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Duck Hunting, Habitat Management at Murphee MWA

The J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is well known by public hunters for the fantastic duck and alligator hunting that it offers. This state-owned gem of a wildlife management area is chockerblock full of wintering waterfowl during most years—especially during really cold winters—making for excellent opportunities to get out in Texas’ coastal marsh for some fast-action duck hunting. But the great hunting that occurs there is not by accident, it’s because of sound habitat management for ducks and other water birds.

The J.D. Murphree WMA manager Jim Sutherlin will be recognized for his work in wetland habitat conservation at this year’s Ducks Unlimited (DU) State/Provincial Wetland Conservation Achievement Award presented during the 76th annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. DU’s Wetland Conservation Achievement Awards recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the restoration and conservation of North America’s wetlands and waterfowl. During the past three years, Sutherlin has worked with partners to successfully secure nearly $1 million in NAWCA grants and another $2 million from other grant sources to improve habitat management capabilities and habitat conditions along the Texas Coast for nesting and migratory waterfowl.

By understanding how waterfowl use resources, managers are able to attract and hold waterfowl on managed habitats. Where man-made or modified wetlands area managed, manipulations that emulate natural wetland complexes and water regimes provide diverse habitats for a variety of waterfowl, which creates awesome duck hunting opportunities. Congratulations to Jim Sutherlin for helping create better habitat for ducks, geese alligators, and for helping to provide a high quality public hunting opportunity. If you have not been out to the Murphee WMA for a hunt, I highly suggest giving it a shot during late December or January.

Texas Desert Bighorn Sheep Hunting Looking Better

Texas is still home to Desert Bighorn sheep, but there are not as many as there once were. In the late 1800s there were perhaps up to 1,500 sheep in the rugged mountains of Trans-Pecos Texas. However, due mainly to unregulated hunting and diseases from domestic and exotic livestock, Texas bighorn numbers dwindled to about 500 in 1903 and by the 1960s they were gone. But bighorn sheep, like Texans, are tough.

Today bighorn sheep are coming back thanks to decades of work by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), wildlife conservation groups, private landowners and others. TPWD biologists this past September observed 1,115 sheep in Texas, which is up from 822 in 2006 and only 352 in 2002. This steady climb back from the brink is due in part to relocation and restoration of wild sheep into areas where bighorns had once been extirpated. The increase in bighorn sheep in West Texas is great, but more work remains.

The Bofecillos Mountains of Big Bend Ranch State Park are next on the list of priority areas of historic bighorn range in Texas where sheep have not yet been restored. Establishing sheep in the park will increase numbers and diversity of the bighorn population in Texas, help restore the park’s native wildlife ecology and provide an outstanding new visitor wildlife viewing opportunity. In years to come, public hunting in the park may also be possible, although that is not the primary restoration goal.

“This puts an animal in its rightful place,” said Ruben Cantu, TPWD Wildlife Division regional director in San Angelo. “Its home is mountain ranges in West Texas. This is a desert mountain icon, an important component of the ecosystem.”

About 40 desert bighorn sheep were captured at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area using a helicopter and moved by trailer to Big Bend Ranch State Park in mid-December. It was the latest phase of a multi-partner wildlife restoration project begun in 1954, and the first bighorn reintroduction at a Texas state park. Big Bend Ranch bighorn restoration is a collaborative effort between TPWD’s Wildlife and State Parks Divisions.

Deer Hunting in Palo Pinto County

Question: I have the opportunity to get on a whitetail deer hunting lease in Palo Pinto County, Texas, but I don’t know anything about the area. For the price, I don’t expect to shoot a monster buck other there, but I also don’t want to shoot yearling bucks every year either. Do you know anyone that has hunted for deer in this area? Any information on deer, feral hogs, and wild turkeys would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: Deer hunting in Palo Pinto County can be as good as any place in Texas, but it will take management minded hunters to produce good bucks. This is true of any property in Texas. One of my good friends shot a 146 inch buck from the Graford area in 2006, and any buck in the 140’s is a pretty good deer. The hunters on his lease regularly taken bucks in the high 120’s and 130’s, which is not bad for a 450 acre place. Continue reading Deer Hunting in Palo Pinto County

Texas Panhandle Pronghorn Antelope Get New Home

About two hundred pronghorn antelope from the Texas Panhandle have gone on vacation. Or better yet, have a new home! Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)has reported transporting of 200 pronghorn from the panhandle to the Marfa Plateau—about a 500 mile trip! The trap and transport operation was performed to increase the declined Trans-Pecos herd and help biologists determine why the West Texas herd has been in decline in recent years.

