Why no deer?

[ZZ Pops]

We are roughly 15 miles southwest of Fredericksburg and this was, without question, the worst year we've seen in the 11 years we've been there. Yes, the corn feeders were untouched after mid-October and there were acorns everywhere, but we did not see deer out in the pasture, either. We mostly resorted to hunting draws, trails, and old scrapes, and still saw very few deer. Driving around after dark didn't produce any sightings either. Of the dozen or so hunts that I made, I saw one whitetail deer. Unbelievable.

[Shiner]

Trailboss, I live in Comfort. It was definatly a wierd year. Still is. What place are you on?

[TB80]

Trailboss, I live in Comfort. It was definatly a wierd year. Still is. What place are you on?

I'm on a place off of centerpoint/hasenwinkle road.

[fowlball]

My ranch is near London/Junction. We have had the same problem all season. Deer not coming to feeders. I emailed my TPWD biologist who oversees our MLD program with the same complaint. Here is the email I got back.

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your question. The answer is
YES--everyone is reporting few or no deer coming to feeders, regardless of
the supplement provided. Up until two weeks ago, we (TPWD) were plagued with
calls regarding this subject. We believe the unusual hunting season to be
the result of bumper acorn crops and a tremendous flush of Fall/Winter forbs
due to timely late Summer rains. Deer quite literally, did not need to exert
the energy to travel to a supplemental feeder. Now, however the tide seems
to be turning, with extremely cold temperatures laying waste to the
remaining forbs. Finally, the bitter cold of two weeks ago seems to have
evened out the playing field.

[Big Sendero]

CROSSBOW HUNTERS KILLED THE MAJORITY OF DEER EARLY IN THE ARCHERY ONLY SEASON! :-)

JK. We saw the same thing in Shackleford Co. Been hunting the same place for 9 years and this was the slowest season I've seen out there. We have no oak trees, so I would think that it had something to do with the late summer rain.

The odd thing is, this year was the most pronounced rut I've seen on the ranch since I've been hunting it.

[Shiner]

I'm on a place off of centerpoint/hasenwinkle road.

ha, small world. I live about a mile past the hasenwinkle cut off. Just before the school house

[Alley Dog]

I have a small place in Concho Co. and the year started off great a couple of 8' a nice 6 took couple of spikes than I set up a cheap bow blind (Doghouse) and never saw a deer of any kind after that. Was thinking it was cuz I sat the blind up late and scared them off. But after reading and now thinking about it, it was about the time the winter wheat was coming up. Oh well just means that Big Buck will just be a little bigger next year!

[BigL]

I've hunted the same property in Burnet for 15 years and it was the worst I've ever seen for hunting. Acorns were still dropping at Christmas, winter browse all over the place due to the fall rains, and very few deer even on trail cam in day light hours. The best buck I've seen in years I saw twice. Once on opening morning of bow season and then again the last day of the extended doe/spike season. He never showed up on 3 different TCs either.

[tycoon]

Here's my thoughts on our ranch in West Texas (between Comstock and Pandale). We have a bunch of deep canyons on the part of the ranch where I hunt. With all the rain that we had this past year, water was pooling up in the canyons. So, the deer weren't coming to the windmill tanks. Also all the rain created more natural food, so the deer didn't need to come to the feeders. The guys that hunt on the other part of the ranch saw more deer, but they don't have the deep canyons that we do.