Veteran whitetail hunter Mike Rex says some of the loudest debates in deer hunting often come down to one simple question: are hunters trying to improve the future of the sport, or are they trying to make someone else’s hunt harder so their own hunt becomes easier?
In a discussion on The Southern Outdoorsmen, hosted by Andrew Maxwell and Jacob Myers, Rex weighed in on crossbows, baiting, non-resident hunters, one-buck limits, and the idea that stricter rules would automatically create more mature bucks. Speaking from an Ohio perspective, he said hunters can always debate ways to improve deer management, but he warned against assuming that every restriction would produce better hunting or a healthier future for the sport.
Rex said he understands why some hunters dislike crossbows or baiting, especially when they believe those tools make it easier for others to kill deer. But he argued that the real motivation is sometimes less about conservation and more about trophy opportunity.
“They want to make someone else’s hunting harder to make their hunting easier,” Rex said, describing some of the anti-crossbow arguments he hears.
The Crossbow Debate Is Really About Access
Rex said a number of hunters who oppose crossbows believe that reducing crossbow use would improve age structure, create more mature bucks, and make big deer more available for traditional bowhunters.
He did not say every crossbow critic thinks that way, but he said some people want to “rein in” crossbows because they believe it would leave more older bucks on the landscape.
His objection was not that hunters should never talk about weapon rules. Instead, Rex pushed back on the idea that hunting should be made more difficult for average people simply to create a better trophy environment for a smaller group of hunters.
He noted that many states are moving in the opposite direction by allowing more crossbow use, including Illinois and several Southern states, while some people in Ohio want to move back toward more restrictive rules.
“There’s some people that want to chuck spears at them,” Rex said, joking that some hunters seem to want the sport to become as difficult as possible.
That line drew attention because it captured a broader tension in modern deer hunting. Some hunters see difficulty as part of the tradition, while others see crossbows as a practical tool that allows older hunters, younger hunters, and people with physical limitations to stay involved.
From a conservation standpoint, access matters. If a regulation protects the resource, it may be worth the burden, but if it mainly protects one group’s preferred style of hunting, then the benefit becomes much harder to defend.
Rex Says Ohio Is Not Iowa
Rex said some Ohio hunters point to Iowa as a model, arguing that Ohio could become more like Iowa if it restricted non-residents, eliminated baiting, and tightened crossbow use.
He rejected that comparison as too simple.
According to Rex, Iowa is mostly rural, while Ohio is a far more urban state with major population centers and hunters spread differently across the landscape. He said Ohio has more people in parts of the Columbus area than Iowa has in its entire state, making the two states difficult to compare fairly.
“Iowa is a rural state,” Rex said. “Ohio is not a rural state. We’re an urban state.”
He also pointed out that Iowa has never allowed baiting, while Ohio has a long history of allowing it. Because of that, Rex said removing bait in Ohio would not simply make the state into Iowa; it would change the hunting culture for an entire generation of hunters who have learned to hunt under different rules.
Rex also noted that Iowa landowners can kill multiple bucks, while Ohio has a one-buck limit, meaning Iowa may not be the perfect trophy-management model some people imagine.
He said he has friends in Iowa who wish their state had Ohio’s one-buck rule, which shows that hunters in different states often admire rules they do not live under while overlooking the trade-offs that come with them.
Non-Residents Pay A Large Share Of The Bill
The non-resident debate, Rex said, is another issue where hunters often focus on pressure and access without fully considering the funding side of conservation.
He said non-resident hunters make up only about 10 percent of Ohio’s hunting population, but contribute more than half of the conservation funding through licenses and related taxes, giving a ballpark figure of about 57 percent.
If Ohio sharply reduced non-resident participation, Rex said the state would likely have to raise rates to maintain the same level of conservation funding.
He acknowledged that some Ohio hunters blame non-residents for leasing land and displacing locals, but he argued that the issue is not limited to out-of-state hunters. Hunters from metropolitan areas, as well as local hunters with more money, also lease ground and reduce access for others.
“If non-residents went away and all these leases came up, our farmers aren’t going to say, ‘Well, you know what? I don’t want that money anymore,’” Rex said.
His point was practical. Landowners who receive lease income are unlikely to walk away from it just because the person writing the check lives in the same state.
This is one of the hardest truths in the access debate. Limiting non-residents may reduce one source of competition, but it does not eliminate the market for private hunting ground, especially in a state known for producing quality deer.
