tvc184

Nope. When you made the statement that "3 years and your minds will be changed", I figured that you were thinking that in 3 years the deer would finally be bigger with the new restrictions. I was agreeing with your statement by saying that I believe in it now and won't have to wait. So have I missed your intent?

Let's see, you are averaging just over 9 posts per day. Coop is averaging 44 per day. Assuming that you can kick your post count up to about 75 per day and he maintains his current posting, you should be able to catch him in just short of 5 years. Good luck. ;D if i didnt have a job i could do it. If I had a few million dollars in the bank I wouldn't be working 50 hours a week either. ;D

Not my mind. We went to managing our lease informally (not through the state or an owner) about 4 years ago by only killing 3.5 and older bucks and shooting lots of does. We are not seeing very large bucks and some in the 140 class. Last year our biggest taken with a rifle was 138 inches. Nope, I won't be surprised. Yes but now everyone will be doing it Yep. The antler restrictions were started several years ago in the coastal plains counties where they have notoriously small deer. I think it was started with 8 couties. As you can imagine, there were huge protests. Within about three years, the naysayers were shocked at the growth of the deer. It wasn't the area or the forage they had but the fact that almost none lived more than 1.5 years. Some of the people that protested where now proponents. Then it expanded a few counties but still in the corridor from around Corpus Christi toward San Antonio (just north of the famed Texas brush country or the Golden Triangle of deer hunting). Then it moved to east Texas and has been slowly expanding. Once I found out about the program and its success in south central Texas, I was hoping that it would come our way. It took a few years but it has finally arrived. I just hope that a majority of the people try to stay within the law and let it work. Again, it is not a perfect solution but I can't believe anything other than it will help.

Not my mind. We went to managing our lease informally (not through the state or an owner) about 4 years ago by only killing 3.5 and older bucks and shooting lots of does. We are not seeing very large bucks and some in the 140 class. Last year our biggest taken with a rifle was 138 inches. Nope, I won't be surprised.

What does the meat of a trophy deer taste like? 95% will tell you they would rather have beef, which is much easier to come by. I personally believe that is an incorrect statement. I think that it is more like 98.5%. And to your intent in rebuttal of bassman, anyone that shoot a deer "for meat" is in a losing proposition unless he is shooting it out the back door of his home. Out of the billions spent by deer hunters in Texas each year, it isn't in order to get backstraps or ground meat.

Probably about the same as bones. What does it matter?

So you are suggesting that the Enterprise should only cover something inside of Beaumont?

I have no clue if any crimes have been committed or if any has even been suggested. In fact, I haven't responded to this particular situation at all except on points of the law. My response only dealt with how age laws are different according to what you are talking about. An example is your suggestion that since he is a student, doesn't it mean that he is a minor. The answer to that is yes or no, according to which law you are discussing. The school board can't define an adult as they see fit. They are governed by the Texas Education Code.

You are correct about this happening because he is a good player. Is that shocking or unexpected? There are hundreds of arrest a week in the Golden Triangle area and lots of them felonies. I don't see a lot of them being discussed. Let one of the people be the mayor of a city or a school board president and watch the words start flying. When you are someone in a community whether it is because you play football or you are a school teacher or you are a local official, then it becomes news that people will discuss. That is the nature of the beast and always will be. As far as someone being considered a minor, there are all kinds of definitions of what is a minor or juvenile, according to which Texas code you are talking about. You are criminally an adult at 17 and no longer have the protection of being a juvenile in either charges being filed or your name being released. You have to be 18 to vote or buy cigarettes. Curfew violations take effect when you are younger than 17. You can't buy a pistol or alcohol until 21, yet you can buy a rifle or shotgun at 18. You can be issued a traffic citation at 14 years old. Age depends on which particular law you are talking about and you can be both a minor and an adult at the same time, according to which code applies to your situation. Such as the Alcohol Beverage Code, the Education Code, the Family Code, the Government Code, the Transportation Code, the Penal Code, etc. Being a student has no effect on the age of any code except the Education Code that deals with school rules. Being a high school student offers no exemption or relief from the other codes as far as age.

14, not 13. 15 for most other felonies. Well, funny that when I worked at TYC...we had of 13 and 14 year olds who were charged as adults from murder to rape. But, even at 15... What is even funnier is that state law says that they have to be 14. They cannot be charged as adults at 13, sorry.

Better 6 deer with 5 of them does. I can't get over the fact that some people think that does should have some kind of protection or shouldn't be killed.

I sleep during the even years.

Only 44,000 to go to take the lead.

Yeah, it is not like the problem magically goes away if setxsports doesn't have it. That is especially true since this site has been very good not to air it publicly until it is released from another source. Sounds like shooting the messenger.

14, not 13. 15 for most other felonies.

That is not correct information if that is what the officer(s) gave you. A 17 year old is not a runaway in Texas and has not been for at least 30 years and probably more. They are criminally adults at 17 and not a runaway. As a parent, you are responsible for their room and board until they are 18.

