Dad and I just bought a ranch in Callahan County. It's a mixture of rolling to large hills, pasture, oaks, mesquite and a little cedar. Has 5 stock tanks and a wet weather creek bed.

Currently being hunted by 4 guys. I've been out there 5 times and have yet to see a deer(granted it's usually mid day), a few tracks, tons of hog tracks and finally spotted a huge Bore crashing through some brush. I'm planning on spotlighting the place soon for a white tail count

I don't think the current hunters are management minded at all. From the short talks I've had with them they kill them at legal size early and often. We won't be renewing their lease and will take over hunting in July.

Property has a grazing lease with a 20 acre wheat food plot mainly for the ranchers cattle but deer can access it just as easy. There are huge ranches all around that have blinds and feeders so I imagine there are deer out there.

My question is where do I get started on management? My plan is to get a good count to see where we're at and then start heavy feeding. After that I have no experience. I'm obviously not a big hunter and don't care to have 200 class deer but would like to have enough to bring friends, family and employees out occasionally to shoot a doe and some hogs. The occasional nice 5 year old Buck would be the cherry on top.

All comments welcome. Thanks!

Definitely need to assemble a team of three self proclaimed experts to approve all shots before they are taken. They need the authority greater than Texas law.

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The occasional nice 5 year old Buck would be the cherry on top.

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Nope...too young. MUST be a verified 7.5 year old.

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BTW. Congrats on the property.

I feel kinda sorry for folks coming here in the future trying to figure out the 7.5 or 3 guys approval type of remarks. That thread will deliver for years. Doss did that to me so I know first hand

SteveBott said:

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I feel kinda sorry for folks coming here in the future trying to figure out the 7.5 or 3 guys approval type of remarks. That thread will deliver for years. Doss did that to me so I know first hand

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Congrats, sounds awesome! I would start by just not shooting every legal buck, establish a couple corral traps and kill every pig you can, and see about doing a controlled burn (/chop some cedars?). Guessing you will see big improvements in deer numbers/ quality in a year or two just doing those things

Contact your loacal Ag Extension office and get with an area bologist. Walk the place with them, explain what your short, mid and long term plans and goals are and solicit their advice on best practice methods to hit those goals.

If the place has been over hunted, be prepared to not tke any deer for a few years. Get the buck/doe ratio correct. Forage and vegetation are important, as is cover and water access.

Get with the neighboring landowners and see if they are on any managent program that you can piggyback off of or join in with.

And obligatory:

1. How many acres
2. Low or high fence
3. Pictures!

Start by getting rid of the 4 guys...
Sign up for the MLD program for some guidance

schmellba99 said:

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Contact your loacal Ag Extension office and get with an area bologist. Walk the place with them, explain what your short, mid and long term plans and goals are and solicit their advice on best practice methods to hit those goals.

If the place has been over hunted, be prepared to not tke any deer for a few years. Get the buck/doe ratio correct. Forage and vegetation are important, as is cber and water access.

Get with the neighboring landowners and see if they are on any managent program that you can piggyback off of or join in with.

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All of this

First. Congrats on getting your piece of Texas! Nothing like owning your own piece of dirt. I was brought up being taught that it is impolite to ask someone how much acreage a person owns so I won't ask.
Also assuming your place is low fence. With that being said you just need to spend your first year just getting to know your place and assessing your range conditions, and your overall deer herd population. Fawns will start dropping soon and you need to look at your doe/fawn ratio and your buck/doe ratio.
Contact your local TPWD office and make an appointment to meet your local biologist and have him/her come out and access your place with you. Also have some idea of what your goals are for the place and convey that to them.
The biologist will instruct you on the best way to do population determinations depending on size and terrain of your ranch.
I would suggest talking to the biologist and doing population studies before putting a bunch of feeders out so you don't skew your population data.
Put out some game cameras, do field observations and write down and keep track of what you see.
Take your time and enjoy getting to know your place, your neighbors, local law enforcement, game wardens and Biologist.
Local NRCS agents can be helpful as well.
Keep your cedar and *****ly pear, mesquite etc. under control.
Don't feed corn except in cold months and never more than half and half with protein.
Develope your water sources... water is life.
Above all have fun and take time to enjoy your place always.

