mills county

i hunted opening weekend and its not good i seen a fawn late saturday evening and that not good anybody see anything

Don't worry SlaminEm, Mills is a great county. They are there and starting to move around. Cater to the does (and don’t shoot them!!). What part of Mills do you hunt? I'm south of Goldthwaite about 10 miles or so

im west of goldwaithe about 10 miles i know the deer are there its just where and lots of acorns

Give them time to clean up the acorns.

Mills has one of the highest deer populations in TX. It's not uncommon if you either have food plot or plenty of corn to see 20 to 30 deer. If your feeding them they will come. Be patient the acorns are almost gone after the rain.

I saw 25 opening morning, and my stand only sees about 3 acres of area. But we have a large population in our area SE of Goldthwaite.

I've seen deer all over this year. acorns don't seem to be an issue here. this is north of goldthwaite.

Deer were moving at our place, about 5 miles south of Goldthwaite, today. Didn't see squat last weekend, but they're definitely moving this weekend.

First time I've seen deer back at the feeders in a while. Oh, and downed an nice 10 pointer about 5:16 this evening.

congrats deadrooster on the 10 im going back thanksgiving weekend hopefully they'll be moving then im taking my grandsons with me.they have never hunted before so its time to teach them.

ttt

South San Saba county, has been slow at our place. Tons of acorns and the deer are not coming to the feeders. We have trees with acorns still there. Hope this cold weather knocks them out.

we have saw some good ones on our place but no shooters yet that were in good light , I saw a real big 10 that I bet goes 160 but he was across the fence and chasing like crazy so it's just a matter of time before he makes a mistake.

i see more deer around thanksgiving only had the lease for 1 year not really for sure put cameras out this year with decent pics. we will see what happens

ttt

Mills county is great, I took a nice 11 on opening morning, he is now at the taxi getting a shoulder mount

congrats drop 1 im looking forward to going thanksgiving.the guy that has pasture rights sent some pics. of some nice deer.

The rut has kicked in to high gear here the last few days. Get out there as soon as you can boys and girls. Have seen several mature bucks in high gear stupid mode this week.

im getting buck fever may have to make a run this weekend this cold weather is right on time.

Some good bucks already taken in Mills this year, including two ing the 150s. Good luck!

We've been down there the last 3 weekends and been seeing movement each time. Last weekend bucks running does all over, and seeing a few more coming into the feeders. We near Caradan, east of goldthwaite.
Don't forget to stop in ranchland feeds and pic up rifle tickets for the rifles they give away at the wild game dinner thanksgiving weekend.

I'm also near Caradan. I've seen a lot of deer and a fair amount of chasing. One mature buck slipped and came into view. Too bad he was a cull 8. Old knarly buck, split G2 on one beam and crab claw on the other...but massive longs beams. He didn't present a good shot or I'd be showing photos. I have a few good young prospects as well.

The biggest difference I've seen this year is the amount of trash bucks. Spikes, 3 points, etc. It's been a few years since I've seen many of them. I feel it's partially due to the drought but time will tell.

I've heard lots of shooting around me and very near my fence. I've also seen the warden roll by on FM 575.

im actually in mullin off of fm 573 last year was real productive always see deer driving in but then there gone we will see.

Post up pictures of the Mills county bucks you've taken this year.

hard to notice small kicker on left brow

Great deer! Congratulations!

hey great buck drop 1 im getting the fever bad.

Nice looking buck drop 1!
Txaggie, we've been seeing more spikes and 3 & 4 pointers so far this compared to the last couple years. Most appear to be 1.5 y.o. deer. We've seen two really nice mature bucks but no shot at them...we are still bow hunting.
Flowers, the GW for Mills cty. Is a really nice guy...just keep it legal!

^ good looking buck!

ddmm- I'm a fan of warden Flowers. I've been emailing with him this season and have called him in the past. Always a great guy and very helpful. I've invited him out a time or two as well but I guess he doesn't see the point in coming out to meet a law abiding hunter! I've had my rifle on my shoulder walking just inside my fence on FM 575 when he drove by. He waved me on without even stopping.

