Is this where muzzleloading is going?!

[QuietTexan]

I'm guilty, I never had a flat tire as he was growing up. Just assumed he knew. He had never seen it done. So yep, I'm guilty as charged. You teach your kids how it was done?

Can't project everything they might need to know. My dad never taught me how to deal with a tow truck driver, I for sure called him when I needed one for the first time in my life last year.

Mainly because he's retired so he has more free time to deal with all their BS than I do. No one can grind through administrative BS quite as hard as a bored old man with nothing better to do Old age and treachery beat youth and skill every time.

 

[CMP70306]

I'm not going to argue about this.
This is my answer

Someone is always going to be upset!

I am curious to see what will happen in the future though, we are down to 844,000 hunters, the lowest on record back into the 50's. With the doe tag limits removed and archers killing more bucks the harvests seem to be holding steady but I wonder what they will do when that starts to slip if the downward trend continues.

 

[birddog 68]

I am curious to see what will happen in the future though, we are down to 844,000 hunters, the lowest on record back into the 50's. With the doe tag limits removed and archers killing more bucks the harvests seem to be holding steady but I wonder what they will do when that starts to slip if the downward trend continues.

They will probably just increase the number of doe tags again.
Unfortunately the amount of youngsters interested in hunting is going down fast and the older ones are passing away. There was a influx of women joining the ranks but I think that has leveled off the last couple years.
They will have to extend season's to possibly a 3 or 4 week rifle season to get the numbers they want.
It'll be interesting!

 

[CMP70306]

They will probably just increase the number of doe tags again.
Unfortunately the amount of youngsters interested in hunting is going down fast and the older ones are passing away. There was a influx of women joining the ranks but I think that has leveled off the last couple years.
They will have to extend season's to possibly a 3 or 4 week rifle season to get the numbers they want.
It'll be interesting!

Covid brought back some hunters in 2020 but that's been completely reversed now. We were losing about 25,000 a year after the removal of the concurrent season so adding that back seems to have stemmed it a bit as we only lost an average of 17,000 per year since then.

I was thinking the flintlock to inline after Christmas would be the low hanging fruit then possibly combine bear and deer the weekend before Thanksgiving and run deer season for three weeks.

They have pretty much run out of days to expand archery and they don't seem keen on adding any type of firearm opportunity during archery so I imagine the harvest would have to drop really far before we see anything earlier than that.

 

[ENCORE]

MI only allows black powder or commercially produced synthetic black powder even during the limited deer zone firearm season. This definition does help restrict to a certain degree.

View attachment 484542

If the MI guys don't start harvesting more whitetail, they'll allow smokeless.

 

[Rosebud]

Can't project everything they might need to know. My dad never taught me how to deal with a tow truck driver, I for sure called him when I needed one for the first time in my life last year.

Mainly because he's retired so he has more free time to deal with all their BS than I do. No one can grind through administrative BS quite as hard as a bored old man with nothing better to do Old age and treachery beat youth and skill every time.

One of the reasons the world is doomed. Not enough Dad's in young mens lives today. World without dads is headed for big time trouble.

 

[PBramble]

One of the reasons the world is doomed. Not enough Dad's in young mens lives today. World without dads is headed for big time trouble.

The other reason is people like me. DINKs I believe we are referred to. Lots of people not having kids these days too.

 

[Muddyboots]

If the MI guys don't start harvesting more whitetail, they'll allow smokeless.

Be better if MI went back to 2 full week season that provides 3 full weekends for hunters. Plus stop the stupid of using any firearm in muzzleloading seasons.

 

[QuietTexan]

Unfortunately the amount of youngsters interested in hunting is going down fast and the older ones are passing away.

Our problem is there's essentially zilch for public lands in Texas, so even if there's a ton of interest it's getting to only be available for the mega-rich or people who inherit land. $10k+ in lease fees isn't realistic for most people, at that level the lease has to be your primary/only hobby to drop $1k a month on access only. So much land is locked up and subdivided into ranchettes and hobby farms that there are places the deer are like rats but no one can shoot them.

 

[LRNut]

Our problem is there's essentially zilch for public lands in Texas, so even if there's a ton of interest it's getting to only be available for the mega-rich or people who inherit land. $10k+ in lease fees isn't realistic for most people, at that level the lease has to be your primary/only hobby to drop $1k a month on access only. So much land is locked up and subdivided into ranchettes and hobby farms that there are places the deer are like rats but no one can shoot them.

You can go on a guided hunt every for 10K - two deer hunts. I never have understood the whole deer lease thing anyway - at the end of the day, you can't improve the land - hell, you can't even count on having access after your lease expires.

 

[birddog 68]

Our problem is there's essentially zilch for public lands in Texas, so even if there's a ton of interest it's getting to only be available for the mega-rich or people who inherit land. $10k+ in lease fees isn't realistic for most people, at that level the lease has to be your primary/only hobby to drop $1k a month on access only. So much land is locked up and subdivided into ranchettes and hobby farms that there are places the deer are like rats but no one can shoot them.

Luckily we have a good amount of public land here especially in the northern part of the state.
I remembered hearing about leasing hunting land in Texas and thought it was crazy. And now it's common in just about every state as far as I know.
There's a few older farmers in my area that will allow you to hunt with just a knock on the door and some friendly BS. (Some venison hot sticks help also)