tvc184

I've got no problem with people hunting within the law. I have taken young deer also. It took a while to realize that I could kill a large older deer just as easily as I could kill a baby if we only let them grow on our lease. When we started our newer management rules, we didn't kill a buck for one year and only one the next. Now we are seeing and killing the biggest that we have ever seen in our area. That is why I am all in favor of the new proposed rules on horn size. As everyone knows, that is not the perfect answer. I wish they would say the horn size OR 3.5 years or older as some older deer need to be culled but will never fit within the horn restrictions. There will also be some nice deer with good horns that grow up instead of out and may never make the required width. If they went to a 3.5 year minimum age, it would be up to the hunter to decide if the deer was of age but he has to make that same call on horns also. I have an easier time noticing a mature deer by body size than trying to judge if the horns I am looking at are 12" or 13.5". The way we do it and the way it is taught in management circles..... if in doubt, don't shoot. That is the intent of the rules anyway. It is not to get a micrometer and see if the buck has reached the minimum inside spread or if he is three one hundreths of an inch short. Management of deer set minimum rules hoping that hunters will not take the risk of an illegal deer and allow the borderline bucks to walk. Then you take the same deer the next year when you see him and he is 15-16" and no doubt. This year you kill the borderline one from last year. East Texas can grow as big of deer as south Texas if people let them grow up. The leases down there are heavily managed with very high prices. People don't pay $2,500-$10,000 a gun (not a family) to kill a 110 pound 4 pointer. I would hate to see prices like that in east Texas but the management style would work if put in place. It seems that many east Texas hunters feel that if they see a deer, it must claimed at that moment and killed at all cost. By gosh, I so him so he is mine. I will never believe the meat issue. I only drive from south Beaumont to just past Woodville to hunt. My cost in gasoline, deer stands, feeders, corn, hunting license, lease fees and other items makes it impossible to kill deer for meat and claim that it is to feed a family. There are those people that kill deer on their own property where they live and that is different but anyone that pays for a lease to hunt and drives for any time at all is losing money for every pound of venison that they claim to be taking "for meat". I will bet that less than 2% of the "legal" hunters that take deer "for meat" are doing so on their own property and not paying lease fees.

By all means. Tyler County has a two doe limit with no tags needed. The herd needs to be thinned for better health and a better buck to doe ratio. Other areas need some does and I suspect most of the problem is with poachers in those areas of east Texas famous for such activity. It does not take long to increase the herd size however in either bucks or does if the people lay off of them for a couple of years.

On my lease a few years ago we had some silly 6 point rule. If it had 6 points, it was a "legal" buck per our lease rules. Well there is a saying. Where you start is where you will end. If shooting a 6 point is within the rules of your lease, expect that to be what is killed and you will be darn lucky to see anything else, more like a fluke. That is exactly what most hunters killed or ever saw. Once we started going for 3.5 year old minimum, we have taken several good bucks including one about 140 inches a month ago. We have several game cam pics of different large bucks that have not been killed. We are seeing more mature bucks while on stands and also on the cameras in a weekend than we saw in an entire season a few short years back. We don't have a huge lease either. It is about 970 acres in Tyler County not far from Woodville. This area is not exactly known as a trophy area yet we are getting large mature deer with good racks. Why? There is no magic or rocket science. We aren't shooting 4 or 6 pointers anymore. We are also on a family lease and if we want meat, we can kill does to our heart's content or stop off at Wal-Mart on the way home.

The reason that cull bucks and junk bucks breed in east Texas is because there are no dominant bucks and add in the fact that it is overrun with does. When deer don't live past 18 months the dominant buck and natural selection process is ruined by hunters, not nature. The new rules are working in the counties where they have been used. I don't think that is the best way to select a buck but I have seen some pure idiots trying to judge deer on the hoof. There was a guy in south Texas a few weeks ago that killed a 1.5 year old baby on a day lease while I was there and wanted to argue that it was a mature buck. Geez. Looking at horns compared to the size of the ears is easy. Being subjective about how long their brisket has extended, how much gut they have, if their back is swayed, if their face looks short and all the stuff that goes into aging deer is not or at least it appears so from the hunters that I have seen. It is simple. If the horns are outside of the ears, he is likely 3.5 years old or older and a mature deer. Unless you are on your own property and pay no fees to hunt other than a license, the meat hunt doesn't work for an excuse either for a huge majority of the people. You can buy beef, pork or chicken in a store way cheaper than you can get the same meat hunting.