Last year there was a big buck contest for mills county posted on Facebook with pictures of each entry. I can't seem to find it this year. Has anyone seen that post or know who sponsored it in the past?

hey txaggie 10 i know there having the big buck contest because i watched them measure a 130 10 point on opening weekend not sure about facebook.

Mills County General Store is sponsoring the BB Contest, but you have to have paid $20 to get in before you harvest. It does not appear they are posting the pictures on their FB page.

You can sort of view the pictures at goldthwaiteeagle.com, but they'll be small if you don't have a subscription to the paper.

I put a note on the General Stores facebook page asking if they are going to post pics again this year of the Big Buck contest. No response yet. If we stop by the store this weekend, I'll ask.

Here's my mills co 10.

AWESOME BUCK

I think I would have to say the same to you as well!!

They wont or they didnt last year and i also sent an email to the one they send the news letters on about that and got nothing back as well.
Funny thing about that contest is that they didnt have one till i said something to the owner when i got my big one down there 5 years ago then that very next year they started one .

They had a face book page last year, The Big One 2013, they would post the pics of the deer brought in. My kids pic is on there with his 6 pt.

Hu i looked last year and didnt see it but maybe i just missed the post , they dont post very much stuff on there but things for sale in the store anymore it seems like.

The current leader through 11/07/14. Some bigger deer have been brought by and scored but the hunters hadn't signed up beforehand in the contest. This came off the General Store Facebook page.

great looking bucks there.i hope everyone gets a decent on this year

ttt

stopped in and talked to the folks at the General Store this weekend, Ginger is trying to get a new facebook page up and running this week. They've been busy getting the store ready for the shoppers (they have to make a living) and they were plenty busy with shoppers this weekend!

Rifle big buck so far is ~154
Bow is ~122 (may be 124)

the rifle buck barely made the AR's!!! but the height on the G2's and 3's was impressive.

**** if you hunt in or around MIlls county....talked to the Game Warden and Sheriff this weekend and they are having a number
of deer camps broken into. Had one on Sunday off of county road 190. Keep your stuff locked up good or bring it home.

If it's the rifle buck I'm thinking of, he was 156 5/8 and under 14" wide. Incredible mass and height. I was at the store when they measured him. He's on page 8 of the November 5th edition of the Goldthwaite Eagle.

This deer was shot last year outside of Goldthwaite.

very impressive buck

i went to my lease in mills county this weekend saw a doe saturday afternoon let it walk.went to another stand sunday morning a doe came to the feeder at 7:07 i watched for a while and about 7:25 a nice 10 come running out about 10 feet from the stand needless to say he did not stop.i hunted til about 10 0'clock nothing else showed up .went to the motel to get my wife and go home.went to gas my truck and our daughter called my wife and said that my son in law had been shot in the head.the guy shot him said he was squirel hunting but he shot him with a 12 gauge slug so weve been at the hospital ever since.my fellow THF members i would appreciate if you would include him in your prayers.he was at work when it happened.they have removed the slug and now its up to god.hes 30 years old and we love him very much.

Prayer's from West, I really hate to hear this. Praying for your daughter as well.

Wow, what a horrible story. Sorry to hear about your SIL and I hope and pray that he makes it.

Oh man..
God bless him and the family

i never thought hunting squirrels with a slug before.i hope your not real hungry dont sound like much left

Prayers for all from a fellow Mills county hunter.

Prayers coming your way.....it's in God's hands and he has the plans.

More prayers for your family, a little extra for your daughter and SIL

thank you to all the members of the THF.may god watch over each and everyone of you.i hope none of you ever have to go thru this.

My Thoughts and Prayers for your son in law and family!!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Big-O...68113?ref=br_tf
Finely up on FB

nice deer on there.there some good ones there.

Thanks for the posting the link. Anyone from here have their picture on the Facebook page?

