This November will be 10 years I have owned my land.

TP&W had Fannin county only allowed to take one whitetail doe the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. In 2020 they increased that to two does, and gave us two weeks. North Fannin County is Post Oak Savanah, south Fannin County (where I am) is Black Land Prairie. North Fannin County holds more deer. And I know this because a friend of mine lived on property up there for 7 years. He had way higher numbers in his deer herd than I do. So, based on what I have always seen, I have never harvested a whitetail on my land. And as of today, that is still my policy. The highest number I have seen in a herd has been 8. Most of the time I see 2 to 4 deer on my land. I legally can take two does, but I am still choosing to let all of them pass by. But I kill every coyote and hog I see.

I think a major problem in my area is poaching.

Leopolds teachings from so long ago certainly do hold true for the most part. Things are different now and so its unlikely he would of been "right on".
Every month in TWA magazine theres an article with a Leopold quote. They apply it to today and expand on it. Havent seen one yet that was way off.

he is a national treasure

My friend, Doug Duren, who is a contributor with MeatEater and also runs SharingTheLand.com, ended up putting together that short doc on Aldo. Savage Arms produced it, and I think it's a great video, worth watching.


Here's the player link:




Doug and I discussed Aldo's work and much more on a podcast we did together, if y'all are interested...

im sure doug is a nice guy but I completely disagree with his CWD thoughts. Im a land owner that has CWD and haven’t seen any populational effects, nor has anyone that hasnt gone scorched earth

I personally don't have any experience with CWD, so I can not speak to it. Would love to hear more about your perception and experience. Always wanting to learn more and hear other opinions and thoughts.

5 word posts..... I gotta learn to do that.

But we won't consider you verbose if you employ capitalization at the beginning of a sentence and a period at the end.

this is not directed at doug in any way. Just observational

On every forum, people will tell you that they have found numbers of deer killed by CWD. Research how to test for CWD and what the time restraints and sampling conditions required are. Then use your general outdoor knowledge of how you would have to find these dead deer, sample them and then submit these tests in appropriate amount of time. Probably is very slim

but this for another thread, As AL would of look at it as most likely natural causes.

You are such a noticer. It was a test, you passed…..

Very Machiavellian...to quote a man that drove me insane.

. . . .or vast amounts of Coastal Bermuda. Change that field to Alfalfa

Bermuda - pasture death for wildlife

especially for those that browse

State owned and Federal are under to total different doctrine's. State owed land falls under state constitutional requirements to provide revenue to the state or state enity like school leases. AL would focus on Federal as its a true public use doctrine where as State isnt, its a revenue generator.

Regardless, my point is that it's common to manage private property for money rather than conservation. When the two coincide, Aldo's vision works great. Unfortunately, human nature is what it is. If the bottom ever dropped out of the whitetail market, I think it would potentially reverse the decades of progress we've made in Texas.

I honestly believe that a successful ”game ranch” with paid employees to manage and guide is little more than a means to purchase a recreational hunting property as a write-off. The only ones making money off conservation are biologists and etc. and they don't make much.

So...when can I expect my load of sika at the ranch?

FYI- Yesterday on Facebook Dr Deer (Kroll) reported a case of CWD on the Kerr WMA. For those who may be interested.