Why do all the trophy hunters use the same line, I only shoot mature deer and that the AR rules will bring the age structure back to what it should be. Taking spikes wich 90% are year and a half old deer acompplish this? And wich has been stated many times here any deer that does not achieve the 13in. spread no matter how old is allowed to breed and the true potential bucks are shot ussually on there second year. How does this in any way sound right. Of course i am biased, im a meat hunter also and dont care about the horns.

What ever happened to the 5 stages of a hunter, Shooter, Limiting out, Trophy, Method, and Sportsman? As grown adults, it seems many on here are stuck in the Shooter and Limiting out phase. Don't you want something more, something better? Maybe learn a little about deer behavior and nature in general rather than blast the first young buck that walks by and be back at camp before anyone else? Enjoy the outdoors, think about life, settle down from the hustle and bustle of the everyday world? I support TPWD because at least they are doing something and being proactive. I know one thing for sure, I'm tired of the "if it's brown, it's down" mentality that a lot of people have. If you're hungry, shoot a doe. If you're mad at them, shoot a doe. Am I supposed to be impressed by your young four point hanging from the skinning rack? "Look at me, I killed a buck."...pounding your chest like Tarzan. "I paid $1,000 for this lease, by God, I am going to kill my two bucks." Come on people, EXPECT something more, EXPECT something better.

Let's keep fighting the good fight fellow AR opposers!

It's all about expecting more? Deer hunting is losing it's tradition, it's heritage, what it started out as and is becoming nothing more than a business, more about compitition and more about bragging rights. Sad........

Tradition is getting the kids out to the camp fire and blind.. not what they kill or even if they kill.

So if the tradtion is going away its the parents fault for not getting them off the playstation video games

I was talking about the tradition of hunting at it's purest form, for the table but I agree with you on getting the kids out in the woods. My son's first and only deer was our lease's first 10 pointer ever taken. It was in 2001. The spread was 11 inches. Taxidermist aged it at 3 1/2. That was the most excited I've EVER seen my son. I was just as excited, maybe even more!

Yep i want something more all right, more venison! I would love to go shoot does all day but thanks to TPWD or county is loosing so many does i hardly see any anymore. I like hunting for the joy of being out there as much as anybody but second is getting meat for me and my family not worrying about how big his horns are. My daughter shot her first deer 4 years ago before ar went into effect and hasnt killed any since cause she cant get a big deer thats legal but cant kill a 4,6pt thats not 13wide. The true tradition was as curly says be in the field getting food for the table and being with the family, not worrying about how many points or how wide the deers rack is.

Thats awsome.. Once they get the taste of the shakes.. its forever!!

Actually true tradition was ranchers and farmers shooting them on sight Becareful what you ask for.

I encourage everyone that hates AR's to push leasees and landowners to get into the MLD program...

I dont think thats the tradition of hunting, but your probably right on shooting them on site.

Not the tradition I meant....I bet sure as hell wasn't about trying to decide whether or not a buck has a 13" spread or not before pulling the trigger.

LMAO .. MLD that way you can kill them all if you want

jgiles, me and you and curly need to get together and have a beer someday!

True that! Besides, I don't want to kill them all.....just what I can eat.

Whith all due respect, Don't encourage this !!!

Heck in my first phone (hour long) coversation with him, Mitch Lockwood - TPWD WTD director suggested that I do MLD.

My response:

"Why the H E L L should I have to sign onto MLD or any other Govmnt "program" to avoid the pitfalls of a bad regulation !!!"

Phish-TX

I'm game

Well we will have to agree to disagree..

MLD gives the land owner WAY more control of the animals on the property then your hunting license ever will. FYI AR's don't apply.

MLD was created and push by landowners to gain more control of their wildlife.. MLD is not a blanket program like AR's.

Prior to AR landowners/lease mgrs/etc. had more control over what was harvested too.

FYI MLD was created by the high-fence lobby who couldn't legally manage/harvest numbers that were held captive on the place...Without bringing in more and more hunters with tags.

So they go came up with an exception to the regulations, and got it passed by TPWD. (before AR went to spreading, statewide)

All because they put up a high fence and couldn't control what they created in the captive deer herd.

Phish-X

Let's include PHishTX too!

Easy... with the HF.. Becuase thats not entirely true.. Majority of MLD ranches are low fence.. and they all had or currently having population problems, due to Hunting Licenses only giving you 5 tags and that depends the county.

There is virtually no differance in a well managed large low fence ranch as there is with a large HF ranch. Both strive for very similar deer numbers based off habitat. The differance is mainly ratio.

I'm not a huge TPWD guy, but you have to understand TPWD is at the mercy of large land owners and the general public for the most part. Its a give take relationship.

Example- They would of never got public support for AR's with out the spike tag. Nor would they get the support of large ranches in AR's counties with out the MLD program.

[quote=tbgascorer] I support TPWD because at least they are doing something and being proactive.

Be careful...Obama is trying to do something and being proactive and look where it is getting us.

I have to admit, I have really enjoyed all the responses on this thread. Was I ever a trophy deer hunter, no, haven't been, not really into it. I did enjoy seeing deer when I go hunting whether it's a buck or doe, any age or antler structure.

I have yet to find a way to eat antlers and I do enjoy deer meat rather than paying the high prices of beef in the stores. I do cull hunt primarily, but in the AR counties, that is just about out of the question, unless you have an old 3 pt, or a buck that has at least an unbranched on one side with the other side branched or an older spike. The bucks I have seen in the past years since the AR's began in those experimental counties, were several 4, 5, 6 and 7 pointers with good mass and body weight, but will not make the 13" inside EVER. That was my biggest complaint about the regulation and still IS! To me, this is a huge flaw in the regulation, but how in the world can you get the deer hunters in Texas to be able to judge a TRUE cull buck that needs to be taken out of the herd?

I do feel where Phish, Curly and jgiles are coming from and know that when I was younger and went on my first deer hunt, it didn't matter what buck came out, it WAS your FIRST buck and it was a thrill to take it and the excitement ran throughout camp with that success. There are and will be a lot of our youth, that will have to wait and possibly wait some more before they see a legal buck that will offer them a decent shot. No, I don't have any kiddos, but I have spent plenty of time with my nephews and niece taking them hunting and fishing to know disappointment, but at least they're still at it, but their county just went under the AR's and it probably will affect them now quite a bit in Brown County, but they have always seen and have some really good bucks on their place.

I mentioned this or asked it before, if you could establish a regulation for deer hunting, what would it be and what would you allow to be taken within the county?

Oh, it would be a thrill to meet yall and yammer at this regulation since it has brought SO MUCH attention on the forum, it's one that I didn't like to begin with and still have some negative feelings toward it.

Where's the buying of beer place, I'll buy, yall discuss!

Plano/McKinney/Frisco area perhaps? Careful there kyotee1, I can get pretty thirsty!

I will probably get flamed for this, so i will put my fire suit on and drink lots of water. Here goes: Hunting starts 1st week of October and ends 2nd weekend of January. All hunter hunt the same time frame no matter what the method. 3 Doe tags 3 buck tags. No MLD. Got too many deer, open the gate. I am sure there are things i havent thought of...these are the top of my list.

Putting on safty glasses now

I agree, look into getting on the MLD program if your not a fan of the AR's, they don't apply when your land is under MLD.



Well thats the way it used to be, not quite that many tags but the premise was the same. I don't remember when it changed but back before the mid 1980's, or earlier the entire state bag limit was 1 buck 2 does (or maybe it was 2 bucks 1 doe, I forget), but all counties were the same, everyone had the same season length and bag limit.