Prayers sent

That guy must think I'm an idiot if he's shooting at ground level with a 12 gauge slug hunting squirrels that son of a bitch ought to be arrested and I hope he is soon. All my prayers and thoughts are with your son-in-law has this been reported to the authorities yet for a proper investigation? Is he trespassing? I am south of Mullen and have been seeing an absolutely amazing crop of deer this year had a bachelor group come in the first week of bow season had eight or so one and a half year-old bucks and it smallest was four points biggest was 8 great looking condition. Also had what looked to be sextuplets 2 1/2 year-old eight points that were all legal really great-looking crop coming up tons of does an yearling does as well as mature. Saw two really big body mature bucks pacing the fence durring bow never got a look at the head gear. I have a special place of meals county been there since my earliest memory the only Hunter and have not taken a buck since 1996 that was not a spike this year I'm starting to think I might have had better than one to one buck to doe ratio have seen a ton of bucks. If I did not have 1.5's with small 8's spikes would have made it as well. Again prayers sent and good luck to all hunting Mills County. Flowers was in the restaurant in Mullen this afternoon having lunch nice guy.

yes it was reported to the authorites. they are doing an investigation.no trespass working.

Anyone saw the 181 that was brought into the store wow it's nice but I don't know if it was entered in the contest if it was he's done won

Kenneth that is a monster I really hope someone has a pic of this beast!!!!

181? I'm here, I'll see what I can find out tomorrow.

I I'm interested in seeing this to youngbuck. Hunted Wednesday and had a herd of yearlings some still very small come in and nothing else. Had some odd activity going on on a neighboring place I'm sure affected movement.

Well I have a pic of it off there facebook page but my darn phone won't uplaod it
It is a nice one looks like the ones I shot 5 years ago at our place but smaller

a buddy was at the store when the guy brought it in. He texted me a picture and it is a very impressive buck. Supposedly killed on a very small farm just west of town. I do not know the hunter so I colored his face in.

This is the one that scored 181 4/8 on Facebook. Both or brutes.


https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Big-One-2014-at-Mills-County-General-Store/877111648968113

Outstanding deer. Mills County is producing some nice trophies this year.

Same deer different picture.

Said out by ridge and that's not really to far from me and now I know why it looks so much like the one I shot
Guess I will really have to hunt hard to get one even close to that

If that buck came off of a big ranch on the Pecan Bayou west of Mullin it has had big deer for the last 15 years now.

From another forum.

Yep it does and our place is only about 6 miles from there and smokey bend ranch is another place that has some big LF deer but now is HF we hunted a place that backed up to it and boy there was some monsters that came from off that place onto ours before that HF that side

The Smoky Bend is not all HF and a very large ranch.

It is now back then it was on three sides unless they took one side back down I know they had a problem with some poaching and that's why they HF the one side and tried to keep it so they could still enter BC
I know it's big been on there a few times

Rusty left a large section on one side LF that joined a large ranch when I was on it right after they HF the other 3 sides of it.

Geez that's what I said three sides where but is now all
Your something else

I've been on it a few times too and done a spotlight survey also. Like I stated they had HF 3 sides of back then. They never had a poaching problem to speak of back then but more of fenceline feeders and blinds.

Few years ago they bought 1600 acres south of fm 574. They call it Smokey Bend South. It runs south all the way to county road 414. They HF 800 acres of it.

ttt

I heard there was a 180 killed off of Hanah Valley road.

Hannah Valley road and FM 574 are the same and intersect FM 45 25 miles west of Goldthwaite. They intersect FM 573 about 15 miles west at Ridge where the deer pictured was supposedly killed nearby.

I work in Brownwood and I seen a picture of the deer. It was a beast.

The paper said regency is where it was killed at and i suspect that it was along the colorado river either way it is only about 6 miles from my place.

deer do travel?but how far lets apparently not 6 miles. jk its a good deer congrats.

im sorry update on SIL hes awake and reponsive he has a small lung infection he can move both legs feet and toes right arm is functioning the left arm and hand needs some work but hes alive happy thanksgiving to all of you and thanks for your prayers will be in the deer stand real soon.

I wasn't meaning but just never had one that big killed near me that's all but if you look at the one I killed 5 years ago I know they are from the same genes

That's great news hope he makes a full recovery

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family SlaminEm prayers continue for your SIL and family.

Hold out for a little because as always the rut is full blown around here right now .just standing at the cabin looking at the wheat field I see bucks chasing from everywhere even saw the big nine at about 400 yards but let him go
Is it normal for black buck doe to be bouncing all over the place like a buck was chasing her , we have one that got over our neighbors fence and dang she was acting like a fool out in the filed .

I'd say it's starting to wind down but we had some good fun rattling yesterday evening and again this morning.

