Texas Hunting Forum

What's different about Texas?

Posted By: Esh and Hattie

What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 05:56 PM

I've hunted 3 different lakes in North Texas, and 1 in East Texas, my only public hunting that I've done in Texas the last 10 years living here, so maybe what I'm asking about exists, i'm just not aware.

Growing up and college hunting, in Iowa and Kansas, the regulatory bodies for the lakes actually pump the marshes to huntable levels, manage drawdowns for vegetation growth, and in many cases plant millet and milo for waterfowl. If there is something broken, there is an explanation and and when possible a timetable to fix it (look at the KDWP website currently for example), and access points are only ever really closed because of water levels with excess rains.

Why do the lakes here have access sites closed all the time, do nothing for water management, and certainly nothing for habitat management? From my understanding Texas is about as financially stable state as they come, and there are certainly plenty of hunters to take advantage of the resource.

This is mostly a question, because like I said it may exist, it just seems like there is nothing done which is kind of disappointing.
Posted By: Navasot

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 06:00 PM

Because hunting is not the main focus/priority of large Tx lakes... they have to support the communities people and livestock water and some electricity.... also not all the lakes are owned by the state... lakes up there may not see people for 6 months other than hunters... here we got people on them be fishing or recreation almost year around
Posted By: Navasot

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 06:00 PM

and theres just a whole lot more people here
Posted By: Esh and Hattie

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 06:12 PM

I grew up in Des Moines, we hunted Red Rock (lake namer!) which is a corps lake like many here. In Kansas we hunted both corps and non lakes. What does having a lot of people here have to do with anything?

In Iowa the lake we hunted was 15k acres, homes with docks around most of it, heavy recreation and fishing lake, the upper end was wildlife preserve and public hunting. It's not quite to wild west out there anymore grin. I just don't see what having a large population of people close to a lake makes a hill of beans worth of difference to the management of the land that is already set aside to hunt on. Fly over it with a helicopter and seed some millet, install some flood control structures to manage water level, something
Posted By: ducknbass

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 06:47 PM

Know this

The money made through license sales is a treasure trove for state budgets. If Texas put a fraction of what it made from hunting back into hunting. We would have a much better situation. Instead we give hundreds and receive pennies on the dollar.

Don't even get me started on the WMA'S.
Posted By: bentman

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 07:40 PM

I hunt a lot up north public and private it seems to me the state's up north are light years ahead of Tx when it comes to public duck and goose hunting.
Posted By: bentman

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 07:43 PM

I have a place pretty close to OH ivie the lake loads up with ducks in January and duck hunting is not allowed makes no sense
Posted By: Dry Fire

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 07:50 PM

When I moved to Alabama, I was surprised at the amount of duck hunting allowed on public lakes and rivers.
Posted By: zbot11

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 07:55 PM

Is this a matter of just having less public hunting land available to us here? We have so much private land, and so little public, that maybe it just isn't the focus.
Posted By: Esh and Hattie

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 08:40 PM

I thought that too ZackW, but that led me to thinking, if there is so little public land here, the resources oughta go an awful long ways on making what is there pretty great. But then also, because of the size of Texas, "not much public" is still probably tens of thousands of acres more than other states. ..but also the population is bigger, with more $$, which means it should be good. I dunno, I go around and around with myself on that one.
Posted By: Esh and Hattie

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 08:48 PM

I guess this kind of stems over from the other thread about GW's on the tx/ok border. The resource managers here, and the GW's I've personally spoken to, seem to just have a general blah attitude about the job. The public land is comparatively very poorly managed, and i've had to explain to a GW last year that my Gadwall did not put me over the limit for hen mallards. My experiences up north have just been very different in all aspects, GW's know their stuff backwards and forwards and it's no nonsense, and the hunting land is great habitat. I've called GW's here witnessing people breaking multiple trespassing and game violations at the same time.. no one cared. I'm just surprised at a state that has so many hunters, so much money, and so much potential, has from what I've seen garbage management practices and poor supervision over the "small amount of public land" they need to tend to.
Posted By: BradyBuck

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 08:53 PM

Might have to do with the fact that waterfowl hunting is actually not very popular in Texas when compared to other types of hunting (besides in a few places.)

All the focus is on deer hunting. I could almost guarantee you that the game wardens in the counties I hunt around here couldn’t tell you the species of ducks I shoot and their limits.

