Matador WMA info??

[Flint knapper]

buzzcut I was one of the people that begged the staff of the wma to have some kind of antler restrictions. For years the young muledeer bucks were getting hammered and it was a rare sight to see a mature deer. Those young muledeer bucks are almost as easy as stalking your pet dog and need some time to grow and mature.

[buzzcut]

Okay how much longer do they need and how much bigger do they have to get?Why haven't the rifle hunters been allowed to shoot a mule deer PERIOD at Matador since 2001? And bow hunters only allowed the "fantasy"of shooting a trophy muley? I'll tell you why.Because the guy running the place,Chip Ruthven,has an agenda...use hunters to help keep the whitetails "beat back" and protect any and every single mule deer.He dont want the muleys shot period!Not now and not in the future.Maybe he's saving them for the non-hunting visitors to look at?Typical TPWD attitude,they tell us "how its gonna be" and we can either accept it or go to hell. 60 or 70 bow hunters on 28,000 acres aint gonna "hammer" anything.The success rate for bowhunting in general hovers around the 4 % mark.All I'm saying is throw the bow hunters a bone and "lower the bar".Otherwise paying for an archery permit on the area will continue to be what it is now...nothing more than an glorified camping trip and expensive birdwatching session.

[Flint knapper]

buzzcut You seem to have some hostility toward the Matadore WMA area manager. For what reason, I can't really understand.

Okay how much longer do they need and how much bigger do they have to get?Why haven't the rifle hunters been allowed to shoot a mule deer PERIOD at Matador since 2001?

You seem to be misinformed about who has harvested animals and when they were harvested and by what means they were harvested at the matador wma.

Yes, They have put in place a horn restriction on muledeer and also a horn restriction on whitetail. So you see, they are protecting the younger deer both whitetail and mule deer.

Yes, they have had both whitetail hunts and muledeer hunts on the matador for rifle hunters and for bowhunters the last few years.

Otherwise paying for an archery permit on the area will continue to be what it is now...nothing more than an glorified camping trip and expensive birdwatching session.

I use to hunt the matador for mule deer before it was a draw and yes the hunting was pretty good. Then the place got to be really popular and the place was a mad house with over 200 people on the property during the archery only hunts. During this time mostly 1.5 year old buck were harvested with very few of them being whitetail.

The then area manager decided to use a postcard drawing system to lower the numbers of hunters each weekend which would inhance the overall hunting experiece, which could allow for a greater chance for those selected to actually harvest an animal.

During the next few years, the People that were lucky enough to have been drawn were still harvesting bucks that were 1.5 years old. It got to the point that if you actually saw a buck on the property, it was something to talk about.

The area manager then decided to place an atler restriction on the muledeer and whitetail bucks to protect the younger deer and give them time to grow up. This was greatly appreciated by myself and others that had hunted the area and new of its potential. ( Myself and others of whom I've talked with had requested just such a antler restriction for several years )

During this time there where still people showing up and hunting that had not drawn a permit and when caught by the gamewarden were given a slap on the wrist with a small fine by a local judge.

Right before Chip Ruthven was appointed area manager, the biologist on locatioin decided to put a lock on all gates with a combination that only the drawn weekend hunter would know the combination. At the end of each hunt, they would change the combination on each lock to a new number that would be given to the new arrivals for the following weekend. This apparently worked great, because I witnessed nine trucks trying to gain access to the property before daylight one saturday morning and were turned away by the locked gates.

So you see, the area manager is well informed on what animals are on the property and what numbers can be harvested and still maintain a healthy population and diversity.

The property is first and formost a wildlife research area and secondly an area that the public can enjoy a natural resource.

If you don't want to try for a draw hunt on the property, then that's your business, but don't wine about the rules when the people running the place have a degree that makes them the expert in the utilization of the resource. If you want to put in your $.02 then write the area manager about your concerns.

[boss bowman]

Chip seemed very accomodating to the hunters when I was there, I wish more public land was managed the way matador is, instead of letting anyone and there dog shoot these places out, antler restrictions are a wonderful thing, I just like the 13" or a spike rule better.

Why haven't the rifle hunters been allowed to shoot a mule deer PERIOD at Matador since 2001?

I have no idea what the hell your talking about on the draw hunt tags the bag limit lists mule or whitetail deer for the rifle hunts, that would REALLY **** me off if TPWD is lying about this.