Using net guns, crew members and a chartered private helicopter company would net individual pronghorn from above, then jump from the low-hovering chopper to quickly blindfold and hobble the animal to complete the trapping. Captured animals were then flown to a staging area. Once the animals were lowered to the ground, ground personnel carried each pronghorn to a stretcher for examination and aging by veterinarians and biologists.

Biologist and vets took each animal’s temperature along with blood and feces samples. The pronghorn antelope also received a mild sedative. Then an ear tag was attached. In addition, 80 of the animals received light-weight radio-telemetry tracking collars to monitor their movement. Once this process was completed, which took an average of eight minutes per animal, the pronghorns were placed in hay-lined enclosed trailers for the nine-hour drive from the Panhandle to the Marfa area.

“This is a win-win for all concerned, since removing surplus pronghorns from the northwestern Panhandle will help minimize crop depredation, ” said Shawn Gray, TPWD’s Alpine-based mule deer and pronghorn program leader. “This relocation is also going to help us try to figure out what has been causing pronghorn numbers in the Trans-Pecos to drop.”

This is the largest antelope transfer TPWD has undertaken in decades.
Data gathered during and after the relocation effort will be used by researchers in their effort to determine a reason for the decline in the once-strong Trans-Pecos pronghorn herd. While some 10,000 pronghorns roam the Panhandle, the herd in the Trans-Pecos is estimated at a record low of 4,700 animals. If things go as planned, another 200 pronghorns will be trapped in the Panhandle and relocated to West Texas next year.

Pronghorn Antelope Trapped and Restocked in Texas

Most of the people that did not grow up or who have not traveled through Texas think the state is made up of flat, open country. Sure, part of it is, but even the open country is not flat—it’s rolling! And that open country is important pronghorn antelope habitat that offers surprisingly good pronghorn hunting on lands managed for these fast critters. Pronghorn are native to Texas, found in the Panhandle as well as the Trans-Pecos regions of the state. Pronghorn once roamed most all of the state, including the coastal plains, but never did well in East Texas due to all the timber.

Though pronghorn antelope is still found in West Texas, the number of speed goats over in the Trans-Pecos has been dwindling. Texas Parks and Wildlife Deparment (TPWD) biologist believe the decrease in antelope stems from a disease or virus that has become even more of a problem due to persistent dry weather and poor recruitment, but it’s not 100% right now. All they know currently is that numbers are going the wrong way for Texas’ pronghorn populations and antelope hunters.

During the past two years, pronghorn populations have plummeted in the Marfa Plateau region. This decrease in antelope has influenced the total Trans-Pecos pronghorn population estimate for 2010, which hit a record low number of animals with an estimated 4,700 pronghorn across the Trans-Pecos region. With numbers holding steady in the panhandle, biologist are hoping to boost breeding pronghorn numbers in the Trans-Pecos by relocating some animals from the north.

Here’s the plan: The Wildlife Division of TPWD will lead an effort to trap pronghorn antelope in the Panhandle near Dalhart and move them out to the Marfa Plateau during late February of 2010. As of now, the scope of work involves trapping and transporting about 200 animals and releasing them on management-minded ranches near Valentine in the Trans-Pecos. The pronghorn population in this area has crashed and researchers hope that an infusion of new animals can restore self sustaining antelope herds to this area. The pronghorn decline and reintroduction into West Texas is being studied by TPWD and researchers from Sul Ross State University.

Deer Habitat Improvement in the North

Question: My father owns 125 acres of wooded land in central Connecticut and we want to improve our deer hunting. The property is surrounded on three sides by more forest and the fourth side borders an old field. I am looking into clearing and planting a food plot in the middle and trying to increase bedding cover and browse on the property for whitetail deer by hinge cutting trees. I am also going to create watering holes from some streams that flow across our property by blocking them up.

I was wondering if you had any suggestions or ideas on how to maintain better deer health and support more deer as well as increase deer sighting while hunting both does and bucks. Right now the property is mainly tall hardwood trees. I didn’t know if you could help me out so I figured I would send an email and find out. Continue reading Deer Habitat Improvement in the North

Texas Hunter Education Classes Offered

All hunters born on or after September 2, 1971, and 17 years old or older must have completed a Texas Hunter Education class to legally hunt in Texas, unless they purchase a one-time Hunter Education Deferral. As necessary as hunter education classes are, they can not be offered without trained instructors. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be conducting a free hunter education new instructor training workshop on Saturday, March 12, 2011, in Waco.

