The crew from LSON has been exercising sound management practices the past few weeks in South Texas, harvesting does and bucks on an MLDP ranch.
They report lots of action around the ranch, although very little of it centered around corn feeders.
The does have been tougher to hunt than the bucks. It doesn’t take those wise old does to realize they are being hunted, so some change of tactics have been needed.
Instead of hunting feeders, the hunters have been corning roads and senderos next to bedding areas. Natural ground blinds have been used to harvest a number of deer this week in some new spots.
Young bucks have been running does on afternoons with falling temperatures. Many of the does appear to be yearlings that are coming into estrus in January instead of with the majority of does in late December.
Many mature bucks have been seen the past two weeks, and the majority of those spotted have not been seen on game cameras all season. It is amazing how many bucks don’t come to feeders or other high traffic areas at all throughout the year, but seem to appear out of nowhere as the season winds down.
The LSON Foundation has also hosted a number of hunters in the past few weeks. Read about one of those hunts here, and read the next issue of LSON, out Friday, Feb. 14, for a complete rundown.