I called the GW about a nearby lake that allows public duck hunting on it to ask some questions and he didn’t even know you could hunt it... confused2

Posted By: LarryCopper

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 09:05 PM

When it comes to lakes, Navasot nailed it. Most are managed by water districts and TX Parks and Wildlife have no say so. Their primary purpose is not hunting.
Posted By: Esh and Hattie

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 09:21 PM

Lake #1 in Kansas: (COE lake) is the largest man-made lake in Kansas with 15,700 acres (64 km2) of water. Over 33,000 acres (130 km2) of land resources are managed for quality recreational experiences as well as for protection of the project’s natural and cultural resources. Approximately 70% of the land resources are available for public hunting.

Lake # 2 in Kansas: (The Lake) in the Flint Hills region of northeast Kansas. It was built and is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers for the purpose of flood control.

Lake # 3 in Iowa: It was constructed along with Saylorville Dam as a flood control project by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District. Major flooding occurred in 1851, 1859, 1903, 1944, 1947, and 1954.[2] In 1960, the Corps began construction. The project was completed in 1969 at a cost of $88 million. The Army Corps maintains its local offices in Knoxville.

Lake # 4 in Texas: It is commonly called (The lake) for commercial and recreational purposes but (The lake) is its official name according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Operated by: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Lake # 5 in Texas: The dam, an earthen structure 141 feet high, is owned and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. (The lake) is also used for recreation and is home to (a state park)

Lake # 6 in Texas: (The lake)is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, the 12th largest US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) lake


They all seem to be COE lakes (governing authority), they all seem to be for the purpose of flood control/water supply/recreation. The first 3 are great hunting, the last 3 comparatively suck. Bored at work today if you can't tell
Posted By: quackiller

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 09:43 PM

Texas has a No Debt balanced budget clause in it's constitution from what i remember any spending they do must be accounted for and the dollars accrued from your hunting and fishing license sales go to balance the budget at the end of the year. Instead of these dollars being designated as TPWD/WMA only money it is lumped in as surplus at the end of the year to balance the budget and make the bottom line...

but i could be wrong just thought i had heard that discussion in the past on another website.

that and tx is a deer hunting state
Posted By: 68A

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/02/17 10:25 PM

Originally Posted By: quackiller
tx is a deer hunting state


^^^ this

It's been my experience that 4 out of 5 GW I've interacted with in separate counties know very little about ducks in general. Only had one that asked to see birds. All they know is magazine plugs, steel shot, duck stamp and on to the next person. I sure wish they would funnel some of the money back into habitat management but will never happen.
Posted By: john paul

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 12:49 PM

Originally Posted By: 68A
Originally Posted By: quackiller
tx is a deer hunting state


^^^ this

It's been my experience that 4 out of 5 GW I've interacted with in separate counties know very little about ducks in general. Only had one that asked to see birds. All they know is magazine plugs, steel shot, duck stamp and on to the next person. I sure wish they would funnel some of the money back into habitat management but will never happen.


The WMA's and NWR's along the Texas coast, mainly SETX, are pretty well taken care of. Actually better managed than most private marshes in the area imo. Duck hunting is a big deal down here as opposed to North Texas which is pretty much flyover country for most waterfowl.
Posted By: john paul

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 12:49 PM

Great discussion by the way!
Posted By: 68A

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 01:27 PM

Originally Posted By: john paul
Originally Posted By: 68A
Originally Posted By: quackiller
tx is a deer hunting state


^^^ this

It's been my experience that 4 out of 5 GW I've interacted with in separate counties know very little about ducks in general. Only had one that asked to see birds. All they know is magazine plugs, steel shot, duck stamp and on to the next person. I sure wish they would funnel some of the money back into habitat management but will never happen.


The WMA's and NWR's along the Texas coast, mainly SETX, are pretty well taken care of. Actually better managed than most private marshes in the area imo. Duck hunting is a big deal down here as opposed to North Texas which is pretty much flyover country for most waterfowl.


To be honest, I've never hunted the coast. I'd like to sometime, heard some great things about the hunting down there, just not familiar with areas. I find myself heading further west these days and even got drawn for a conservation area in N. Missouri. Heading up there next week. North Texas is seeing a huge increase in duck hunters, at least that I've noticed in the last few years. All the people moving to this area for the economy growth I suppose.
Posted By: ducknbass

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 01:50 PM

Originally Posted By: john paul
Originally Posted By: 68A
Originally Posted By: quackiller
tx is a deer hunting state


^^^ this

It's been my experience that 4 out of 5 GW I've interacted with in separate counties know very little about ducks in general. Only had one that asked to see birds. All they know is magazine plugs, steel shot, duck stamp and on to the next person. I sure wish they would funnel some of the money back into habitat management but will never happen.


