Serious question

[TEX_hunt_AS]

me too. now i will admit, i give a fair amount to friends who dont hunt too. just always seemed like the right thing to do.

X3

[jyoung]

me too. now i will admit, i give a fair amount to friends who dont hunt too. just always seemed like the right thing to do.

I do give some away as well, especially if someone is in need. But usually I only kill what I eat (deer) and give the hogs and some deer away to friends or someone who needs it, like if they have lost their job or anything

[cosmiccowboy]

Again the number of deer tags issued by the state has nothing to do with some arbitrary state wide census kill number that they are trying to meet. They will sell a license with deer tags to anyone that walks up to the counter with the money. If a million more people wanted to buy a license this year than bought a license last year they would sell them one. The MLD program is much better suited to address census/harvest issues on a case by case basis.

[Smart]

The state issues a certain number of tags becuase the biologists feel that that many deer need to be removed from the herd. Isnt our first responsibility to the herd.

Actually, like waterfowl on a federal level, the state issues tags would be based on what they feel like the herd, when hunted, can sustain as whole per county with an arbitrary number of hunters.....not what is required or needs to be removed....mother nature takes care of a good amount herself.

MLD is another animal looking at maximizing deer pops and antler producton on a set piece of property.

[MountainMan]

I've never had the opportunity to "tag out" as I am only allowed 1 deer tag per year (if I draw) and 1 elk more than feeds my family and some of my friends. If I got offered a spot to come shoot some whitetail does by my good buddies here on the TBH ( yup, I'm sucking up ) then I would, but not because I feel the need to shoot everything in sight, but because I want to help manage their herds to produce better genetics and bigger bucks. Our elk success rate total every year hovers around 16%. We also don't have hogs and you can't eat praire dogs, so I take the opportunity to hunt and fill my tags when given. Just my .02

[Landrover]

I have hunted the "Great Dismal Swamp" in southern Virginia quite a few times so I can relate to your question. To be honest, folks up there (back in the late 80's) did not have many deer to choose from. Brown and down was the order of the day. From what I have seen, the population up that way is much bigger now. Thus.....more choices!

[ken]

I have family in Virginia and Maryland and it is a different situation there than a lot of Texas. In Maryland and Virginia, land tracts are a lot smaller and deer number in many suburban areas are way beyond the ideal capacity. In many areas of Maryland, there is basically no bag limit on antlerless deer and the populations are still growing with this liberal bag limit.

Most areas of Texas have a good deer population but not overpopulated. Populations can be kept in check by harvesting does and mature bucks and letting small bucks, even when legal walk so they can become big bucks.

[Tuffbroadhead]

.I was taught that the two reasons we hunt are meat and to thin the herd.

You can still do both in a manner to achieve optimum results..

I get 6 tags total where I hunt isnt it irresponsible to not fill these tags with the first 6 legal deer that come into range.

I would find it just the opposite, to shoot the first 6 deer that walk past is irresponsible if you are talking about herd mangement......From a management opinion, doe are doe when you are trying to get herd numbers down, and I emphasize on getting the numbers down.. if it has a slick head it gets put down till you get the number to a workable percentage. When it comes to buck deer management it will pay off better in the long run to rid yourself of inferior/unhealthy deer. 9 times out of 10 when you get the doe numbers down you will see the unhealthy deer disappear and a body size increase.

But in the aspect that you are referring to it is simply imposable to manage a herd that covers 266,853 sq miles , all the state can do is take a blind poke in the dark. One could hardly call it a "responsibility" to harvest all the alloted deer on our license's, it just simply will not work with herd dispersement if each hunter were to do so it could have very bad consequences in diverse regions within the state..

[tuthdoc]

If it were just about going out and killing the first legal deer I see, I probably wouldn't hunt. I'm really picky about what I kill. It has to be the right buck, age wise, cull wise, trophy wise, and the right doe, age wise, fawn wise, time of the hunt. Every trophy that I've killed has had meat attached to it, so while I meat hunt, it doesn't hurt to have a big ol rack attached. I kill 5 to 7 deer every year. None goes to waste, unless a hurricane comes through.

