Butch,
I'll start by saying that I've never lived in Texas. I grew up in Colorado, still live in Colorado and truly can't believe I'll live anywhere else. Still I agree with you about Texas hunting, the 'average' Texas hunter, and the poor experience that anyone hunting over bait has, and in many cases don't realize how poor it is.
Colorado to the west and east of the front range is still only marginally populated. The land is wild and rough, and opening day many areas in Colorado see only 1 hunter for every 2 or 3 square miles, though the deer population is many times that. Especially in the north east sandhills one might spend days hunting on private land (which is basically open to the public as long as you ask the landowner) and not see a single other hunter. Or a deer for that matter.
My former boss owned a several thousand acres of irrigated farmland and much, much more in grassland. He had one year while I was in college an associate up from Texas, one that wished to hunt in Colorado for a 'big mulie' but who had no experience hunting outside of a stand and over bait. I was given the opportunity to guide the associate around for a little bit of money, something that I enjoyed immensely and wish I could do for a full time job. To say that it was an experience for him to truly get out and truly 'hunt' deer for the first time would be an understatement. He couldn't believe the number of deer, and the size we seen even though we weren't glassing as he had seen in a couple hunting programs, it was late in the season, and we were moving more or less at random as far as he could tell. Still there was a method behind our movements. I'm not a 'big' deer hunter myself, but I've seen enough big mulies while out stomping around for pheasant that I know what they like, ie water close to a cornfield and most typically an alfalfa field nearby.
After three days of traipsing around he was beginning to get a little annoyed that I wouldn't let him take a shot at the 'big' deer we were seeing. Little did he know that the six and eights pointers we were seeing were a little on the small side. Day four I was scouting around a water tank for tracks and came across some really massive prints heading up into a really rough set of hills. We decided to follow them and after an hour of scouting, tracking, and humping over some impassible to vehicle sand hills we were looking on a mulie from 75 yards that had an impressive 9 point rack. After what the hunter said was the most adrenaline pumped shot he had ever made, and a beautiful hit, we had the 'pleasure' of carrying the carcass back out, all 375lbs of it. Which was more work than the entire hunt, luckily plastic tarps drag well over stand and grass.
I'm told that that hunter has refused to hunt anything over bait, including during one Canadian black bear hunt, because he had decided after that one experience that he trully wanted to experience 'fair chase' on each and every hunt.
Now determining what 'fair chase' truly is, is another question. There needs to be a line, but like most ethical lines it is not a clear cut one.
Is setting decoys and using calls to draw in game birds like doves, turkey, ducks and geese included in 'fair chase' in my mind? Yes. Conversely is groundshooting birds 'fair chase'? In the case of running pheasant (because in a given year I may never actually see a flying bird in my area) and turkey, I'd say yes.
Using scent and calls for deer and elk? Sure, since you aren't 'training' the game to come to the same place every day, at the same time, I'd say that this is in the spirit of 'fair chase'. Now hunting over bait that is spread every day at precisely 9AM or over a block of salt that you placed and you know the deer use? Gray area here. Hunting a watering hole or a bedding area? Once again gray, depending on the conditions in the area I may or may not do this.
If the only big game 'hunting' you have ever done is over bait, then you've never really hunted. A person IMHO doesn't really know what hunting is until you've tracked the animal down, slowly stalked within firing range, and taken the game. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes from knowning that 'I did this' that one doesn't get from sitting in a stand, waiting for something to walk up so you can shoot it.
YMMV