Originally posted by rtp
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I grew up hunting in NE TX, but, i've been lucky enough to hunt KS, Davis Island in the middle of the MS, prime river property in AR, and some of the best ranches in west and south TX. Pressure is the numero uno factor on how tough the deer are to hunt IMOP.
But there are other important factors to consider.....
There is NO question that to kill a quality buck, let's say 130"-140" +, is MUCH more difficult in E TX. Much smaller properties as a rule with much more access via quality roads. So poachers have much easier ingress/egress, etc. On top of that, the attitude of E TX hunters, until very recent times, has been if its got horns its down.
The result being buck to doe ratios WAY out of whack and FAR fewer older bucks. The occasional older bucks that survive to their prime years are almost impossible to see, much less get a crosshair on. There's simply not many of them and they're VERY smart....nocturnal, etc.
In south Texas, from the very first time I hunted there 30 years ago, the attitude was MUCH more about balancing the herd by removing doe and allowing bucks to gain some age. The habitat was a thousand times easier to hunt.... pear flats, senderos, even the places with thick live oaks, canyons, etc were nothing compared to the thick stuff in most of east TX.
So much better buck to doe ratio equals MUCH more competition within the buck herd, which is comprised of much older bucks, which equates to more daylight rutting activity and by much older bucks, plus MUCH easier opportunities to get an eyeball on a good buck.
When I took the many lessons I learned chasing mature bucks in the creek bottoms, switch cane flats, and overgrown and select/clear cut pine forests of NE TX/SW AR to KS, South and West TX, etc it was shockingly easy to get myself in position to locate and kill them if I wanted to do so.
Just the thought of riding around in a high rack in east TX makes me laugh.....😉
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