# Duval County Rut



## bandada1 (Jan 4, 2007)

Just got back from the ranch. The rut is on and the bucks were on the move. Just shot culls. All these need more time.


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## El Cazador (Mar 4, 2005)

Glad to see that Duval county is "shot out". Nice pics! That white faced guy looks like _he's_ ready...


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## SaltFix (Apr 16, 2007)

Looks shot out to me... I don't see a deer in those pics..LOL!


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## warcat (May 22, 2004)

Just looking at the bodies, all those deer look to be mature... very large deer.


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## Gim-me-1 (Jan 8, 2008)

*Duval/Jim Wells "shot out"*

Good pics and thanks for the update. We hunt in your neck of the woods and are going tomorrow for 2 weeks. Looks like all the road hunters, locals, and poachers ran all the deer in Duval co to your place, a special thanks to them. Gim-me-1


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## mjmaxwell8 (Aug 28, 2007)

You have any closer shots of that last deer? Looks interesting


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## Milwaukee (Dec 5, 2007)

Everyone needs to leave Duval Cty. NOW. No deer there.


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## wedington (Dec 19, 2007)

Its good to see there are some deer there. It doesn't look like you are anywhere near San Diego though. That's the area that has been talked about that has been shot out.


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## warcat (May 22, 2004)

I guess the truth about Duval lies somewhere between this and that. Yes, there are some good deer around, but the places you'll find those deer will be on larger ranches away from county roads and/or high fence places. If I had to guess, I'd say that the original poster's ranch is high fenced.

If you're leasing in Duval, it is best to visit the place and request game cam pics from recent seasons. If you can get some age on your deer in Duval, you'll end up with some quality bucks.


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## gutpile (Jan 4, 2008)

Yep there sure aint no deer there or San Diego. Hope everyone has a good hunt. Thanks for the pictures. Gutpile


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## Silverspoon (Jun 1, 2005)

I hear that? Is he a spike with 16"-18" main beams!


mjmaxwell8 said:


> You have any closer shots of that last deer? Looks interesting


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## bandada1 (Jan 4, 2007)

MJMAXWELL - Here is an another picture of the last deer. And to all about Duval County. This is a great county with plenty of deer as long you stay away from San Diego area. It seem like the whole county gets a bad wrap b/c of this area. I have hunted South, West and now hunt north of Freer All areas are great IMO. Good luck to all.


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## warcat (May 22, 2004)

bandada1 said:


> MJMAXWELL - Here is an another picture of the last deer. And to all about Duval County. This is a great county with plenty of deer as long you stay away from San Diego area. It seem like the whole county gets a bad wrap b/c of this area. I have hunted South, West and now hunt north of Freer All areas are great IMO. Good luck to all.


How far away from SD would you say is it great?

BTW, is your place high fenced?


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## bandada1 (Jan 4, 2007)

From what I am told, anything between Freer and San Diego down HWY 44. My place is high fenced to keep the neighbors deer out. The neighbors do not allow does to be shot.


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## O/G SALTY (Jun 7, 2006)

just got back from duval county near san diego down hwy 44-----saw 1 doe on 6 hunts and didnt even come to feeder------saw some chasing on the ranch next door ---but of course it was high fence---so our 1 doe cant get in.


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## hunt2442 (May 7, 2008)

Has anyone been down to the San Diego area recently? Is the rut going on at all down there?


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## Crispin (Apr 10, 2006)

*Duval county*

Hard to say for sure. I just got back Wednesday night, after rattling on all 500 acres Saturday morning thru Tuesday dark, did not see one buck. Saw the same doe and 2 yearlings everyday at different feeders. (One of the yearlings has antlers not yet pertruding thru the skin about an inch high.)


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## willielancon (Feb 15, 2007)

I amlooking at a place down around ramirez......anyone hunt down that way?


