Author: Tex Hunter

Texas Deer Harvest Down, Buck Quality Up



Texas Whitetail Hunting 2015-16

Texas’ general deer hunting season has ended for the 2015-16 year, but there are still opportunities for hunters with the remaining youth weekend, late antlerless and spike season as well as those hunting on properties participating in the MLD Permit program. Despite favorable conditions for antler growth and fawn recruitment throughout 2015, it has been a challenge for many deer hunters. This is especially true of those in the eastern portions of Texas.

“It’s been an interesting hunting season, for sure,” Mitch Lockwood, big-game program director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s wildlife division, said this past week. “We won’t have hard data until after deer season, but, anecdotally, it looks like whitetail hunters have had good success where they had access (to hunting areas), and overall buck quality has been exceptional. But in some areas, access has been a problem all season. Wet weather has played a big role this year, preventing many folks from accessing deer hunting grounds.”

And it’s true. There were many cases were the abundance of rain kept hunters from being able to the enter the gate. Not because they didn’t want to go, but because they couldn’t get to their stands. And it they could have, would the deer have been there? All of the rain led to an abundance of cool season forage so there was no need for deer to visit feeders, at least until later in the season when much colder weather set in.


Deer Harvest About Participation

Hunter participation is a huge factor when it comes to evaluating a deer hunting season in Texas. If hunters can’t get out they don’t shoot deer. “A lot of country in river basins has been inaccessible all season,” Lockwood said, noting East Texas has been especially hit hard with season-long flooding on rivers such as the Sabine, Sulphur and Trinity. I’m guessing harvest will probably be down this year because of the weather conditions,” Lockwood said.

If Lockwood’s predictions hold, private lands will not be the only places where fewer deer were harvested. Several public land deer hunts were shut down as well as a result of a lack of accessibility and public safety. “TPWD had to cancel 16 public deer hunts in East Texas because of flooding,” Lockwood said.

A Tale of Two Hunting Seasons

It appears in hindsight the 2015-16 deer hunting season will be memorable for many reason. “Body condition of deer has been phenomenal; they’re just so fat. Every deer I’ve seen has been in great shape. Antler quality has been just exceptional,” Lockwood said. Hunters able to tag bucks were all grins while others had reduced hunting opportunities as a result of of field conditions.


Moving Deer Decoy: Put Motion in Your Hunt

A moving deer decoy is a sure fire way to provide confidence and a target into an approaching deer. Giving the appearance of a real life deer next to your stand while deer hunting can help you close the distance on an amorous buck. A new motion deer decoy is now available that may be just the thing you need to fill your next buck tag.

Moving Doe Decoy: Bring ‘Em In!

With years of experience in crafting the most lifelike, durable and realistic archery targets in the industry, Rinehart Targets expands the scope of their brand with the introduction of the new Rinehart Deloma Series Doe Decoy. The new Doe Decoy, like all Rinehart targets, is hand-sculpted by world-class wildlife artists for unmatched realism.

Rinehart has built its reputation on using specialized, durable and life-like material—and the Deloma Series Doe Decoy is no exception. The moving doe decoy features a patented design, ultra-quiet Rinehart foam for silent transport and an easy-carry folding configuration for nimble treks to and from any deer hunting location.


The Key is a Lifelike Decoy

Aside from her stunningly realistic looks, the Doe Decoy’s strongest attribute is her natural head turning—and neck turning—abilities. The ability to naturally turn her head in the slightest breeze to simulate life-like movement will draw in the wariest of bucks. With the anchor rod strategically positioned behind the front legs, breeze-activated movement allows the entire body of the decoy to pivot in addition to the motion of the head and neck.

The patented Doe Decoy comes with a full-carry bag that’s crafted with a “quiet-tech” fabric that’s burr resistant and features a drawstring and a sling strap for comfortable and secure transport. The decoy is designed for deer hunting and is serious, field-ready.

Close the Distance Using a Deer Decoy

From the decoy design to the carry bag, Rinehart tweaked every detail in the field to create a moving deer decoy that’s designed and proven by hunters, for hunters. The key to a consistently successful decoy is realism and movement, and the Deloma Series Doe Decoy from Rinehart is turning heads in both these categories. Hunting the whitetail rut just got a lot more interesting! The MSRP for the Rinehart Deloma Series Doe Decoy is $159.99.

