Texas Hunting Times

Shooting Tips for Deer Hunting

There is now doubt hunters spend a lot of time thinking about deer hunting strategy, tips and tricks. Many hunters will spend thousands of dollars to go on a big trip, but spend little or no time at the rifle range in preparation for their deer hunting trip. This is not recommended because it always pays to check your equipment and get reacquainted with your gun before that split second between success and failure comes.

In order to maximize your hunting success and to ensuring a quick kill, minimizing the possibility of losing a crippled animal, it highly recommend that you spend some time properly preparing for your hunt. Here are a few hunting and shooting tips for those that plan to head out deer hunting this fall, whether it be your lease, public hunting land or a guided trip.

1. Start with an adequate caliber for deer. Generally, a minimum of a .243 caliber with 100 grain bullet is a good starting place, but you can go way up from there. There are many hunters that use smaller calibers with great success, but there is not much margin for error when you get down to smaller bullets.

2. Avoid highly expandable bullets for deer and other big game. Certain ballistic tips and hollow points can explode on the surface or before if they graze even a blade of grass along the way. Partions, A-Frames, bonded bullets and bullets that retain the majority of their mass are preferred on mule deer and whitetail hunts.

3. Make sure to practice! Shoot at least 20 rounds through your gun in preparation for your hunt, with at least two different trips to the range. Lots of hunters know that their gun is sighted in, but is it? Also, you are not simply making sure that your gun is sighted in, but you are also practicing. It pays to become familiar with your trigger pull, follow through, breathing control and everything else that goes with heading out to the field.

4. The most common mistake deer hunters make is having their gun sighted in too high at 100 yards. Move that bullet down! If you forget this factoid when the buck of a lifetime cruises by at close distance, when things happen quickly, you can make a chip shot turn bad in a hurry. On the flip side, if a deer is way out you are not going to forget to aim high. Most calibers will put a bullet into the “sweet spot” at 300 yards out if you simply hold even at the top of the back, if sighted in at 100 yards.

5. Lastly, always check your gun when you get to your deer hunting destination just to make sure that all is still good to go. Sometimes things happen in travel. Sometimes screws loosen up on slings and scopes. Look your gun over and make sure it’s good. Remove the bolt and look down the barrel to make sure a spider didn’t build a web in there. You just never know.

Flooding Fields for Ducks – Waterfowl Hunting

Duck Hunting Looks Strong in Texas

It’s September and the first cool fronts will upon us soon, pushing down a wave of blue-winged teal. These small, fast flying ducks are the first to make their way down the Central Flyway each year. Like most waterfowl species, they prefer freshwater, shallow wetlands for feeding. And on the feed is where you should always be when duck hunting anywhere. Find shallow water areas with food and the ducks literally come to you (and that’s exactly the way it should work, right?). If you can’t find it, you can build it.

Source: NORTH-CENTRAL U.S. In May, heavy rainfall improved wetland conditions across large areas of Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Waterfowl nesting efforts are strong, and with improved wetland habitat, brood survival should be enhanced. While habitat loss remains a serious concern, good waterfowl production is expected in this region.

Flooding Fields for Duck Hunting

Field crops offering the most energy for waterfowl include corn, milo and soybeans. However, some grains deteriorate faster than others when flooded. After 90 days of flooding, 86 percent of soybeans, 50 percent of corn and 42 percent of milo is deteriorated. Keep this in mind when flooding fields for duck hunting. After a certain period they become devoid of the good stuff. Milo and corn last longer and produce high energy so they are the fields you should focus on.

To prevent early seed deterioration, fields should not be flooded well in advance of waterfowl arriving. Also, fields should be flooded gradually over a several week period to provide food and habitat over a longer period and helps ensure the food and the hunting do not run out before the duck season is over. Ideally, more than one field should be flooded to provide another crop or to make food available over a longer period.

Flooding larger fields or more of them will attract more waterfowl and can only improve hunting. I understand that this is easier said than done, especially if you do not own the land that you are hunting. Find landowners or farmers that are willing to work with you will be a must if you are not the landowner. Another option that can attract birds and increase duck hunting opportunities is to implement most soil management for a variety of waterfowl species.

There are a lot of ducks that will be headed south soon. Best of luck to all that chase them.

Texas North Zone Dove Hunting Opens HOT

Most reports indicate that the Texas dove hunting season opened up with a bang in the North Zone on September 1. Good hunts were reported all throughout Central and North-Central Texas based on outfitter reports. Harvested corn and milo fields proved successful in the blackland prairies around Elgin and Taylor for both mourning and white-winged doves according to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologist and game wardens.