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## bogeyman (Jan 15, 2007)

I hunt about 15 miles northwest of there and a friend of mine runs a ranch at the end of CR 250, towards hebbronville from Ramirez. What do you need to know?


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## cwbyhntr (Dec 26, 2008)

There ruttin down here. Right before Christmas was pretty hard rut. I'm in Jim Wells Co. not very far from san diego. I got a nine point buck last monday. My brother saw a six chasing does the next day. Mornings seem to be better right now. IMO


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## willielancon (Feb 15, 2007)

honestly I have always thought Duval county to be an awesome place to hunt ( from what I had heard) until I read this post today. Everyone talking about it being shot out.....Just curious how the southern part of the county was. Do you have any pics of what your typical low fenced deer might look like in that region?


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## Crispin (Apr 10, 2006)

*Duval county*

Had this guy on my camera all year long till this day. This is the last pic I got of him and have not seen ANY bucks since. Going back Friday thru Monday, hope my luck changes...


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## Crispin (Apr 10, 2006)

*Duval county*

Well for those who care: Got back late Monday night and I should have come home Friday night after getting there @ 2 PM. I had things to do @ camp before I went to the stand, and after doing them and a 6 hour drive with the travel trailer in tow, I wasn't even going to go to the stand but I did. Walking south up to the stand, with the wind blowing from the south 15-20 mph, I heard the feeder go off about 100 yards before I got to the stand. The feeder is another 75 yards south-west. I thought no need to rush, I was real early, only to find the deer were already there! I eased into the stand to see the same 3 deer I see everytime. Only this time there was another deer in the brush. Looking thru the binocs, I could only see a front leg, a tail, and 1 antler @ different times, never enough to get a shot. Soon after the deer were on the move. To try and draw them out, I rattled, I grunted with no luck. Big boy was gone. Thought about getting out and heading them off, but with this being the 1st hunt of 6, the odds were in my favor. Needless to say, didn't see him again. He was a good, tall, wide, dark, 8-10 point which would have been by far the best taken any where near our lease. I should have gotten there a little earlier but I couldn't, had things to do before dark. This is the ONLY buck I have seen since 8-16-08 and that was on camera, see above post. I'm giving up lease hunting in general and especially this area in particular. Plan to do the 3-4 day hunt once a year and stop wasting alot of fuel and time on long trips for nothing, besides of course, the pure enjoyment of being out there...Crispin


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## jjeffers (Apr 6, 2006)

i am looking at leasing an area between kingsville and Benavides, how is that area, is it suppodely shot as well.


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## RICK10 (Jul 27, 2008)

jjeffers said:


> i am looking at leasing an area between kingsville and Benavides, how is that area, is it suppodely shot as well.


I hunted that area for 3 years in that 3 years the only buck I saw I shot it was a 130" 8 point 4.5 years old. to answer your question i would say it is shot out as well.


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## cwbyhntr (Dec 26, 2008)

jjeffers said:


> i am looking at leasing an area between kingsville and Benavides, how is that area, is it suppodely shot as well.


Are you talking about San Jose community.


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## bogeyman (Jan 15, 2007)

Jjeffers, I grew up in Kingsville, and if you are talking about the Driscoll there are some nice bucks there. Still a little poaching around there, but not near what it used to be. We have a ranch on the other side of Benavides and have not had many problems(1) in two years, however we are high fenced and that helps. I know some guys down there pm me if you want with the particulars and maybe I can get some info. for ya.