Scent Free Bug Spray for Deer Hunting

The use of scent free bug spray has allowed me to enjoy deer hunting more than ever. Hunting the early season is great: bucks can be patterned, cool weather, leaves are getting ready to change colors and it’s just a great time to be in the woods… except for those annoying BUGS! Now, you can take care of business while enjoying yourself in the woods with a newer, possibly even better product.

Scent Free and NO MORE BUGS

Lethal Scent Elimination, a leading provider of extremely effective and powerful odor eliminating products has finally created and produced a product that big game hunters have been waiting on for years, scent-free bug and tick repellent.

Lethal Bug and Tick Repellent was developed by the same in-house chemists who have spent the last 30 years researching and developing some of the most effective household, scent eliminating products on the market today. This unscented, non-greasy, quick-drying repellent is effective for up to eight hours and works well as part of the Lethal System or separately; either way, the scent-free repellent is the first on the market and undoubtedly will be the leader in the category in the future.

ProStaff Tested Bug Spray

Since September, Lethal has given the Bug and Tick Repellent to a few key dealers and the Lethal Pro-Staff to, not only test in the field, but in retail as well. Results were outstanding with sell-through numbers at 100% and feedback from the pro-staff supported the test results with the product being more effective than DEET.

“The scent elimination category is obviously one of the most saturated categories within the deer hunting industry,” said Steve Davison, President and CEO of Clean Control Corporation, Parent Company of Lethal. “We had to find and develop a product that made us stand out and be just as effective as all of our other products. I believe we hit a homerun with the Bug and Tick Repellent and foresee the product being used by not only hunters but everyone who commonly uses bug sprays and repellents.”


The Perfect Scent Free Bug Spray for Hunting?

Look for Lethal Bug and Tick Repellent to be “officially” introduced at this years ATA Show in Louisville, Kentucky. I will definitely be giving their scent free bug spray a shot when deer hunting season rolls around next year. In my part of the world, mosquitos and gnats can make a hunt downright miserable. Keep the bugs away and bring the bucks close!

Illegal Deer Hunting in Comal County

Deer Hunting Season Ends

The general deer hunting season has ended in Texas, but not before many were cited for hunting violations. One instance reported by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Wardens in Comal County sounded particularly bad. Two Comal County game wardens responded to a call for assistance from a Garden Ridge police officer who had stopped a vehicle for running a stop sign.

Are Those Your Deer Guns?

Over the course of the traffic stop, the officer saw a .22 caliber rifle, a .40 caliber pistol and spent shell casings inside the vehicle. While interviewing the occupants in the backseat of the car, the officer heard several thumps coming from the trunk. When he opened the trunk, the officer found a white-tailed deer that had been shot but was still alive. A little late night deer hunting?

Road Hunting in Comal County

The officer then called a game warden to investigate the circumstance of the deer and exactly what type of hunting had taken place. The vehicle occupants told the warden they shot the deer at about 11:30 p.m. while it stood in the street near a residential area.

Hunting at Night, Too

The warden arrested two of the suspects for hunting deer at night and charged the vehicle operator for unlawfully carrying a weapon. While booking the suspects at the jail, the warden overheard one of them comment to the other he couldn’t believe they got in so much trouble for killing a deer. The other suspect replied, “Yeah, but it sure woulda been good eatin’.”

Millennium Treestands: SafeLinks for Hunters

We often underestimate the importance of treestand safety while deer hunting. This is both careless and dangerous, even though most hunters will admit that they have had a “close call” while deer hunting from a treestand. There are a number of ways one can get hurt while hunting, but falling is one of the most common hunting-related accidents.

Think Treestand Safety

As the evening settles in and hunting light disappears hunters begin to pack up their equipment and prepare to get back to their vehicle or camp. In the dark the hunter reaches around the tree and starts to look for that first step with his feet… we have all been there. This is when hunters are their most vulnerable for losing their balance, slipping off the step or falling to the ground.

More hunters are injured or killed each year from falls climbing to or from their stands than those that actually fall out of their stands. It is while getting into or out of a their stands that a hunter is most vulnerable for a paralyzing or life-threatening injury.

