MLD is set up for individual property harvest, not county or hunter wide.

its a hard concept to fathom, but its set up this way for a reason. Sorry joe

I agree with Deer Whisper. I am a bow/rifle/muzzleloader hunter but it would help gun hunters to be able to hunt the rut at the end of October; therefore, gun season should be moved up one week to increase the chances for the gun hunters that have put so much time in the field trying to harvest the "Big One".

I'm all for timed feedings, coffee pot is even on a timer.

Heck your even on a timer in deer season.(alarm clock)

Take 1 buck (any buck) and one doe during the whole season (archery and rifle). Then you're done. Plain and simple. That's still less total deer of any age that can be taken with the current set up: 1 buck 13" or greater antler spread (which doesn't necessarily constitute a mature buck) plus 1 buck with one unbranched antler (which includes young spikes) plus whatever the doe bag limit is in your county. You know it ain't ever gonna happen so all you AR lovers don't need to get your antler panties in a wad at this idea.

wish the deer shared that whole waking up at daylight concept.

THAT IS ALL I'M SAYING,IF IT'S GOOD FOR THE GANDER,THEN IT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE! THINK ABOUT IT GUYS! DEER HUNTING SHOULD BE PASTED DOWN FROM FARTHER TO SON OR DAUGHTER,NOT POCKET TO POCKET.

Be glad we are not back about 50-60 yrs ago and have to abide by the hunting seasons in McMullen County back then. They started in early Nov and quit the 15th of Dec so that you could not hunt the rut. Talking about starting a debate just bring up that scenario in this day and time.

that's how a lot of states are on mule deer season when they have population problems

Sorta like West Texas Mule Deer season also.

So AR counties could hunt Aug-mid Oct then cut off... sounds like a plan Would be some big deer hitting the ground in August

ONCE AGAIN,I'M SIXTY YEARS OLD,I REMEMBER WHEN THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A DEER SEASON IN HALF OF E.T.,I REMEMBER WHEN WE GOT ONE IT WAS JUST TWO WEEKS LONG.I ALSO REMEMBER WHEN YOU DID'NT HAVE TO TAKE A LOAN OUT TO PAY FOR YOUR LEASE,ALL OF THIS CHANGED,ALL EXCEPT THE LOAN PART,BE CAUSE IT NEEDED TO CHANGE,AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER CHANGE.

Deer density and range conditions do not vary that much from ranch to ranch. The only thing that varies is the acreage of individual ranches. You used to get doe tags based on acreage years ago. Looks like to me if the state says it is good, it will be better if more places participated. Decisions now are based a lot on county lines and it seems to me if the state game biologists are working for you and your property on MLD, they could be working for me and my property on MLD. Combine ranches until you get to a certain number of acres and set up a plan. How is it different?

its different because its set by individual ranches.

you going to tell me, that two properties side by side, one that is all brush/bottom land and one that is field have the same range conditions?

one is definatly going to hold more animals than the other.

what would happen, is that instead of going to walmart and getting your tag for your one buck(or two or three), you would be issued permits PER property....what if that property only qualified for 3 tags and its hunted by 5 people....then what?

that's how the majority of mld leases are in ETX... 50 members and 30-35 buck permits.

and how does that sit with most folks?

espcailly the ones that will pass up a mature doe to shoot a yearling bucks with 6 points?

Numbers to be killed would be based on a certain number of acres. Just because there is a different owner does not mean the country varies that much. Some holds more deer than others, I agree, but it doesn't have anything to do with having a different owner. Manage for a number of acres, not just per owner. Not arguing, but if it is a good plan, why won't it work for 5 500 acre places the same as it works for 1 2500 acre place. I know it would take some cooperation between landowners, but looks like that might be a plus.

benbob,

they already do that in the form of co-ops.

its a great idea but many people don't want to participate unfortunatly.

if people would get together and manage the wildlife as a whole, it would benefit everybody

BenBob, in Live Oak county in the early 70's when we still had to get doe permits we leased 400 acres across the road from our land. We got a doe permit for every 50 acres on that side of the road and one for every 250 acres on our side. The habitats were exactly the same. Ranches side by side can be the same and ranches can be day and night differnce in habitat. Take a 500 acre ranch in Rocksprings that has run goats for the last 80 yrs and compare it to 500 next door that has never had a goat on it. Will they look the same?

Deer density and range conditions do not vary that much from ranch to ranch. The only thing that varies is the acreage of individual ranches. You used to get doe tags based on acreage years ago. Looks like to me if the state says it is good, it will be better if more places participated. Decisions now are based a lot on county lines and it seems to me if the state game biologists are working for you and your property on MLD, they could be working for me and my property on MLD. Combine ranches until you get to a certain number of acres and set up a plan. How is it different?[/quote]

its different because its set by individual ranches.

you going to tell me, that two properties side by side, one that is all brush/bottom land and one that is field have the same range conditions?

one is definatly going to hold more animals than the other.

what would happen, is that instead of going to walmart and getting your tag for your one buck(or two or three), you would be issued permits PER property....what if that property only qualified for 3 tags and its hunted by 5 people....then what?

[/quote]

Numbers to be killed would be based on a certain number of acres. Just because there is a different owner does not mean the country varies that much. Some holds more deer than others, I agree, but it doesn't have anything to do with having a different owner. Manage for a number of acres, not just per owner. Not arguing, but if it is a good plan, why won't it work for 5 500 acre places the same as it works for 1 2500 acre place. I know it would take some cooperation between landowners, but looks like that might be a plus. [/quote]

There is no way to issue permits on a County Wide basis per acre. I hunt 2 places in Rusk County. Both are a little over 1000 acres. Both are MLD 3 properties. On one of the properties there are 10 doe permits issued per season. On the other property in the same county about 5 miles away there are 30-35 doe permits issued per season. Reason? Because the habitat and deer densities are that much different. On the place where the 30 permits per year are issued I could go to any stand on the property tomorrow morning and see 25-35 does in 2 hours. On the other property if I see 1 doe I consider it a good hunt. It would not work as a blanket policy just like AR's don't work as a blanket policy.

see they can't kill the yearlings and 6pts given the usual 3.5yo minimum for the mgmt plan... folks are generally told they are allowed a buck until permits are gone; probability is usually not in favor of all the permits being used.

We have a 4 year old minimum on our MLD place. We are issued 4 Buck permits and there are 8 hunters. If we run out of buck permits, that's it. We have never used more than 2 buck permits on this place in a season.

Okay, say all you say is true. Why should most of the state be under 2 buck and 3 doe limits/person with no other type of management? Looks like to me we are managing large properties, for maximum deer production while leaving small properties completely out of the managing loop.

1 buck(8 points or better),2 does for every county. I think about it like this. If theres 2,000 hunters in a county and every one of them kills 5 deer. Thats 10,000 deer being shot. Just seems crazy to me

Your not getting the drift of the message brother. If I can take 3 bucks in my county why does it matter if I take them in Nov or Feb. Give me a biological reason.

BTW, my ranch is better managed than most I have seen that are on MLDs. I just prefer not to participate in it.