September, 2008 - Wildlife Management Pro

Hunting: A Conservation Success Story

A young hunter admires his harvest

We are hunters. As a subset of America, we’re admittedly somewhat smaller than we used to be. Our numbers have been steadily pressed beneath a culture growing ever faster, more complex and distant from its rural ancestry. Now, like growing vegetables, gathering fresh eggs and raising farm animals for the table, the proclivity and skill to harvest Earth’s bounty of wild game — and to pass on this tradition to those longing for simpler ways of life — reside in only a relative few of us.

The meats that hunters and their families consume are grown unfettered by hormones, processed feeds or fences. Low in fat and cholesterol, high in protein, wild game is organic defined. The American Heart Association and American Cancer Society recommend venison, rabbit, pheasant and duck over many commercially produced, packaged and distributed alternatives.

Data gathered by my organization show that 84 percent of us hunt exclusively in our home states. Only 5 percent never hunt locally. Compared with consumers of U.S. supermarket food, which routinely travels as much as 2,500 miles from source to table, we are model locavores.

But “renewable” is perhaps where hunters shine greenest. Continue reading Hunting: A Conservation Success Story

Murphree WMA Impacted by Hurricane Ike

Murphree Wildlife Management Area

At Murphree Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near Port Arthur, Texas, the Jefferson County storm levee held back the storm surge created by Hurricane Ike, protecting WMA buildings from flooding. The levee can resist a 14 foot crest and staff reported the area had 11 feet of seawater surge. One Murphree WMA shop building was severely damaged by high winds, but other facilities are reported in relatively good shape.In addition, eerial overflights are taking place today to assess ecological impacts and damage to various Texas Parks and Wildlife Department facilities. But longtime division staff member Jim Sutherlin had this to say from the Murphree WMA in Port Arthur:

“The Murphree area looks like the Gulf of Mexico. Wildlife impacts to every thing that doesn’t fly will be significant like it was back in the early 1960s with Hurricane Carla. I expect a great reduction in reptiles and amphibians, particularly alligators, but also snakes, frogs, all the things that move on the ground in the coastal plains.

We need to assess the full impacts, and that will take some time. It will set plant communities back to very early successional stages, and we’ll see big changes in the landscape when this water comes off, for a couple of decades. That’s something we’ll see as our careers mature, and the young people starting careers in wildlife ecology now will follow it as we followed Carla.”

Texas Teal Season: Just Add Water

Green winged teal

The Texas teal prospects are plain and simple: if you have water, you should have birds when the hunting season opens on September 13. However, coastal hunters have another variable — where is Hurricane Ike, forecasted to come ashore sometime Saturday, going to make landfall?

And, if winds blow at hurricane force, what will that do to the teal in the area for the remainder of the season? Good numbers of teal have been reported along the coast, but water is scarce, especially along the coastal prairies. Some outfitters say they cannot get water from canal systems since farmers are using so much water to pour over second-cropped rice.

Those with wells have water, but they paid a heavy price to pump it with farm diesel still hovering around $4 a gallon. Tides have risen on the coast and should rise even more with the approaching storm. That should push new water to barren tidal flats and ponds.

Regardles, teal hunting prospects are good for those with water, unless, of course, the hurricane hits somewhere along the middle or upper coast.

Hurricane Ike Cancels Public Hunting in Texas

Alligator hunts are cancelled

Due to flooding and dangerous conditions caused by Hurricane Ike the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has canceled public hunts at sites in the storm’s path. This news release updates and replaces earlier information about cancelled and rescheduled hunts.All previously scheduled public hunts on the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area for the month of September have been cancelled.

All previously scheduled public hunts on Sea Rim State Park for this year have been cancelled. Also cancelled are dove and teal hunts by Annual Public Hunting Permit scheduled for Sept. 20-21 on Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area (Unit #721).

Also cancelled until further notice are all public hunting activities by Annual Public Hunting Permit on Bannister Wildlife Management Area (Unit #903), Sam Houston National Forest Wildlife Management Area (Unit #905), and Alabama Creek Wildlife Management Area (Unit #904).