Use Safety Harnesses When Hunting from Treestand

With the advent of today’s safety harnesses, there is no reason anyone should ever fall from a deer hunting stand. The development of the safety harness has undoubtedly saved many lives. But, now the hunter can fully protect himself from injury and the family from heartbreak by using a safety line with Prusik knot as they climb and descend to and from their stands.

Millennium Treestands is making sure that every hunter who purchases one of their ladder stands or hang-on stands will be better protected. Millennium will be including the new SafeLink safety rope in the box of all their hang-on and ladder stands. The SafeLink is 35 ft. long, made to support hunters up to 350 lbs.

It comes with a Prusik knot and carabineer to provide the hunter with the safest ascent and descent to and from the stand. The SafeLinks in Millennium’s 2-man stands comes with double Prusik knots and two carabineers.

Millennium is the first treestand manufacturer to take such a step. Millennium truly is taking treestand safety to a new level. Do not underestimate the importance of treestand safety. Ask any hunter that has had a significant fall or one of their surviving family members and they will tell you not to chance it.

Terra 5R IR Game Camera – Wildgame Innovations

Game cameras are one of the best tools for deer hunting. They allow for 24/7 scouting and are effective at patterning deer. Wildgame Innovations has a new one they’ve named the Terra 5R IR Camera, and it will not break the bank.

First-generation game cameras were big, drained batteries quickly and, frankly, didn’t work that well. We all remember those aggravating times. And if you are using the wrong camera you may still be experiencing them. Leave those frustrating days in the past!

Game cameras have evolved to a level that was unimaginable only a few years ago. These amazing tools have become standard equipment for anybody who needs to be there but can’t really be there. My most useful pieces of deer hunting equipment are my game cameras.

Terra 5R IR Camera Gets Results

While some outdoorsmen relish the thought of a game camera with features far exceeding anything they’ve used in the past, there are many who appreciate practical simplicity – an economical scouting camera that will perform basic functions flawlessly. The NEW Wildgame Innovations Terra 5 IR Camera fits these needs perfectly.

Don’t be fooled by the terms “economical” or “basic”. The new Terra 5 IR performs beyond its highly affordable $49.99 price, offering capabilities in line with more expensive models, including a lightning fast, one-second trigger speed and a 21 pc high-intensity LED infrared flash. With a generous flash range up to 50 feet, the Wildgame Innovations Terra 5 IR is ideal for monitoring feed sites, scrapes, mineral sites or other localized spots where long-range images are neither desired nor required.

The new Wildgame Innovations Terra 5 IR offers both still image and 30-second video capability.

Nothing is worse than checking a camera for new images and realizing the batteries are dead as a door nail! No such worries, with the new camera. The workmanlike Terra 5 IR is highly energy efficient, providing long-term service and performance on just 8 AA batteries.

WILDGAME INNOVATIONS TERRA 5 IR CAMERA SPECS

  • Model No. # TR5i1
  • UPC 6-16376-50812-7
  • 5 MP IR HD LED Digital Scouting Camera
  • 21 pc High Intensity LED Infrared Flash
  • One second Rapid Trigger Speed
  • Still and 30-Second Video Capability
  • Flash Range Up to 50 ft.
  • Energy Efficient for Long Term Use
  • Up to 32 GB SDHC Card (not included)
  • Uses 8 AA-Cell Batteries (not included)
  • Includes Bungee Cords
  • Retail: $49.99

Better Game Camera: See more Bucks for Less

Innovation isn’t always measured by a long list of the latest high-tech features or a correspondingly premium price tag. Sometimes, true innovation manifests itself in a beautifully simplistic and economical product that performs desired functions dutifully and without fail. We’ve seen simplicity pay off with better tools for deer hunting before. That’s the innovation in Wildgame Innovations’ new Terra 5 IR Camera.

Wild game Innovations’ all-new Terra 5 IR Camera will debut at the Archery Trade Association (ATA) Show in Louisville, Kentucky early next month, along with several other exciting, new-for-2016 Wildgame Innovations products.

Texas Big Game Awards Banquets: When & Where

Texas Big Awards Program

White-tailed deer hunters can show enter their big game harvest in this year’s Texas Big Game Awards program and give the animal and their land management program the recognition it deserves. The program is accepting entries now through March 1, 2016.

