I just got on a lease south of Ozona. I have control over roughly 500 acres on my lease - (out of 2500). There are 6 other hunters so that equates to them having about 150 less acres to work/hunt. There have been 2 different guns in 3 years on the section I'm inheriting. The other 6 hunters are already 3 years in and well established in their areas. They have 2 really deep tiered tanks that are lined and apparently hold water pretty well.

The 2500 acres is perfectly square and the south property line is high fenced. I just find it interesting that guys are moving out of the south portion of this ranch and no one else wants to do anything with it.

Should I be concerned that this acreage has lost two hunters in 3 years and could it be because of the high fence on the south border?

Something is going on sounds like. Maybe there is more foot traffic (illegal) on the South end?

Water in that area and how far if it is not there?

The two tanks are on the north border, roughly 1.5 miles from the main "zone" I'm inheriting.

There's one 300 gal tote setup to water but I know that's not enough. I'm planning on adding a couple more. There's also a draw that transects a corner of my zone. Betting it may run or hold a little water after a rain.

I've got 2 blinds and 2 feeders. I plan on scouting hard and possibly moving everything around as needed. I'm hoping this place just needs attention and the previous hunters were just lazy.

We have an adjoining neighbor that high fenced his property last summer. It helped our hunting this year.

Put the blinds near the ends of the high fence. A high fence cuts the deer's escape route 50% and limits crossing areas. Your least deer population will be near the middle area of the high fence.

You are probably a bit to far from water. Putting it out in more areas and keeping it there year round will help a lot. If you have water the best hunting will be along the HF during the rut. Bucks on your side will be along that fenceline during the rut.

Would 2 more totes (3 total), be sufficient to sustain 500 acres? The draw runs southwesterly from the east to south borders and cuts that SE corner. One of my blinds is a 6 foot platform - I'm thinking put it on the ridge in that far southeast corner...which is pretty close to that end of the high fence line.

Go to Google Earth and see where the closest water is on the neighbors. Then hunt close to that area. 3 totes will help a bunch but it will take time to bring the deer back and hold them. You should have the best habitat as far as forage in that area with not many deer right now.

You should not try to develop the entire 500 acre track. Concentrate on what you can actually see from your stand and make that a "sweet spot" that is more attractive than anything else close. I was very surprised at how little attention my water station received. Almost no use except in the brutal summer and then only about 100 gallons per month. It did make a HUGE difference in the carry over conditions of the deer in my area relative to other areas of the lease through that high stress time. I would try to get as close to the center as possible hoping to keep the other pilgrims from shooting 110 class 2 year old deer in your area and give them time to grow.