Month: February 2010

Choke Canyon Yields Big Largemouth Bass

Choke Canyon became the latest Texas reservoir to yield a big largemouth bass for the Toyota ShareLunker program. Not only has the ShareLunker program helped Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) with fish and lake management throughout the state, it’s allowed lucky anglers to put their catch on display. On February 6, Richard Flores of Seguin caught Toyota ShareLunker 478, a 15.09-pound largemouth bass while flipping a 10-inch plastic worm in 12 feet of 57-degree water.

Of the seven fish entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program so far in 2010, three have weighed 14 pounds or more and one more bass larger than 15 pounds. Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, from October 1 through April 30 may submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600. Continue reading Choke Canyon Yields Big Largemouth Bass

Whitetail Deer Bedding Cover

Every hunter wants to shoot a big buck, but does every hunter want to provide quality habitat for their deer? The answer is no, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as those landowners realize that the choices they make impact the end product. When it comes to providing good habitat for whitetail, quality bedding cover is one of the most important things a landowner can provide, especially on smaller properties. So why is whitetail deer beddding cover so important?

Think about this just for a second: Where does a mature whitetail buck spend the greatest amount of time during the day? You may not have a good answer for me and that’s because you rarely see such an animal in the middle of the day. That’s because mature bucks are not standing in open fields throughout the middle of the hunting season, and they sure aren’t camped out in the middle of a food plot. Continue reading Whitetail Deer Bedding Cover

Wetland Management for Waterfowl

Hunting waterfowl such as ducks and geese can be exciting and is an important part of wildlife population management, but providing adequate habitat should be of primary importance to any hunter or landowner. Providing habitat for ducks and geese varies from property to property, but active wetland management is the cornerstone to meeting the needs of migrating waterfowl populations.

Of all the wetland types out there, coastal wetlands are arguably some of the most important. These wetlands played a critical role historically because the millions of farm ponds and lakes that ducks and geese now use for wintering did not exist. Persons owning or leasing coastal wetlands can implement management practices that benefit local and migrating waterfowl and improve overall duck and goose hunting. Continue reading Wetland Management for Waterfowl

Cold, Wet Weather Kills Axis Deer

Axis deer are a subtropical species native to India that have been introduced into many parts of the world, including Texas. Although Texas is at the pinch-point between the southeast and the southwest, the area does get extended cold weather from time to time. This can wreak havoc on axis deer, especially when combined with cold weather that last for several days. It was recently reported that many axis deer were found dead in Kendall County.

Recent weather conditions have been very cold by Texas standards combined with lots of precipitation. The climatic conditions over the past few days, prolonged cold and wet, were similar to those reported in March of 2009 in Kerr County. At that time, the deer die off included axis with a limited number of white-tailed deer. Additional Texas couties and urban areas reported trouble with axis deer during that period, as well. Continue reading Cold, Wet Weather Kills Axis Deer

Texas Quail Hunting is About Timing

Quail hunting is really fun when the birds are thick coming off a good nesting season, but it can be downright challenging when there are few quail to be found. In December 2009, I had the opportunity to hunt quail on two South Texas ranches. My expectations were low because the 2009 nesting season was nearly a total bust because of historic heat and drought conditions throughout the state. This was a nesting season where few, if any birds were produced.

Since the majority of birds in a bobwhite hunter’s bag are typically hatch-year (young of the year; juvenile birds), I knew from the get-go that we would most likely find only a few coveys for our efforts. After a hard day of hunting with good dogs and expert guides and in areas of good quail habitat, we flushed five coveys. Later in the week, after a half-day hunt on another ranch, again in good habitat, we only moved two coveys! Continue reading Texas Quail Hunting is About Timing

Quail Management: Leave the Coyotes?

When it comes to quail management, proper techiniques for increasing quail populations includes predator control and habitat enhancment. However, on-going research suggests that coyotes may be beneficial to quail populations that thought in the past, at least if the preliminary results pan out. The research, which takes place in Texas, involves putting GPS tracking devices on raccoons and coyotes to find out information on their movement patterns.

To date, the study has found that female raccoons were limited to the riparian areas with dense undercover and tall trees. Quail do not inhabit such areas, so female raccoons are presumed innocent of the crime of eating and destroying quail nest. However, whether female raccons would venture into the grassland if coyotes were absent remains to be seen, because all coyotes would have to be removed to determine their response. Continue reading Quail Management: Leave the Coyotes?

Feral Hogs Impair Texas’ Watersheds

Hogs are not native to Texas. In fact, they are not even native to the United States. As such, all hogs found in Texas are the results of either escaped and released domestic hogs. These domestic hogs gone wild are referred to as “feral.” Although they can be fun to hunt, feral hogs cause large amounts of damage, particularly to Texas’ watersheds.

The latest research shows that this exotic non-native mammal causes somewhere around $52 million worth of agricultural damage on an annual basis in Texas. This includes farming and ranching damages. Additionally, it is believed that feral hogs negatively influence water quality in almost every watershed throughout the state. Continue reading Feral Hogs Impair Texas’ Watersheds