First step would be let me come fish the tanks. That should help the deer populations and sizes. And deer health.

Don't do anything drastic with the brush or trees at first. Not all cedar and mesquite is the devil. Too many people want a property to be a mix of pasture and oak trees because it looks nice. What's best for the animals is biodiversity. Having the best bedding area around can be huge. You go scorched earth at first, it could take decades to fix.

It's probably worth getting a biologist out to assist. Be weary of the tag allotment if you go MLD.

Considering that fawning season is right around the corner, now would be a good time to try to knock out some coyotes. Most effective method I've found has been good foot traps. The MB550 is excellent. Every coyote you can remove now, is one less fawn that might be eaten.

Would you be ok sharing an aerial of the place? Any pics?

Really though, how many acres?

There's probably a reason for no deer with 5 men plus you.

Im no help on any of your questions..... but congrats on your dirt!!! IMO..... best decision ever!!!!!

The key word is controlling evasive species. Virgin cedar breaks make good cover and great areas for animals to travel and bed. Mesquite beans are a good food source.
But regrowth cedar and mesquite saplings use up ground water that could help grow forbes and browse. And those oak trees grow acorns that oftentimes are the key to whitetail survival in drought times like we are in now.
Predators also play an important role in the big picture and if over populated should be controlled but they are not all "the devil" as well.
Honestly in our 32 years of managing our ranches I have had few coyote kills of whitetail fawns or exotic babies.
He would be better served right now seeing if he in fact has a coyote problem before just assuming he needs to get rid of all of them. Elimination of predators will only cause an over population of rats, mice etc and that in turn makes the population of rattlesnakes increase. I learned a hard lesson of that on our ranches.
Your post have always good knowledge so you understand when I say game and range management is all about a good balance of all aspects and it takes constant hard work and implementation of a sound plan designed around the individual piece of property to be successful in reaching the desired goals.

10.2 +/- acres?

Get with a biologist
How many acres? That matters in setting some expectations and highlighting what you can offer on your property vs your neighbors

Watch a lot of YouTube channels- Jeff Sturgis and Dr Grant Woods is a great start

20 Acre wheat food plot
5 Acres of stock tanks (5 tanks @ 1 acre each)
Estimate 1 stock tank per 100 acres.

I'd say the OP is somewhere between 375 & 750 acres. Amirite?

You're not going to have a ton of luck managing the whitetail herd overall since they will be on & off your property every day. With luck you have good neighbors who show some restraint that the previous guys leasing did not. Get w/a biologist to do a survey asap.

To get the best hunting, concentrate on improving habitat.
If it were my place, I'd also check out the stock tanks & see if they can be improved for fishing & duck hunting. Have some friends with a place in Coleman & they get more birds than you'd expect off tanks. (Just don't hunt the same tank days in a row)

Also, get to building some larger corral style hog traps. Regarding coyotes, May-June is the only time I think about shooting them. Key to keep coyotes off fawns is having good cover.
To learn about plants on your place:

Buy the book - Range Plants of North Central Texas. This book is gold for everywhere between the piney woods & trans-pecos/high plains btw.
https://www.amazon.com/Range-Plants-North-Central-Texas/dp/1495121658
Learn your vegetation & how to manage it and the wildlife will follow.

Good luck!

Congratulations on the new land!

I would be happy to help you put together a management plan if you're interested. I'm fortunate enough to help landowners all over the state with many of the questions you mention. If you're interested you can find all of my info at my website, CrossTimbersW.com.

CrossTimbersW said:

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Congratulations on the new land!

I would be happy to help you put together a management plan if you're interested. I'm fortunate enough to help landowners all over the state with many of the questions you mention. If you're interested you can find all of my info at my website, CrossTimbersW.com.

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Appreciate that. I'll reach out.

How big is the property? That would help determine what goals you have in mind are achievable. Too many think they can manage anything low fenced that is less than, say, 1500 acres.