Unfortunately lost a 130" 8 to either a bad archery shot or some illness. I've never seen snot on a deer's nose like this one had. Was looking forward to seeing him next year.

No no not winding down at all this is the peak of it at our place and most importantly f the places I have hunted around this area

well spent thangsgiving with my daughter and sil family at the hospital.first time ive missed a thanksgiving hunt in over 20 years oh well got to do what you got to do.sil is doing well they are saying he might be going to rehab this next week.he can speak its just the left side of his body.my daughter is so happy that he opened his eyes,hes off the vent,tube feeding.i guess you could say its been a good and thankful thanksgiving.thanks for all your prayers.now thats out of the way update me on deer hunting,is the rut still going on? KG68 in noticed you are in the goldwaithe area anything still happening there im ready to hunt.

Good to hear your sil is improving. You missed a warm and windy weekend here. Cooling down tomorrow some and should feel a little more like hunting weather. Bucks are still in heavy rut in western Mills where we spent the weekend camping. Should start to slow down in the next few weeks. I love watching the cutting competition going on now.

ok i guess ill try next weekend.its been 3 weeks since ive been

We lost a nice 9 point to road hunters, he was shot with what looks to be a .17 and then a .25-06. Kinda sad to see this happen but I guess that's part of it. He was suffering when we put him down. Scored 126" and was only 2.5.

its sad that a person that works for a living to have the things he enjoys.just to have someone that doesnt have the respect for someones elses property they will eventually get caught.i hope you reported it to the authorites

126" @ 2.5? Dang, that boy had a future. Sorry to hear that.


Interesting thing happened at the hunter's supper Saturday night. The gent that shot the 181" buck brought the horns in and I think they talked a little about the deer. Another guy there happened to have the deer's sheds from two years ago (3.5) that he found on another place. They got to compare what he was then to when he was taken. Even at 3.5 he was already pushing 150". I hope you guys in that area reap his genetics in years to come.

By the way, I've seen the mounts and such at Cabelas, but being just a foot or two away from 181" of antler was something. He's got 40" on my best and those antlers went on forever. Congrats to the hunter-that truly is the trophy of a lifetime.

it will be hard to top that buck but there are big ones there.

Hey SlaminEm, how's you son in law? Last report was great, hoping it is even better each day. Let him know a bunch of strangers from across the state is wishing him well...

-dave

he was moved from sicu monday afernoon to a regular room.we are waiting to see who will accept him for rehab hopefully someone will real soon.the sooner rehab starts the better his chances are for a complete recovery.decook i will pass along the info to him thanks.

Anyone from Mills county know if there is a person who will search for hunting land for a group?

update on sil he will be coming to dallas for rehab either today or tomorrow.the police came to the hospital yesterday to talk to him about the shooting.i dont know what he remembered.hopefully its enough to help in there investigation.i'll have some m
more information in a couple days.
wthunter75 good luck in your search most people who have leases here keep them

Yeah we(the group) have been there for 15 years and have loved it but the landowner is retiring and going into more of a cattle business. Sometimes people think they can replace the easy money they get from hunters with straight cattle lease. I hope it works out for him. Lease hunting is never easy and we are not 100% on staying in Mills county, but we would pay a tip or fee to the person that puts us in contact with a good landowner. It is getting harder and harder to find land over 1000 acres. The two leases I had before this one were 200 acres. This place being 1850 really is nice, I'm not sure there are many places left of that size.

WT, I believe one of the local realtors there may be able to help you find a lease. Next time through pick up a copy of the Goldthwaite Eagle and you'll have the contact information for all the realtors.

nice to know if i ever need to move.

I take the weekly paper and have never seen any of our realtors advertise for this. Chamber web site keeps a list of leases available and a hugh list of hunters looking for leases. I will ask around some about the realtor thing and post up if I hear something interesting. That would be a great service for our THF members.

KG, one or two of them use to advertise that service but I looked at every ad in this week's paper and nobody specified that they still offer that service. However, I guarantee Wetzel or some of those guys have talked to landowners about buying/selling land and leasing has come up. They may not have a lot of leads, but you only need one, especially for a place that size. I think calling 2-3 of them is worth the time, imo.