Baiting Bans May Not Solve The Problems Hunters Expect
Rex also challenged the idea that banning bait would automatically improve deer hunting or slow the spread of disease.
He said Wisconsin banned baiting roughly two decades ago in an effort to suppress chronic wasting disease, while Michigan has banned baiting more than once over concerns such as bovine tuberculosis and CWD. In Rex’s view, those bans did not stop disease from spreading.
He pointed to CWD issues in states such as Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Western states, including places that never allowed baiting.
“To say that banning baiting is going to slow or stop disease, it hasn’t anywhere else,” Rex said.
Rex did not claim baiting is harmless in every way. He said common sense suggests that concentrating deer “nose to nose” could accelerate disease spread, and he acknowledged concerns about aflatoxins in grain affecting wildlife, including turkeys, especially in warm and damp months.
But he argued that hunters sometimes use those concerns as a public-facing reason for bans when their deeper motivation is getting more mature bucks for themselves.
That is a strong claim, but it speaks to a real divide inside the hunting community. Some hunters see baiting as unfair or damaging, while others see it as a tool that helps average hunters, new hunters, young hunters, or people with limited access put deer in range.
Rex’s broader point was that removing the tool may not produce the intended result, especially if people continue baiting illegally or find other ways to concentrate deer around food.
Maxwell Connects The Debate To Other States
Andrew Maxwell said Rex’s explanation was useful because Ohio is often viewed as a trophy-quality deer state, and hunters elsewhere have similar debates about whether stricter buck limits would improve hunting.
Maxwell brought up Alabama as an example, saying some hunters there have pushed for a one-buck rule because they believe it would create more mature bucks and force hunters to be more selective. He noted that Alabama’s deer population, habitat, and hunting structure are different from Ohio’s, with thick cover and areas where managers want a lot of deer harvested.
Maxwell said the debate often returns to the same idea Rex described earlier: some hunters want to make another person’s hunt harder so their own chances at a bigger buck improve.
Rex agreed.
“Exactly,” he said.
The point is not that all regulation is bad. Every state has seasons, bag limits, methods, and disease rules for a reason. But Rex and Maxwell were questioning whether trophy-driven restrictions are always being sold as conservation when they may really be about personal preference.
Hunter Recruitment May Be The Bigger Concern
For Rex, the largest issue is not whether crossbows, baiting, or non-residents make big bucks slightly harder to kill.
It is whether hunting can keep enough people involved to remain politically and culturally strong.
He said Ohio has lost almost a quarter of its deer hunters in the last 15 years, and he connected that decline to harder access, an aging hunter base, changing family structures, and fewer adults having time to introduce kids to the outdoors.
Rex said the average Ohio hunter was around 26 years old in the mid-1980s, while today the average is closer to 54.
That aging trend worries him because fewer hunters mean less influence with legislatures, less conservation funding, and less public support for hunting over the long term.
“As we lose numbers, our hunting numbers, and we age out, we lose our swag,” Rex said, referring to the political weight hunters have when lawmakers count votes.
That may be the strongest argument in his case. A hunting culture built only for the most dedicated and most skilled hunters may produce a more exclusive experience, but it may also push away beginners, casual hunters, older hunters, and working families who already struggle with time and access.
Making Hunting Harder Has Consequences
Rex said hunting, in practical terms, is not only about big bucks and trophies.
It is also a tool for managing deer populations, maintaining public tolerance for hunting, and connecting new generations to the outdoors.
He said the broader public tolerates hunting in part because hunters help keep deer numbers in check. If regulations make participation harder and more people quit, that management role becomes harder to maintain.
Rex’s view does not settle the debates over crossbows, baiting, non-residents, or buck limits, but it reframes them around consequences rather than slogans.
A rule that sounds good to trophy hunters may not help the average hunter. A ban that seems useful for mature buck production may reduce participation. A non-resident restriction may lower pressure in some places while cutting conservation revenue and doing little to solve lease competition.
In the end, Rex’s message on The Southern Outdoorsmen was not that Ohio is perfect or that regulations should never change. It was that hunting policy should be built around deer management, access, recruitment, and the future of the sport, not just around making big bucks easier for one group to kill.
For hunters who care about that future, the question is bigger than whether someone else’s crossbow, bait pile, or license plate is frustrating.
The harder question is whether the sport can afford to keep pushing people out while asking why fewer people are showing up.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
