Texas Hunting Leases

A quick survey of deer corn prices for 50 lb. bags is a little shocking.  Some reports have it getting close to the $10 mark.  If things keep going like this, it will soon pass up protein - is a barrel of oil next?  It makes you think about your off-season feeding regimen, if gas prices have not got you thinking already.  And, there may be no end in sight for a while.

If memory serves me right, that same bag of corn was around $5.00 a few years ago.  Some feed store operators predict prices will be up nearly 50% from last year.  And, it will be a good idea to shop around and buy in bulk if available.  If you are having to drive down to the lease to fill feeders, you might consider rotating your feeders or even buying bigger ones.  The first will cut down on the corn you use, the other on the number of times you need to drive down to fill them.  Sure, bigger feeders are more expensive, but compare that to a tank of gas.  Especially for those who drive more than a few hours to the lease.  If you want to get ahead of the curve and buy your corn now, you need to be concerned with storage.  Keeping pests out of stored corn is a chore at best.  Some recommend using medicated cattle ear-tags to keep pests away, and its also a good idea to put these in feeder motor boxes to keep out insects as well. 

Hunters are feeling price pressures from every aspect of the sport.  Good leases are getting further away from most major cities as the “ranchette” craze continues in nearby counties.  Those same leases are also costing more as the Texas oil-based economy brings surplus dollars for “corporate leases”.  Their bigger budgets push out the average hunter who are starting to have long-term leases pulled right out from under them.  Firearms and ammunition are going up too, as manufacturing materials used for both are at all time highs.  Finally, fuel costs round out the siege to complete a painful undertaking for those who are still mad at the horns.

It remains to be seen if our legislators will provide some price relief in the form of ethanol legislation.  The mandates most certainly have contributed to the cost and price speculation.  On a drive down to South Texas recently, fields that I usually see filled with budding cotton plants are now brimming with stalks and ears.  More supply, yes, but will it be enough to catch up to demand?  One can only hope.  I wonder how many bags of corn can fit in an oil barrel anyways.

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is now accepting applications for Landowner Assisted Management Permitting System (LAMPS) antlerless deer permits for the 2008-2009 hunting season. The LAMPS program was initiated in 1993 to offer East Texas landowners and hunters additional opportunities for harvesting antlerless deer.

Many counties in East Texas allow the harvest of antlerless deer “by permit only,” or during a few select “doe days.” However, LAMPS permits allow antlerless deer to be hunted the entire general gun season with minimal reporting requirements.

Persons interested in enrolling a property in the LAMPS program should recognize there are minimum qualification requirements. Permission from the landowner must be obtained before applying for permits if the person applying is not the landowner. The property must occur in one of the more than 50 East Texas counties in the program. And, the property must meet the minimum acreage requirement for the county. The minimum acreage requirement varies form county to county, but ranges from 50 to 200 acres.

To guarantee receipt of permits by the opening day of the general firearms season, applications must be received by September 1. For information on the minimum acreage requirements and applications call the LAMPS office at (409) 489-0823 or log on to the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site.

Fortunately, I know some people with a White-tail Doe “problem”.  Having the Does is not the problem.  Having too many of them on a ranch where you are trying to improve your deer herd’s health is.  So, since my Texas hunting license affords me the privilege of harvesting up to five White-tailed deer during a season, I was happy to lend them my services for a day. 

On this particular hunt, we had planed for a morning and afternoon session with rifles over feeders in order to choose older and larger does to harvest.  Its not every day that you get a chance to shoot two deer, and because I was able to do so this day, it sets up this story’s comparison to make a point.  Shot selection matters, and here is why.

My first hunt had me sitting in a tower blind about 100 yards from a feeder at first light.  As planned, we were there before the feeder went off, and once it did, the usual smorgasbord of animals were on hand to partake in the offering.  This morning, the area was crowded with bucks, a few does and some weanlings.  We watched the scene play out for about thirty minutes before I raised my rifle up and sighted in one of the healthy does.  But, as luck would have it, she could not keep still for long as a young buck was trailing her and making her nervous.  After a while, she had had enough and began to ease off back into the brush.

At this point, I had her scoped while she was walking away and opted to make a noise to get her to stop just long enough for a broad-side shot in which I took.  I knew that I had only a few seconds so I took the highest probability shot I could and that was to the vitals of the upper-chest area.  After shooting, we saw her run off in a wounded manner and knew that she was hit.  We waited for about 20 minutes in the blind before we climbed out and went to look for her. 

Good hunters know that a wounded deer can run for a long ways after being shot.  Depending on the severity, hurrying after a slightly wounded one might only cause the animal to run further away from the point of impact.   The average whitetail deer carries about eight pounds of blood in its system.  And, a full grown deer must lose at least 35 percent of its blood before it will fall.  So, we patiently walked up to the point of impact and searched for a blood trail.

Following a blood trail involves several basic rules.  First, find the point of impact and take note of the amount of blood in the area.  A large amount of blood indicates that a good shot was made and if the blood is pink, then a lung shot was likely.  Start off in the direction the deer ran and look for blood and the splattering it makes when it hits the ground.  The drops from a running animal will generally point in the direction the animal is running and show forward momentum in their pattern.  When following a blood trail, make sure when you lose sight of it, to go back to the last sign and look a full 360 degrees before moving forward.  A deer will not just run in a straight line, but might get disoriented and bound off completely in another direction.

Following these steps, we found the doe about forty yards into the brush and examined the wound.  The shot had penetrated the deer in the vitals and had a good exit wound on the other side.  Despite this, she still was able to run a good ways.  Because we were in a fairly open location, we were able to find her quickly.  But, this is not always the case for many hunters.

The second hunt of the day was pretty much the same scenario as the morning’s but this time, the doe cooperated and stood long enough for arguably the best way to dispatch a game animal with a rifle.  Raising my scope to my field of view, I carefully aimed for the small patch of white on the deer’s neck, just about the where it blended in to the rest of its darker color.  Exhaling slowly, I gently squeezed the trigger and dropped her right in her tracks.  Obviously, no waiting and blood trail necessary.  And, most importantly, a more humane kill on the animal.

Most deer hunters have their own opinions about shot placement.  But, the most experienced ones I know shoot for the neck.  Some may argue the lower probability of this shot, but if you spend enough time at the range - and you should - you gain the confidence in your weapon to make that shot repeatedly.  This brings up another good lesson and an idea for another story - range time before every hunt and during the off-season.