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## wiggler (Mar 31, 2005)

been in duval county on lease near san diego for two years.... the only bucks taken were an eight and a nine by the same person (1 per year).... other 4 guys have never even had a shot or sighting ....... don't waste your time or money..... more often than not i see nothing and the corn piles up under the feeders until the pigs break into the feeder pen. AGAIN, don't waste your time or money (better yet - just be careful who you give your money to)


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## so.tx. (May 26, 2006)

This is some crazy stuff! We just got off a lease on the north side of San Diego, actually backed up to someones back yard and ran north along a county road for about 7 miles. The ranch is now for sale. We definetely had a poaching problem and the mature bucks were all nocturnal but we saw tons of deer everyday. Usually 15-20 at each blind, mostly does but plenty of bucks. The mature bucks were on cameras at night all year and you only saw them once or twice in the day during the rut. Killed a couple of 140's over the last 5 years and 2 that just broke 160. 3 miles northeast of San Diego is a low-fenced ranch that kills 160's to 180's every year. Admittedly, we lucked out and now hunt on a better ranch in southwest Duval near Hebbronville. The main difference here is that we actually see the mature deer because the poaching pressure is low and the neighbors are management minded. Moral of the story is, Duval County is awesome for deer, even in the San Diego area. It has to be your neighbors that are the problem. For eight years we hunted a ranch about 12 miles north of San Diego on the same county road and during that time about 4 160 class deer were taken along with a bunch of 140's. 130's were a dime a dozen. We had poachers there too.. Just my 2 cents.

And for clarification, I'm not denying that some of you have bad luck down there, no matter where you hunt your neighbors have to be on the same page or your not going to see squat... A few people pm'd me earlier in the year asking about El Toro Road and I apologize for saying that it was good hunting down at the end. I've always heard that there were good deer down there. Judging by some of these messages, I was wrong...My bad.


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## warcat (May 22, 2004)

so.tx. said:


> This is some crazy stuff! We just got off a lease on the north side of San Diego, actually backed up to someones back yard and ran north along a county road for about 7 miles. The ranch is now for sale. We definetely had a poaching problem and the mature bucks were all nocturnal but we saw tons of deer everyday. Usually 15-20 at each blind, mostly does but plenty of bucks. The mature bucks were on cameras at night all year and you only saw them once or twice in the day during the rut. Killed a couple of 140's over the last 5 years and 2 that just broke 160. 3 miles northeast of San Diego is a low-fenced ranch that kills 160's to 180's every year. Admittedly, we lucked out and now hunt on a better ranch in southwest Duval near Hebbronville. The main difference here is that we actually see the mature deer because the poaching pressure is low and the neighbors are management minded. Moral of the story is, Duval County is awesome for deer, even in the San Diego area. It has to be your neighbors that are the problem. For eight years we hunted a ranch about 12 miles north of San Diego on the same county road and during that time about 4 160 class deer were taken along with a bunch of 140's. 130's were a dime a dozen. We had poachers there too.. Just my 2 cents.
> 
> And for clarification, I'm not denying that some of you have bad luck down there, no matter where you hunt your neighbors have to be on the same page or your not going to see squat... A few people pm'd me earlier in the year asking about El Toro Road and I apologize for saying that it was good hunting down at the end. I've always heard that there were good deer down there. Judging by some of these messages, I was wrong...My bad.


Is this true? I'm finding it hard to believe that 130 dime a dozen, and a good chance at 160's in any given year is possible around SD. I grew up there. Are these places high fenced or huge acreages?


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## Freer Hunter 72 (Jan 11, 2009)

