Thinking about a lease on the Upton/Reagan counties line. Understand the oilfield traffic and requirements, but curious if anyone out there had personal experience on deer populations, rut timing, muley sightings and/or reality of seeing muleys in that special season, etc. Lease pricing is good, and the pics I've seen look promising, but pictures are generally always the best, not the norm. Any help you can give, would be greatly appreciated.

Is the lease just north of Highway 67 between Rankin and Big Lake?

I believe it is north of 67, but yes, between those two towns.

There is a whole lot of oilfield traffic in that area and lots of activity. Whitetail numbers are better on the south side of 67 just because of the activity taking place to the north. There are a few mule deer in that area, but the rut usually occurs the last part of December or on into January, so the rut is not too helpful to the hunting. Water is another problem in that immediate area, unless the ranchers are running some stock. You need to be sure and look at the place you are leasing at night and you will see just how much of the area has oilfield activity by the number of lights in the area. Pictures of deer you see may be from that specific area, but make sure they are not from 20 years ago. If it is the same man leasing out that area, he has had it for a long time. There used to be more deer and some good deer in that area, but make sure that was not 20 years ago. I would really do my homework before I committed to anything. I live in Upton County and there are some decent deer and sometimes really good deer, but when the Railroad Commission forced the oil companies to dry up the pits in the area, it hurt the deer population and the quality of deer in the areas with lots of oil production. Railroad Commission did not realize how many animals, especially deer, drank from pits that contained waste water. A lot of this water contained minerals that helped the antler growth in my opinion. Is the last name of the man you are talking to about this lease Scott?

Oilfield traffic = choking dust, terrible roads, more people on the property and more poaching than usual.

Guess it depends on where its at. In the RRC oilfield map below the county line is in the center of the page and you can see Hwy 67.

I was on a lease south of Hwy 67 about 30 years ago. The oilfield traffic went overnight from zero to 100 and it was hugely impactful on game movements.

The oil infrastructure in the area is now built up around that area though, so I would guess traffic would be limited to active drilling or construction areas. You are not likely to see oil and water haulers coming through 24/7. Lots of numbers around there - driving along Hwy 67 at night it is not uncommon to see 25+ deer per mile. Corporate fleet managers will tell you that is one of the worst parts of the state for deer strikes on vehicles.

I love the area though. Very rugged terrain and a great mix of game.

[quote=COFF (TFF)]I was on a lease south of Hwy 67 about 30 years ago. The oilfield traffic went overnight from zero to 100 and it was hugely impactful on game movements.

The oil infrastructure in the area is now built up around that area though, so I would guess traffic would be limited to active drilling or construction areas. You are not likely to see oil and water haulers coming through 24/7. Lots of numbers around there - driving along Hwy 67 at night it is not uncommon to see 25+ deer per mile. Corporate fleet managers will tell you that is one of the worst parts of the state for deer strikes on vehicles.

I don't believe you will see anywhere near those numbers and I travel that road frequently. Maybe I am going blind, but I don't think so. When you drive through at night, look back to the north of 67 and the lights at locations, tank batteries, etc. will show you how drilled up the area is. Not saying I am any type of resident expert. The numbers of whitetail deer in all of west Texas from about 20 miles or so west of Ozona have dwindled in the last 5-7 years or so it seems to me.