I know some will be happy. but has any one thought about what this is gonna do to the hog population. Another 20years of this chit & the deers gonna be on my back porch looking for a handout! Cause I forgot to fill my troughs. how did they ever make it with out us. Not mention every gw i know seems to think the way I do were fixing to see our deer population go even more nocturnal.

If we wanted to truly do what was best for the deer and deer hunters of this state then we would allow the biologists at the DCNR a chance to do the jobs they were hired and went to school to do. Instead we tie their hands behind there back and allow our direction to be dictated by a panel full of self interest groups concerned with promoting their own personal agendas. This is a flawed way we are doing business and is only leading us down the long tern path of abuse of power.

If this had anything to do with what�s best for out state�s deer herd then we would be taking a much more conservative approach toward feeding deer and make it completely illegal until more is found out about its links with disease spread. With the risk of disease spread from feeding still very much unknown and the risk for CWD moving into the south looming�.the health of the herd is just along for the ride with this decision. Feeding deer out of feeders and troughs is not a necessity and is only truly done for the luxury of the land owner. It poses great potential for long term problems and offers few long term benefits.

This is just one guys opinion but here is what I think all this stems from and the reason all this has even gotten started in the first place. The problem is that the original law, the one we have used up until now, was in itself poorly written and very grey. That was fine though for awhile because it was written like that on purpose so that some people who were in the position to do so, could take advantage of the clause by running feeders on their property year round and it be �ok� while for the rest of the hunting public it was still called baiting.

The problem is that the guy�s who were doing this had buddies who saw what was happening and started doing it and then they had buddies start doing it��. and before long you had people all over thinking that all you had to do was walk over the hill from the feeder and you were all good. You then started getting more and more guys asking�.�Can I do this too?� At this point people who were running feeders were either doing one of a few things�..either they were: 1) setting feeders up, winking twice and taking advantage of the clause 2) setting up feeders and just hoping it was legal from what they had heard�..never really knowing for sure�.or 3) People who set up feeders and out of ignorance of the law just think they are all good. This has become so widespread that people all over the state were asking questions and just wanted to know what was legal and what wasn�t.

That brings us to our current situation. The situation has gotten to such a point with people setting up feeders and the drumbeat of questions so loud that it has forced the powers that be to make a move and �redefine� the law to appease those asking questions while still keeping its original intent of only allowing some to do it, in place. In doing so they have created a colossal cluster$#$% which they are now scrambling to try and clean up. Special interests run a muck. Make it completely legal or make it completely illegal. How confusing would that be?

I completely agree with your point here just like I agree with 2Dogs above but how many food plots were there before you put them there? A simple question. Yes I would take food plots over feeding/bait any day. I dual crop on my leases and always have. The argument is everything we do is to give us an advantage. True or false? Science tells us baiting actually is not an advantage, or at lease the studies I have seen show that. It shows that it takes more man hours per harvest in areas where baiting is legal vs. areas where it is not. Now Texas is a different story for some reason. It seems everything in Texas is different...

Everyone's definition of bait or feed is probably different. In most cases we are going to define it in a way that benefits us the most. I could sit here and turn everything around and make it a valid argument if I wanted kinda like 9er but I wont. There were enough people going to the CAB meetings asking for something to be done on this topic and this is what we got. My guess is it may evolve as time goes but to get it changed, you the hunters have to go to the CAB meeting and be heard. Our commissioner and director are good people and want what is best for our state and it's wildlife.

As hunters we cherry pick to make things as we want them. Even easily understandable language. We pick parts out of a law or reg. and and forget what the rest says when it in its entirety is what we have to go by.

I thought that was how politics worked

I'd like to know where those studies were run...

I also take exception to your comment about our commissioner wanting what is best for wildlife.

Food plots are an advantage if you hunt them. I haven't killed anything on a fool plot in years but hogs. I believe in food plots and their benefits. I don't blame folks for hunting them, I just disagree that they are the same as baiting. The benefits of a food plot are tremendous compared to a bag or 3 of corn.

I think everybody here understands that a food plot is more nutritious and better for the deer, however, they come to a plot to eat just like to a pile of corn. There is no difference. Food attracting deer. I plant several acres of plots, and don't bait. It really doesn't bother me what someone does on their land.

I will not get a ticket. I will hunt 101 yards from a feeder this year. I'll even call the local CEO and tell him where I'll be. I understand the reg. and rebuttable presumption.