Author: Tex Hunter

MLD permits. Love ’em or hate ’em, they have been a part of white-tailed deer hunting in Texas since 1996. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) started the Managed Lands Deer Permit (MLDP) Program to help landowners tackle burgeoning deer populations on private properties, but the program has become wildly popular with management-oriented landowners throughout the state.

TPWD has recently stated that about 10,000 properties participate in the MLDP Program. All those properties take a lot of resources, so the overwhelming success of the program has not come without a cost. Currently, the state prints all of the permits and mails them to participating landowners. Not sure how many permits the average property gets, but I’d be willing to be that TPWD uses A LOT of ink and paper, not to mention postage for those 10,000 envelopes each year.

The MLDP Program has gotten big. It’s taken on a life of its own. Now, it’s time to save money.

One of the cost-saving measures that TPWD is testing this year is to allow participating landowners to print their own MLD permits. Apparently, a small number of ranches across Texas volunteered to try the “print your own permit” option for the 2015-16 deer hunting season. This may get some hunters hot and bothered, but it sounds like a pretty good idea.

After all, like tags, MLD permits are nothing more than paper. The same opportunities for permit abuse that existed before will exist under the print-your-own-permit. Hey, if people can counterfeit money I don’t think it would be too difficult to counterfeit a permit. Besides, over the years I’ve hunted on a couple of ranches that participate in the MLDP program. They’ve all admitted that get more permits than they want to use, every year.

So circling back, TPWD created the MLDP program to assist landowners that want to manage the habitat and white-tailed deer found on their property. Most landowners have a vested interest in the health of the animals on their property. Will some hunters abuse the ability to print their own permits? Probably. Those guys are probably abusing it now, so that argument would be a moot point.

In short, anything that saves money sounds like a good deal. Better to reduce program costs than to increase fees. If you have any experience with a MLDP property that’s printing its own permits this year, leave a comment to let us all know how it goes. Hunting season will be here before you know it, so get those game cameras out!

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Deer Hunting The Passion, Not Deer Breeding

The hunting of white-tailed deer is a passion that many Texans share. Having grown up in a family of hunters, I shared many hours, days and years with my father, grandfather as well as other relatives chasing whitetail on a small tract of family land as well as a few deer leases (over the years) scattered across central Texas. The idea of harvesting a big buck was always high on my list of wants, but those much-waited hunting excursions were always about much more than just antlers.

Although we were lucky enough to tag some deer once in a while, the time that I was able to spend with friends and family while enjoying the outdoors is simply priceless. I can’t imagine not having had those times in my life. If you’re like me, then you probably feel the same way. I suspect most hunters reading this article probably learned much of what they know, at least initially, from a mentor. It was probably your dad or grandfather, but maybe even your mom or grandmother. I used to love hearing my great-grandmother talk about her trips with her 410 gauge. Yes, she referred to it as a four-hundred and ten gauge.

Deer Hunting: A Step in the Wrong Direction?

We can all look around and see that things have changed, deer hunting included. Well, the deer hunting industry sure has, and not just within the borders of Texas. When talking hunting, the words “big bucks” have taken on a whole new meaning ($$$). Although many have preferred to look the other direction, it’s been more than a little disturbing. Recently, in fact, the Boone and Crockett Club politely asked the commercial deer breeding industry not use their antler scoring system for marketing and selling deer.

Enter Texans for Saving Our Hunting Heritage (TSOHH) in 2014, a group that seeks to promote the values and tradition of sustainable, fair-chase hunting to all Texans, while exposing practices that threaten the perception and future of our sport. Late last year, a news release drafted by TSOHH hit the press and made some valid points regarding deer breeding and the release of pen-raised deer.

Big Deer Breeding Operations and Big Money

Source: “Deer breeding in Texas is a cottage industry backed by big dollars and focused on producing the biggest antlers. There are less than 1,300 deer breeders in the state and for the past decade, they have spent millions on lobbying efforts seeking more liberty with the people’s deer. Despite outcries from Texans and hunters alike, the breeders have gone largely unopposed.”

