I highly doubt that the deer numbers in Texas have anyting to do with baiting being legal. I think that Texas being 90 some odd percent private land has a lot to do with it. Could it be that probably all of the law makers are land owners in Texas? Why is it legal to bait only on private property and not what little public land there is in Texas? Last time I hunted in Alabama baiting was not legal there but they have over two million deer in that state and it is no where near the size of 1/2 Texas. Texas could control the numbers if they allowed more than five deer per hunter in a season. Alabama allows one deer per day all season long.