Here is a list of realtors in this weeks paper.

Grayson Wetzel Real estate 325-642-2245
Joyce Martin Real estate 325-648-2648
Jackie Williams Real estate 325-648-2796
4G Real estate 325-966-3900
Live Oak Realty and Auction 325-938-6750
Agents Of Texas 254-386-5144
Georgia Deeds Real estate 325-648-2700
Jean Kirby Real estate 512-752-3171

well sil got moved to dallas for rehab.my daughter is happy she is staying with us until his rehab is complete.rehab will 3 hours a day 5 days a week should be pretty intense we will see what happens.happy for both of them.

So are we SlaminEm. Glad to hear the good progress.

im so ready to hit the woods and do some hunting.now my sil is better maybe i can go.kg68 whats the deer hunting like down that way.last time i went i saw a 2.5 year old 8 point had a nice rack.

The heavy rut has slowed in western Mills but there will be a flurry or two scattered through January. Late December almost always produces what some call a second rut here. Deer are still not hitting the corn but are coming to food plots which are growing very well with the recent rains and moderate temps.

Buddy of mIne dad got this one this morning it is 21 1/4 wide

That's a cool deer. I wonder what happened to him to grow like that? Awesome deer.

Great buck!!

really nice deer congrats to the hunter

Where was that buck taken? I watched one like that at Thanksgiving a couple of miles SE of Goldthwaite.

It was on the west side of town out towards mullin.

Here's the 3.5 year old 10pt I shot earlier this season (Nov 8) about 5 miles south of Goldthwaite:



Was thankful to get a shot at this guy from about 120 yards, especially since none of the other 3 hunters on our ~700 acre lease have taken a deer yet this season.

great buck congrats to you help your buddies out.

ttt

i quit you ever had one of them times no matter how hard you try to get to the deer lease everything comes up.i can relate im taking one for the team.maybe next weekend.weshall see

Yes I have, more than once
Priorities first as the saying goes...

yep but the season is close to being over

A little more of the buck killed on my friends place. They have a hell of a year but the big one I can't post pics of but can tell the people of northern ridge and along the mills county line that there are 170 + class bucks there you just have to wait

Could you only imagin if there were bucks in the 5.5-6.5 age class aloud to mature around here.

you dont have to imagin just let the young ones walk.

I have been waiting for five years now. How long do you have to wait? Still have not seen a legal buck yet. I also want to note that I have not seen a single doe this year and the rest of the lease the same. Our totals four the year one doe and she was small, two turkeys and 4 spikes. Its getting worse every year as every doe around our lease must have been harvested

Bucks don't eat well I have no surrounding pressure and wouldn't shoot a buck especially durring the rut. What part of Mills County are you in? I am seeing at least 10 to 15 deer a sit and it is kind of low on numbers this year as we have not had the cold to get them to the feeders strong. Filled my five on does or spikes for a long time but have seen some really nice bucks. Finally got a gopro hooked up to both the bow and gun. So look forward to some footage of them now. Put one on the wall 18 years ago in mills havnt seen one way beyond it sense and haven't shot one unless it would just almost double the last one. Plenty of does to eat and love to watch the bucks fight and push does.

The imagine statement was ment as county wide the Gene pool is there for trophy record book deer. I have hunted Mills County for 30 years I have seen some fantastic bucks there but I am hunting more for venison. So with the high density i take out the better eating does. The county as a whole is a leg down though. Lots of small tracks of land and even though the AR's have helped a ton it is still not hitting it's potential is all I am leanIN too. The bucks posted so far on this thread have been deer very few if any would pass yet they state only three and a half or so. They are starting to get mass height all I am saying is there are parts of Texas that can rival Kansas Illinois Saskatchewan or any other part of the country as far as antlers go if they were allowed to get there but then again we have the most Deerhunters of any state in the union. All in all some dang nice deer in mills and congrats to all the successful hunters.

Like these?

Oh i have lots of video of 140-160 class bucks for all around mills and i see more and more of them every year .I just wish that more hunters would be like the ones that lease from me and show more self control on what they shoot and let some of the middle aged ones walk then you would see what they could be.

there are some great bucks in mills county.but you've got to let the young ones walk and hope and pray the other leases around you do the same.jmo

is it suppose to rain there this weekend.just curious never had any luck hunting in the rain.