Someone on texasbowhunter.com said that it was really in full swing around Eagle Pass. Maybe it's that time.

Thank you very much. A "potential" good deer is not a good buck. Therein lies the problem of small deer in east Texas. The other guy is going to kill him so I had better shoot first. I hope the state regulations kick in in all east Texas counties and it is then heavily enforced. While it is true that some true cull bucks will never be killed, in the long run it will do way more good than harm.

I think that saltwater might be easier to put on and attemd for most people. I think that a majority of our regular posters are more local to the Golden Triangle and in easy driving distance of saltwater. A trip to the lakes would be a lot more driving time for most people. I like either but the saltwater would seem to be easier to arrange.

What kind of lease (deer/duck) and where?

No he was a good buck. I should still get 4 more deer before the end of season. If he was a six point, that was either a baby or a cull. Take your pick.

Congrats to Stowers and the entire Central program. It made for a good team effort because he didn't win it alone and they didn't win on the field without his leadership. Good job all around.

Why? Speculation and debate is the fun of the forums. It is not like PNGISD is going to care what a member of setxsports.com thinks. Personally I think Mack Brown is going to be offered the job after stating that he is tired of the high pressures of big time college football and is looking for a place to retire.

They had a few Honorable Mention playes. For a team that has one win in the last two years, how many did you expect? Wins aren't everything in the selections since it is individual awards but there has to be some kind of production. When you are last in offense and defense there isn't a lot that gets the attention of the other coaches.

Unless they have changed it, the PA News chooses the players/coaches from teams in their coverage area. I don't think they even go by districts but just teams. For example West Brook and PA Memorial players may be included however other teams in their district that are from the Houston area will not.

Six point? A cull maybe?

I haven't gotten to hunt much but I passed a good deer in south Texas and did kill a doe for sausage in November. I still have a few days left and I may get another doe during the black powder season.

I hunt to kill otherwise I wouldn't bring a gun or bow. I don't hunt to eat however and passing young deer should be the law. No, on second thought, it shouldn't be the law. People should have enough sense to let a deer grow beyond its first year of life before it becomes a target so people can hear their gun go boom. If someone needs meat that bad, shoot rabbits or squirrels. A few of them are almost as big as some of the deer that I have seen killed and you don't need tags.

A 13" buck is not a trophy deer, it is a quality deer. If anyone wants meat then they need to take does and spikes which will be legal. I haven't killed a buck in five years and yet I have killed and eaten a lot of venison. If we let the deer grow beyond their first year then we will still have as many targets but they will have some size on them. If a person wants the meat as I do, it is better a 3.5 or older deer than a 1.5 year old baby.

I think so. The district will likely move very quickly once the applications are in. They will weed through them and toss most out just on resume's. Then they can get down to the real dirty work of doing the interviews which shouldn't take very long.

East of what?

At least it didn't come back and slap you in the eye or something like that. What kind of bow?

Nah... that will extend their life expectancy to 3 years or 4 at the outside. It will tend to get a majority of them past their first year of life however which would be an accomplishment.

Having hunted in east Texas all of my life and I can confirm that deer don't live to be 5 or 6 years old. ;D

I think if it was a cougar attack then there would be more than a hole in its side with the guts missing. I don't think big cats take down animals by biting a hole in their side.

As long as the motor is not running. ;D

You can say that about any game laws.... just make it a club rule. Well that is the problem with the deer herd right now. Plenty of leases have their own rules but the leases that completely surround their property are under the "If it moves, shoot it" rule. That is the very reason that the state is stepping in with the antler restrictions. If deer didn't cross property lines and if hunters running back and forth on ATV's and blasting guns didn't spook the deer, I could care less about when they are killed. That however is not the case most of the time.