The hunter education program’s goals are to reduce hunting-related accidents and violations; promote safe, responsible and knowledgeable hunting; and enhance hunting traditions and values. Hunter education provides instruction in Texas hunting regulations, wildlife management and identification, conservation, ethics, firearm and hunting safety and responsibility and outdoor skills. The hunter workshop will be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 8451 Gholsen Road in Waco.

Instruction will be offered for new applicants and currently certified hunter education instructors in skills trail, live firing exercises and home study procedures. The training puts fun and exciting activities into the learning experience. Students will benefit by going through actual hunting simulations and by making their own decisions regarding responsible actions using “shoot-don’t-shoot” scenarios.

Before attending this workshop, you must go to the following web site and prepare yourself by going over the hunter education instructor training manual. You will sign an acknowledgement and release that you have done this pre-workshop assignment as part of your training. The site can be found here.

Once again, every Texas hunter (whether a resident or non-resident) born on or after September 2, 1971, must successfully complete a hunter education course. By understanding hunting through education, hunters and non-hunters alike will help make a bright future for the sport. To register to become a hunter education instructor, contact TPWD Area Chief Brent Heath at (254) 722-5660.

Feeder Pen Size for Deer Hunting

Question: I deer hunt in North-Central Texas. Next weekend, I plan on building a round feeder pen at my deer lease. I am purchasing ten 16-foot hog panels that are 34 inches in height. I have heard that if the feeder pen is too small deer will avoid the feeder.

With this in mind, how big will my feeder pen be using ten panels and is this big enough? Also, I would appreciate any tips on how I can get a perfect circle and how may posts would I need. Thanks for your help.

Answer: Pen size is important because deer do not want to feel confined. Your panels total 160 linear feet, so with that you will be able to construct a circular pen with almost a 51-foot diameter (diameter = circumference/3.14). That is plenty big for whitetail deer. Of course, going to big is cost prohibitive and gets out of hand. I think 10 panels will make a perfect size pen. As far as fence post, I would suggest putting two post per panel, or one post every 8 feet.

To get a perfect circle, place a stake directly under your feeder or proposed deer feeder location. Then, loop a string half the length (25 feet) of the desired diameter of the circle over the stake and walk around the stake while keeping the string tight and marking the ground with your boot or some other tool.

We recently built 3 feeder pens and used eight 16-foot panels for each of them and they looked good. I think they were plenty big, so deer should not at all feel confined in your ten panel pen.

There is still a little time before spring green up, so I suggest getting your pen built before it gets hot. This will also give deer plenty of time to become familiar with your setup. Good luck with your upcoming deer hunting season.

A $13,000 Buck Shot by Hunter?

Every hunter dreams of shooting a truly unique buck while deer hunting that hopefully has large antlers to boot. Well, many large bucks are shot each year across the whitetail deer’s habitat, but not all that many of them are piebald. I received an email today about an big piebald buck that was shot and allegedly sold for $13,000 to the sporting goods retailer Cabela’s. Here are the photos and how the thirteen thousand dollar story read:

“Here is a buck that a deer hunter got in Wisconsin. He sent these pictures to a bunch of people to see what he could get and the owner of Cabela’s paid him $13,000 for the head and hide. A calico buck, like this one is rarer than an albino.”

Continue reading A $13,000 Buck Shot by Hunter?

Planting Trees for Better Deer Hunting

There are many ways to make whitetail deer hunting on your property or hunting lease better. Whitetail are the most popular big game animal in North America, so it should come as no surprise that hunters are always trying to find habitat management practices that can make the deer on their lands bigger and healthier. One way to provide additional food for whitetail is by planing trees for deer.

For those of hunters that have been considering plant fruit, nut, or various other tree types to support the wildlife on your property, remember that between mid-November and mid- to late February is the time to plant if you’re doing seedlings.When the trees are in dormant state, they react more favorably to replanting. This allows them to set up their roots over the winter to some extent, making them ready for warmer weather and spring rains. This is also when food is most abundant for deer, so browsing pressure on your new tree should be lower. Continue reading Planting Trees for Better Deer Hunting