Friday is our best chance for rain according to the weather folks and clearing skies for Sat. and Sun.

haven't been able to get up to the lease much.....have I missed the rut or is there signs there may be a secondary one coming with this cooler weather this weekend?

The heavy rut is over here but there will be some intermittent chasing through early January most years. Last two weeks of December almost always produces a few big mature bucks chasing late cycling does.

yea, we have been on our place for many years but this year life is getting in the way of our hunting time

have permission to go this weekend.whats the weather going to be like? i hope cold.

Should be good this weekend, rain will move through Friday. Not too hot but not cold, either. I'll be there myself.

you cant shoot em sitting on the couch.

Wish I was going...

Goldthwaite weather

We took two spikes and a doe on Monday/Tuesday from our place just south of Goldthwaite.
Add that to the 10pt buck I shot earlier this season, and that's just 4 dear total so far for 4 hunters on ~700 acres.

We've got at least 4 other spikes that we've seen regularly on cameras that we'd like to cull, and we need to take at least 2 more doe as well.

Still plenty of time, but the clock is definitely ticking.

Dead, are the places around you getting shot out? I'm just really surprised you guys don't see/have more deer than that. I bet we're within 5 miles of each other and we're covered up despite having livestock too.

Nah...we've got plenty of deer. But we're letting a lot of bucks walk, and initially had agreed to each gun only taking one trophy and one cull buck (no does). However, we've since determined that we have a lot more deer than we thought so we've agreed to take our tag limits if desired.

Hell, I watched 11 deer come to one of my feeders between 5:25 and 5:55 on Sunday evening. I'm only hunting spikes the rest of the season (didn't seen one that night), and saving the does/spikes for my wife and nephew.

well as i stated earlier i get to go hunting this weekend.call the man who has pasture rights to let him know im coming hunting this weekend and he informed me that there are poachers in the area to watch out but i think the GW knows about it.

finally got to go to the deer lease seen some deer 10 does and 1 buck i think the buck was legit but let him walk.theres two weeks left

going back on jan.2nd should be good i hope looking for one certain buck.hopefully he will show

I'll be in the stand outside mullin x mas day and all weekend. Hope the cold gets them moving.

The most deer I have seen since the 80's when I was a kid.

We had Christmas with the in laws in Mullin on Saturday. We saw close to 200 deer between Mullin and Comanche off of 573. We left moms at 5pm and had to drive 40 mph. Groups of 8-10 every 1/2 mile or so. Then there was a big wheat field half way before the Zephyr cutoff and Mullin on the west side of 573. that had to have 100 in it. Bunches of 20-30 spread out all over the field. We stopped and tried to take iPhone pics but you can't see anything at a few hundred yards. You gentleman need to take some does. Only saw 3 bucks all together 2 nice tall narrow 8's and a dink.

The wife and I went and sit in a blind 13 miles west of Goldthwaite this afternoon. Feeder went off at 5pm and within 5 minutes we saw a group of 6 young bucks approaching. They stayed at the feeder for about 30 minutes and had the corn cleaned up by then. Funny thing is the smallest of the group led them in and when he left the rest followed him in single file. Just before dark two does with fawns came by but no mature bucks today.

good to here there still moving around .kg68 seen anything on a 2nd rut or is it still to early for it.

I'm in Gustine Was in blind yesterday. Young buck am. Two young bucks pm. No does whatsoever. Bummer
But I did get this guy already so it's a good season for me

congrats great looking buck

well christmas is over.i hope everybody had a great christmas.sil got a pass to come home for christmas one of my best yet.going back to the deer lease next thursday hopefully the deer are still moving.we will see the last one for the year for a mature buck.i wish you all luck.

Activity seems to have slowed on our place to nights. Too much on the free buffets and increased pressure. Still see lots of sign but not any 2nd rut activity

oh well ill be there anyway good luck everyone

Starting this past week bucks are hitting our corn feeders heavy. The wife and I have watched as many as six bucks come to a feeder in bachelor style groups. The mature bucks are drawn and hungry.

hope they are still hitting the feeders headed down friday.

already back shoot a 10 pointer.will post pics. as soon as i figure out how never done it.i thought there was a section on how to cant find it.

