An estimated 500 people braved the elements on the morning of Saturday, March 8th, to witness thirty-four elk being released at the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area in Campbell County. The elk were transported from the Land-Between-The-Lakes area in Kentucky after all test results reflected a clean bill of health for the entire herd.

The elk began the trip to their new home on Friday morning in four specially designed trailers. They arrived after dark that evening and were held overnight at Royal Blue WMA. Saturday morning the trailer doors were opened and the elk surveyed their new home as a beautiful blanket of snow fell on the already snow covered Massengale Mountain. (more…)

How does a $14.4 billion Texas-based industry go unnoticed? Easy when you consider most of its participants go about their business cloaked in camouflage or tucked in some secluded backwater hideaway.

Despite not appearing on the stock market rolls, hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers in Texas collectively are a major economic force, according to new findings by the Southwick Associates, a Florida-based research firm specializing in economic and business statistics related to fish and wildlife resources.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Division commissioned the Southwick group to ascertain the economic effect from fish and wildlife-related recreation in Texas, based on data in the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. The firm recently completed its Texas-focused report.

According to the Southwick report, the economic effect from Texas hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers was estimated to be $14.4 billion. In other words, if these outdoor enthusiasts were to stop spending money in Texas and not spend these dollars on other in-state items, the state economy would shrink by $14.4 billion. (more…)

Dr. James Kroll, Stephen F. Austin State University professor, argues that spikes should be removed from restrictive antler regulation if the goal is to protect young white-tailed bucks.

With requests from hunters and landowners in hand, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is considering another round of expansion of counties operating under special antler restrictions.

Already the rule in 61 counties statewide, the department is now considering expanding into 11 additional Pineywoods counties for the 2009-10 hunting season. Those on the current shortlist include Angelina, Hardin, Jasper, Liberty, Montgomery, Newton, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, and Walker.

Under the regulation a legal buck is described as one with an inside spread of at least 13 inches or a spike. Hunters are restricted to just one of the larger bucks.

The goal of the regulation is to improve the age structure of the deer population by taking more pressure off the 1 1/2-year-old and 2 1/2-year-old bucks. It is, some would say, a case of the state getting neighboring landowners and hunters to do what the landowners and hunters can’t get each other to do. (more…)

A permit to hunt a desert bighorn ram at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area was auctioned for $70,000 last week at the annual meeting of the Wild Sheep Foundation. In recent years such permits have brought more — the last two auctioned for $77,000 and $85,000.

Regardless of price, permit sales still raise important funding for sheep research, management and restoration. Also at this year’s meeting, longtime department employee Clay Brewer was inducted into the foundation’s Wild Sheep Biologist Hall of Fame. (more…)

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is considering adding Sherman and Hansford counties to the northern Panhandle mule deer season, and Gaines, Martin, and the eastern portion of Andrews counties to the southwest Panhandle season.

These counties, wildlife biologists believe, have mule deer populations sufficient to allow the harvest of a few buck mule deer. Such a buck-only harvest would not have any effect on the overall population in those counties. Opening these counties will result in increased hunter opportunity.

Colorado is known to be one of the most gifted places when it comes to elks, deers, hogs, and many other hunting targets. The most aimed animal, however, is the elk and hunting elks have been one of the tourist attractions of Colorado.

What made Colorado become a name in terms of hunting are their famous hunting grounds. These hunting grounds are most often view decks to some of Colorado’s vistas. Because of this, hunting becomes more worth the trip- enabling you to taste both of Colorado’s finest, the beautiful views and the hunting experience. (more…)

The rifle whitetail action in north-central Kansas continued to be slow but steady through the first full weekend of the season. The hunters and outfitters of Washington County, Kansas continue to be largely frustrated in finding the big bucks that this country is known for, although a handful of really nice bucks have shown up in the back of pickups at the local diner around lunch time.

The freezing rain that fell across much of the state on saturday morning dried up within 24 hours or so, making dirt roads passable again. Even with access restored, there was still pretty little shooting going on. (more…)

The good news and the bad news about Nebraska’s deer season is that it’s 9-days of rifle hunting smack during the middle of the rut. Good news, because hunting rutting whitetails is a hoot. Bad news, because young bucks experience lots of mortality, many never getting a chance to reach their potential. Couple this with the fact that hunters can each take two bucks (again, a good news / bad news kind of thing), and the bucks get hit really hard each year.

The 2007 Nebraska season appears to have been about average. The weather was warm, the warmest deer hunt I’ve ever been on, but the bucks were in full rut.

I hunted near Ogallala for the last 3 days or so of the season that opened November 10th and ended on the 18th.

The 4×4 I took was very hot on the tail of a doe, chasing her aggressively through the brush. Through a combination of tough luck and being selective (OK, mostly tough luck), I had not tagged a buck for several years, and when I saw he was a 4-point I knew I wanted to take him. (more…)