What do you thinK TPWD is thinking allowing baited deer hunting.Do you think they have succumbed to all the lazy rednecks who are too lazy to stalk? .
Good questions, very good. What I think of TPWD is that they are a political arm of the government, and that some high political office holders above the TPWD hierarchy in the government of Texas were bought off by some land/lease owners in some manner - whether legal or not. It is the only way that I can understand why high fencing was allowed to become
"legal" - containing public propertry for private profit - thus TPWD does not carry very much in the way of what I consider "moral authority". Frankly they allow things that should not be allowed.
I also think that the whole thing of allowing hunting over bait just crept up on them, and us. It's not like it was a sudden thing, it just slowly evolved from landowerns figuring out what the market would let them do to maximize profits off of their lands. Additionally I don't recall ever using the term "rednecks"
, but hey you can call them as you see them!
I don't think that the deer in Texas ever had much pressure from natural predators and certainly don't these days. Automobiles probably kill more deer per annum than hunters, but I have no statistics on that to back me up. I don't think historically that there have been enough predators to ever keep up with Texas deer, or probably deer in any state - they are far more subject to environmental impacts, as in starving when there are too many.
Fire ants and Killer bees and even armadillos are all recent immigrants to Texas and have had some or no impact on deer. Fire ants have practically destroyed quail hunting in many areas though. I have no idea what to do about them.
I do think though that as reasoning and civlilized people that we can hunt deer in a sporting and ethical manner, and I believe that this does not include the use of mechanical feedes and deer fencing. Poachers are beneath contempt, unless they are struggling for survival, and I have no tolerance for them.
Am I knowledgeable enough about the entire situation? Doubtlessly not - but let me ask you to do some research - how many states make it expressly illegal to hunt deer over bait? In how many states is hunting deer over bait considered unethical by the general population of deer hunters? Is Texas fairly alone in this? And IF Texas is fairly alone in this, what does that mean?