Radman,
It's definitely not high fence. A couple of the guys on the lease have been on it for over 20 years. We were looking at some old pictures this weekend and the bucks have changed drastically the last couple of years. We've been feeding corn, grain and protein year round for the last three years and will only take 8 points or better. That has had a dramatic effect on the deer and the turkey.
Unfortunately, the neighboring leases aren't showing this restraint and have been shooting anything. I've watched through my binoculars while one of them picked up a yearling by the legs and tossed it onto his four wheeler. Made me want to try out some extreme distance ranging with my .308. I'm not familiar with the specifics, but that lease apparently has some type of state sanctioned culling license that allows them to take a ton of deer. We've seen a reduction in the number of does over the last couple of years.
Update from the week. It was a great week in the hill country, although neither of the boys was able to take a 8 point. My oldest son saw a good 8, but buck fever set in and he said the crosshairs were bouncing around everywhere. He did the right thing and passed on the deer since he didn't have a clean shot. I was trying to put him on a deer the remainder of the week that I'd seen several times with a messed up antler on one side. Unfortunately, one of the other paying hunters hadn't got his first buck this year so we stepped aside to let him sit in the "blue stand". First morning he spotted the deer under the feeder and took him. Looks like the deer probably hurt one side while still in velvet.
We'll probably head back up in a couple of weeks and give it another try to get the boys their bucks.
One thing that I've found very interesting on this lease is that bucks taken on the north end of the lease have much darker horns than those on the south. Not sure why that is. Anyone have any thoughts?
Bear round wheel compound, laminated wood riser, 65#, 30" draw, 8-7/8" brace height, Browning sight, Cobra Patriot rest, Cobra stabilizer, TruFire ball bearing release, 2413's with 125gr muzzys