The WMA's and NWR's along the Texas coast, mainly SETX, are pretty well taken care of. Actually better managed than most private marshes in the area imo. Duck hunting is a big deal down here as opposed to North Texas which is pretty much flyover country for most waterfowl.


The reason it's fly over country? Because lack of forage. North Texas is stuck between Oklahoma and the coast. Obviously the coast is a destination for many ducks. Okie is where a lot of piddlwe ducks end up for the winter. They plant lake beds from planes up there for Pete sake.

I agree with the fact that Texas is a deer state. But to say duck hunting is not popular. Well just go to any lake next weekend at 5am and tell me that with a straight face.

I'd love for Texas waterfowlers to skip buying the AHP for one year and see how the state starts giving a dang what we think all the sudden. North Texas could have timber impoundments in the east like Arkansas. Plenty of opportunities for planting low lakes north central and west. A lot more could be done.
Posted By: Esh and Hattie

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 01:59 PM

Thanks for the responses all, I hear the deer argument, people do care about that an awful lot here. What gets done to manage deer on public land? Do they plant food plots? Or put out feeders? Do they track hunter activity and manage hunter access accordingly? I DO agree it is a not caring issue, but I don't think it's a "we spend all of our time managing deer issue".
Posted By: zbot11

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 02:16 PM

If the state won't fund what we're asking for, are there any examples of groups who have just done this on their own? What I'm saying is a very large hunting "club" or group lease. Say 100 people go in and buy land/water and pay to have it managed. You could buy a lot of land for $10,000 in and $200 a month each.
Posted By: cody

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 03:22 PM

Originally Posted By: john paul
Great discussion by the way!


^^^This guy knows nothing^^^

peep
Posted By: jnd59

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 03:38 PM

If numbers are increasing in North Texas then we should see that in DU and Delta memberships. I would rather rely on private (including non - profit) endeavors to improve the forage here. We have a lot of water here, we just need better food. My impression is DU has concentrated on the coast because that is where the activity and wintering birds are. Politically, I don't think we can get DU to reallocate funds from the coast to here. I do think we can improve hunting by organizing and leasing to grow better forage whether that is done under an existing organization or a new one. Just my opinions and observations.
Posted By: john paul

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 05:39 PM

Originally Posted By: cody
Originally Posted By: john paul
Great discussion by the way!


^^^This guy knows nothing^^^

peep


loco
Posted By: ducknbass

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 07:15 PM

Originally Posted By: jnd59
If numbers are increasing in North Texas then we should see that in DU and Delta memberships. I would rather rely on private (including non - profit) endeavors to improve the forage here. We have a lot of water here, we just need better food. My impression is DU has concentrated on the coast because that is where the activity and wintering birds are. Politically, I don't think we can get DU to reallocate funds from the coast to here. I do think we can improve hunting by organizing and leasing to grow better forage whether that is done under an existing organization or a new one. Just my opinions and observations.


So it's totally acceptable to squander our license dollars for everything except what they should be used for?
Posted By: takemking

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 08:13 PM

Ducks Unlimited has actually been involved in projects all over the state. Panhandle, North Texas, Gulf Coast, etc. I'm not going to name WMAs, or locations but if you do your research through their website you've got good opportunities everywhere. Maybe actually look up past projects before you assume they don't do enough.
Posted By: Hopedale

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/03/17 09:37 PM




This



Originally Posted By: BradyBuck
Might have to do with the fact that waterfowl hunting is actually not very popular in Texas when compared to other types of hunting (besides in a few places.)

All the focus is on deer hunting. I could almost guarantee you that the game wardens in the counties I hunt around here couldn’t tell you the species of ducks I shoot and their limits.



and this

Originally Posted By: LarryCopper
When it comes to lakes, Navasot nailed it. Most are managed by water districts and TX Parks and Wildlife have no say so. Their primary purpose is not hunting.
Posted By: scalebuster

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/04/17 12:15 AM

If it were me I'd move back to Iowa.
Posted By: jnd59

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/04/17 01:14 AM

Originally Posted By: takemking
Ducks Unlimited has actually been involved in projects all over the state. Panhandle, North Texas, Gulf Coast, etc. I'm not going to name WMAs, or locations but if you do your research through their website you've got good opportunities everywhere. Maybe actually look up past projects before you assume they don't do enough.


