someone is to lazy to get out of their truck to shut it..I can assure you that the deer get use to the traffic..The two biggest deer I've seen in the past three years have both been standing on a pad with water trucks going up and down the road..Hell the deer have gotten so used to my work truck that they don't even pay attention to me anymore..Most of us make to much money to jeoperdize out careers for a deer no matter how big he is..I know there are exceptions..And if your a landowner with oil or gas wells your lease operator can be a big help since they are on your land 7 days a week..And if your a hunter on an oil and gas lease the lease operator more than likely knows where the deer are..I have helped both landowners and hunters throughout the years.

Has anyone noticed problems because of the deer drinking from frac water pond? We have a pond on our lease that has a fence around it but have seen the deer jump it to get to the water. Frac water is contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals but the impact on the deer may not be know for awhile. Was wondering if anyone had any extended experience with a frac pond on their lease.

You frac with fresh water.

HWY_MAN

Fresh water is the main component of frac water, but not the only component. Feel free to Google frac water and check my understanding of the frac'ing process. My only concern is the health of the wildlife on my deer lease.

Your wrong again..I do this for a living and yes like others have stated that frac pits are only freshwater and nothing else..The Chemicals you speak of are only added when they are pumped downhole.Freshwater is pulled from the pit and the chemicals are pulled from containers at the sametime sand is mixed in to fracture the rocks below the surface.If your deer are drinking from frac pits then they are drinking the same water fish and other wildlife use.If these open pits were so harmful don't you think that the state would have shut them down?Now if you want to talk about the water that comes back up(after the frac) then thats a whole different arguement..BTW news agencies don't tell the whole story..

Cborden,
I apologize for the confusion. I have been attempting to discuss the water removed from the well after the frac.

Most frac water comes from lakes, rivers, or other water sources that are brought to the well from sometimes miles away. If you ever see big metal lines running down the side of the road or thru someones property, thats what they're doing. I think your talking about the reserve or flow back pit that are sometimes next to the pad. If so, it ain't spring water in there by any means. But like I said in your other post, most lakes around here have more pollutants and chemicals than whats in there. And I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night, I know this because I work for a wireline company and we perforate the well before the frac starts. I handle, use and do what ever else with that water.

Thanks to everyone for their input. This was the discussion I was hoping for.