Hey guys - new member to the boards here. I was reading this thread and found it a bit disturbing but somewhat confirms what I've seen. For the last 15 yrs I've hunting on a fairly large ranch (4700 acres) approx 4 miles down Hwy 44 towards San Diego from Freer. Some of you on here probably know the ranch I'm hunting since it has a Shell Plant on it. Anyway, I love the ranch. It has a ton of dove, quail, hogs, turkey, bobcats, coyotes and approx 1,782 does per acre. J/K but seriously we have the most ridiculous doe population on the planet. I grained 7 roads around one blind and was able to count 43 doe at one time. Unfortunately the ranch owner has some stupid belief that too many does makes for a healthy population. What I'm getting at is, in 15 yrs we've taken about 10 bucks off the ranch. the largest being around 150 class, everything else would be a cull anywhere else. So what's the problem? Hunting pressure? No, there's only 6 of us on the ranch and 3 of those are strictly quail hunters. Poaching? Quite possibly, we are bordered by numerous small ranches that I know in the past have poached upon the property. We've been forced to high fence 3/4 of the ranch due to @#$%^%# hunters putting large permanent blinds on our fence lines. Ok, forgive my rant for a second but when did people cast all common decency and morals to the wind? I would never, in a million years, put a permanent blind, feeder or tripod on a neighboring fenceline. In my opinion it's just about the most disrespectful thing you can do. We wanted our ranch to stay low fence but we have been forced to do otherwise by inconsiderate hunters. Anyway, I suspect our problems are probably a combination of things but our doe population is a major factor. Every year we see these young beautiful bucks 110-120 class, 2-4yr olds and then they're gone. I suspect with no need for competition over does they have become phantoms of the night. I'd really like to hear more from you guys that hunt in this area or have in the past. Anyone know of game biologists that have surveyed the area? What were their findings?


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## bandada1 (Jan 4, 2007)

Our neighbors to the south and west of our ranch refuse to let lease hunters shoot does. Before game fence, I could corn a road and see 30 deer, mostly does and a few scrape bucks. Our TPW biologist said unless you have lots of acreage it is tough to control population without a highfence. I would suggest to cull out alot of does and make room for your young bucks. On large ranches like yours, population managment is key.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Freer Hunter 72 said:


> ...... I love the ranch. It has a ton of dove, quail, hogs, turkey, bobcats, coyotes and approx 1,782 does per acre. J/K but seriously we have the most ridiculous doe population on the planet. I grained 7 roads around one blind and was able to count 43 doe at one time. Unfortunately the ranch owner has some stupid belief that too many does makes for a healthy population. .....


That is a shame. 
X pounds of deer per Y number of acres. I wonder why the ranch owner wants those X pounds in a bunch of little deer over fewer bigger deer?


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## Freer Hunter 72 (Jan 11, 2009)

Whitebassfisher said:


> That is a shame.
> X pounds of deer per Y number of acres. I wonder why the ranch owner wants those X pounds in a bunch of little deer over fewer bigger deer?


It is a major shame and a constant source of frustration amongst those of us on the ranch. It's a catch-22. If we allow things to continue it will only get worse. The population as a whole becomes smaller and further "genetically inferior." If we decide to covertly bring the numbers back in line we constantly run the risk of detection by the land owner and subsquent expolsion from the lease. I'm at a loss. What would you do?


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Best bet is to see if the landowner would like to hear recommendations from the regional TPWD biologist.

I would not shoot them against the landowner's wishes as I think there is some indication that the Game Warden might not like that, even if it is within the county limits.


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## Freer Hunter 72 (Jan 11, 2009)

Charles - we went the route of the biologist several years past...It completely fell on deaf ears. Let me tell you a short story to give you some idea of what I'm dealing with. One evening several of us were at the ranch house about to enjoy a steak dinner. Our land owner was there to enjoy the meal as well. At some point during dinner one of our guest made a comment to the rancher, something to the effect of "You sure do have an abundance of does on this place." To which the rancher replied, "I have one hundred and sixty-four does." At this point you could have heard a cricket fart. Naturally this raised a few eyebrows around the room. It only took a moment for the guest to ask, "How do you know you have exactly 164 does?" To which he responded, "I drove around and counted them." He was absolutely dead serious. He drove around a 4700 acre, heavily brushed, South Texas ranch and "COUNTED" the does.......I swear to God Almighty if you stuck a flashlight in his ear the light would come out his eyes, catch my drift? 

Unfortunately I have resolved myself to he fact that our plight is hopeless.


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Unfortunately the hunting will only get worse as you take bucks and they are replaced with does, unless you are well below the carrying capacity of the ranch.

Best of luck to you.


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