I agree.  South of San Angelo where we hunt fawn survival was about nil, and no real rain since October

William,

I sure hope you got that much rain, but after checking Hydromet, it showed 1/4 inch or so east of Sonora and about 1/2" east of Eldorado over the last week.  Even Intellicast didn't show much rain south of San Angelo.

Paul,

I've hunted near Blackwell before, and the ruts I've seen are right around Thanksgiving.  In my experience in WTX how bucks behave during the rut will depend on buck-doe ratios as well as rainfall.  Good buck-doe ratios, regardless of where you are, will help with how the bucks will behave during rattling.  That is, the lower the number of does to bucks the bucks will respond much better to rattling and will have a greater tendency to expose themselves.  Rainfall is kind of an odd duck, but it definately has an affect, because lack of rainfall/food sometimes throws the does off, and they can be receptive early or late.  Where we hunt south of San Angelo the rut is usually right after Thanksgiving, and last couple of years due to low rainfall some does were in the first week of the season. 

Hunting pressure is often the reason I've heard for going hunting early in the season.  It is true that relatively unpressured bucks may be more predictable, but the big boys usually aren't (again my opinion).  That said, the biggest mature buck I've ever taken was during the first week...and the other was rattled-in during the rut in early December.  In the end, there's no replacement for being in the right place at the right time.

Because there is always a degree of rut unpredictability (it can come late too) I'd go prepared to rattle, grunt, stalk, watch, whatever.  Once I got there I'd try to get to a place where I can watch the most activity: usually food sources and/or fields. and see what the deer are doing.  Then, adjust how and where I hunt based on their behavior. 

I've hunted around both those area before (Blackwell and north of Robert Lee)...you ought to have a lot of fun out there.  There are also some pretty decent bucks in that neck of the woods when food is plentiful.  From what I've seen up there in normal years William's date is about right. 

You may already have seen this, but here's something from TPWD that will give you a feel for rut times in that general area.  You may already know this too, but a lot of things affect the timing of the rut: rainfall, availability of food, weather, and some even think moon phases, so there easily could be a two week swing or more on when the rut starts and peaks.  For example, the last couple of years where we've hunted around Eldorado (about 80 miles south of you) the rut has been strung out because of lack of water and food...with no real peak.  Bucks were actually running does a full 4 weeks before the normal peak!  I'd also think about making contact with the TWPD wildlife biologist that handles the specific area you're hunting as well as the local game warden. 

Hope this helps.

Those kind of 'cattle' down south need a FENCE...and a high one at that!

Great deer and a boatload of WORK!