Anybody else having a difficult season? Our lease is dead this year. It is the third year on the lease and we have killed some great deer the past two years. 152, 143, 140, 136, 132 eight point.

It is 2500 acres and we have multiple pictures from the previous years of really big deer that nobody has laid their eyes on. This year we have nothing but scrubs and everybody is seeing the same few deer. Trail cams are nothing but the scrubs as well.

No idea what is going on but it has turned 1000% in the wrong direction.

Could be because it's been an off year for natural vegetation in some parts of TX.

we are seeing the same thing, too much forage out there for them with the bumper acorn crop. Not seeing near the deer we have in the past. Hopefully they will start showing up

We are experiencing the same thing, except for the fact we only really seeing doe and babies.

We have mainly mesquites on our lease. So thick you can't even walk through them. There sure is a good crop of rye grass underneath them though.

Hopefully things will turn around. I would think the prior two years is a much better indicator than the first few weeks of season.

Very slow on both of the private tracts that I hunt in East Texas as well. And if the number of distant shots being heard during any given morning or evening is any indication, our neighbors are taking many deer either.

I intend to hit them very heavy this weekend and hunt several different stands. A bout with a nagging flu bug has limited my time in the woods.

We are seeing more and bigger deer at both of our places, East Texas and Hill Country.

Dang drought and wild fires last year have put a damper on our hunts this year.

That is the problem. Some of you guys have legitimate reasons for not seeing the deer.

We didn't have any fires, the tanks held water through the drough, and their is plenty of wheat on our lease. They have food, water, and cover but for some reason the deer aren't cooperating. I just hope they didn't leave the country.

I agree, we are in the same situation. If you look back to the last two years, its amazing at the difference. I didn't have my first skunk last year until late Dec. This year, I've had three, with about 15 hunts so far.

Hitting it again tonight, looking for a pig, and deer the next couple days. Hopefully the rut will either kick in full blast, or get over with so things will return to normal.

tagged out for one county durrin bow season...been slow since then...but my brother has been hunting this week and he said the cold has them runnin good

I hit it very hard from opening day thru this past Sunday, took a week of vacation and hunted both morning & afternoon everyday except one. I hunted from well before daylight to 10:00-10:30 and was back by 3:00-3:30 until well past shooting light. I hunted 6 different stands and even quiet walk hunted back in the thick mesquites before/after leaving a stand. Nothing was coming to corn (except a few turkey & doves) and I was seeing very little movement other than very early and very late. I finally took a cull very heavy 7 point following a doe Thursday morning about 6:50, which were the only two I saw that morning, and otherwise only a few small does & 1.5-2.5 year old bucks. Nothing on my game cams either other than a few turkey here & there (which are all pointing to feeders to see what's NOT coming in).

This past weekend, I took my daughter & husband, my son & wife and me both morning & evening and the rest of the group saw nothing, I saw one medium doe with yearling and a yearling button buck but the wind was whipping both days.

I talked to the land owner yesterday and he said the temps have been in the upper 20s to low 30s all week in the mornings and he has been seeing a whole lot of deer & turkey moving... so I will be hitting it again starting tomorrow afternoon thru the weekend again. But I am mainly scouting for the kids & their spouses in hopes I can get them a nice deer over the long Thanksgiving weekend when they will all be back again...

About half our place burned April 2011 and we still saw a lot more deer last year than usual. They were scrawny and the bucks had smaller racks but still a lot of deer. This year the ground is very fertile from the burn and there is quite a bit of browse and a grass. IDK, seems like the fire mighta helped us.

Isn't the rut going in Wise county right about now? If so, the bucks are probably dragging the does out to remote spots to get them away from the crowd and do fun things to 'em and..well..you get the idea. Food-wise (no pun intended) the countryside is LITTERED with pecans right now. I was just out there the last two days and while we did see a lot of deer, they were in places you don't always expect-like large open grassy fields. In fact my buddy's son shot a 140 class or very near, from out of the edge of a field where the grass was so high they could only see his antlers at first. His wife bagged a 130 hunting a very small open area on a travel route in a really brushy and cut up place near Rhome. There's so much food they could be about anywhere at any time. The ponds are mostly dry, but if you look, there's good food for 'em all over the place right now. Hunt THAT or near that, and you'll be fine.

My B.I.L is getting his butt handed to him in Nolan co. I'm hunting fisher 15 miles away and seeing 5-15 deer every sit.

I should add that after two evening hunts on separate weekends, I've yet to see a deer at my feeder. Every deer that I've seen has been while on stands that overlook travel routes away from feeders. And I've ssen more deer on public land than private.

It seems they just have too many acorns and natural browse to go looking for feeders.

I have hunted the last two weekends and have not seen a thing. My game cam pics from last week showed the bucks had gone nocturnal after the shooting started.

It's tough for us here...that's for sure.

Still lots of Greens growing out there and acorns to boot. Theyll pass on the corn if better forage is available. Hopefully late season will pick up some.

Buddies of mine hunting in the Hill Country are reporting very slow hunting. They're not seeing much deer movement at all. Probably due to acorns and browse available. They're not coming to corn, that's for sure.

Slow here too. Just too much for them to eat that they are not coming to feeders or food plots. Oh well we needed the rain and once we get some good cold weather they wont have a choice but to come out.

My wife & I have had just the opposite situation this year. We are helping to take out an abundance of does on a MLD property plus we just got back from Arkansas with a great hunt there. Between the 2 of us we have taken 19 so far and it ain't over yet.

Hunting a small 50 acre tract in East Texas with a pipeline being put in on the adjoining property have not seen a deer and have hunted hard all season, have heard a few snorts in the distance and had a buck clean out one of my mock scrapes with a dripper but not in the daytime. Haven't even heard any shots since opening day. It's the toughest I have ever seen it and I am in Cherokee County usually have some good deer.

2500 acres in that part of texas might not hold a ton of bucks
i would check with the local biologist ,,,,,if you kill more than maybe 1 buck for every 300 acres in that part of texas then you might be overharvestin the place .....
i managed some herds and thats my thoughts on it .....give em an extra year unless you see somethin you got to have ,,,,it was a tough year last year
the range conditions aint bin good .....
IMHO

O ya i have been having lots of trouble and i hunt in a few places across the state and my usual place in San augestine texas has not been turning out the deer ive seen. anybody else having trouble out east