“A lot of hunters were limiting out in the morning, and anyone who really wanted to got their limit Sunday if they hunted morning and evening,” reported Lt. Mike Mitchell, the TPWD’s Law Enforcement Division’s technology and special projects officer. Mitchell spent Sunday riding with a game warden and reported their law enforcement activities real-time via Twitter. The wardens contacted scores of hunters, and Mitchell used a department smart phone to send 36 tweets, many accompanied by photographs and links to further information.

Federal migratory bird regulations prohibit hunting mourning and whitewing doves over bait, but doves can be attracted both effectively and legally in throughout the state using managed fields. Fields managed as wildlife food plots or where normal agricultural practices have occurred are perfectly legal for dove hunting as long as there is no bait is placed out for birds.

Baiting includes placing grains, salt or other attractants in an area used for bird hunting.

Generally the most productive dove fields have sunflowers, but wheat, millet and even native plant fields can yield quick limits for hunters willing to make the most of what they’ve got.
Dove field preparation is relatively simple, although weather, agricultural practices or other food plots for doves in the surrounding area will influence whether doves will use the field. Careful management and a little luck can lead to some really hot dove hunting, and I’m not just talking about the weather.

Texas Duck & Goose Hunting Seasons for 2013-14

It may still be hotter than hell outside but that’s no reason why to not think about the upcoming Texas duck and goose hunting seasons. All indications suggests that the duck hunting action should be as good as ever. Almost all reports have indicated that breeding and nest success are up, up, up. In fact, for the first time in a half century, Texas waterfowlers can take two canvasbacks daily under migratory game bird seasons approved for the 2013-14 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

The bag limit increase for the upcoming hunting seasons comes with news of healthy waterfowl populations, with all species except pintail and scaup numbering above the long term goals identified in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. “Overall, waterfowl are doing quite well,” Kevin Kraai, Waterfowl Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department told commissioners. “We’re near record levels and in some instances in the glory days for ducks.”

The commission also adopted a staggered duck season split between the North and South Zones to allow for the opportunity of an additional week for those waterfowlers who travel between zones. In another change to the season framework that should be welcomed by hunters, the possession limits for all migratory game birds is now three times the daily limit. For ducks, including teal during the early September 14-29 season, the possession limit is 18.The only decrease in bag limit configuration involves scaup, with a reduction to three daily.

Texas Dove Hunting Season: Load Up!

It’s mid-August and thoughts of the upcoming Texas dove hunting season are already dancing in my head. There is nothing more fun that some fast-paced wingshooting on a warm Texas evening by a receding stock tank with a couple of your buddies. I grew up hunting doves with my dad and it, along with rabbit hunting, was really my gateway to the hunting word. The September dove opener always marks the beginning of another fall of hunting. The seem to get here faster and faster every year.

Texas dove hunters should see plenty of opportunity this fall as conditions are shaping up for an above average season, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Dove season kicks off Sunday, September 1 across most of the state. Texas dove hunters number upwards of 250,000 and collectively bag between 5-6 million doves during the 70-day season. Thanks to new rules approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) this year, hunters can possess up to 45 birds — three times the daily bag limit. Previously, the possession limit was twice the daily bag. Daily bag limits still apply.

The USFWS also approved for this year an expanded Special White-wing Dove Area (SWWDA) in South Texas. The SWWDA will now extend eastward along its current boundary and continue south along Interstate 37 from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, effectively doubling its current size.

“For the last two decades, white-winged dove populations have steadily expanded both their numbers and their geographical extent,” said Dave Morrison, Small Game Program Director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We believe, and the Service agrees, an expansion is appropriate to take advantage of additional dove hunting opportunities.”

To take advantage of the earliest possible opening dates for the special area, the season will run Sunday, September 1 through Labor Day, Monday, September 2, and then reopen Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8. The daily bag limit during the combined four-day season is 15 doves in the aggregate to include no more than two mourning doves and two white-tipped doves and hunting during the early dove season in the SWWDA is permitted only from noon to sunset.

Dove season in the North and Central zones will run concurrent from September 1-October 23 and December 20-January 5. The South Zone dove season is set for September 20-October 27 and December 20-January 20, with the regular season in the SWWDA September 20-October 23 and December 20-January 20.

According to Shaun Oldenburger, TPWD’s Dove Program Leader, hunters can expect to see an increase from last year in dove numbers. “It appears that breeding dove numbers have increased from last year in many regions of the state,” he said. “Increased precipitation helped improve dove production and generate ample food supplies. It should be a good dove hunting season.”

