Deer Season 2019

Heading out to Montana this week. Scored an Antelope Tag. My buddy owns land Between Bozeman and Butte. Will add a whitetail doe to the mix.

Being new to TX, I have no clue as to where to hunt that will offer good opportunities. I have my license but believe I also need some kind of public land use license as well that costs $48. Just looked it up, I guess I need an:

• Annual Public Hunting Permit — $48
  Full privileges including hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and other recreational uses.

Source: https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/annual_public_hunting/

I would have thought that since it is public land, the public (at least the taxpayers) would get to use it for free. It came as a big surprise that in order to hunt on a lot of the public lands in TX, if not all of them, I need another license other than the super combo hunting/fishing license I already purchased. Wish the guy at Wally World had told me that; I would have gotten this other one at the same time. Odd that to hunt, fish, hike and camp it cost $48 but take away hunting and it costs only $12 to be licensed to do all the other things. Seems a bit biased against hunters and hunting.

I have these pics posted in my own thread on my son's first hunt. But I'll share them here too.

Sutton county Sonora

Took 2 doe this weekend.

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mad88minute said:

I have these pics posted in my own thread on my son's first hunt. But I'll share them here too.

Sutton county Sonora

Took 2 doe this weekend. View attachment 188454 View attachment 188455

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That's awesome

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Nice, another slick head down. Congrats to the youngster.

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Sad season for me. Lost our fun lease in '17, hunted a really crappy lease in '18. Been too buried at work to find anything for '19. Guess I'll have to look at y'all's photos and enjoy seeing how well you've done.

Texasjack said:

Sad season for me. Lost our fun lease in '17, hunted a really crappy lease in '18. Been too buried at work to find anything for '19. Guess I'll have to look at y'all's photos and enjoy seeing how well you've done.

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I'd like to find a lease. Where are you looking? Word of mouth?
Where was your good lease? Bad lease?
I'm so new to Texas I don't know where the good hunting or bad hunting is, or what is reasonable to pay for a lease.

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mad88minute said:

I'd like to find a lease. Where are you looking? Word of mouth?
Where was your good lease? Bad lease?
I'm so new to Texas I don't know where the good hunting or bad hunting is, or what is reasonable to pay for a lease.

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Obviously the first thing a good lease has is game. Since feral pigs are everywhere now, at the very least you have that option. The crappy lease I was on is in an area where the locals hunt pigs with dogs, so most deer and pigs have become nocturnal. Great photos on the cameras, but nothing in the rifle sights.

The other thing a great lease has is a good group hunting on it. The one I referred to as "fun" had great guys and we worked together to fix things up. By tradition we had steak and potatoes for dinner the night before rifle season kicked off. Everybody brought stuff to help make dinner, supplies to clean up, etc. People helped each other with mowing, fixing stands, filling feeders, etc. On the crappy lease, it was every man for himself. Rules were often ignored. On the night of opening day, the campgrounds were filled with not only hunters but their wives, girlfriends, kids, dogs, cousins - along with booze, arguments, and all the mud they could churn up with their trucks.

Another mark of a great lease is that it's open for more than just deer season. Gives you time to scout around, to fix things up, and sometimes just to get out in the country and decompress a bit.

As for price, leases tend to be pretty expensive. If you have a decent group, sometimes you can find a place that is reasonably affordable. As an individual, it's hard to find a spot. There are several web sites where leases are advertised, but reading through them can drive you crazy!! Types:
1. The Super Rich Corporate Lease - Fenced in pastures, deer bred to have huge racks, air conditioned sleeping place with wide screen TV and NFL package. $40,000 per gun per season, payable in gold bullion.
2. The Small Landowner Special - 3 acres accepting up to 10 hunters, but don't worry, the property borders on some neighbor's land and deer will (probably) run through your spot. $500 per gun
3. The Don't Disturb the Neighbors Special - Only archery hunting and no vehicles or loud talking before noon or after 4 pm. No water, air, boarding, roads, or food plots. $2000 per person, family welcome if they keep quiet.
4. The Read the Small Print Lease - Fenced-in, feeders and stands available, $1000 per gun. Oh, by the way, we have a list of "trophy fees". Any deer over 8 points is an extra $500 per point. Anything that can be rated Boone & Crockett will be an extra $2500. There's probably a fee for does, rabbits, squirrels, or crickets that you might run over.
5. The Time Share Lease - Someone must have sued these guys, 'cause they used to advertise these on every fence post and telephone pole. You sign up, you pay your money, and they have a drawing to see where you get to hunt. As a pyramid scheme, the guys who started it will be hunting some really good places - the kinds of spots you see in their ads on the internet. Everyone else will get whatever junk they can find. $500 to $2000 per gun, and (maybe) we'll be right back with your hunting spot.
6. Day Leases - becoming more rare, but I don't know why. $500 per weekend, but every weekend is booked through 2047.
7. Public Land Leases - Not too horrible, at least most of them have plenty of game. But you have to find a good spot that nobody else is hunting (and the local guys have scouted all of those out long before you showed up.)
8. Unhappy Land Owner Lease with Cousin Bubba - Every once in a while you'll find a land owner that decides to make a few bucks off of the property they inherited. If you can pull together a group, you can get an affordable deal. Three big problems: First, these are hard to find and people jump on them quickly. Second, you have to have a good group. What happens all to frequently is you just don't have enough good guys and you have to recruit outside your circle. Things go great until opening day. Suddenly the new guys become total asshats and disrupt everything you're trying to do. Third, and I speak from experience on this one, the landowner probably has a cousin (or uncle or brother-in-law or something) that had been using the land and is pissed off at you hunting on it. They use any excuse to come around and make your life miserable. (Twice I had these types destroy an outhouse just to vent their frustration.)
9. The Neighbors are Weird Lease - I got to hunt on a friend's lease some years ago where the neighbors next door were some sort of polygamist/religious nuts. They had armed patrols driving up and down the fence lines 24/7. If they saw a truck they hadn't seen before, they would cruise by trying to get the license number. Their property had guard towers in some places and they ran spotlights (like Hogan's Heroes) to keep people from escaping (or getting in, one presumes). Nice place, more than a little nerve wracking.
10. Great Place when It Isn't Under Water Lease - A southeast Texas special - good price, but trees so thick you can't see 10 feet. A one-inch rain will fill all the low spots and make it impossible to get in or out. Mosquitoes are big enough to require a 12 gauge shotgun to bring them down.

