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    Originally posted by steven View Post
    I agree 100% Our east tx lease is MLD, and I understand that its something we willingly sign up for every year, but it sucks we may kill 5 bucks on 1700 acres, while we share a property line with an 11 acre tract that kills 3+ bucks every year. I get that people don't want more government interference in their lives, but I sure wish tags were determined for each property by its size across the entire state. The number of mature bucks would skyrocket if we didn't have so many small tracts being hunted by entire families whose main goal is to tag out every year.
    We had a similar situation. We ended up high fencing the neighbor out! At a certain point you have to consider/decide how much time and money your willing to donate to your neighbor....

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      Originally posted by corps2010 View Post
      I'm sure you realize it, but with only 1700 acres, invariably you're going to lose deer to the neighbors. You can't keep bucks on your low fence place with that small of acreage unless you fence it in.
      And I'm curious as to your interpretation of how tags would be designated to each landowner? One buck tag per 100? 200? 300? I believe TPWD gives you a buck tag for every 150 acres you have under MLD. How could you limit landowners who owned less than 150 acres?

      I fully understand and have no problem accepting that we're going to lose deer to neighbors. What bothers me is all the work we put in and rules we have to follow in a program designed by the state, while the 11 acres next door can throw up a wildgame innovations feeder in October and start blasting. We shoot roughly 1 buck per 340 acres while they get one for every 3.6. You'll never have consistent management when theoretically unlimited deer can be taken from a small location. Technically, every member on TBH could go in together and lease 100 acres and start trying to fill every tag they have. To answer your question, I think the tags should be given out on a per acreage basis by TPWD according to what biologist in each region suggest. On the smaller acreages you brought up, 1 buck tag per property per year would be way better than the system we have now.

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        Originally posted by c3products20 View Post
        We had a similar situation. We ended up high fencing the neighbor out! At a certain point you have to consider/decide how much time and money your willing to donate to your neighbor....
        Always love Seeing This reply

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          Lease prices & crazy rules are why I own my own place and put in for TPWD draw hunts.
          I see it as developing into what European hunting is .
          . For the rich and NOT the average

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            I'm a hunter, not a deer farmer.

            Thats why I like KS. Its like a box of chocolates. You never know what your gonna see/get next.

            And you shoot any deer YOU "like".

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              Originally posted by flywise View Post
              Always love Seeing This reply
              It's no different than asking your legislature to change the law in order to stop the neighbors from shooting "your" deer. Either way you are attempting to increase your harvest of more mature bucks on your property. Only difference between them is you control when and how it gets done, instead of the legislature, and you increase your property value.

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                Thanks Tom! I’m ready for some road trip hunts. Fill me in!

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                  I do not think killing less deer = more trophies.

                  Just as important as letting them grow up is managing your habitat for the carrying capacity.

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                    Always interesting to hear from the “ it’s brown it’s down guys “ and can’t eat horn soup

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                      Originally posted by c3products20 View Post
                      It's no different than asking your legislature to change the law in order to stop the neighbors from shooting "your" deer. Either way you are attempting to increase your harvest of more mature bucks on your property. Only difference between them is you control when and how it gets done, instead of the legislature, and you increase your property value.
                      And no different than asking them to force people to use a bow for 3 years (or any years).

                      I don't mean to make this into a pissing contest. We're reaching a point some hard questions have to be asked and addressed (lower harvest numbers, smaller properties with more hunters, etc.) but I absolutely do not believe going full-bore Midwest-style hunting methods is the answer.
                      Last edited by Etxbuckman; 06-29-2021, 11:20 AM.

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                        Seems to me some of you folks want to control how other people enjoy their time.
                        The reason the limits are what they are is because this state has millions of deer that need to be killed. Just because some folks decide to spend thousands feeding a wild animals does not mean someone who doesn’t is a problem and us peasants who long for that pizz ant 140 certainly ain’t the problem.

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                          Originally posted by Greenheadless View Post
                          I do not think killing less deer = more trophies.

                          Just as important as letting them grow up is managing your habitat for the carrying capacity.
                          I can only speak for the area I hunt but I can assure you, the carrying capacity of Nacogdoches county can increase to a lot more than what it is now. (most east tx counties for that matter). Timber management practices all throughout the Pineywoods are the biggest benefit/contributing factor for a higher carrying capacity/healthier deer herd...(i.e. selective thinning, prescribed burning, clearcutting, and BMP's all provide abundant amounts of first, second, and third choice browse within a deer's reach when feeding).
                          IMO, I believe Age is the limiting factor around here in us having more trophy potential than nutrition will ever be. (hence why I keep saying more deer will reach maturity if you have a longer archery season/shorter rifle season) You can feed them til your bankrupt, but if you kill everything that walks for 3 months during gun season, you won't ever see your area's true potential on a consistent basis.

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                            Its definitely not cheap but its what I enjoy. I love watching the same deer year after year on our low fence place and waiting for them to peak. I spend around 15k a year including feed but have killed a 151, 135, 153, and a 144 in the past 4 years in the hill country. My goal is a 170" low fence buck with my bow before I die. Being consistent is key and we rarely shoot any culls under 5 years old.

                            Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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                              I love big deer as much as anyone and I've thrown a large chunk of change at buying my own dirt and trying to raise big deer on it. I learned that you can't control what goes on on the other side of the fence from you. You simply do the best you can inside your own fence and let the cards fall where they may. Will you feed deer for years that the neighbor shoots? Absolutely, guaranteed. Will a neighbor shoot a deer that needed a year or two before maturity.....happens all the time. Can't worry about that. You do the best you can do on your place and that usually ain't cheap. But if you start doing the things that you cuss your neighbor for doing then you're just as bad as the neighbor.

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                                Originally posted by 12ring View Post
                                I'm a hunter, not a deer farmer.

                                Thats why I like KS. Its like a box of chocolates. You never know what your gonna see/get next.

                                And you shoot any deer YOU "like".
                                It’s a great place to hunt but get ready - it’s gonna be 1 out of 3 years successful tag draw by 2024 if you believe in statistics. The NR applicants are growing yearly by leaps and bounds. 64% success rate this year on drawing a tag. That means 36% have a point in 2022 and move to the front of the line. Assuming another increase in applicants as we’ve been seeing year after year it looks like the success rate for non point holders will be around 30% next summer.

                                Basically if you got a tag in 2021 enjoy it.

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