davidmil

After reading Justins thread about giving up his lease... and having just watched a TV show from the Tecomate Ranch I just have to say it. I'm sorry, but watching Dave Morris sit in a Texas platform box blind, picking over a hundred deer or more just doesn't do it for me. They have man made water holes just for the deer. He says 1 for every 140 acres or something like that. He says they built 45 on the ranch. Then he went into all the food plots, not for harvest, strictly for deer. And then he showed all the trough feeding stations for more antler growth. And then he proceeds to tell us they have low pressure hunting.... limited hunts so the deer aren't pressured or nervous. What he's really saying is.... they're just dang tame critters. And he eye balls these deer at 250 yards with his scope and says, "OH, he's only 4 1/2... OH... that ones 6 1/2. We don't shoot them unless they're 6 1/2. Give me a break... he doesn't know if it's 6 1/2 or 5 1/2 unless the deer have names. And so he selects one from "The herd" and "harvest" it. YUK First thing he does is start measuringand talking "BOOK".But in reality he was talking book before he pulled the trigger. But then, that's exactly what he's doing, growing horns so he can shoot them. He did see one monster body deer, much bigger than the one he shot. He said, "Oh, he's 6 years old, but he's got a busted horn so we won't shoot him. We only shoot quality animals". And there you have it, QDM at it's finest. I'm sorry folks, I don't really call that hunting. The only thing missing is a collar and a fence. Of course, the fence is there, they just didn't show it. I'm not impressed with his hunting skills to say the least. His only virtue as a shooter is he has money to do it. I don't call it hunting at all.... it's strictly shooting. He's missing so much.

idahoelkinstructor

David, I agree, its not hunting its just shooting. Heck I have seen some herds of beef cows that were a bit on the wild side that could offer more of a challenge than some of these caned hunts.

TEmbry

to each his own, i wouldnt hunt this way either, but i dont condemn someone for doing it. i have a negative feeling towards high fence ranches, but if you hunt in texas, odds are the ranch is fenced in, just the way it is, as i understand it to be anyway. if you look at the size of these ranches, the animals are far from being in pen, unless 20,000 acres is a pen. i can see both sides of the fence, but do to how he feeds and raises these deer ill have to agree with you on this one.

you might of stirred up a good debate here, we wil have to see.

i saw a ranch in iowa whose name ill leave out, but the guy who featured it in his hunting show went there and literally made me sick. they interviewed the owner and he openly admitted introducking "trophy" buvks into the herd during the late summer for the genetics, but promises they arent introduced simply to be shot. anyway during the hunt, he passed on 9 B&C deer before shooting a 140 class deer due to his wallet couldnt afford these bigger deer. his friend ended up shooting this deer they called stickers which netted over 200. and to top it off, one of those B&C bucks walked by the shooting house at 3 yards and they were just sitting there laughing but the deer didnt run. NOT HUNTING WHATSOEVER IN THIS CASE.

TJF

While it wouldn't be my cup of tea either to grow my deer... each their own.

We do however scout and hunt buckswith a certain score in mind. In that way I am no different then he is. The bucks herehave to survive the hard way to make it to maturity. I've shot enough young bucks in years past and we have ample does to fill the freezer. 150 - 160 Gross scored 5/6 ptsbucks are top of the line here. 135 to 150 Gross scored 4 pts are top of the line. These buckhave to bemature to score this well. That's what interests me.

Targetting certain bucks interest me.

While this might not be your cup of tea, it is mine. Since I hunt to makeme happy...tough if you or anyone elsedoesn't like it. Iwould thinkyou wouldfeel the same since you should be hunting to make you happy.

Tim

SteveBNy

Tim - what you do is hunting.
The farm David described is not.

Steve

GMMAT

If the ONLY criteria is antler size.......Call me a "farmer", too. I have raised "my" "standards", now......having taken a deer of only 100", last Winter. Will my next deer HAVE to be bigger than that one? Nope, but he'll have to meet "my" standards. A LOT of deer that were in jeapordy of being shot are now "safe" in the woods "I" hunt.

I have NO problems with ANY deer that ANYONE takes. If that animal makes THAT INDIVIDUAL happy......then I'll be happy for them. I'll take your photo and congratulate you on your kill. More power to ya!

Do I.....secretly....out of the public eye.....have a problem with deer "ranchers"? No. I see it for what it is, though. Do I condone it? Sure. it is what it is. Is it for ME? The fence probably negates that......but I'll support your right to take game in a legal manner with my words and $$.

David...I fully understand how you feel. No doubts.

TROPHYHUNTER25

the big problem is that there are alot of hunters out there that will pay the big bucks for big bucks. untill we can change that it won't change. but we all want big deer so we do what we can by creating food plots. ever check out an outfitter that has people from tv hunt there. notice they shoot some monsters and the average hunter shoots a 140.

njbuck22

We can argue this till we are blue in the face, its not going to change anything. QDM is here to stay, nothing that can be done about it. Millions upon millions of dollars are at stake and thats just the simple facts. Do i agree with QDM, well i have planted small food plots and done other small "improvements" to my properties that i hunt. Did i do this to help the herds overall health, i guess, but the main reason was to try to shoot larger racks. No mind you the biggest property i hunt is 50 acres bordering 300 acres of public land. The deer come and go, but who knows maybe its making a difference.I see no problem with the average joe who loves to hunt deer and wants to harvest larger deer to to to do anything they can, but i agree David, what you described is hunting. Sounds just like fishing in hatchery to me. This debate will never go away though.

huntingson

David, I agree with what you said 100% right up to the point where you blame his actions on QDM. QDM is about AGE and sex ratiosnot antler size, so he is not practicing QDM. He is, as you put it, farming for antlers. There is a big difference.

davidmil

What you guys are doing Tim, GMMAT etc is no way or shape the same as the Tecomate Deer Farm. And you know I didn't mean that kind of hunting so don't try to start something. And besides that, your deer can move out if they get pressured. I find the totaly farming and feeding of the deer to be far from hunting. It's nothing but a penned in herd that is culled and groomed and fed more nutrients in a year than any normal deer would get in a lifetime. And why do they do it, so they can say that GOT the Big ONE. I'm sorry, that's not hunting.