Its a matter of principal, like proving that you can walk down a road with an AR15 strapped to your chest or that you can walk into the capital with a 13" Bowie on your hip, wait, those didnt turn out as planned either, never mind.

I'll walk down the rd with an AR15 strapped to my chest...someone will buy me lunch and tell me about "the old days"

My bad... I'll try to do better next time. OK? After midnight and after a couple of cocktails I get rather animated. You should see my arms flailing as I right this, Rifleman.

Im sure lots of folks here have heard it before but i still think ar rules and bag limits suck. If its working for you then im happy for you but if it aint working for you like it aint working for my area then join the club. We have had AR for 6yrs now and have fewer deer period. Fewer does and fewer bucks every year and with a 4 deer bag limit i dont expect it to get better till they lower the limit and bring the 2 buck limit down to 1 buck and maybe 1 doe.

Tpwd will change the ar rule. You might try to contact your local biologist and see if you can't hold a meeting with him and the hunters in the country. I bet y'all could get it changed or he would go into great detail how y'all could get them dropped I'm 5 years or less with proper management skills.

^^^ Huh, what? Just how will this take place for one county and not the others?

TPWD is supposed to be going away from political boundaries and toward biological divisions, according to their peer review, long range plans, and direct correspondence/communications with them.

Big Game/Whitetail divisions know there's issues but right now don't have the funding to fix them.

They seem to have switched over to WMUs...which is cool with similar deer densities, browse, etc..but in our area they're tossing HF places into those WMUs.

TPWD doesnt need money to lower the bag limit.It would be so easy to fix, 1 buck 13in or bigger or 1 spike [not both] and 1 doe. They could change that just as easy as i just wrote this. They wont but could!

Ironically if you are told only to shoot 8pts from the landowner and you shoot a 12pter, your in big trouble

He is a cheap asre hill country german. He would sale it and whittle one out of old cedar corner posts

Not really. Deer belong to the State, as we all know.

Plus, ARs work everywhere except the few places where the people don't follow the rules anyway.

Places that rhyme with "Yeast Lexus".

And who exactly is "The State"? Is it the government of the state or the actual dirt and water that make it up. Call me crazy but "The State" means the people of the state to me.

It means the gov if you ask me...I've never received a check in the mail for poached deer.

You are correct and I guess I should revise my statement to read to me the State SHOULD mean the people of the state.

Nor did I recall them actually coming out and restocking deer after a cpl got shot....despite charging a restocking fee in the fine to the guys.

Isn't it funny how we are all made to be puppets by the ones we put in charge and then we become complacent with the BS that goes on at the government level. We had a man hired for governor here in Texas that decided he wanted to run for President so he starts his run. Traveling all over the country making speeches and fundraising. All the while the Texans are still paying him to be governor. It's no wonder our Country is going to it's knees. Anyway, not sure where that came from... carry on

Ironically we pay him to be a figure head and represent TX....not to actually govern. We pay the Lt. Gov. to govern the state of TX. The Lt Gov has all the power not the Gov.

I think we are on about year four or so in Jack county I can remember but either way we got deer all over more bucks over yearling age but more people are in the woods longer cause they can't shoot the first deer that walks out so for me I would rather have less people in the woods.

If it were up to my neighbor he'd shoot every deer that tresspassed on his land. He'll even put up warning signs first.

The argument saying antler restrictions won't work because poachers will always shoot what they want regardless of the law is logically similar to the argument we make against assault rifle bans (bad guys will always find a way to get guns). However, the 2nd Amendment is in the Constitution and ownership of wildlife is not--so the "landowner" infringement argument is fundamentally flawed. People complain about antler restrictions infringing on "landowner" rights, but I think it's BS for several reasons.

First, unless you are a first-time hunter you shouldn't be worried about shooting bucks less than 13" wide. Except for some genetic exceptions, if you are killing every buck you see under 13" you are either a meat hunter (nothing wrong with that) or not doing your job as a steward for the sport of deer hunting. Most bucks under 13" wide are young bucks and antler restrictions help them grow to their full potential--which benefits all hunters and allows them to harvest larger, more mature bucks. If you are a meat hunter--shoot a spike, doe, or get on the MLD program--which excepts you from many of these restrictions, gives you a longer season, and can allow you to harvest more deer than you could with a regular license.

Second, I have never hunted on a place that did not have some sort of self-imposed antler restriction by the landowner (or lease members) to benefit everyone that hunted on the property and improve the management of the herd (see above). Hate all you want and call me a snob, but I have been a trophy hunter all my life and I thank my dad for raising me that way. There is nothing more fun and addicting than managing a deer herd to help deer reach their full potential. It's like what Martha Stewart gets out of gardening--except x 1000. Also, I'm from East Texas and know that poaching is a serious problem (I've seen it first hand and caught several of them). But talking to neighbors and hunters that hunt public land, the restrictions have resulted in people bringing in more mature (and larger) bucks to the skinning shed.

Third, you do NOT own the deer. High fence or not, the animals are the property of the state. Lucky for us, TPWD is probably the most efficient branch of state government and the only one whose regulations actually make sense and balance between benefiting wildlife and hunters. Thank God this is Texas and hunters have a strong lobby. God willing, if we all do our jobs we can minimize the passage of any unfair or ineffective hunting regulations--but I do not think the current antler restrictions are anything near unreasonable and serve a great purpose.

Fourth, for the people raising hell about antler restrictions being an unprecedented infringement telling landowners what they can and cannot harvest--bag limits have been around for quite a while and we've gotten used to them.

Like I said, if you have a problem with the antler restrictions, check out the MLD program. It benefits everyone involved and through good management practices, and opens the door to more harvest options. Remember, the deer were never ours to begin with and hunting is a privilege--not a right (no matter how much I wish it were).

Lol damn aggie you made me forget which side im on.. good post

boom

You can always count on an Aggie to screw something up.