I agree with the doe/buck harvest deal, that would help as well...

In the area/region I hunt (DeWitt, Goliad, Victoria and Jackson County) there are a butt load of does...

I hunt in one of the counties that will be affected next season. My lease is 5K acres. Have had a restriction in place for years that bucks must be 14" or better. In nine years, I've only seen four bucks that size and killed one. Maybe I ain't a great hunter, but judging by the sign out book, I ain't alone in my woes for a big buck.
Not sure how this law will affect the size but I bet it will cut the buck harvest down a lot.

Yah, that would have to be a huge con in the deal, not seeing bucks over the spread minimum...

Until the buck/doe ratio gets closer, your just probably not going to see better bucks! Probably not even MORE bucks than you are seeing now!
It is hard for some people to believe but, (generally speaking)the LESS does you have, the more DEER you will see!
Since there are generally more does than bucks in nature, its not rocket science to figure out that if you kill one buck, and one doe, or NO does at all, the buck population is going to be getting thinner! Thinner buck population, = younger bucks, and less reason for the bucks to keep on the move!
Take them does when they let you!

Here is a link to the study. It is a good thing if you want to shot a bigger buck. If you only want meat why not just shot a doe?



http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/game_management/deer/antler_restrictions/


Looks like prior to the change the percentage of bucks 3.5 or older was about 20%....After the change had a chance to take root...65% It all looks good from here.

-john

I guess I'm different than most. Not only do I not have
a lease (and so must hunt public land) I have only a few
days during the season I can hunt. I also have no desire
to hang a dead animal on the wall of my house (I have no ill
feeling or problem with those that do, I just don't want it
myself).
My real headache is all this "just shoot a doe" talk. I'd LOVE
to shoot a doe, I'd love to shoot 3 does, heck I'd shoot nothing
BUT does. Problem is, the counties within reasonable driving
distance with public hunting are buck ONLY!! ONE BUCK ONLY!!.
AH, this season TPWD did add 4 doe days to the county but
this was for private/leased property. Add to that it was during
Thanksgiving weekend which might work for some but did'nt for
me. This in a county where MLD permits are passed out in
numbers high enough for at least 1 ranch directly adjacent
to the public land advertises day hunts, $50.00 to hunt, $150.00
to shoot a doe. I don't always think things thru real well but to
me this just does not make sense.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, TPWD managing the deer
based on antler sizeis nothing more than TROPHY mangagement.
All I hear any time and anywhere QDM or deer herd managment is
talked about is antler size, width, points and mass. These
restrictions will not ever give me or those like me a better chance
to put venison in the freezer. And until that happens IMHO this
is going in the WRONG direction.

If you made it this far, thanks for listening.
You may now return to your QDM.

PK

Well all I know to tell you to do is to either save up a little money and get a lease or make friends with folks that own some land......

Now go back and read the study again and you will find that the harvest numbers only went down the first year. After that they either met or exceeded the long term harvest average. This plan does not decrease your chance of a buck. Also with the new proposed changes it will now increase your chance at a buck because the one buck counties will now turn into a 2 buck county (1 over the restrictions and one spike). I am still having problems seeing any negative from the prgram.

-john

not if they handle it like they do the fishing, i have measured and remeasured fish to be sure they kept for tournament weigh-ins only, all are released, once on a famous texas lake gw comes up and wants to check my fish, i give him one he hands it back, i give him the second and he turns and puts it in the water, i get very very irate, he ask if i would have rather had a citation, the fish was 21" measured in accordance to tp&w standards, not even a 1/32 short but this j/a took it upon himself to be judge and jury( he never fanned the tail or anything)[:@],like i said i wouldn't count on tp&w cuttin me any slack, i still ended up in 7th in the tournament, but that legal fish cost me about 400 in winnings, up till that day i had the utmost respect for the gw's, but know i realize some of em go to school to become real "professionels" not all but a few


BTW the spread law soundsbad to me

Oh, OK. I'll just go out and spend a couple grand (min)
for the opportunity to hunt a few days a season. Thanks
for the advice, I never thought of that.
("Let them eat cake" comes to mind for some reason.)

I've read, and on your advice re-read the studyand still
see nothing that convinces me this is anything, not a thing
more than antler (trophy) management.
Where does it show how this will increase anyones
chance to put meat in the freezer?
Who benefitsother than trophyhunters wanting to force ALL hunters
to huntin waystobenefit their goals? Show me
how this is going to help the entire deer herd population
when the ONLY stipulation is based on ANTLER SIZE/SPREAD?

As I've said, I'm different than most here. But I'm not
convinced I'mwrong or alone in my thinking, maby just
on an internet huntingforum.

Thanks for the input.
PK

How does it sound bad? The havest is the same, the deer are just bigger. I repeat how is that bad?

-john