Let's see, you are averaging just over 9 posts per day. Coop is averaging 44 per day. Assuming that you can kick your post count up to about 75 per day and he maintains his current posting, you should be able to catch him in just short of 5 years. Good luck. ;D

A guy I worked with went out yesterday (I don't know the exact location but it was in the Sabine system) and they stomped them. I saw the pics of nothing but a full stringer of about 40 specks.

Yes, that is the problem with the new antler restrictions. It surely isn't a perfect system but hopefully if we get the buck to doe ration correct and let the bucks grow so we can actually have dominant bucks, then maybe these basket racks will slowly be sent the way of all nature selected breeding. If the weak were allowed to thrive in a normal environment, most species would have died out by now. When there are 8 does to each buck (like on our lease about five years ago), then a year old spike will be breeding does. Why worry about dominant bucks when he can't handle all the ones he comes across. Like I said, it is not the perfect system but I think it is better than killing yearlings every year. If hunters give it a chance, I think in a couple of years people are going to be happy with the results. Of course, if we could end most of the poaching, we would be even happier with the results.

Unless the game of the year is a game that actually means something.

I don't think so. Letting the natural deer in the area grow another year isn't going to all of a sudden make a bunch of trophy ranches in east Texas. Ours goes up almost every year but its been doing that for a while. I'm not 100% against this. I have mixed feelings. I welcome more mature deer. This is the way I think about it. Let's say you take one or two bucks a year. All you ever see and kill is 4 and 6 pointers. It's just my opinion but the reason that you only see 4 and 6 pointers is because the majority of them are being killed at that age. If for example, you have 8 hunters on a 1,000 acre lease and you average 1.5 bucks per hunter, then 12 bucks are being taken off of a fairly small area. Let those bucks grow for one or two years and you will start killing 8 and 10 pointers of decent size. You will still be killing the same amount of bucks a year (and maybe more), they will just be larger. I know that on our lease, we had a rule that a deer had to be 6 points. I have no clue as to why because if you are going to kill a buck that you aren't going to hang the horns on the wall, what does it matter on how many horns you aren't getting mounted? Anyway, that is almost all that we saw. On rare occasion someone would get a glimpse of a decent deer on a game cam and someone may see one jump across the road. We just didn't have any big deer. About 5 years ago a hunter on our lease killed that looked like a great deer and it came out to 110 inches. Then we started our management program which was just to kill lots of does and let the bucks grow to at least 3.5 years old. Last year our biggest buck taken was 138 inches. This year we have lots of pictures of several bucks that are bigger. One pic at a game cam shows at least 3 that are good looking deer with two having trophy (135" or larger) racks. We used to not see that in an entire year on the entire lease. Now we are getting that all over. We are seeing much larger bucks than we have ever seen and seeing a lot more of them. The deal is, once you let the herd get some age on it, you can still take our your deer each year but instead of killing that 1.5 year old, you are killing a mature deer. Even for a meat hunter, isn't it better to take a 150 pound buck than one weighing about 105 pounds? And kill lot of does. I am surprised at how many people have leases that are overrun with does and they don't anyone to kill them.

I don't think so. Letting the natural deer in the area grow another year isn't going to all of a sudden make a bunch of trophy ranches in east Texas.

That is what I tried to say. I could care less if someone is a meat hunter and wants to kill small deer on his lease or his own land. But I have to wonder, if it is just for meat, why not kill the overcrowded does? There aren't many areas of the state and surely not in our area that does aren't overrunning the entire area. I kill a couple of does every year for meat and to take them out of the herd. Again, no problem with killing any deer but most people hunt for horns and unless you can make sure that all deer stay on your property, you are also depriving your neighbor of mature deer that just happens to run on his property also. I don't look down on people that kill immature deer but sometimes I wonder at the wisdom of it. Let him grow one more year and that same 6 pointer will likely be an 8 or more next year and maybe significantly heavier. Fish have size limits to let them grow up, why not deer?

I understand meat hunting and that goes right in line with the east Texas, kill it if it moves. When it was legal, there was no questions but due to that practice of killing yearling deer, the state is moving in to remedy it. That is why the new law with the state wanting the herd to grow up. It also doesn't make sense to do a meat hunt in south Texas when it is going to cost you $500 for Bambi when you are on a trophy ranch. If these ethical hunters knew how and would kill mature deer, then there would be no need for a 13" spread restriction and it could go to a 3.5 year old deer no matter the spread. As far as the can of worms, if someone is on their own lease and they want to kill nothing but spikes and four pointers, then go for it. It is there land. Of course with the new antler restrictions, that may no longer be legal.

Ain't that the truth. ;D I may be dogging out us east Texas hunters but I believe a lot of it is the mentality in this part of the state. The "If it's brown, it's down" (mis)management style doesn't leave much to be judged. Maybe some of these antler restrictions will help with the education but I have my doubts. I do believe that even though it isn't perfect, in the long run it will help. Of course if it is a private lease, someone can always get into the MLD program and not have to worry about those rules including up to hunting with guns during the archery only season.