Deer from Mills County

Well look at that handsome devil

nice looking deer!!

shot that buck friday evening.seen a small 4 pt,7 does and him his buddy wouldnt come over the fence.none of the does would even go to the feeder they were real skiddish for some reason maybe because it was the first time hunting this stand.

Wow that's a nice deer. My son and I are in the stand now looking for a doe or pig. Chilly and windy already

Slaminem how is sil?

Very nice congrats.

Nice buck!!! Congrats!!!

decook sil is ok in rehab

Great buck! Congrats!

already looking forward to the start of deer season again.going to the deer lease in the spring to do some clearing out under growth has taken over.this year i want to try a food plot any suggestions on what to plant.

Weather looks like hell this weekend for our lease. So I'm planning on being in the stand for the final weekend, as we still have 3-4 spikes we've seen on cams and we could stand to take 2-3 more doe off the place, too. Gotta get the freezer stocked up for the long, cold winter!

me myself im done for the year.good luck to everyone still hunting.

Hope to be there next weekend for one last go, and pick up my mount.

very nice

thanks caveman the one that was behind him was alot bigger rack wise.

Gonna make it this weekend! Try to get a doe or a spike for our hired hand. May even break out the smokepole or crossbow to do it with!

I just returned from a hunt at the lease I am on in Mills County. I harvested a antlerless buck. I saw more deer activity, than during the regular season. This is my fourth year on the lease, and overall I did not see the movement of deer that I usually do. The lease in in Northern Mills Co, off of FM 2005. There has been a drought, but I did not observe any signs of a massive deer die-off.

I've heard more than a few people say that Mills wasn't that good this year, but we had great success SE of Goldthwaite.

from what i heard some were seeing deer and some were not.deer do move a lot

Got a slick head on the evening hunt! Cows ran me off my favorite spot so I moved to another location. She stopped in a gap through some cedars at 120 yards, and I threaded the needle and the 150gr SST dropped her in her tracks with a perfect heart-lung shot.

someone got some freezer meat.for the year.

We did all right this year on our place about 5 miles south of Goldthwaite. 4 guns on ~700 acres, we harvested 8 deer total this year: 10 pt, 9 pt, 4 spikes, and 2 doe. My wife got the last kill of the season last night when she dropped a nice little spike right at 6:02 PM, with just a few minutes of good shooting light left. Thankfully he died right on the pile of corn and rigtht under the feeder, so no tracking required. Which I'm very thankful for, as that 10 pt I shot in November was not going to be enough venison to get us through until next season.

All in all, a very nice season for our first year in Mills County. We saw a lot of nice deer on camera, and are looking forward to next year.

well my 04 f350 4x4 dually got stole monday from my job.kinda bummed out just put a 4"lift on it.police recovered it not in good shape.hello insurance.

Loved our lease in Southern Mills County, just got an email yesterday morning to move our stuff out that it is going corporate. I know across the three leases on the ranch, that about 30 families just lost their home away from home. Our group was on it for 8 years so that's a pretty good run. My oldest daughter just got her first deer this past Saturday on it. Just feel fortunate to have had a place to hunt. Would love to find another place in Mills or close by, especially since I have about 60 days to move or sell all my stuff.

If anyone hears of a place give me a holler, looking for 1 to 10 spots.

sorry to here you lost your lease.good luck on finding another place.

Chuck here are some possibilities for you are your friends.

http://business.bradytx.com/list/Category/agriculture-hunting-1005.htm

http://www.masontxcoc.com/live-play/120-hunting

http://sansabachamber.com/hunting-fishing/

http://www.lampasaschamber.org/pages/hunting-leases/

http://comanchechamber.org/562-2/

http://www.brownwoodchamber.org/Hunting_Lease_List.pdf

http://www.colemantexas.org/lease.html

Chuck, sorry to hear about your lease. I bet there are several THFers in that area that would let you store equipment at their place if you get in a bind.

Thanks Guys! I love Goldthwaite, not just the hunting, but the people and town too. Hopefully I can find something around there and stay awhile longer. If not at lease I will save a ton by not buying handfuls of raffle tickets every fall.

