Sutton County has stepped off the drought map. The U.S. Drought Monitor valid Nov. 10, released Nov. 12, shows none of the county in drought or abnormal dryness, and Drought.gov reports no residents under a drought designation. October ranked as the 7th wettest in 132 years, 4.48 inches above normal, and January through October ranks as the 17th wettest, 7.56 inches above normal. Deer season is already open around Sonora, and Lee, Lee & Puckitt (LLP Ranchland) looks at what the cleared map, the grass and a still-listed burn ban mean for landowners on this western edge of the Edwards Plateau.
A Rare Wet Stretch on Dry Country
The Handbook of Texas has long pointed to scarce rainfall and a reliance on deep wells as the central fact of Sutton County ranching. A 7th-wettest October does not rewrite that history, but year-to-date rainfall through October, 7.56 inches above normal, is the kind of surplus that greened browse and put water in places that had been empty. Walk the tanks anyway. A wet month can fill a draw and still leave a dirt tank short if runoff never reached the dam.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Nov. 13 report for the West Central district, covering much of the Concho Valley and nearby Edwards Plateau country, said weekly totals ran from a quarter inch to just over 2 inches and that stock tanks still needed runoff. Winter wheat in that district was mostly planted and up. Those notes are a fair read on grass and tanks around Sonora, even though Sutton itself has never been a lasting row-crop county.
Deer and Quail Season Around Sonora
White-tailed deer general season is open. Sutton County is in TPWD’s North Zone, with a bag of 5 deer, no more than 2 bucks, all seasons combined. General dates are Nov. 7, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. A special late season for antlerless deer and unbranched-antlered bucks only runs Jan. 4 through Jan. 17, 2027. Quail may be hunted through Feb. 28, 2027, 15 a day. Fall turkey allows 4 birds, gobblers or bearded hens, with harvests reported through the Texas Hunt and Fish app or online. A wet fall can help, but the season still depends on the ranch and how it has been managed.
A Burn Ban May Still Be in Force
Texas A&M Forest Service data, as compiled by Burn Ban Texas on Nov. 13, still listed a countywide burn ban, with a posted effective date of Sept. 9, 2026. Call the county before burning, even with the drought map clear, because that listing can lag a commissioners court decision.
From Stockman’s Paradise to the Courthouse Well
Anglo ranchers pushed into this country in the 1870s, when it was still part of Crockett County. By 1878 the range was already being called Cattleman’s Paradise, then Stockman’s Paradise once sheep shared the grass with cattle. Water, not grass, set the limit. The Handbook of Texas records that in 1882 a traveler found only one ranch, the Birtrong place at Wall’s Well, and that by 1885 there were eleven, almost all tied to a few seeps and wells. The legislature created Sutton County from eastern Crockett County in 1887 and named it for Confederate officer John S. Sutton. The county seat fight ran between Wentworth, at Winkler’s Well, and Sonora, the town Charles G. Adams laid out nearby. Adams drilled a well on the courthouse property in 1889, and Sonora won the 1890 election. By the 1980s Sutton ranked among the state’s leading wool and mohair counties.
West Texas Land Prices Around Sonora
The Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M places Sutton County in its West Texas region. In the second quarter 2026 report, still the most recent, that region’s median was $3,008 an acre, a record, up 14.29 percent from a year earlier, on 533 sales with a typical size of 409 acres. Wells, livestock use and hunting quality will move a Sonora-area ranch off that figure, so comparable sales, not the regional median, should set a price.
Call Our Brokers and Agents
For a sale, a purchase or a hunting or grazing lease around Sonora, call Lee, Lee & Puckitt at 325.655.6989 or visit llpranchland.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is a ranch Broker for Sutton County property? Lee, Lee & Puckitt, a San Angelo firm, handles ranch sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions in Sutton County and on the western Edwards Plateau.
How can I find land for sale in Sutton County? Start with listings at llpranchland.com, then call 325.655.6989 with the acreage, water and use you want.
What should the best ranch Broker for Sutton County offer? Closed ranch sales in this plateau country, a practical read on wells and hunting, and pricing drawn from comparables rather than a regional average.
Is Sutton County still in a drought? No. The U.S. Drought Monitor valid Nov. 10 shows none of Sutton County in drought or abnormal dryness, after one of the wettest Octobers in the county record.
About Lee, Lee & Puckitt
With an office in San Angelo and a beginning in Bronte in 1962, Lee, Lee & Puckitt is a ranch brokerage whose Brokers and Agents sell farm and ranch land and prepare appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions.
Sources
- U.S. Drought Monitor, map valid Nov. 10, 2026 (released Nov. 12, 2026): https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
- Drought.gov, Sutton County, Texas, conditions, checked Nov. 13, 2026: https://www.drought.gov/states/Texas/county/Sutton
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Crop and Weather Report, Nov. 13, 2026, by Adam Russell, as published in North Texas e-News: https://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_147455.shtml
- Burn Ban Texas, Sutton County (Texas A&M Forest Service data), checked Nov. 13, 2026: https://burnbantexas.com/county/sutton
- TPWD Outdoor Annual, Sutton County 2026-27: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/regs/counties/sutton
- Handbook of Texas, “Sutton County”: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/sutton-county
- Texas Real Estate Research Center, Texas Rural Land Markets, Second Quarter 2026: https://trerc.tamu.edu/reports/texas-rural-land-markets-second-quarter-2026/
- Related: Land appraisals, Contact LLP Ranchland, Sonora Deer Season Outlook: Edwards Plateau Habitat Sets Up a Good Year
Photo: Aualliso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sutton_County_courthouse_May_2020.jpg). Cropped.