There 's no doubt in my mind that this coming Friday through Tuesday, I could tag my 5 legal non MLD deer. What's the fun in that.

[trailboss]

People hunt for different reasons. To get meat and thin the herd is not the priority of all hunters. To each his own in that regard.

I don't think we are obligated morally or legally to fill all our tags. In fact, I'm reasonably sure that the good folks at TPWD DON'T expect everyone to fill every tag.

We're also allowed 12 dove per day for the entire season but I think we can all agree that if every hunter filled his limit every day of the season - we'll, we'd be out of dove in short order.

Trailboss

[Fishndude]

I see alot about passing up this deer or that one.I was tuaght that the two reasons we hunt are meat and to thin the herd.
The state regulates the hunt based on the needs of the herd. So should nt we as hunters make it first responsibility to fill our tags. And to insure that we do this how can we pass up a legal deer that is reasonable shot.
I get 6 tags total where I hunt isnt it irresponsible to not fill these tags with the first 6 legal deer that come into range.
I understand wanting a wall hanger and Ive traveled to Texas to hunt exotics and will again but should wanting a trophy outweigh the limits set by the state for the health of the herd. Of course Id take the better of 2 deer that came in at the same time but is it responsible to chance not filling your tag by passing up a legal resposible shot
Please no nastyness just asking a serious question.

I used to work for a company based out of Wisconsin. Those guys are serious about their deer hunting. Their thought process when it came to hunting was way different than that of MOST Texas hunters. Absolutely nothing wrong with their thought process, it was just different simply because of the lack of overall deer numbers, length of season and pressure on the deer. Texas hunters are spoiled by what has been handed to us. We have been given the leisure of picking and choosing because of deer numbers, length of season and overall lack of pressure on the deer herd.

[Mike Javi Cooper]

I used to work for a company based out of Wisconsin. Those guys are serious about their deer hunting. Their thought process when it came to hunting was way different than that of MOST Texas hunters. Absolutely nothing wrong with their thought process, it was just different simply because of the lack of overall deer numbers, length of season and pressure on the deer. Texas hunters are spoiled by what has been handed to us. We have been given the leisure of picking and choosing because of deer numbers, length of season and overall lack of pressure on the deer herd.

It wasn't handed to us, many hunters worked very hard to achieve the quality we have. The State boys got smart a couple of generations ago and let folks manage their herds to produce better genetics. When I was a young man a four point buck was worthy of a ½ page article in Earl Golden’s column on Sunday today we would question why anyone shot a young deer….
it is the shoot the first horn or deer you see mentality that almost wiped out the deer herd in Texas 40 years ago... we learn a better way.

[Fishndude]

It wasn't handed to us, .

I was referencing a much higher power than "the State boys"!

[Smart]

many hunters worked very hard to achieve the quality we have. The State boys got smart a couple of generations ago and let folks manage their herds to produce better genetics.

Agreed on your first point.....

it is the shoot the first horn or deer you see mentality that almost wiped out the deer herd in Texas 40 years ago... we learn a better way.

I don't recall a near wipe out of the Texas deer herd in the 60s or 70s? I know the bigger bucks lessened for a bit but that would not follow shoot the first horn or deer you see mentality

[Mike Javi Cooper]

Agreed on your first point.....






I don't recall a near wipe out of the Texas deer herd in the 60s or 70s? I know the bigger bucks lessened for a bit but that would not follow shoot the first horn or deer you see mentality

I remember a day when Leon county was the deerest place in Texas (Big sign on Hwy 7] but seeing a deer at all in Hill county was a happening. Llano and the hill country grew jackrabbits with horns not the deer we see there today. You had to go to deep south Texas (Freer and south) to see big deer and in the 50's and early 60's most ranchers wanted them killed because they wrongly thought they competed with the cattle for pasture.
It was the mid-70's before many started the craze for big horns that provide us the deer we have today. And ranchers started growing horns instead of beef because it was more profitable...