Duck Hunting, Habitat Management at J.D. Murphree WMA

All reports from the north indicated that the upcoming duck and goose hunting seasons should be a good one since it was a good year for waterfowl reproduction. Some of the best public hunting lands in Texas can be found on the coastal wildlife management areas (WMA) for waterfowl, including J.D. Murphree WMA. The 30,000+ acre WMA has been busy with wetland habitat management projects for decades now, making the highly productive marshes even more attractive for wintering ducks and geese.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department invites the public to attend an informational meeting regarding the upcoming migratory game bird hunting season and ongoing wetland restoration efforts on Wildlife Management Areas along the Upper Coast of Texas. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 14, from 6-8 p.m. at the J.D. Murphree WMA Headquarters check station at 10 Parks and Wildlife Drive in Port Arthur, on the south side of Highway 73 near the intersection of Jade Avenue.

Wetland projects were completed on sites in the Lower Neches WMA and the J.D. Murphree WMA. Updates regarding public duck hunting access within the Upper Coast WMAs and information on rules and regulations, including leased public hunting sites, will also be available. Additional information regarding public hunting opportunity on TPWD owned lands is available by contacting the J.D. Murphree WMA at 409-736-2551.

Small Acreage Deer Management: High Fence Style

Question: “Interested in deer hunting and management on one of our ranches. We’ve got some whitetail deer on a property that is located near Brady, Texas. What is the carrying capacity for a small 150 acre ranch under high fence if we are supplemental feeding? Oh, and the property is about 50 percent brush and trees (oak, mesquite) with the remainder open grassland. Will probably put in some food plots too on the open areas. How many deer?”

Deer Hunting Pros: Though small acreage places can provide good deer hunting, the high fence situation will really limit what you can do, primarily because you will have little deer movement into and out of the place and the deer herd will be relatively limited. That being said, there is no doubt that you can support some number of deer on the place, and probably even produce some good bucks. Although the ranch is 150 acres, it sounds like the functioning amount of habitat may be more like 90 to 100 acres because of limited cover.

Of course, the grassland areas can grow up and become deer habitat in 5 to 10 years, and that will help, but right now let’s look at it from the standpoint of 100 acres. In that part of Texas, 100 acres of deer habitat can support about 1 deer to every 10 to 15 acres. If you plan on providing year round supplemental feeding then I would think you could get away with a deer to every 8 to 10 acres. This would only be about 10 to 12 deer early on. I would recommend against any more than this early on OR the grassland areas will not grow into deer habitat. The deer will eat preferred browse plants as they grow and prevent establishment. Continue reading Small Acreage Deer Management: High Fence Style

Texas Deer Hunting: Tracking Wounded Deer with Dogs?

Although hunters take every precaution to make good shots resulting in clean kills while deer hunting, it is inevitable that there will be times that deer must be tracked for longer than expected distances. Tracking wounded deer with dogs is an effective way to locate deer, and it’s commonplace in most areas. In East Texas, however, dogs have been banned for some time, but now Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is revisiting this regulation. Hunters could use dogs to trail a wounded deer in 12 counties in East Texas, a practice that has been prohibited in this area of the state since 1990, under a proposal being considered by TPWD.

A series of public meetings will be held to provide details of the proposal and give the public an opportunity to comment. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is expected to take action on the proposed change at its August 22. In 1990 TPWD adopted rules prohibiting the use of dogs to trail wounded deer in 34 East Texas counties. The rule making was necessary because the department determined that dogs were being used unlawfully for deer hunting, which was causing depletion of the resource.

By 2000, TPWD determined that the practice of using dogs for whitetail hunting had declined to the point of being nonexistent in some of those counties and removed the prohibition in 10 of those East Texas counties. TPWD now believes the prohibition could be lifted in an additional 12 counties, including: Harris, Harrison, Houston, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Panola, Polk, Rusk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker.

Details about the proposal, along with an opportunity to provide public comment, can be found online. TPWD says that comments may also be made in writing to Robert Macdonald, TPWD Regulations Coordinator, 4200 Smith School Rd., Austin, TX 78744, in person at any of the following public hearings or at the TPWD annual public hearing on August 21 at 2 p.m. at the above address.

TPWD Public Hearing Calendar for East Texas Deer Hunting Regulations

Tuesday, July 30 in Woodville at the Woodville Elementary School Community Room, 306 Kirby Drive.
Wednesday, July 31 in Lufkin at the Angelina County Courthouse District Courtroom, 215 East Lufkin Avenue.
Thursday, Aug. 1 in Hemphill at the Sabine County Courthouse District Courtroom, 201 Main Street.