Apache said:

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20 Acre wheat food plot
5 Acres of stock tanks (5 tanks @ 1 acre each)
Estimate 1 stock tank per 100 acres.

I'd say the OP is somewhere between 375 & 750 acres. Amirite?

You're not going to have a ton of luck managing the whitetail herd overall since they will be on & off your property every day. With luck you have good neighbors who show some restraint that the previous guys leasing did not. Get w/a biologist to do a survey asap.

To get the best hunting, concentrate on improving habitat.
If it were my place, I'd also check out the stock tanks & see if they can be improved for fishing & duck hunting. Have some friends with a place in Coleman & they get more birds than you'd expect off tanks. (Just don't hunt the same tank days in a row)

Also, get to building some larger corral style hog traps. Regarding coyotes, May-June is the only time I think about shooting them. Key to keep coyotes off fawns is having good cover.
To learn about plants on your place:

Buy the book - Range Plants of North Central Texas. This book is gold for everywhere between the piney woods & trans-pecos/high plains btw.
https://www.amazon.com/Range-Plants-North-Central-Texas/dp/1495121658
Learn your vegetation & how to manage it and the wildlife will follow.

Good luck!

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Between those numbers. I'd like to keep it private for now for no other reason than not letting the World Wide Web in on our place as I'm sure I'll post pics of equipment that could be stolen. Obviously not talking about this board.

A biologists is certainly in our future. I don't mind the mesquite and cedar as I like rough country as apposed to groomed. Just personal preference with little science behind it.

It is a low fenced property that is much bigger than I ever anticipated owning but I'm sure to some it's just one hunting pasture out of their many. That said we're proud and humbled at the same time. I look forward to sharing our experiences with this board. The best damn board on texags.

I would study satellite mapping of your property in relation to your neighbors. That will help in making good long term decisions.

Dr. Craig Harper I would suggest reading or listening to. He has a couple of great books and is a guest on many podcast.
Mississippi State Deer lab I recommend listening to their podcast.

Couple pictures. Taken in January so things have greened up quite a bit.

Not sure why it gave that emoji.

Looks good, congrats.

The biggest key to game management is habitat management. If you cultivate a healthy habitat that includes all the needs for your desired game animals, they will do the rest. TPWD does quite a few Managing Your Land for Wildlife workshops for landowners throughout the state, and most are free. They are mostly aimed at people wanting to get a wildlife habitat property tax valuation, but they have lots of speakers talking about a wide range of topics all focused on creating healthy habitats.

Yesterday said:

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I don't mind the mesquite and cedar as I like rough country as apposed to groomed.

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Chopping cedar is more about keeping your surficial aquifers happy than aesthetics

Get a thermal scope

You can count deer better than spotlighting without spooking them. Bucks in velvet will show up clearly in thermal.

Also use it to control the pigs.

Asking someone how many acres they own is like asking someone what the balance of their bank account is.

Unless they're from the government, the answer should be "Kindly, none of your business."

And if they're from the government, the answer should be "None of your ****ing business!"

This. Growing up we were raised asking about acreage was a major no no.

It's very weird when someone you don't know asks

This is the first I've heard it's rude to ask, but I can understand the logic.

It would seem this is different though, as wouldn't the management strategy differ based on the amount of land?

Our biologist would not let us use my thermal scopes for our surveys except for just identifying deer. His reason was we would miss deer that should be counted in the total survey due to the limited field of view of the thermal scope.
I tried both methods just to see and Using the thermal did skew the number of deer we saw as we would have much lower sampled numbers with the thermals than the spotlight with a good set of binoculars.
Also we have exotics and oftentimes we could not identify fallow and axis from whitetail with the thermal.
We ended doing our required spotlight surveys with spot light and binoculars and field observations with thermal.

hlfarmsag said:

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This. Growing up we were raised asking about acreage was a major no no.

It's very weird when someone you don't know asks

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I agree with Naveronski, this isn't somebody walking up on this his porch and asking out of the blue. If he wants advice on property management for game, the first two questions people will logically ask in order to tailor their advice are "how big is the property" and "where is the property". Giving an approximate acreage rounded to the nearest big number and general eco region is plenty of info in response to those questions.