$176 License

[ccleroy]

The turkey tags is what scared me. Going from free to $50 for five. And what is the money for the turkey tags for? I don't see additional land being bought specifically for turkeys. And regular wildlife management benefits turkeys - no special management is needed like ducks. I'm willing to pay it, I hunt everything else to pass time between turkey seasons, but I'd like to know where the money is going.

95% of the funds will go towards pouring concrete for sidewalks in Columbia and painting centerlines.

[buckpro]

Hell i'll even pay a DNR support fee but i'll be damned if i'm paying $20 for my 4th and 5th turkey and i'll be damned if i'm only gonna kill 4 does a year.

[jwilliams]

Serious question DT. Would the GL not have the ability to take the deer limit recommendations and scrap the fees? Or, are the management recommendations going to get scrapped just because they recommended fees, too? Will it be "business as usual?" If we do have huge decline in our deer population, does something need to be done, or will the GL wait until the "white bass are gone" to realize there is an issue?

[jwilliams]

To hunt public/private and fish fresh and salt water in Texas, as a resident, I pay over 120 bucks(68 for the combo license, 48 for the WMA permit, and a federal duck stamp) and the department doesn't do half as much for the state as S.C.'s department does...just sayin'

Texas DNR dept doesn't do Half of what SC does? Seriously? Their deer/duck hunting/bass fishing is better because of accident?

[DMP]

Texas DNR dept doesn't do Half of what SC does? Seriously? Their deer/duck hunting/bass fishing is better because of accident?

He is probably talking about public hunting.

[jwilliams]

He is probably talking about public hunting.

makes sense. They only have 1.2 million acres of public land.

[jwilliams]

I don't think my question was well stated. Will the GL act on the buck and doe limit "recommendations" and scrap the fees? or

Will the GL just give DNR the bird and scrap it all?

What I am trying to find out is will we have a tag system in place with limits next year?

[quackaddict]

Texas DNR dept doesn't do Half of what SC does? Seriously? Their deer/duck hunting/bass fishing is better because of accident?

I'm dead serious. GW's are paid much more compared to SC's. There are no tech's to speak of other than on a FEW coastal public areas. WMA's aren't touched by the DNR staff for the most part other than maybe mowing a walking path here or there. Dove fields are just leased from crop farmers so there's no work done by DNR at all...they don't even post the boundaries on WMA's or dove fields worth a crap...you just have to be real good at guessing. The fisheries section may earn their keep, but that's about the only sector that I've found that does. A LOT of work is done on private land for deer hunting. Duck hunting is NOT a product of DNR work, it has a little something to do with the flyway we're in and the coastal acreage that isn't touched by DNR, and the fact that grass carp aren't put into lakes to eat any and all vegetation available. I could keep going on, but you should get the picture.

[jwilliams]

as opposed to the intensely managed WMA's in SC? Most WMA's don't even have check stations.

[Saltydog235]

DNR does not own those animals and does not need to sell them to you.

Is DNR selling those animals to you or is the license/tag/limit structure put into place for them to better protect the resource? I like the liberal limits and generous hunting season that we enjoy and want it to continue but I also want Bobby Joe Antlers and Jimmy 40Deer to realize that their license isn't meant for them to kill everything that walks. I have no problem paying to play or to help protect our lands and waters so my boys will one day enjoy them.

There's no one magic solution to the problem but there are a bunch of progressive steps that can be taken to maintain a healthy population and bag limits that are fair to everyone.

[Tater]

Tater,

How much extra are you sending DNR? I will announce your name from the well and quote the amount. Put your money where your anonymous mouth is. Blah, Blah, Blah.

I put my money where my mouth is when I was in favor of the duck stamp increase before....your messiah vetoed it even though the only ones that it would affect were overwhelmingly for it.

I continue to put my money where my mouth is by being in favor of increased "pay to play" fees.

What the fuck have you done positive?

[Glenn]

The proposal would cause the money to go straight to DNR. Of course there is no quarantee it would cause a net increase in funds since every budget year is independant of the other.

Sounds awful familiar. Wonder where I've heard that before.

[Mergie Master]

I'm against every bit of it until the funds go directly to DNR instead of the GA.

Roger that, otherwise it's simply a backdoor tax!

[jwilliams]

Roger that, otherwise it's simply a backdoor tax!

No doubt. Still doesn't have anything to do with wildlife management. No buck or doe limits because of fees?

[Mergie Master]

The proposal would cause the money to go straight to DNR. Of course there is no guarantee it would cause a net increase in funds since every budget year is independant of the other.

Therein lies the potential problem.

Can't that be changed? If not, why not?

[MattB]

Then where is your motion to absolve all fee based hunting privileges?

Ha!

Gotcha hand caught in the cookie jar, don'tcha goanna?

[jwilliams]

Natural Resource management based on Politics is:
A. Definitely the way to go. Otherwise, it could be managed by some stupid wildlife biologist.

B. The only way to go. That way, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, we don't have to worry about tamies being illegal, and we can make things convenient for ourselves.

C. the best management practices because the GL has ALL the authority and we know they are always looking out for their constituents welfare and the natural resources of the state and we trust them implicitly.

D. All of the above

[quackaddict]

as opposed to the intensely managed WMA's in SC? Most WMA's don't even have check stations.

I've seen both with my own eyes...SCDNR does 10x's the work with the funds available for the general public.

As a side note, did you know that SCDNR is about to start charging technicians(who don't make jack-shit for salary) mileage for driving state vehicles from home to work and back? How screwed up is that?

[jwilliams]

SCDNR may do 10X's the work with the funds available, but, without checking, I would bet a dolla to a doughnut Texas puts $10 to every $1 to the resource that SC does.

[dixiedeerslaya]

I aint read all this stuff.... But comparing texas to sc is retarded... There are probably some ranches in texas the size of south carolina.... Im sure texas deer hunting sucks worst than ours in alot of areas... Im sure their duck hunting sucks worst in alot of areas too....... Just because someone kills alot of birds on the texas coast doesnt mean thats a good representation of the rest of the state..... Same with deer hunting and fishing..