Heck this was my first year to ever deer hunt. I live on 150 acres and decided to give it a shot. I was excited when lots of bucks were showing up on camera in Sept and Oct, but after the acorns fell they seemed to dissappear. Then the rut came and nothing. I just about gave up until last weekend when I checked the camera and to my surprise they all came back. The only thing that kept me hunting was the few tracks I would see here and there. Luckily I finally got one and now I'm hooked. Long story short, they were always there. I think the combination of my pressure and all the natural forage kept them from being where i wanted them to be. Just my two cents!

Blueribbons: I had the BEST season I have had at my ranch with several nice bucks and a couple does in the freezer. I think that deer hunting is like real estate..Location, location, location..

We're in west Texas and had more rain this year than the previous 2 years combined. I think the deer had plenty of graze and didn't hit the feeders. I never saw a deer at my feeders until this past weekend. The lack of graze and cold weather finally pushed them back to my feeders. Shot a doe, buck and my son in law missed a doe.

I've hunted TX 2 seasons now. I bought a feeder and stand and camera, etc. I've sat that stand countless hours and I've seen a lot of deer. In 2 seasons i've killed 2 good bucks…..neither at my feeder.

Last year was one my way in to hunt. This year was on my way out. Definitely changing some things up next season.

These were the good old days. I believe they are still here. [img]https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/...of_truck_wtrmrk[/img]
[img]https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/...h_deer_sideview[/img]

Same way in Arkansas deer are there just not moving during day

I use Indian corn....they seem to really like it and will stay around longer

just have to hunt different. deer habits and movement change along with the conditions. I know some leases don't always offer a lot of flexibility on how to hunt...but do the best you can.

we hunted a place in the hill country where there were so many deer and namely so many does...that when the feeder went off...you'd have 30 or more deer show up. few bucks. and not many bucks with any age. sure its neat to see that many....but they were there because they were starving. when you think about it like that....that's not real neat.

so we took to shooting LOTS of does. all the does our license would allow. we'd kill 15-16 year. shoot no bucks. eventually the numbers were beat down. you'd no longer see that many deer at feeders. deer didn't always come to feeders. some other hunters nagged...that we'd shot too many deer and killed them all out. but in the years to follow....the biggest bucks ever taken off the place were shot. a place where a 12in 8pt was the norm....to a few deer in the 140 class taken.

on this lease we were not allowed to hunt anywhere except in our assigned location. so we couldn't move around much to the acrons and such. you just have to hunt harder. and know that if the deer aren't storming your corn feeder its because they are in good shape.....and when you do see them...they will be that much bigger. its a better feeling than seeing them starve.

do something different if you can. I've hunted my whole life in a blind with a feeder as well. its different to get out....but its adventurous. do some rattling...make some bush blinds on trails...might surprise the hell out of you what you'll see.

I've learned to never with the deer to be hungry though. take all the rain and acorns and native browse you can get. the deer and the hunting will be better for it.