Dan's Question of the Week

[Dan Schmidt]

Hi everyone,

This is going to be a precursor to a feature we will have on the new ddh site coming this summer. Wanted to get the ball rolling here to get everyone thinking.

Each week, I'm going to post a question here and let you all chime in with your thoughts. It's open-ended. I want honest, from your gut answers. There is no right or wrong answer. Healthy debate is encouraged. Name-calling is not.

From the pages of the August issue, which you will be receiving in the mail soon:

"Whether you have hunted there or not, when you think of Texas deer hunting, what comes to mind?"

[4khorn]

The only thing I have to go by is what I have seen on TV and hunting videos, and that has left a sour taste in my mouth when it comes to Texas Hunting. It seems like all they do is bait and shoot bucks out in the open with rifles from 300 yards. Not hardly what I would consider hunting having grown up bowhunting the hardwoods of Illinois. I will say this though, with all of the open country in Texas, it would make bowhunting a bit more challenging, and I can respect the feat of getting a deer close enough to take with a bow no matter where the hunt takes place.

[Goose]

Feeders, rifles, nice bucks, lots of deer, and stands mounted on trucks! AND camouflaged cowboy hats.[:D]

[Dan Salmon]

[ol][*]The caliber of buck shot is directly proportional to the amount of money that just vacated your wallet.
[*]Puny little deer with big horns. 
[*]Ahh, the joyous sound of corn rattling out of a timed feeder.[*]I hunt out of state because I can't afford another mortgage just to be able to hunt deer.[/ol]

[wiqdma]

I have two thoughts.... one is the real beginning of deer management and age classes and genetics.
 The second is that it is really close to hunting in a fence!

[Goose]

wiqdma- You bring up a great point. Texas has and continues to have a major impact on research and management.

[Woods Walker]

First thought?
 
"Rich man's game farm"

[Everyday Hunter]

Thin antlers with long tines.

Steve

[Marc Anthony]

To sum it up...ranch and a fence.

Many of the ranches in Texas have been stocked with Illinois fawns. They don't get the nutritional value from living in Illinois but they can get the genetics. Many of our local deer farms here in Illinois raise deer just to supply many of the Texas game ranches.

[retiredsailor]

First thought......many high fenced areas.
Next thought......deer leases and nice racks are a secondary cash-crop for most larger ranchers and land-holders.
(In some cases, it may even be the main source of revenue.)
Probably some nice deer, since various forms of QDM are generally practiced in TX.
As someone mentioned above, some interesting deer research comes out of Texas.
Lived there for some 6 years and did not hunt at all.........refused to pay huge sums
for what I could do in the mountains of West Virginia for the simple cost of a season
license.
Am once again back in the mid-Atlantic area and hunting those beautiful WV mountains.
Big deer in WV? Nope. Not many; however, some years ago a realized that what I sought
in deer hunting had very little to do with antler size or scores. It's the experience that
matters.......to me.

Good question. Looking forward to your future weekly topics