Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Texas Deer Hunting

I know that deer hunting in Texas with feeders and high fences seems a little odd to folks from other places, but when I came across this picture it seemed a little "odd" to me, too.

These guys seem to have gotten hunting down to the basics.

j

Of course, when the velvet is gone and the season is full swing, that buck will likely be a lot more wary. Nice one.

Is that a livestock tag in that doe's ear?

Looks like it to me.

The idea down here (Texas)is food.Deer is food so let us keep it simple and easy.

Venison, its whats for dinner.

The line between hunting lease for some extra money to the rancher and "just business" was crossed long ago. You can grow antlers that never would naturally occur in an area, truck in exotics for city folks to "hunt", and out safari the Africans with lodges like the Ritz. Ya get whatcha can afford and if you want to hunt the wild instead results can be quite varied. In Texas public land is practically non-existent so your options are narrowed down. If it bothers someone (like it does me) they can just become a trophy hunter booking hunts wherever they fancy, or get their own place like the guy in the pictures (and do or not do as they please) with the land and deer, etc. Of course game laws apply...

There is actually more public land than you think and I"ve seen some good deer there.... never got a bullet into one yet as I've been too slow, and picky about shot angles generally, but they are there and for free. I've also seen one taken that went 189 score wise.... no feeders allowed. And with antler restrictions E Texas is only going to get better.

I thought that these guys had gotten carried away with the feeder set-up. I mean pouring concrete under the feeder? Of course the place is probably 400 acres and high fenced. I am surprised that people will pay to shoot a deer under these circumstances. I guess the market rules and if they will pay, each to his own.

Me, I am going to find a mule deer hunt in west Texas on a huge ranch so my wife and I can spend a week or so looking for a good buck.

josh

Good post. A trophy (to me) is relative to its area and what it will produce. It's sad hunting has become so commercialized in our state.

In some places here, deer hunting has become much the same as bass fishing. Big Buck contests and Bass tournaments introduce large amounts of money into the equation. Landowners can make more profits from deer hunters than they can from any other use of their land. Good or bad, that's just the way it is.

"I thought that these guys had gotten carried away with the feeder set-up. I mean pouring concrete under the feeder? Of course the place is probably 400 acres and high fenced. I am surprised that people will pay to shoot a deer under these circumstances. I guess the market rules and if they will pay, each to his own."


On one of those "hunting shows" where they are all about products, the idea of a feeding area set up (like in the pix) but separate from the blind made a bit more sense. You might feed protein rich feed like food plot planting with permanent food availability, then hunt only trails and scrapes, etc. in surrounding areas. Less like shooting the antlers you paid to grow I guess.

Nice to be able to play with money, I reckon.

Concrete under the feeder stops pigs from turning the ground into a huge mud hole.

One fact is certain, the great brush country of S. Texas did not see land prices move from $150 an acre to $2-$4,000 ac. based on the "tons of money" made from the cattle operations!

Gotta luv S. Texas this time of year.