Its all about perspective!

[Uplander]

Im a farmer/rancher in texas who is being forced out by development. We are soon making a move to the missouri river breaks of montana. I read a lot on here about the issues with people shooting “small” 140-150” muley bucks. We have the same issues here and it used to bother me greatly! Ive come to the realization that the problem isnt the “once in a lifetime” guy who shoots an up and coming buck that has tons of potential and the memory stays with him forever. The PROBLEM is the guy who shoots the same class of deer every single year and throws them in a pile in the barn. Its generally the same type of guy who complains about not seeing any GOOD deer! Texas changed a lot when wildlife began being viewed as a resource rather than a nuisance by private landowners and its changed even more since many hunters have begun to embrace management over success. We now have antler restrictions on mule deer in the counties i have property. I know its a source of contention in the west but its made such a dramatic difference on deer quality and quantity here that it cant be ignored. Before, every out of town hunter would leave on closing day with a spike or forky in the bed of the pickup because its just not acceptable for many to pay money and not kill. Those times have changed and its been a blessing for the mule deer. Anyway, i guess my conclusion is not to hate on the guy who takes a 150” deer as HIS deer of a lifetime and is one and done. Hate on the guy who takes the same class of deer EVERY SINGLE YEAR because he cant stand to not kill something.
Thoughts?

 

[antlerradar]

Im a farmer/rancher in texas who is being forced out by development. We are soon making a move to the missouri river breaks of montana. I read a lot on here about the issues with people shooting “small” 140-150” muley bucks. We have the same issues here and it used to bother me greatly! Ive come to the realization that the problem isnt the “once in a lifetime” guy who shoots an up and coming buck that has tons of potential and the memory stays with him forever. The PROBLEM is the guy who shoots the same class of deer every single year and throws them in a pile in the barn. Its generally the same type of guy who complains about not seeing any GOOD deer! Texas changed a lot when wildlife began being viewed as a resource rather than a nuisance by private landowners and its changed even more since many hunters have begun to embrace management over success. We now have antler restrictions on mule deer in the counties i have property. I know its a source of contention in the west but its made such a dramatic difference on deer quality and quantity here that it cant be ignored. Before, every out of town hunter would leave on closing day with a spike or forky in the bed of the pickup because its just not acceptable for many to pay money and not kill. Those times have changed and its been a blessing for the mule deer. Anyway, i guess my conclusion is not to hate on the guy who takes a 150” deer as HIS deer of a lifetime and is one and done. Hate on the guy who takes the same class of deer EVERY SINGLE YEAR because he cant stand to not kill something.
Thoughts?

You are not wrong, Just remember that stuff that works in nearly all private Texas may not work well in Montana where there is a good mixture of private and Public.

 

[Uplander]

You are not wrong, Just remember that stuff that works in nearly all private Texas may not work well in Montana where there is a good mixture of private and Public.

Yes sir, i understand that. With texas being 95-97% private its certainly a different ball game, but it was still up to hunters and landowners to make many of the changes necessary to improve. If we werent such a selfish people in general, it would be much easier to do.

 

[Rack Daniels]

If we werent such a selfish people in general, it would be much easier to do.

While I do agree with the above sentiment; saying you’re from Texas, moving to Montana, and already thinking about how to make potential changes here, may be viewed differently by different folks. One of the biggest qualms i hear is out of towners voting the same way they did in their home state and those changes impact the western way of life… Good luck with the move. The breaks are a cool area. Hope you’re ready for the negative degree winters! Gets damned cold…

 

[Forkyfinder]

Im a farmer/rancher in texas who is being forced out by development. We are soon making a move to the missouri river breaks of montana. I read a lot on here about the issues with people shooting “small” 140-150” muley bucks. We have the same issues here and it used to bother me greatly! Ive come to the realization that the problem isnt the “once in a lifetime” guy who shoots an up and coming buck that has tons of potential and the memory stays with him forever. The PROBLEM is the guy who shoots the same class of deer every single year and throws them in a pile in the barn. Its generally the same type of guy who complains about not seeing any GOOD deer! Texas changed a lot when wildlife began being viewed as a resource rather than a nuisance by private landowners and its changed even more since many hunters have begun to embrace management over success. We now have antler restrictions on mule deer in the counties i have property. I know its a source of contention in the west but its made such a dramatic difference on deer quality and quantity here that it cant be ignored. Before, every out of town hunter would leave on closing day with a spike or forky in the bed of the pickup because its just not acceptable for many to pay money and not kill. Those times have changed and its been a blessing for the mule deer. Anyway, i guess my conclusion is not to hate on the guy who takes a 150” deer as HIS deer of a lifetime and is one and done. Hate on the guy who takes the same class of deer EVERY SINGLE YEAR because he cant stand to not kill something.
Thoughts?

You won't be able to manage much here for quality on your land provided it's a general area. They'll roam through public in November.

A 150" buck will get taken like it's the last chip of a shared bag in a crowded crew cab .

 

[JV842]

You won't be able to manage much here for quality on your land provided it's a general area. They'll roam through public in November.

A 150" buck will get taken like it's the last chip of a shared bag in a crowded crew cab .

I know it’s not Montana; which I do hunt w good friends that r born n bread in the Augusta area, but like my grandfather told me, “if u shoot em, they don’t have no chance”
I mainly hunt on family land in Texas; low fence, various sizes (50-900+acres) we used to shoot (‘70-80’s) any buck that had anything that could be considered a point, in the assumption that if I don’t, the neighbors would. Me n one of my uncles started hunting an area that no one else did n let pretty much everything go for years…yes bucks we knew n watched grow would jump the fence n get shot during the rut but the quality did go up 150”+ whitetails now compared to getting excited over 2 year old bucks.
So it can be done
We do have the problem that the OP has/had, the neighbors that shoot the “nice” bucks every year n throw the antlers on a pile and wonder why they never see a really good buck. It is frustrating when it happens but like my grandfather said, “if I shoot em, they don’t have no chance”