Texas ecoregion · 26 counties

Post Oak Savannah wildlife management

Rolling post oak woodlands and native prairie remnants between the Blacklands and the Pineywoods.

Counties
26 of 254
Flagship species
White-tailed deer and bobwhite quail
Appraisal regions
4 · 12.5–16.7 ac
Districts publishing a figure
10 of 26

The Post Oak Savannah on the ground

The Post Oak Savannah rolls between the Blackland Prairies and the Pineywoods — a mosaic of post oak and blackjack oak woodlands, improved pastures, and sandy-loam soils. Much of this region was converted to bermudagrass pasture, so wildlife management here often centers on restoring native plant communities and managing the yaupon understory that shades out forage.

The Post Oak Savannah carries strong and growing deer populations, and its patchwork of woods and pasture makes it one of the most practical regions in Texas to run a credible wildlife management program on 20–100 acres. Typical target species for plans in this region include white-tailed deer, Rio Grande turkey, bobwhite quail, mourning dove, and grassland songbirds.

What limits wildlife here

A wildlife management plan is most convincing when it takes on the problems that actually constrain wildlife in its region rather than listing generic good deeds. In the Post Oak Savannah, those are yaupon and eastern redcedar encroachment, bermudagrass monocultures with little wildlife value, and habitat fragmentation from subdivision — and each one is a practice waiting to be written down. A plan that names a real local problem, commits to work at regional intensity, and documents it is the plan that gets approved and stays approved.

Start with three

You need at least three of the seven qualifying practices each year under Texas Tax Code §23.51(7). For most Post Oak Savannah landowners the natural opening three are habitat control, supplemental water and census counts: habitat control is where the real management happens, water is the quickest to install and the easiest to photograph, and a census generates dated evidence every single year. You can change which three you run as the land changes — the statute asks for three practices performed and documented, not three particular practices forever.

The seven practices, Post Oak Savannah-style

Every Texas plan draws from the same seven practices. What changes by region is what each one looks like — and a plan that describes the wrong version for its ecoregion is the fastest way to draw questions from a chief appraiser. Here is what each practice means in the Post Oak Savannah:

1

Habitat control

Mechanical yaupon and cedar control, converting bermudagrass paddocks back to native bunchgrasses, and prescribed burns to maintain the savannah structure.

2

Erosion control

Gully shaping and re-seeding on sandy soils, filter strips of native grass along drainages, and pond-dam repair with erosion-control seeding.

3

Predator control

Feral hog trapping, coyote and bobcat management balanced for deer fawn survival, and fire ant control around quail nesting areas.

4

Supplemental water

Adding wildlife ramps and shallow edges to stock tanks, building small wetland cells below pond spillways, and installing guzzlers in pasture corners.

5

Supplemental food

Cool-season food plots of oats, wheat and clover, strip-disking to encourage native forbs like croton and ragweed, and protecting oak mottes for acorn production.

6

Providing shelter

Half-cutting cedars for instant quail covey headquarters, leaving brush piles after clearing, and maintaining native grass nesting cover at least 12 inches tall.

7

Census counts

Spotlight deer counts on ranch roads, fall covey call counts for quail, trail camera surveys, and dove cooing counts.

The acreage rule across the Post Oak Savannah

The ecoregion decides your species and practices. It does not decide your acreage — that comes from a second, legal map: the twelve wildlife appraisal regions of 34 TAC §9.2002. The 26 counties of the Post Oak Savannah fall into 4 of them, so two counties that share every word of their practice standards can carry different minimums:

TPWD wildlife appraisal regionAcreage bandPost Oak Savannah counties
Post Oak Savannah 12.5–16.7 acres 92–94% 22 — Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell, DeWitt, Fayette, and 16 more
Gulf Prairies and Marshes (Upper Coast) 12.5–16.7 acres 92–94% 2 — Austin, Waller
Blackland Prairie 12.5–16.7 acres 92–94% 1 — Milam
Pineywoods 12.5–16.7 acres 92–94% 1 — Anderson

None of it applies unless the tract was reduced in size since January 1 of the preceding year. If it was, the minimum is 12.5–16.7 acres, and 10 of the 26 districts here have published the exact figure they adopted. See the county-by-county table →

Every Post Oak Savannah county

26 counties, each with its appraisal district, filing calendar, and local acreage answer:

AndersonAustinBastropBrazosBurlesonCaldwellDeWittFayetteFranklinFreestoneGonzalesGrimesGuadalupeHendersonHopkinsLavacaLeeLeonMadisonMilamRainsRed RiverRobertsonVan ZandtWallerWashington

Post Oak Savannah questions

Post Oak Savannah wildlife management FAQ

What are the wildlife management intensity standards for the Post Oak Savannah?
TPWD publishes Comprehensive Wildlife Management Planning Guidelines for each ecoregion, and your appraisal district measures your plan against the Post Oak Savannah edition. Intensity is the part landowners underestimate: it is not enough to name a practice, you have to do it at the scale the region expects — a stated number of brush acres, water sites, nest structures or survey nights, sustained annually. The seven worked examples above are written at that scale. The practical test is whether a chief appraiser reading your plan can tell how much of each practice you committed to, and whether your records show you did it.
Which species should a Post Oak Savannah wildlife management plan target?
Whatever you name, it has to be indigenous — Texas Tax Code §23.51(7) qualifies land used to sustain a breeding, migrating or wintering population of native wild animals, and that is the species test that decides qualification. In the Post Oak Savannah, plans are usually built around white-tailed deer, Rio Grande turkey, bobwhite quail, mourning dove, and grassland songbirds. The Post Oak Savannah carries strong and growing deer populations, and its patchwork of woods and pasture makes it one of the most practical regions in Texas to run a credible wildlife management program on 20–100 acres. Introduced species are the common trap, so confirm every species you name in the plan is native to Texas before you file — managing for exotics (alone) earns nothing toward your three practices.
What is the minimum acreage in the Post Oak Savannah?
For most tracts, none at all — an acreage test applies only where the tract was reduced in size since January 1 of the preceding year. And when it does apply, it is not the ecoregion that decides it: the 26 Post Oak Savannah counties fall into 4 different TPWD wildlife appraisal regions, whose bands run 12.5–16.7 acres. 10 of the 26 districts here have published the figure they adopted; the rest have not, and their county falls back to its band. See the figure for every county.
Which counties are in the Post Oak Savannah?
26 of Texas's 254: Anderson, Austin, Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell, DeWitt, Fayette, Franklin, Freestone, Gonzales, Grimes, Guadalupe, Henderson, Hopkins, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Madison, Milam, Rains, Red River, Robertson, Van Zandt, Waller, Washington. Each has its own guide covering the appraisal district, the filing calendar, and the acreage rule as it applies there. Texas ecoregions do not follow county lines, so a county on a boundary may read as Post Oak Savannah on one side and something else on the other — where a district's own guidance points elsewhere, follow the district.
Which three practices should a Post Oak Savannah plan start with?
Habitat control, supplemental water, and census counts is the combination that works almost everywhere, and it works here: habitat control is where the real management happens, water is the easiest to install and photograph, and a census produces dated evidence every year without fail. In the Post Oak Savannah that means mechanical yaupon and cedar control, converting bermudagrass paddocks back to native bunchgrasses, and prescribed burns to maintain the savannah structure. You need three of the seven each year, and you may change which three as the land changes — the requirement is three practices performed and documented, not three particular practices forever.

Statewide answers are in the full FAQ; the eligibility page covers who qualifies.

A Post Oak Savannah plan, in about fifteen minutes.

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