[buzzcut]

Alright I'll concede I only looked at the "either sex" hunt category,where only whitetails are allowed to be taken at Matador,no mule deer.I forgot about their "management hunt" category.(whatever that is).But with 10 permits issued and 1800 apllicants...good luck getting drawn for that one! But I'm not here to discuss how they manage the rifle hunts,they're probably about right on that deal.My complaint is specific...the 4 points per side rule for bowhunters is too tough! Its unrealistic BS! Even for a veteran mule deer/bowhunter.I would be curious to know how many "legal" muleys have been harvested since they implemented the restrictions.Probably zero.Even if they drop it back to 3 points per side the bow hunters still wouldn't have an impact on the mule deer population.But then at least some-one would have a decent chance at getting a buck.It's the same old song...bowhunters being treated like red-headed stepchildren! Just a different verse.Yeah I could cut and copy this posting and send it to Austin but all they would do is forward it to Ruthven.Basically a waste of time in other words.

[Flint knapper]

buzzcut, I guess you and I will just have to agree to disagree.

As I said before I've been there when any buck was a leagal buck and it got to the point that very few bucks of any kind were even seen much less harvested.

I'd rather get out there and put in my time trying to find a legal buck, of which may or may not be considered a trophy, than to harvest the first spike or four pont that I saw.

You see there is a reason that our sport is called bowhunting and not bow killing!

Good luck

[donpablo]

Seen 'em

The two years I was blessed enough to hunt Matador I saw big Mule deer. The first year my buddy blew an easy 30 yard shot at a gorgeous 6 pointer and the next year I found myself in a 60 yard staring contest with a great 8 pointer with a nice ravine between us. That's the year I found out that the Bucks don't always like predator calls. I tried to follow but couldn't find him again. I'm certain that if I had been more careful or cautious, if I'd have only seen him first I could have snuck around and shot him. The year before I began deer hunting there I discovered the place during the archery hog hunt. That year we saw a lot of muley bucks (some 4's and 6's). But my brother stalked into bow range on a nice 10. Unfortunately it wasn't a deer hunt and he didn't even have a camera to shoot it with. But that was when you could roam the place freely. Being restricted to a pasture seems an exercise in futility. If you wanna see big muley's, very quietly and slowly scour the ravines and drainages. I bet you'll see some monsters. Buzzcut, if you go there for hogs, check it out and I bet you'll see them. But I have to agree that the powers that be have killed our chances of shooting the big ones. However I don't think it's the antler restrictions but the mobility restriction.

[Flint knapper]

When the guys at matador first started the hunting by conpartment, I was at first upset, but then I remembered all the times that I was in the finnal stages of a stalk on a nice buck only to have some guy try and beat me to the punch. Every time all that the other hunter did was to run the deer off and out of the area with neither of us getting a shot.

I even had one guys hollering on his radio where I could hear him across the canyon "IT'S A SHOOTER, IT'S A SHOOTER" as he ran to cut me off from the buck.

So yes the hunting by conpartment can cut both ways, some good and some bad. But I'd rather have an area that I had to myself than to have a bunch of guys running all the deer off that I'm trying to stalk.

[donpablo]

hogs

Flint Knapper, do you do the hog hunt?

[Flint knapper]

Yes, I usually show up for at least a couple of days.

[donpablo]

Chrysler

Were you there the year my brother and I went up there in an old black Chrysler New Yorker? We came across a road that didn't have a 4X4 only sign and realized after slowly manuevering up and down a few canyons that the sign must have been misssing. Of course after successfully making it through the enire road we decided that if we could do one we could do them all. And we did. Not many people saw hogs on that hunt but they did get to see one of the funniest sights I imagine ever graced such beautiful country.

[Jerry D]

Flint Knapper, Are you a school teacher? If so, I met you several years back at Matador. I camped under the mulberry tree alongside Kenny, Stan and those crazy old men Henry and Charlie! I believe you and your father were in the big motor home.

I agree with you on all accounts. It is much better than it used to be. I didn't get drwn this year for the first time and I sure missed it.

[Flint knapper]

I teach science at the local Junior high in Olney.

That was dad and me in the motor home.

Charlie and Henrie both live in Wichita Falls. I see Charlie on occasion. He's gotten pretty good at making flint arrowheads.

[boss bowman]

Even for a veteran mule deer/bowhunter.I would be curious to know how many "legal" muleys have been harvested since they implemented the restrictions.

We asked one of the other hunters that when I was there. He said the last time he was drawn (don't remember the year he said, it was probably like 5 years ago) there were and 8 and a 10 shot during their bowhunt both monsters, in addition he said he stalked and shot a 9 but never found it, and there was another 8 that was shot and lost. He could have been full of bs though because all that was taken when I was there were some hogs and one whitetail doe.

[donpablo]

Compartment

So do the compartments (combined) include the entire area? Can you still access those canyons & drainages?