East Texas Tips

Lived and hunted in East Texas my whole life. Just curious to hear about some of yalls tricks and tips to mastering the tough hunting.

Time. Lot's and lot's of time in the stand.

Hunt easements where you can.

hunt pipelines hope to catch them crossing

Keep a place quiet...

A good spotlight helps.

slow down to 60mph at night!

stay out of Grayson county no deer there.

Good spotlight and a fast truck and barditches are the key I hear

Patience and a vantage point where you can see alot of ground. Hunting woodlines vs in the thicket has worked best for me.

What he said.

This is what I have found to work best for me as we'll.

Walter

try and learn to love antler restrictions

Umm...shouldn't you ask permission before telling errbody they can hunt my stand?




Cover a lot of area from a stand and be able to shoot it.

It helps to know what kind of neighbors you have. We're fortunate enough to have like-minded neighbors in all directions, so it makes it easier to let good bucks walk for another year or two. There's no doubt that the bucks in our area are getting better and better with each passing year. Pics and hides prove it.

FIND and hunt the natural food sources!
White Oak acorns, native persimmons, etc.
Personally, I think corn is a waste of time, if you're east of I-45.
I do agree that pipeline right-a-ways are one of your best bets, especially if you have limited opportunities.
My 2 cents...

i think this depends on the property/area, or maybe even specific deer. on my places i agree, its tought ot find the big ones at a feeder but i have seen a bunch of 170" deer killed underneath a feeder too.

Corn is king, just can't be shooting everything that shows up at it.

I have taken more and seemingly better bucks both on national forrest and the leases I've been on close to the pine thickets.I find a creek or branch off the creek running along or right through the thicket as thats where the hardwoods(acorns) are but find good trails or even rub lines comming out of the thicket.I hunt rub lines and scrapes when there fresh.Also found over the years that you want the wind out in front of you and not to your back.Learned this after a few bucks snuck up behind me comming nose to the wind.These deer are usually smarter than your average bear and the best chance at a good one is during the rut when their minds are elsewhere.Just my penny pitched in.

Don't turn off your truck with the big spotlight still plugged in the cig lighter.....

And don't leave it turned on and face down on your seat.

Wear waders when reading this thread.

I had a friend do this hunting coyotes one night. We started smelling burnt fabric and then foam. It melted a giant hole in his front seat. He was none too happy, to say the least.

1) Hunt where there are deer. Some parts of the national forests have very few deer, as in, you can scout and scout and see no droppings or tracks.

2) To expand on what Green Timber said above, if you can, hunt land with open pastures bordered by forest. If your lease has nothing but heavy thickets, you are going to have a tough time getting in contact with the deer.

3) If you HAVE to hunt only forest, then, like Rockman57 said, find a creek and look for a trail alongside of it. Plus, there will usually be less undergrowth alongside the creek, so you have better visibility.

If I were looking for a lease, honestly, I'd prefer to have a cow pasture with woods on the next property than the woods with the cow pasture next door.

Controlled burns if possible in thinned pines. Get up high in a climber.

Hunt old logging rds and fire lanes and don't feel compelled to mow them every year...deer are lazy and will walk them. If you can see a cpl hundred yards down one you're in business if you continually corn it and don't throw up a permanent stand.

My best tip for you, THERE ARE NO DEER in East Texas.
You need to go west!!!

I disagree...there's a ton of them in the Sabine bottoms.