You need to go back and read what I said. I never said there were no projects in our area. I said the projects are concentrated on the coast. And if you view the continental map of conservation efforts North Texas isn't even in a region. I'm not knocking DU. I'm a member. I expect that much of the conservation funds are raised in the coastal area, Austin and San Antonio. I would be willing to bet many of those hunters are oriented to the coast so I don't fault DU for it's decisions. That's also the place that flyway conservation efforts should be concentrated. The gist of my argument was that what the government gives the government can take away. If political winds in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska change there are going to be a lot of duck hunters wondering what happened. I don't want to rely on the state and while I would like DU to be involved, I don't think asking them to help us keep more ducks from continuing to the coast or staying longer in North Texas is a political possibility. There are peanut fields and winter wheat North West of Abilene. If those crops are viable in North Texas we should figure out a way to make it happen.
Posted By: dogcatcher

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/04/17 01:53 AM

Originally Posted By: BradyBuck
Might have to do with the fact that waterfowl hunting is actually not very popular in Texas when compared to other types of hunting (besides in a few places.)

All the focus is on deer hunting. I could almost guarantee you that the game wardens in the counties I hunt around here couldn’t tell you the species of ducks I shoot and their limits.

I called the GW about a nearby lake that allows public duck hunting on it to ask some questions and he didn’t even know you could hunt it... confused2



You hit the nail dead square. up
Posted By: jnd59

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/04/17 06:59 AM

Originally Posted By: ducknbass
Originally Posted By: jnd59
If numbers are increasing in North Texas then we should see that in DU and Delta memberships. I would rather rely on private (including non - profit) endeavors to improve the forage here. We have a lot of water here, we just need better food. My impression is DU has concentrated on the coast because that is where the activity and wintering birds are. Politically, I don't think we can get DU to reallocate funds from the coast to here. I do think we can improve hunting by organizing and leasing to grow better forage whether that is done under an existing organization or a new one. Just my opinions and observations.


So it's totally acceptable to squander our license dollars for everything except what they should be used for?


No, but I don't know if our fees totally support TPWD. I have a state license for a profession that dues do totally support the licencing agency. We were able to keep the state from claiming any excess. We certainly have the numbers to do the same if we banded together. Is there an organization that represents all of us before the state legislature? We have DU, QU, CCCA, BASS, NWTF, etc but I can't think of any organization that represents all of us before the legislature.
Posted By: woodduckhunter

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/05/17 06:58 PM

there's more people and orgs other than TPWD behind it, but you'll come to realize that anything managed, ran, or receives assistance from TPWD tends to not make any sense
Posted By: ndhunter

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/07/17 02:10 AM

Originally Posted By: Esh and Hattie
I've hunted 3 different lakes in North Texas, and 1 in East Texas, my only public hunting that I've done in Texas the last 10 years living here, so maybe what I'm asking about exists, i'm just not aware.

Growing up and college hunting, in Iowa and Kansas, the regulatory bodies for the lakes actually pump the marshes to huntable levels, manage drawdowns for vegetation growth, and in many cases plant millet and milo for waterfowl. If there is something broken, there is an explanation and and when possible a timetable to fix it (look at the KDWP website currently for example), and access points are only ever really closed because of water levels with excess rains.

Why do the lakes here have access sites closed all the time, do nothing for water management, and certainly nothing for habitat management? From my understanding Texas is about as financially stable state as they come, and there are certainly plenty of hunters to take advantage of the resource.

This is mostly a question, because like I said it may exist, it just seems like there is nothing done which is kind of disappointing.


The State uses the intended funds for other purposes

Quote:
Fund 9, remains unappropriated in order to help balance the state’s budget.

This year, the amount of Fund 9 is almost $47 million.


http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbth...s_S#Post6911490
Posted By: spanish13

Re: What's different about Texas? - 11/20/17 05:19 PM

I've been reading and looking at pictures of other states waterfowl public waters. They really do a good job of setup hunters for succcess. I understand Texas is a deer state but how many deer get taken by public land hunters a year in Texas? To me this is less about what species and more about how money is allocated because I hunt public and it's hard to scratch out a limit of dove on public when your hunting a 500 acre field of dirt. The state leases these lands and nothing is done to Attract the dove. I pay a lot of money every year to hunt and it doesn't seem to be put to good use. Not like other states and I'm a Texan that believes everything should be better here became of the amount of resources we have but I just don't see it.
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