Did MLD ruin opening day in Texas

[Dale Moser]

Its absolutely about extra time to manage the herd. We're a bow only lease, and there's no way you could kill the amount of deer we need to without the extra time.

You don't NEED to kill that many, you CHOSE to me MLD. You also CHOSE to be "bow only".

[Chance Love]

Man, lots of hate in this thread. And I kinda got roped into it in an earlier post, so let me say this... OP, Opening weekend has always been a big deal in our family. We do the whole get the kids out of school early thing every year. Most years we do it Opening of bow season and Opening of general season. It has not become any less special for us. But we choose to make it a big deal, which I think is important. It is what you make it. My kids are fortunate to be able to hunt both MLD and non-MLD places. And not once ever has that come up when planning or talking about Opening weekend. The kids are just happy to get to go hunting. Seems like it takes a bunch of whiny, grown men to complain (about something that has no affect on them) in order for a special weekend to become less special.

If you are on a lease that has to kill 150 does and 50 cull bucks and you think it is a pain in the a#$, then here's a suggestion. Why not open up your lease for a weekend or two for all the guys on here that don't have a place to hunt or are not lucky enough to get on a lease and let then come in an shoot a doe or cull buck. Sounds like a win-win to me. Because now, if you shoot 150 does, what do you do with all the meat ? Are you going to tell me that you skin 150 does every year and only keep the meat from one or two. Or do you just shoot them and let they lay ?

Well I can promise out of those 150 does, there will be quite a few nubbins shot. And no telling how many times you would hear "Oh...I thought it was a cull". I've been involved with MLD ranches since MLD started (I think). My lease is MLD. We usually have to kill 30-35 does, and around 20 bucks. My family will eat 5-6 deer each year. the rest we give away. Most of those we will just gut them and we have folks in town that will come get them. That's pretty much how it works on EVERY ranch I've been involved with. Nobody lets those deer lay.

[Montec man]

You don't NEED to kill that many, you CHOSE to me MLD. You also CHOSE to be "bow only".

If we want to have a healthy, well balanced herd we do need to kill that many according to a state biologist.

[Take Dead Aim]

didn't say it would be easy, but it can be done. Again, don't get me wrong, I am all for MLD. But pretending the extended season was for management purposes is a joke. that was to give outfitters a chance to have more hunts, plain and simple.

Well I don't sell hunts so and would like them killed prior to the rut. Luke to tell me how to do that in less than 30 days?

[Bayouboy]

Don’t forget. Not only do MLD get to start early with rifles. We also finish later. Don’t forget to gripe about that

[Etxbuckman]

They're going to have to go to shorter seasons here like other states eventually for low fence if the population keeps going up like its been.

Or make the bag limit 1 buck in AR counties, which they should've done already. There's no reason to kill yearling spikes.

Reading what a lot of other MLDP hunters are saying is kind of eye opening. Like it makes me jealous. We've got almost 2500 acres in Trinity and got 7 buck and 9 doe permits this year (and for the 2 years preceeding). We don't lack for does so it kinda makes me scratch my head. I guess the problem we do have is some our members flat seem to not want to shoot them, so maybe that hurts us.

Don’t forget. Not only do MLD get to start early with rifles. We also finish later. Don’t forget to gripe about that

They always seem to forget that part. Probably because they're not worried about killing anything before those evil rifle hunters get to it.

[88 Bound]

Maybe not for you. But for me and I'm sure a lot of others, it absolutely is needed. Hunting time is limited by work, family stuff, life, ect. We need the time. To suggest otherwise when you are not involved with that particular ranch is simply narrow-minded.



Geez, Will. Maybe I do suck as a hunter. Maybe not. But I have killed one or two in my lifetime. It's more about the management, not the hunting. Has absolutely zero to do with bringing in paid hunters. On our lease, killing does is pretty tough. We need the time. Same as above, it's pretty narrow-minded to suggest you know more about how to manage our place than we do. And I'm glad you had a couple weekends one year where you were able to shoot a lot of does. If you knew how many of those weekends I've had over the years, you might not make some of these comments.

Great response, and more tactful than mine would have been. Everyone is an expert for situations they know nothing about.

[Geezy Rider]

Wow, never knew this was an issue. I’ve never even hunted on an MLD ranch so it’s never been a problem for me.
Being a simple man is so stress free.

[super_dave]

Nope. Cell phones did.
Remember dominos and hold em, and campfire stories.


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[buzzbait]

MLD here at the house. pew pew

[Encinal]

First off I am a big mld fan, however I was talking to a friend the other day and I told them I really miss opening weekend pre mld. When I was a kid first Saturday of November was a holiday. All the teachers all the kids would talk about it all week then on that next Monday the few successful hunters would show off their kills. Now at least here in East Texas every club makes their own rules when to start and there is no big special day for everyone. Even for those of us who bow hunted ( sure was nice not to hear gunshots all day during bow season) felt that first day of general season was special. Sometimes I just miss the simpler times pre cell phone back when a corn feeder was a 5 gallon bucket with a stick in a hole in the bottom the deer bumped for corn

Are you just as excited for Christmas and your birthday as you were as a kid.

It's about you. Not MLD.

[Bayouboy]

Nothing says excitement like that first.... stanky finger

[DedDuk]

Nothing says excitement like that first.... stanky finger

Can think of 1 or 2 things.....

[Snowflake Killa]

I agree with you not the same. That was part of the reason to bow hunt to get a jump

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[Javelin]

Are you just as excited for Christmas and your birthday as you were as a kid.

It's about you. Not MLD.

It is not about me, how is it about me that now that for the most part schools and communities dont celebrate opening day as they once did, its because there is not an opening day as there once was. Many of you are arguing that you individually still do things yea so do I, thats not my point. My point is as a whole it is not the same, as a community. Our radio station used to play 30 point buck all day long friday before season, now they may only do it one time if that. There would be excitement throughout town.

PS yes I am still as excited for Christmas as I was as a kid, and i never did much celebrating for my birthday to begin with.