Any news on the deer quality in Eastland County?

They look like they did last year. We didn't feed much protein and I have several bucks they haven't changed much from last year. I saw a 6x5 last night for the first time this year and he's in good shape considering the lack of rain. He will probably be in the mid 50 this year and is about 8.5 years old. We need rain!

All I've seen is does so far

Probably pretty good if you have night vision.

Some parts of Eastland County received localized heavy rains this summer and spring while other parts received absolutely nothing. Deer and all wildlife are suffering big time in those areas.

In the area near Cisco where my folks live, the deer are abundant. My dad says he sees atleast 30-50 a week, sometimes in groups of 8-15 individuals, almost always in the late evening. Of course he has a full 3/4 acre pond of water, as do the farms on either side of him. Haven't seen any hogs, just turkey and deer. I was thinking the deer were concentrating in areas relatively close to water, because we usually don't see too many herds of deer around here...just small family groups usually(does and fawns). He lives about 1.5-2 miles east of Cisco right off I-20. He said things are good all the way down to Carbon.

You nailed that one. Hardly any activity during the day in the 100+ degree heat. I occasionally jump a deer during the day while feeding/watering cows but haven't had a daytime deer picture at a feeding station in a long time. Hogs are a different deal. With many tank drying up, hogs are concentrating in areas that still have water. Seldom do I check a tank that I do not find hogs either in the water or laying up in a nearby shady area.

aeb, my dads got goat fence around his whole property, would that be why we aren't seeing hogs? Or could it be that they just haven't discovered the water yet?

We have deer but the drought has been hard on us. Any water is good to have. I haven't checked my camera since I put it out but am seeing a lot of sign around my trough, heavily used trails and feeder.

Consider yourself lucky. Most of the goat wire on my place is decades old and hogs have little problem going through it. On the other hand, a big boar hog running flat out would probably take out a new goat fence :-(

This is very true.

The hogs just haven't found the place yet. Any fence won't slow them down. They find ways in and you can't plug holes quick enough. We are covered up with them,but we border the Leon river

I am thinking of buying some property in Eastland county. Is the deer herd pretty vast? Havent had a chance to tour the property yet. Property also has a creek running through it. All surrounding property is woods. I live in east Tx

It all depends on what part. I'm south of I-20 and we have a lot of deer on our place when we bought it. However, the deer herd was very young. A mature deer was 3.5.The sex ratio was off too. There were about 4-5 does for every buck. The genetics aren't that great either. A monster buck will be in the 140's,however, there have been a few really big deer killed in the county. AR's started a few years ago and I finally saw a mature buck outside of our fence. I know of some people that leased land north of Ranger(I think it was 600 acres or so) and they were lucky if they saw a deer. Location is key.

Hogs have started to show up in the last 6 years or so. Seems the turkey population isn't as abundant as it used to be. Quail are pretty much non-existant.

Lots of activity around my feeder,lots of small bucks and mostly at night. Added water about 6 weeks ago ,they seem to like that,food and water at the same place.I really have'nt seen that many does,maybe 2 or 3 since I've had my cam up since early may.

VTR
Mike

I am looking at 3 properties. Two are north of I-20 just north of a lake that I dont know the name of. The other is south of I 20 about 6 or 7 miles I think. Seems to have more cover and woods. Also has a creek running through it. You said south of I-20 is better? Thought please? I live about 5 hours away so I know nothing about the area.

I can't say for 100% but I think most of the bigger deer killed have been south of 20. It does seem there is more oaks/cover on the south side. Seems the more north you go, the more mesquite country you get into.

I would look at all the places and check for deer/hog/turkey sign. When we bought our place in 1989, it was covered up with sign. There were probably more deer on the place than the neighbors because they cleared a lot of their land for cattle grazing. There is a member on this forum that lives on the north side that doesn't have hogs yet and another member on here that doesn't hunt to far from our place that doesn't have hogs either(south side). So its a hit or miss on hogs.

An absense of hogs anywhere in Eastland County is just a temporary thing. If you haven't seen a hog on your property lately, they are just visiting your neighbor. I am in the N/W part of the county and we have had hogs for years. Battle Creek seems to have been a pipeline for them as they migrated north.

I have been hunting a place for 7 years south of 20 between Cisco and Eastland. The deer numbers are pretty good, not the numbers I saw in Lampassas county but still pretty good. When it rains I have plenty of hogs, during dry times I do not see many. There is a small creek that cuts the corner of my place that is dry now. The turkey hunting has been great all the years I have been there. The biggest deer I have taken there is a 131" 12pt and the largest I have seen and or photographed is a 10 that would easly be in the mod 150s. this year we got a few good rains early but things are extremely dry now. the grass is all dead and even most of the weeds are dead. the bucks I have seen atill look in pretty good shape but I expect the horns will be smaller this year.

We shall see on the antler development. We didnt plant spring crops and maybe put out 20 bags of protein. So far, I haven't seen a difference in the antlers from last year. This will be a test to see how protein/ food plots affect antler development on our place

Tye, Jason here ... remember taking the pic of this fella last season (November)?

Nice buck

Yep, I remember...as well as having a hard time to find a doe to shot. He is one of the top 2 bucks on the place. Can't wait to see how he finishes up this year. Here he is(one in the foreground


How was the deer meat?

Meat was excellent. Out of two deer (buck and a doe), I'm probably down to maybe 5 lbs of ground venison and 15 lbs of link sausage.

Thats awesome. I'm almost out myself and it looks like we will have more does to shoot this year with the fawn crop increase from last year.