I'm no expert, but in parts of Coleman County you have to watch agriculture (too much of it) and like any place in that country, proximity to water.  Also, a lot of that land has been changing hands and it seems to me (though it may not be true) that the tracts just get smaller.  That is, look at the ranches next to you as well as the one you might hunt on.   

If you don't have Google Earth I'd get it...its a great tool to evaluate any prospective lease. 

Ryan,

I generally agree with what you're saying but bottom line it doesn't appear that the price to hunt will come down any time soon.  Land costs are increasing (at least in US dollars) due to demand and the Lord only made so much land.  And, while I'm not trying to make a blanket statement, generally the people that pay for high-end high fence hunting aren't likely to be as affected by the current economic conditions like the rest of us.  Now that might change should this slow down go on for a couple years, but I think there will still be money in the deer breeding/guiding business as long as there is the demand for high-end hunting.

Eddie,

There are a number of reasons for this lack of interest in hunting, and I'm sure there are other opinions than mine.  But, I'd say the number one reason is the effect of increasing urbanization.  That is, way fewer people live in the country than 30 or 40 years ago so hunting is not something they're exposed to.  Video games, organized sports, movies, and TV take-up the void.  And, with the last generation really linked to the outdoors getting to the age where they really can't hunt anymore we're likely just seeing the tip of the iceburg.  Number two is that dads, for a number of reasons, are too wrapped-up in their day-to-day goings on to take their kids into the woods.  Job responsibilities, hectic schedules, and broken homes all come into play.  The third main reason is access to land that the average hunter can afford.  I'm not talking about owning land, I'm talking about just leasing.  With minimum costs pretty much at $1,500/gun (and there are some exceptions to this), not including feed and related, the number of hunters that can afford to hunt diminishes.  The last reason is, of course, our friends in the media.  Hunting has been 'out' with the "drive-bys" since the 60s.  We saw the real first evidence of that when they took a TV program called The American Sportsman, which had a hunting segment, off the air.  The media, aided by their own prejudices, PETA, HSUS, and the like, have developed quite a propaganda machine against hunting that's permeated deeply into the fabric of our schools and society.

How this effects bow season is pretty straightforward.  We've been hearing that TPWD has been having some funding issues for some time now.  My guess for the reasoning for expanding youth hunting season is their observation that if they don't get more young hunters hunting their situation will get much worse.  And, TPWD has some of its own internal struggles because of the infiltration of 'animal activists' into their ranks.  This has been discussed at this site elsewhere. 

First, you're going to have to have your license and proof of ID on your person whenever you go into the woods to hunt.  Depending on your age you might also need to provide a Hunters Ed Certificate to get your license.  You will also need to be very careful to start and stop hunting within the designated legal times (30 min before sunrise and 30 min after if memory serves correctly).  And, to be extra cautious I'd check with the area game warden to see which newspaper or other reference he uses for what designates sunrise/sunset.  There are web-based ways of finding that information but I'd use what he uses.  If you shoot a deer the first thing you do it fill out the tag and tag the animal (have to cut-out the date and fill in the required tag information). Its very important that you use the right tag...don't use a two buck county tag in a one buck county.  That is, not all game rules apply to every county and you need to be aware of the county game rules.  You don't have to check in a harvested deer if you're hunting private land (the mananged game lands may have some other requirements but I doubt it).  As well, you have to be careful that you transport the animal correctly - you can quarter a deer and ice it down but you must have a 'proof of sex' with the quartered animal, etc.

There are other rules and regulations you need to be aware of that are too much to go into here.  Check out the TPW annual at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/

Hope this helps.

Pooba,

Again, my point is that you put an intent in writing.  Most folks wouldn't pop-off that they wanted to destroy someone's high fence using the method you've stated, like your friend in Val Verde Co. they'd just quietly go and do it.  That lack of evidence would surely diminish the high fence landowner's cause.  I agree there's nothing the Game Warden could do in your friend's case...but in a civil case when you have witnesses that can validate that you wanted to destroy someone else's property?  I think that's another story.

Just so you know I don't own land and I certainly wouldn't high fence it if I did.  Nevertheless I'd still turn you in.