Texasjack said:

The other thing a great lease has is a good group hunting on it. The one I referred to as "fun" had great guys and we worked together to fix things up. By tradition we had steak and potatoes for dinner the night before rifle season kicked off. Everybody brought stuff to help make dinner, supplies to clean up, etc. People helped each other with mowing, fixing stands, filling feeders, etc. On the crappy lease, it was every man for himself. Rules were often ignored. .

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Yep. IMHO, a good lease becomes a great lease when you have a good group to hunt with. I've also been on those crappy leases too, mainly in the east Texas. Which really makes me appreciate my current lease (Robertson co.). I've seen a couple of nice bucks on my camera, so hoping for a good one on opening day.

Going slow for me just small bucks, Does and pigs.

mad88minute said:

I'd like to find a lease. .....
I'm so new to Texas I don't know where the good hunting or bad hunting is, or what is reasonable to pay for a lease.....

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When you negotiate the price, do not let them know you're from CA or it'll cost you more.

BRD@66 said:

When you negotiate the price, do not let them know you're from CA or it'll cost you more.

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I don't know what your talkin about. I'm from Tomball.........

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Aged the backstrap for three weeks. Mixed up some batter for chicken Frying and friend it up. Incredible!

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Deer Season 2019 2nd weekend. 175 yard frontal neck shot with a @cuttingedgebullets 165gr Lazer@wildriverranch. It's the third cull doe down. A 2.5 year old doe.


The 165gr Lazer did tremendous damage to the neck as it passed through the deer. This caused instant death and an immediate drop.


The doe was at the treeline across the field




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Really nice! I will be buying a suppressor pretty quickly so I'll have it by next season. Does it help as much as I think it does with chasing all of the other deer away?

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mad88minute said:

Really nice! I will be buying a suppressor pretty quickly so I'll have it by next season. Does it help as much as I think it does with chasing all of the other deer away?

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Yes it does. They will usually come back or the next group wanders in

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Well it is general season in Fannin county and I shot my first doe today. What a rush. I am a long time bird and small game hunter so this was very exciting. I hunt on my neighbors property which I am very blessed to have the opportunity to do so, let alone for free. I was mainly aiming for pigs but his wife mentioned that they have seen does on one of their fields.

Well I ended up getting a trail cam and early this morning I see these two(date on the time stamp is incorrect)


Also saw a fawn at about 4pm yesterday. Fast forward to today, I was in the stand by 2:30. About 2.5 hours of nothing but high winds and about 15 minutes before I decide to head in, out pops two does about 20 feet to my left. The bigger of the two was banking straight away from me but then decided to turn at about 45 degrees but stayed there and wasn't really moving. I know myself and my rifle so I took the shot and ended up getting a good shot off. She shot up and made it about 10 feet into the grass before falling down dead. Forgot to take a picture, but the bullet hit the lung and heart. 170 gr SP out of a Marlin 336





The rifle:

MTA89 said:

Well it is general season in Fannin county and I shot my first doe today. What a rush. I am a long time bird and small game hunter so this was very exciting. I hunt on my neighbors property which I am very blessed to have the opportunity to do so, let alone for free. I was mainly aiming for pigs but his wife mentioned that they have seen does on one of their fields.

Well I ended up getting a trail cam and early this morning I see these two(date on the time stamp is incorrect)
View attachment 190393

Also saw a fawn at about 4pm yesterday. Fast forward to today, I was in the stand by 2:30. About 2.5 hours of nothing but high winds and about 15 minutes before I decide to head in, out pops two does about 20 feet to my left. The bigger of the two was banking straight away from me but then decided to turn at about 45 degrees but stayed there and wasn't really moving. I know myself and my rifle so I took the shot and ended up getting a good shot off. She shot up and made it about 10 feet into the grass before falling down dead. Forgot to take a picture, but the bullet hit the lung and heart. 170 gr SP out of a Marlin 336

View attachment 190399
View attachment 190401


The rifle:
View attachment 190402

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wind is often your friend. Deer still move and the wind will cover a lot of noise you don’t think you are making.

good job and congratulations!

James H shot these two deer. Hardin County
The suppressor is an AAC Cyclone.







#deerseason2019 this 2 year old spike, warts and all, was the second deer taken opening weekend with the @remingtonarmscompany 700 7mm rem mag long range. It has a 26" barrel with a Bell and Carlson stock. Athlon Optics , Ares BTR, 4.5-27 x 50 First Focal Plane (FFP) 30mm Tube, Illuminated APLR3 MIL Reticle. @advancedarmamentcorp Cyclone suppressor. #fridayattherange








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Seen a lot of deer so far this year but haven’t shot one yet.


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