There is no question that a wedge has/is being driven between fair-chase hunters and commercial deer breeders operating within the confines of high fencing. I understand the desire for high fences because they do allow for increased management within deer herds, but a bucks raised in a 1/2 acre pen and then released just prior to being “hunted” is an entirely different matter. Most hunters can probably agree that a line must be drawn, but I suspect most of us will disagree on where exactly that line should be.

Save Deer Hunting, the Hunting Heritage

There is no easy answer here, especially since deer breeders within Texas have already used political strong-arming to exempt themselves from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s “Stocking Policy,” thus allowing them to liberate captive-raised deer into any size “pasture,” regardless of habitat availability. TSOHH takes issue with this concession, as well as other key points it seeks to address:

• End cavalier use of drugs and no safety net to protect human health — Extreme animal husbandry practices that are common in the deer breeding industry lend themselves to the use of a long list of pharmaceuticals. Very few of the commonly used drugs are labeled for white-tailed deer. There is no recognized authority that protects the consumer from potential drug residues in liberated breeder deer.
• The 10-Day Rule — Current law allows for captive-raised deer to be “hunted” just 11 days after they are liberated from captivity. This poses threats to food safety because of unknown pharmaceutical withdrawal intervals in liberated breeder deer and promotes a perception of “canned hunting.”
• More consumer protections and disclosures — There is currently no requirement for breeder deer to be clearly and visibly marked upon liberation into the wild. Deer hunters deserve transparency regarding the origin and potential pharmaceutical history of the deer they harvest.

South Texas is known for quality white-tailed deer. Each year, Texas hunters tag numerous big bucks in this part of the state, but unfortunately there is also some illegal deer hunting taking place in the region. Just this week, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has reported illegal hunting in Starr, Webb and La Salle Counties. Some deer were taking by road hunters and other by lease hunters that liberally interpreted property lines.

Five Deer Hunters in Starr County

While a Starr County game warden was on patrol, he came across an open gate leading to a ranch and decided to investigate. Upon entering the ranch, the warden spotted two vehicles and five people dressed in camouflage, standing around a hunting blind. At first the individuals said they were working on the ranch, but, after some questioning, admitted they were hunting. The warden followed the hunters down to where one of the hunters had shot an eight-point buck and helped the hunter load the deer. After further inspection, however, it was found that the hunter had marked the deer with a tag that expired in 2012 and also did not have a valid hunting license. The buck was seized and the meat was donated to a local family. Cases and civil restitution pending.

Webb County Illegal Whitetail Hunting

A Webb County game warden received a call from a landowner who believed someone poached a deer on his ranch. The warden arrived at the ranch and began to investigate the area. There, he found evidence of a deer being shot, a fence being cut and a deer dragged under the fence. The warden then went to the adjacent property to see if anyone was at the deer camp and to begin looking for evidence. There was no contact made at the camp, but the warden saw evidence of a deer that was recently processed at the cleaning station. The material used to repair the cut fence was also at the camp. After investigating further and talking to landowners plus the hunters leasing the property, one of the men said he had shot the deer on the neighboring property and cut the fence to retrieve the dead deer. Multiple cases pending.

La Salle County Buck Hunter

One evening, a La Salle County game warden set up on a back road near Los Angeles, Texas, where poaching activity was known to take place. Around 8:30 p.m. a slow moving truck made its way past the warden while shining a bright light. After following the vehicle for a short distance, the warden initiated a traffic stop. The two people in the car had a loaded rifle lying across their laps. A set of fresh deer antlers was also discovered in the bed of the truck. The two occupants were taken to jail for several Class A violations. A few days later, a deer carcass was discovered on a nearby ranch. The deer antlers from the truck bed matched perfectly. It was also discovered that one subject was a convicted felon. Felony charges are pending.