Use of bait now legal in Alabama

But you have to pay $16 a year for the permit ($51 for out of state hunters). Texas could really reduce those property taxes if they decided to charge for baiting as well.

Move along

They already get 80 billion dollars in taxes on deer corn

Yeah, and that's just from me!

Do yall have any idea how many Moon Pies and RC colas you can get for $16?

Deer corn isn't taxed in Tx.

---> Read this

Didn't know this. Always figured my local feed store factored in tax with the price. Good to know!

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...etting-hunters-take-deer-through-baiting

I just texted a buddy of mine that hunts his family place in Alabama. He was caught twice baiting and lost his hunting license in Texas as well last year. It also cost him 3K. It’s fun to give him a hard time. He does get his license back next year. He’s killed some nice ones over there too.

the current state of deer hunting in texas is ridiculous

Me either, never paid attention, just assumed! Now I can afford to buy more!

That's a broad statement. Please elaborate. Feel free to use capitalization and periods, when the time feels right.

Exactly. Land prices sky rocketing causing less land available to lease due to sales to absentee wealthy landowners. Nothing wrong with that but that is how it's done here. What does feeding corn have to do with it? There are more deer than ever here btw.

Guys I know from MS didn't exactly follow the baiting rules anyway. Opening days sounds insane there compared to anywhere in TX. I worked in AL one week and said WTF to their deer hunting practices years ago.

Go on.........

That's why I hunted Tennessee. My boss is in a club and you had to be careful another member didn't secretly dump corn and the GW caught you hunting over it.

We don't pay taxes on deer corn.

When I lived next door in Mississippi as a kid, I always thought it was funny how hunters refused to see their food plots as being bait.

If you plant, place, or position a food source to attract deer for harvest, it's bait.

Must be a drive by poster....

No, not a drive by. Just didn't feel the need in going on for pages about whether or not shooting a deer under a corn sprinkler with cameras all over it is really "hunting" or not.

Prefer running them with dogs.....

there's a better chance of tpwd outlawing baiting deer before they would consider bringing that back. Can you imagine the whining that that would bring on? lol

There was a helluva lotta whining when they outlawed it too. 'Had a customer in San Augustine that was all kinds of pissed off. Deep East Texas is a whole 'nother country, no matter what others on here say.

You do know know the beginning of sentences are supposed to be capitalized, right?

If I could run them with dogs that might make deer hunting fun again. I have never done it. I only kill a deer if it comes by the house while I’m cooking.

I’m not a fan of sitting in a blind watching a feeder. That’s no fun for me unless I have a kid sitting with me so I can watch him get fired up about killing one. Deer hunting has turned into a game I don’t like to play anymore. I still like to go and have more fun than anyone being the camp cook, but whitetail hunting isn’t what it used to be. It’s so easy now they even let girls do it. That was the only good thing about tent camping, no one brought their wife more than once, unless they were the kind of chic you really wanted to hang out with. I’ve done the guiding for nice lodges with great food and had a hell of a time putting people on nice deer, but I don’t care if I ever kill another whitetail. I still like to eat them though.

Mule deer hunting is another story.

I love hunting over corn, love it

No need for more taxes, like ever

I was referring to the amount of whining that would be had under the circumstances that hunting with dogs was allowed again. If that were to happen, I would actually deer hunt all season long. You will not hear anyone that has ever done it bash it. But, that's not reality. I'll just have to shoot the first four legal deer I see opening weekend and wait on duck season.....

Exactly....and if ya don’t want to hunt over bait then don’t....

I watch that Northwoods law sometimes and see those guys get treated like hardened criminals and getting their doors kicked in just for baiting deer.
They would rather see those deer die off due to starvation during their harsh winters than to a guy with a gun that will utilize the resource.
That's why I live in Texas, and why so many people want to live here.