Celebrating its 25th year, the Texas Big Game Awards is a partnership of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Wildlife Association recognizing the contributions landowners, land managers and responsible hunters make to managing and conserving wildlife and wildlife habitat on Texas’ private lands.

Texas Big Game Awards promote awareness about wildlife management and the role that hunting plays in habitat conservation, and to foster cooperation among stakeholders who ensure that our state’s wildlife habitat is conserved forever.

Enter the Big Game Awards

Hunters who harvest a white-tailed deer, mule deer, javelina, or pronghorn antelope this season meeting the minimum net score requirements set for their respective region may be eligible to receive recognition in the “Scored Entry” category. Scoring is done by local certified TBGA scorers using the Boone & Crockett Club Scoring System and entry is free. The landowner where the entry was taken is also eligible to be recognized. Also, hunters that harvest a bighorn sheep during the current season are eligible for recognition through the program.

Hunters of any age who harvest their first big game animal in Texas are eligible for the “First Big Game Harvest” category. Hunters who harvest a white-tailed deer, mule deer, javelina, pronghorn antelope, or bighorn sheep are eligible, regardless of sex or score of the animal in this category.

All youth hunters (hunting under a valid youth hunting license) who harvest a white-tailed deer, mule deer, javelina, pronghorn antelope, or bighorn sheep are eligible for the “Youth Division,” regardless of sex or score or the animal.

Big Game Awards Details

For more information on the Texas Big Game Awards, entry information, or for a local certified TBGA scorer, visit www.TexasBigGameAwards.org or call 210-236-9761.

All awards for each category will be presented only at the Regional Celebration for the region of harvest. Participants are invited to attend their regional banquet, but may attend any of the celebrations. A Statewide Celebration will be coordinated by TWA in conjunction with the TWA Annual Convention held July 15 in San Antonio. The top three animals statewide in each category will be recognized and receive a special award at the statewide ceremony.

Texas Big Game Awards 2016 Regional Banquet Schedule

  • Region 5, 6, 7 — May 14, Lufkin
  • Region1, 2, 3 — June 4, San Angelo
  • Region 4, 8 — June 11, Uvalde

Texas Mule Deer Hunting Season Looks Favorable

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is reporting that prospects are good for the upcoming mule deer hunting season, which starts on Saturday, Nov. 21 in the Texas Panhandle and Nov. 27 in the Trans Pecos. TPWD biologists say above average habitat conditions have bolstered body weights and antler growth this year.

In addition, agency is asking hunters and landowners to submit harvested mule deer for sampling as part of enhanced, statewide monitoring efforts for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The deer disease is always fatal in deer and elk. It was found in West Texas a few years ago and TPWD continues to monitor the spread of the disease.

Mule Deer Hunting in West Texas

Panhandle Mule Deer

Although not required in the Panhandle, mule deer harvested in far West Texas are required to be submitted for testing under TPWD’s Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan protocols. The management plan includes mandatory check stations for susceptible species like elk and mule deer taken inside the CWD Containment Zone, which covers portions of Hudspeth, Culberson, and El Paso counties. More information on the Texas CWD zones map.

The Texas Animal Health Commission and TPWD will also use the CWD check stations in a cooperative effort to monitor for bovine tuberculosis (TB) in Texas. The tissue samples used for this effort would be the same samples currently collected as part of the ongoing CWD monitoring effort.

Mule Deer Disease: CWD Testing in Texas

The mule deer hunting season is getting ready to start in Texas and hunters are asked to submit animals for testing. Hunters taking mule deer inside the West Texas Containment Zone during the 2015-16 mule deer hunting season are required to submit their harvest (unfrozen head) for CWD sampling at a check station within 24 hours of take.

Over 800 tissue samples have been collected for CWD testing purposes from hunter-harvested deer and elk from the Trans Pecos ecoregion the past three hunting seasons, and CWD has not been detected in mule deer located outside of the Hueco Mountain area.

 

“We recommend hunters in the Containment Zone and High Risk Zone quarter deer in the field and leave all but the quarters, backstraps, and head at the site of harvest if they are unable to bury the inedible carcass parts as deep as possible on the ranch or take them to a landfill,” said Shawn Gray, Mule Deer Program Leader for TPWD.

