I saw this guy for the first time last night running with "Dummie". Dummie is about the most carefree 2 1/2 I have ever seen. Almost makes me wonder if he is not a 1 1/2. If he is only a a 1 1/2, wow. Youth gun starts Saturday and I worry for Dummie, but I digress. The other deer first appeared from a distance to be better than he is. The first picture taken is about a 125 yards out and there are two distinct travel routes from there so I wasn't sure if he would come my way or not. I only saw them briefly before they disappeared in the brush. I would see them either way they went, only the second route would have kept them in the 125-150 yard range away from me. He stayed in the brush for well over 30 minutes after my first sighting so needless to say he got REAL big during that time frame.:D But once I got a better look, I realized he is only a 7 pt with his left G3 broken, but probably not over a 125" even if it was intact. I do think he is a 3 1/2 but I guess he could be a 2 1/2. Regardless, it always makes my hunt when I see an "up and comer" and hope to see him again next year.
Nice deer I would take him. Of course thats because I have no place to hunt with no deer sightings in 2 weeks which = 12 sits but hey who's counting. I did see a scrape yesterday. lol
I guess I need to get out of east Tx and hunt west Tx more often. I couldn't let either of them walk. Bigger than anything I've ever seen from stand never mind killed.
We are very fortunate in the number of deer and potential for antler growth as well. We will never be comparable to a midwest state but I really don't think we are too far off the mark compared to Kansas. I just hope we don't overpupulate. I've mentioned this before....if 20-25 years ago you told someone you saw a deer in our area, they would likely think you were a liar. I met with the area's Game Biologist this past week. He now has us at 60-70 deer per square mile which rivals the Hill Country. He wanted me to take 100 doe depradation tags. We settled on thirty but he told to me come and get more if I used all of them. So far I have used 3 and a buddy 1 so we have a ways to go.
Short answer - About 1000 acres Long answer - He isn't just looking at my huntable acres but the "drawing" area that our land is used for as it is the primary food source for a lot bigger area. He also takes into account the proximity of other landowners within the area that are particpating in the program. Our neighbors don't participate. They do spotlight surveys in Aug/Sep to help them determine the number of deer they want to try and reduce. All deer taken in this program must be consumed but can be given to the local state prison so long as they are field dressed, weren't gut shot, and you donate the whole carcass (you can't keep the backstraps/loins and give the rest) I have never had to utilize the prison system as I have a longer list of people who are wanting a deer than I have been able to supply, at least so far.
Just out of curiosity...... So is it an MLD property? If so what level? We are on the LAMPS system on my grandparents place. It's only 200 acres, but I figure anything I can do to help the herd is good. They put in the antler restriction for us (Henderson county), which I support. My younger cousins weren't to thrilled about it but I've seen it pay off in my county (Hopkins) so I'm looking forward to the next few seasons