All meetings are set to begin at 6 p.m. each evening. At the conclusion of each public hearing, wildlife officials will conduct a brief presentation on deer management and hunting regulations in the Pineywoods. TPWD staff will present information related to regulations and data collection and take questions regarding deer management, deer hunting and regulations.

Deer Hunting in Texas: A Season of Change?

There is no doubt that white-tailed deer hunting in Texas has changed over the past few decades. The terminology has definitely has: management bucks, breeder bucks, shooter bucks, deer pens, managed lands deer permits (MLDP), so on and so on. Anyone heading out hunting on a commercial operation had better sign up for a short-course on hunting terminology before even entering the gate. It’s not just deer hunting in Texas as it once was. It’s Texas trophy hunting in Texas. But I’m not even sure about the hunting part anymore.

There’s been some stuff brewing in the state for quite some time regarding deer ownership. It’s a gray area, to say the least. Landowners can buy deer, raise deer and offer deer for sale, but they only own them up to a point. You see, you can only shoot a state-owned deer. After all, every hunter needs either a hunting license tag or a state-issued deer permit. This argument over deer ownership is definitely a hot button, with both sides having valid arguments in my opinion. All I ask is that the good of the whitetail deer population be protected.

Source: If a judge orders TPW to compensate Anderton for them, the decision may prove private ownership in a state where every whitetail, even those conceived artificially and born in a pen, belongs ultimately to Texas and its people. It would signal a fundamental shift in the concept of wildlife as an irrevocable public trust. That outlook dates to the backlash to market hunting and the near extinction of whole deer species for the sale of pelts and venison. Beginning with Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, a movement to set aside federal wildlife refuges took shape. The secretary of agriculture created hunting seasons and bag limits, effectively ending the mass harvesting of game species for personal gain. Deer populations rebounded.

Now wildlife conservationists can’t help but wonder if this isn’t somehow a creeping return to the bad old days. “We recognize that wildlife is a public trust, and it belongs to all people in the state, held in trust and managed on behalf of the people by private landowners,” says Doug Slack, director of the Wildlife Society’s Texas Chapter. “[Breeders] consider me old-fashioned, but they’re promoting new legislation that’s promoting ideas and concepts that came up in the 1800s.”

But because game species like whitetail deer are no longer in danger of extinction, the industry wonders whether the prevailing public trust model is outdated.

“There’s a lot of religious zeal and elitism in my profession that hangs tenaciously to that old belief that wildlife belongs to everybody, and that wildlife in commerce is an evil thing,” says Dr. James Kroll, a deer breeder and director of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Institute for White-tailed Deer Management and Research. “They’re looking at the days of market hunting, but those were days when there was no regulation.

Texas Deer Hunting Season Looks Bright

The upcoming white-tailed deer hunting season should be a good one in Texas. Though the past couple of years have been tough for everyone, 2013 has been good for deer and other wildlife. Timely rains were delivered, especially in the front half of the year keeping whitetail food levels in good shape to date. The Texas sun has dried things out as of late, but that’s nothing new for the summer season in any part of the state. It’s mid-July but it is already setting up to be a good deer season for many parts of the state.

Without a doubt, herd recruitment has taken a hit the past few years, but the years of 2007 and 2008 were great for whitetail. I realize that many of the deer that were born back during those years have already been turned into some sort of tasty smoked product and consumed long ago, but there are likely some bucks from that cohort that are still out there. Those bucks would be 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 this hunting season. I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly the type of deer that I will be looking for.

Properties involved in deer management will reap the rewards of the 2007 and 2008 fawn crops. Many ranches involved in management programs have reduced their annual buck harvest in recent years because of lower fawn crops, meaning there should be good numbers of bucks and does of these older age classes. It’s now time to harvest of all of those fawns that have grown up to be big, heavy-horned, mature buckss. We are still a few months away from deer hunting season, but I am already getting pumped up. The property we manage will have some great deer out there. I think a lot of other properties will too.

The icing on the cake is the fact that it has been a good year for antler growth. Much of Texas has had enough rain to keep food levels ta good to even high levels in the field. That bodes not only for improved buck quality this year, but also for good fawn numbers. More recruitment into the herd means more animals that will may need to be removed. This deer hunting season will probably not be a recorder breaker by Texas standards, but the hunting should be good. The total number of bucks out there may be lower, but there should be decent numbers of good, mature bucks. Look for more fawns, too.