Sorry about your place, Chuck. I'm assuming you were on one of Marshall's places?
When you say "going corporate" do you mean that they are leasing the hunting rights to a corp, or that they are moving the hunters out because of the rock mining?

(FYI, we're also on one of Marshall's places a bit farther north than the C-Bar Ranch, and - at least as of today - have not been notified about our lease being yanked from us)

From my understanding Marshall has hired some guy to take over ranch operations. That guy found a company wanting to take over C-Bar hunting wise. All I know is we are out, to make maters worse we just bought another bulk protein feeder to add to our part and the guy came out set it up and filled all of our bulk protein feeders. Just got the invoice today, it just keeps getting better.

Chuck for your information it is my understanding Marshalls Grandmother still owns the property you are talking about and Marshall is overseeing it. Her name is Wynona Winters and she is a sweet lady. If you have any trouble retrieving your property I would relate any problems to her.

You are correct KG68.

I'm another being displaced by all this. In fact, Chuck's trailer is my next door neighbor, and we share a shelterlogic for our 4-wheelers. This was my first season on the lease.

I understand business and this was a business decision. I will say I'm personally disappointed over this, but I can't begrudge the owner. I wish him the best, while at the same time I wish I had more time here and I regret seeing it end.

I joined this lease because of how I and my family were treated the first day we came to look it over. Our family was taken in to the lease by this “new extended” family right from the start. Not to mention that the deer I saw at my stand early in the season were GREAT compared to what I was used to seeing in my other leases.

I think leasing for me may now a thing of the past. I've thought about it this week and decided that the costs associated with yet another move and set-up are just too much. I might go the way of the day lease and looking at other states to hunt in so I can experience that. Darned shame to see something I was very lucky to join end so soon for me.

decook day leases are ok but you have to hunt them early in the season due to all the traffic.from going in and out of the lease everyday 7 days a week.after about the first month theres no deer to be found usually.imo ive hunted some those years back and that was my experience with them.

Thanks SlaminEm, I havent ever hunted one before - I appreciate the insight. My mind isnt completely made up, but that's the way it's rolling right now.

Well damn.

We never got the email. But turns out we lost our lease from Marshall, too (we were on the ~600 acres San Saba Peak Ranch). It was only our first season, but we put a damned-lot of work into that place in a very short time. Now, we get to spend more time and money moving our stuff (lots of stuff).

Thankfully, one of the guys on our lease was also on another lease near San Saba, and he checked and they had 2 extra spots available for next season, so looks like I've got a place to land next year. Unfortunately, one of our 4 won't.

Oh no DeadRooster - I'm very sorry to hear this. We always saw your camp and wondered what it was like there.

How is the deer hunting a few miles east of zephyr I mite have a opportunity to get on a lease next season thanks.

Great and the Processor in Zephyr makes some mean jalapeno cheese summer sausage.

What are his prices like, and do you know if you get your own deer back?

I have never asked, but I have never had a reason to ask. Go in with a young doe and the meat sseems like it comes from a young doe. Go in with an old buck and the meats seems like it comes from and old buck.

im getting ready to go back to the lease to do repairs.also thinking about starting on my food plots is it to early for that? is there something you can plant that will last the whole year from now thru deer season.if so let me know what it is and where to purchase it.

Well, we found a new lease. Unfortunately, they only had three spots open (we had four on our lease on San Saba Peak Ranch), so one of our guys is still hanging.

We're on a bigger lease (2300 acres) in San Saba County, a bit north of Richland Springs (just south of the Colorado River). Our three guns makes it 10 guns total, all season, family friendly. Hate that I have to do all that work again -- moving and setting up camper, feeders, blinds, cameras, scouting, etc., but we have a 4 year written lease contract on this place, so hopefully we'll be set here for a while.

The big plus is a 1.5 acre tank in camp, with good fishing, and another 5 acre tank about 1/2 mile from camp, with more great fishing.

I pulled into camp Friday night to see many trucks and trailers loaded up preparing to leave. Saturday looked like I-45 with feeders and blinds being trailered away. This morning I was one of 'em.

So you shot a nubbin head?

been off for 2 days now i sure wish i was at the deer lease working on some stuff that needs repair oh well i guess i have plenty of time.