Mandatory check stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 27 – Dec. 13 and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec 14. Stations will be located in Cornudas at May’s Café (on US 62-180) and in Van Horn at the Van Horn Convention Center (1801 West Broadway).

Hunters who harvest deer in the Containment Zone outside the general season under the authority of MLDP (Managed Lands Deer Permits) will need to call TPWD at (512) 221-8491 the day the deer is harvested to make arrangements to have the deer sampled for CWD.

Deer and elk harvested in other areas of the Trans Pecos and Panhandle regions may present their deer for CWD testing, to aid in statewide surveillance effort to contain the deer disease. A voluntary check station will be established at the Hip-O Taxidermy in Alpine (east side of town on US 90, across from Dairy Queen) during the first three weekends of the general season, Saturday through Monday (Nov. 28–30, Dec. 5–7, and Dec. 12–14), from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monday. Other check station locations are illustrated on a map shown on TPWD’s main CWD web page.

All deer brought to the check stations this season will be aged as part of disease surveillance. Additional biological information such as antler measurements and field dressed weights will also be collected as time allows.

Quail Populations Up on Better Habitat in Texas

Bobwhite quail populations are up substantially in Texas thanks to better habitat. Quail hunters, on owned or leased land, should see more birds than they have over the past decade. Thanks to timely rainfall and cooler temperatures this year, Texas quail hunters can anticipate hearing more bobwhites during the upcoming quail hunting season, which gets under way statewide Saturday, October 31.

Bobwhite quail could provide the best indicator of how timely rainfall has benefited wildlife in Texas this year. The combination of spring and summer rainfall and lower-than-average temperatures across most of the summer has resulted in a flush of vegetation and insects and an extended window of opportunity for nesting, a combination for success that quail have not enjoyed for many years.

Quail in Texas

Reports from South Texas sound the most dramatic, according to Robert Perez, TPWD’s quail authority, with broods being observed all summer long, multiple age classes and large brood size (good chick survival).

“Some are predicting a real boom year in some parts of South Texas,” Perez noted. “The Rolling Plains have been hit hardest over the last several years with periods of extended drought, but the needle is definitely moving in the right direction. Survey results showed some improvement last year but quail appear to have made a striking recovery in the region this past summer. The quail roadside index recorded an amazing five-fold increase. Lots of large broods have been observed there as well, and we expect to see a good bump in numbers in the region.”

Quail season runs through Feb. 28, 2016.The daily bag limit for quail is 15, with 45 in possession. Legal shooting hours for all non-migratory game birds are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. The bag limit is the maximum number that may be killed during the legal shooting hours in one day.

Perez notes the Gulf Coast is not as tied to rainfall as the arid rangelands, so production can actually be hampered by excessive rains. Early reports of good production and above average survey results in the remnant prairies of the Gulf Coast are a good indication that numbers will likely remain high, as they have been the past couple of years.

Quail are notorious for trending with weather, going through years of exceptional production when conditions are favorable, followed by down turns when the weather doesn’t align properly. Biologists refer to it as “boom and bust” cycles. Last season marked the end of three consecutive years of drought conditions in both South Texas and the Rolling Plains where quail populations began to show signs of recovery. Good hunts were reported in several areas of South Texas and a few areas of the Rolling Plains. Good to excellent hunts were also reported in the central Gulf Coastal Prairies where an all-time high was recorded by the TPWD 2014 survey.

Heading into 2015, excellent late winter conditions produced a flush of winter greens providing nutrition for hens prior to the nesting season. The core Texas quail hunting regions received frequent rainfall events from spring through midsummer which produced excellent nesting cover, abundant forbs and countless insects. Improved habitat combined with summer temperatures that remained below the 100 degree mark through the second week of July allowed quail to enjoy an extended window of breeding and nesting opportunity throughout the Rolling Plains, South Texas and the Trans Pecos.

Consequently, according to Perez, the forecast for quail hunting in many areas of Texas is good to excellent this year. Looking forward, climatologists are predicting an El Nino year which may bring another mild wet winter and excellent breeding conditions heading into the 2016 season.