Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Losing A Deer Lease

This group may be in danger of losing their lease.

Looks like it was a pretty good place to hunt,and you guys are apparently pretty good shots too.What time is lunch?

Can you say photoshopped...nice deer though

Oh, no. Surely it's one of those oak-white pine forests with native caribou.

LOL Theo, I love your sense of humor...

Even the smallest buck is a nice one in my book! If it isn't photoshopped it must be one heck of a large lease to support that many mature bucks...

It is just a typical high fenced ranch shoot the one you can afford tied up in the lot corn fed 2 buck county lease in Texas. Looks like they all got their limit.

I went through something like that. 3 guys from UT, one gun, 7 bucks in 36 hours. Ice storm came through and froze them solid. Real funny watching them get them all in a Suzuki Samurai with their gear and themselves. One guy had to sit on them in the back . It was night and snowing so we could not get a pic. That was the last time we ever split a lease with a non family member. I have seen cull hunts on big high fenced ranches with pics like that, though. You should see a doe harvest on a new high fenced ranch sometime. Texas pretty much lets you do anything you want if you high fence and have a management plan.

In my mind, all I can think of is -- what a gut pile!

Yes and no. I fully agree that a "hunt" on a 50-acre high fenced "ranch" with pen-raised deer (just to show it off on your wall) is unethical.

However, Texas does allow MLD (Managed Lands-Deer) permits to be used on certain properties. Yes, this does prolong the season and allow hunters to take more than the number of deer provided for their county under a normal license. But there are also a lot of other restrictions. Basically, the landowner has to conduct deer surveys and follow harvest reccomendations provided by a biologist. This information is given to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) which then issues the permits. When harvesting an animal, the permit holder records data on the animal (age, sex, weight, etc.) and places a tag on the animal. Participating landowners are also required to implement brush management, food plots, and general manipulation of the land to better the herd and so on.

Here's my $.02:

MLDPs are a great way to manage your herd and find out what you have running around on the land. I don't have personal experience on any lands I hunt on, but I know quite a few people who have MLD lands and I've seen the process at work. The beauty of it is that landowners do NOT have to participate. It is completely voluntary. IF you want the extended season and tailored harvest strategies, you follow the rules set by the TPWD. When done properly, it creates a healthier herd. Landowners who are uncomfortable with the idea can continue about their business and follow all of the normal hunting regulations.

Best of all, MLD implementation is free. It is not just a "rich man's" game to grow monster deer. Any landowner can use it so long as he/she jumps through TPWD's hoops.

Here is link to the TPWD site that has more info:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/permits/land/wildlife_management/mldp/

Whether it is true or not, what I read a while back about that picture (or it might have been a similar picture) is that they were going to lose their lease, and harvested the bucks before the lease ran out.