is the mld thing a good thing

[wyliescrib]

just wondering if the mld thing is good or not.... what say the guys that are doing it or have done it and changed... we are trying to decide on this issue so any input would be useful... thanks

[Shortbow]

I was on a lease that did it and I loved it. The fact that you could control your deer herd and truly attemp to manage your deer. Not having to use your deer tags was nice too even though it would not have made a difference to me, I rarely kill more than 2 or 3 deer a year since we can't eat any more than that in our house hold.

[Nova]

It depends on a lot of factors. How much acreage you hunt, if you are willing to do the mgt required to move up the levels, if you are willing to collect the population and harvest data. Lots of factors involved but a lot of positives for the management minded.

[systemnt]

Youll only get out of it what you put into it.

[trophyhunter]

I think it's a great thing from a management perspective. On our lease of 11 years, we had to pass on countless management bucks (5+ year old bucks that averaged around 110").....due to the lack of "buck tags". We would play musical "stands" within our lease group, trying to get the guys with remaining tags on the right bucks......but it was futile. With the ability to whack 3-4 management bucks with MLD permits......we would have drastically improved the herd and reduced our overall count.

[quackerback]

i really liked it. it is really good if you have more than 1 place to hunt.

[bboswell]

MLD is good. Letting anyone hunt with a rifle before rifle season is BAD!

[HappyM]

I resisted it for a longtime but now have an mld3 and love it. The census and harvest info is no big deal to collect and we did them anyway. I would recommend it.

[cbrown]

It is only as good as the biologist the does the census. My friend had a biologist come to his Rocksprings ranch. The ranch is 1100 acres, biologist drives around and looked at the browse and wanted to give 80 wt doe tags. You couldn't find 80 wt on this place is you tried. Heck you can't find 10. What you can find is 100 axis easily.

My friend told the biologist exactly that and he lowered the number of tags to 60 and said they had to kill 40. The biologist was also provided with 5 deer counts with numbers and species......

I hope this is not the common way mld permits are obtained. I have never been in an mld place so I honestly don't know.

[Chance Love]

MLD is the greatest management tool available slightly behind a high fence and an accurate rifle.

MLD is good. Letting anyone hunt with a rifle before rifle season is BAD!

Why is that bad? Has it affected you in a negative way?

It is only as good as the biologist the does the census.

Hmmm...most places I know of don't use a biologist for their surveys. We don't.

[bboswell]

MLD is the greatest management tool available slightly behind a high fence and an accurate rifle.




Why is that bad? Has it affected you in a negative way?.

yes it does every year. East Tx low fence area and he neighbor starts rifle hunting early while the bucks are still in their summer pattern. The mature bucks we know of rarely make it to rifle season.

MLD makes it possible for landowners to take the number of deer required for proper management, there is plenty of time for tat during and after season.

[Nova]

It is only as good as the biologist the does the census. My friend had a biologist come to his Rocksprings ranch. The ranch is 1100 acres, biologist drives around and looked at the browse and wanted to give 80 wt doe tags. You couldn't find 80 wt on this place is you tried. Heck you can't find 10. What you can find is 100 axis easily.

My friend told the biologist exactly that and he lowered the number of tags to 60 and said they had to kill 40. The biologist was also provided with 5 deer counts with numbers and species......

I hope this is not the common way mld permits are obtained. I have never been in an mld place so I honestly don't know.

Typically the landowner provides the survey

[Chance Love]

yes it does every year. East Tx low fence area and he neighbor starts rifle hunting early while the bucks are still in their summer pattern. The mature bucks we know of rarely make it to rifle season.

MLD makes it possible for landowners to take the number of deer required for proper management, there is plenty of time for tat during and after season.

May be plenty of time for some, but on our place (low fence hill country) we NEED that extra month. As a matter of fact, pretty much every place I know of needs that extra time. Predictable summer patterns are great for management purposes. The extra month of February can be really tough in our area. Lots of bucks have dropped antlers already and some hunters confuse them for does. Also, bucks are much easier to cull early in the season. It's too bad that you and your neighbor don't work together. And here's something funny about your comment "the neighbor starts rifle hunting early while the bucks are still in their summer pattern".....I used to be on a lease with all rifle hunters, and they would get upset because I could "start early" with my bow.

[Harvey]

May be plenty of time for some, but on our place (low fence hill country) we NEED that extra month. As a matter of fact, pretty much every place I know of needs that extra time. Predictable summer patterns are great for management purposes. The extra month of February can be really tough in our area. Lots of bucks have dropped antlers already and some hunters confuse them for does. Also, bucks are much easier to cull early in the season. It's too bad that you and your neighbor don't work together. And here's something funny about your comment "the neighbor starts rifle hunting early while the bucks are still in their summer pattern".....I used to be on a lease with all rifle hunters, and they would get upset because I could "start early" with my bow.

As an MLD cooperator, I'll vouch for Love's comments. Right on. MLD has certainly improved our free-ranging population and our habitat in the western hill country.

[Dirtymike]

Is there a min acres to start the program? Where can I find more details. Our pop is way too high.