The Mentored Hunting Workshop originally scheduled for Sept. 19-20 on the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Areas has been relocated to the M.O. Neasloney Wildlife Management Area. In addition, the Moore Plantation Wildlife Management Area (Unit #902) has reopened to all public hunting activities by Annual Public Hunting Permit.

Texas Dove Hunting Reports Sound Promising

Mourning Dove

Dove season has kicked off in Texas and reports, like the doves, have been scattered between fair and exceptional. Find out more about Texas’ north, central, and south zone dove hunting reports below:

North Zone Dove: Best hunts have been had over plowed sunflowers and cut milo fields. Hunts near Amarillo and counties north have taken good numbers of dove over watering holes in the afternoon. The region received enough rains in August to fill some dry playas. Areas north of Abilene have been solid over row crops and water in the afternoon. Fields north of Fort Worth have seen scattered birds since the opener. A few new birds arrived with the north winds last week. Lamar County saw better shoots in soy beans. Prospects are fair to good.

Central Zone Dove: The northern region of the zone is still holding huntable numbers of mourners. The front last week deposited new birds to the area. Harrison, Gregg and Marion county fields have seen best shoots around water in the afternoon. Comanche County and Brown County fields of sunflowers have been best in the afternoon around water. Best flights of whitewings remain in the San Antonio corridor around Castroville and Hondo. Uvalde hunts have been steady as well. Outfitters have reported better flights in the afternoon. Doves are scattered along the southern end of the zone. Good hunts have been posted near Dayton, Liberty, China and Devers, but since the opener, dove hunting has been fair to good. Outfitters said they lost most of their birds with the rains in late August. Prospects are fair to good.

Special White-Winged Dove Area: Last weekend saw good shoots in corn, milo, sunflowers and plowed fields. Those able to hunt water saw great afternoon shoots. Saturday and Sunday are the last days of the special season. As a reminder: afternoon-only hunting is permitted. Rains and winds associated with Hurricane Ike could put a damper on the flight, especially if South Texas receives a direct hit.

Trans-Pecos Texas Quail Symposium Set for Odessa

Blue quail in Texas

Have you got quail on the mind? Well, I have good news then! The Texas Quail Study Group will meet in Odessa on October 2-3 at the MCM Grande Hotel. The symposium is open to anyone interested in quail management. This year’s theme is Desert Quail Management, said Dr. Dale Rollins, Texas AgriLife Extension Service wildlife specialist at San Angelo.

“Texas is one of only three states that can claim four species of quail, and this year’s meeting will address each of them,” Rollins said. The first day will have presentations on each of the four species and common sense approaches to managing their habitat. The second day will feature a tour of the Railway Ranch west of Odessa to inspect various management strategies.

“The secret is out about the quality of blue quail hunting in West Texas,” Rollins said. “Several national outdoor magazines and television shows have featured blue quail hunting recently. Hunting blues is considerably different than the more traditional bobwhite, and all of a sudden blue quail hunting is in vogue.” Continue reading Trans-Pecos Texas Quail Symposium Set for Odessa

Texas Test Shot Effectiveness on Doves in Brown County

Shot effectiveness is being tested on doves in Texas

Just days prior to the September 1st dove season opener in most of Texas, a research team was out two days prior to the season collecting bird specimens for a research study on the effectiveness of various shotshells, including non-lead shot. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologists are in the first year of a multi-year study to determine the effectiveness of different load types on wild mourning doves using trained observers and volunteer shooters. This study is the first of its kind for doves and is based on a similar lethality research project in Missouri and Louisiana on waterfowl in the 1980s.

“The main premise of this research is to clarify if there is a difference between perception and reality in wounding rates and killing efficiency of lead shot and non lead shot on mourning dove,” said Jay Roberson, TPWD dove program leader and the study organizer. “TPWD does not have a position for or against non lead shot for doves, but we recognize the importance of this issue. Our objective is to replace perceptions with facts.”

The study design calls for three consecutive sessions using the same shooters paired with the same observers to ensure consistency across three types of shotshell loads. The research objective is to obtain under a controlled study environment 500 mourning dove specimens killed with one shot in each of the next 2-3 years. Collections are being conducted by permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This year, 22 volunteer shooters participated in each of two collection sessions on August 30 and produced about 400 specimens. Continue reading Texas Test Shot Effectiveness on Doves in Brown County