When I first started deer hunting as a kid in Mississippi, the typical deer hunting day included a deer drive in the morning with hounds and still hunting after lunch. You might have separate groups of hounds chasing deer across your lease on the same day, which seemed to keep deer moving since the dogs were on the track of a specific deer. One of the best places to be was being a driver because you would often see deer that had circled back from the one the hounds were chasing. And as for the number of deer that were taken on a given day, I suspect it was actually lower than had baiting been allowed since the focus was on a single deer. No question a lot of deer can be taken by a lot of hunters when they're all watching food plots or feeders. You'll never see deer hounds again in Texas now that the focus has switched much more heavily to antlers over meat. Hunters will never get it out of their head that dogs are chasing off their trophy, even though the woods are full of coyotes that are far better at chasing and killing deer than any hound. In fact, I've never seen a hound even bite a downed deer, as those of you who have used them to tracked a wounded deer know for yourselves. They just sit and bark at it until you arrive.

With all the private land in Texas I can't see hunting with dogs ever being practical, unless it's on public land, which there isn't much.

That’s my belief too

Always some politician looking for another reason to steal or take away something

Never give an inch, ever

Baiting allows for all game and none-game species to feed when feed is scarce. Especially during a drought. Can you imagine how many millions of animals have survived because of Texas hunters? Corn, protein, soybeans and many other types of feed we put in our feeders. Plus we (Texas hunters) have installed thousands of water tanks across this state that other wise wouldn't be there. IMO we do more for the wildlife than any other state in the country and possibly the world. Yes we shoot a deer or 5, but that is our benefit for taking care of the wildlife even if it isn't our purpose.

Yup...and look ate the game populations now vs. 20, 40, 60, 100 years ago.....

Good posts.

IMO, the only relevant consideration on hunting methods should be impact on the wildlife population. Notions of fair chase are incredibly individual and often manufactured poppycock made up to make someone feel morally superior to people who are doing things he does not understand.

Food plots and water make for a different type of hunting, but clearly benefit the wildlife population.

100% agree there. Even though us as leasors just feed some corn, our landowner drilled a well in 2010 and put a solar pump that feeds a tank that is same level year round. In 2012 to 2013, we went from about 8 watering holes to one which was the newly drilled well that feeds the tank. That thing probably kept 100s of critters alive as it was the only water for miles. I should have put a game cam on it. I would see deer during the day getting a drink there. We now have 9 watering holes on 1000 acres with a 2 acre lake 20 feet deep. Guess that is why 40 years ago no deer lived there. It's so green now we can't buy a deer on camera. Don't expect any until Sept at this point. Time to mow!

Mmmmmm, Moon Pies and RC Colas...

Agreed. I've spent way more than I care to admit on creating food sources/plots for wildlife between seed/fertilizer/tractor/implements/fuel/feeders/corn/water/etc. Many of us who hunt have a much greater positive impact on wildlife than those who don't. Either by feeding the local wildlife or reducing the population of animals (hogs/coyotes) that threaten the local wildlife.

I have several acquaintances and a family member who are anti-hunting. Easy argument to win when I start talking about how much of an effort I make to ensure the local wildlife population thrives... then ask what have they done

One of the main reasons for the states large deer population was the eradication of the screw worm.

Now this gentleman can do something besides fish.

Most biologists will tell you feeders and food plots do little to increase the deer carrying capacity of a given area. At best, they can improve the overall health of the deer that live and stay there because of the availability of habitat and browse. It's why prescribed burning and other actions taken to improve the habitat is your best move if you really want to increase deer numbers. From a hunting perspective, what feeders and food plots probably do best is create a food attraction that helps us more easily see deer that live in the area.

As for greater deer numbers, it's just my opinion but I suspect we're forgetting how it wasn't that long ago when deer numbers were very low, and in some cases, totally absent from the landscape. I can remember my grandfather who lived in East Texas near Tyler telling me how he and friends had to go to the Big Thicket area for the chance to kill a deer. That's because just like wild turkeys, white tails had been "hunted out" in most of East Texas. There are guys alive today who can tell you when they remember the first restocking efforts in East Texas. Yes, we humans so often consider only the short term when coming to our conclusions when taking a long-term view would yield a different perspective. When someone says we have a lot of deer, they could be overlooking the time when the area had very few of them.