A little bit of the kind of stuff that goes on in the Commission meetings....

In the TPWD Commission Public hearings on August 24, 2005, Mr. Larry Whigham of the Texas Organization of Wildlife Management Associations (TOWMA) made the following statement in regards to Mr. Bob Carrol’s retirement. Mr. Carrol is the TPWD district director down in LaGrange.

(Quote)"….And last and most important, I want to thank retiring Texas Parks and Wildlife district leader Bob Carrol for his fantastic support of Wildlife Management Associations, not only in our district, but all over the state.

Bob may best be remembered for his — as the daddy of the antler restriction regulation, but we saw his contributions on a much larger scale. A better friend we could not have had and we will definitely miss him. Thank you…."

What a REPULSIVE and telling statement that is. Mr. Carrol has left a legacy of policy corruption, and a weak spine, in not standing up for the hunters of Texas. He might KNOW his stuff in regards to white-tailed deer management, but he has FAILED us in the regulatory aspects of it !!! I wish him the best in his retirement.

Mr. Carrol should have stopped with a white-tailed deer harvest RECOMMENDATION for these UNSUCESSFULL co-ops, and Associations who FAILED to manage the harvest strategy own membership .....and….. not have pushed or misrepresented this IRRESPONSIBLE - HORN QUALITY regulation (along with his colleagues at TPWD) on the state's hunting population.

I hope that the person that is chosen to fill his position will have the backbone and ethical standards to stand up to the corruption/pressure placed on him/her by these UNSUCCESSFUL wildlife organizations. And leave his/her ego at the door......"daddy".....Oh brother....Stroke that ego.....

These type of statements appear to validate the concern that wildlife management policy is being set to satisfy (co-op) political agendas.

Legacy building' is taking place at the expense of Texas landowners and hunters who don't subscribe to these co-ops harvest strategies.

I am angry that TPWD (and Mr. Carrol as the "Daddy") would even consider and even promote a regulation that has a NEGATIVE EFFECT on 22% of the youth hunters, for his legacy as "DADDY of the Co-ops!

Stepping of the soap box,
Phish-TX

Okay, you may have killed this one before it got started. I am going to completely play Devil's Advocate on this one, and drag your last post on the Antler Restriction issue over to here.

No, you don't need to try and drum up support from the anti groups on this "TROPHY HUNTING" issue. They aren't going to get involved, because they oppose ALL hunting in any form. Just the same way they oppose raising livestock for meat or having pets.

I can see things from your side, because I would fight tooth and nail to oppose antler restrictions in Montague county. However I can see where some type of action has to be taken in various parts of the state.

Do I agree with TP&W on all of their programs, NO, and neither does anyone else on The Forum. Some folks want tighter regs, some want none at all. There has to be a medium somewhere that while everybody won't like it, they can live with it.

Yes, I think in some cases with some species, TP&W wants to get into the "TROPHY" business.

But who is to blame for that, we are. How many folks out there complain that they just aren't seeing the type of deer they want to shoot, yet they are unwilling to pay to go to a high fenced, managed property.

Our hunting heritage here in Texas is just beginning a trip into a battlefield that is going to change the way we, hunters, as a group, are going to be able to enjoy our sport.

You don't like it, I don't like it, probably everyone on here doesn't like the future that keeps looming in front of us, BUT IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

Our population has increased, from 1990, at 16 plus million, to about 24 or 25 million in 2004. In 14 years our population increased by 8 million people or so. These are people that come from states where private land ownership, doesn't have the same history as Texas does. They come from states with actual public land. They come from states where hunting from a blind/stand watching a feeder is completely against the law.

We all have our own reasons for supporting or opposing a set of regulations. We all lose in the end if we can't find a way of getting along and respecting each others rights to want to hunt and harvest the game, that we as INDIVIDUALS, want to harvest and consider as a personal trophy.

Phish, while I do fundamentally agree with you, and don't support the antler regs as a statewide cure, I do think that they at least deserve the trial period that the ones already in existence have had.

CHC,
I really didn't expect this one to go very far. I suspect it is more of a public service anouncement.

Thanks for the response though,
Phish

CHC either I'm still asleep or that was the best response I've ever read. We all have to find a happy medium and remember that no small part of the reward is simply being there!

Good Hunting to ALL!

AdvTX

Wake Up, you are still asleep.

Phish,

Wow! What a post.....

You make some statements that would make me think 1 of 2 things...

1) You have wildlife management credentials that I don't know about

or

2) Your opinion is better than the rest of ours (for no real good reason)

Can you enlighten us?

No professional wildlife management credentials here.
Huntalot, How about you, do you have any?

You can take my opinions as you wish. If you think it is better than yours, Thanks,

Phish

have to agree that the state is not going to make everybody happy, but we as hunters need to keep saying what we think to the tpw or they really dont know, after some of thier past laws and reg getting passed you have to wonder if these guys even hunt or just have a degree in somthing or a brother in law at the tpw dept. texas has such a wide range of lands and diff game and in quanity and qality that this really needs to be set up by area not a state wide blanket of rules and regs.