DEER HUNTING ANNUAL INSIDE Texas’ Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper Since 2004
October 8, 2021
Deer HUNTING
texas A N N UA L 2 02 1
Marking his spot
Advertising Section
Volume 18, Issue 4
Opening morning giant
Prime surf fishing
Bowhunter takes 20-pointer on family ranch By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News
When water is clear to the beachfront, anglers work the surf for speckled trout. Photo by Robert Sloan, for Lone Star Outdoor News.
By Robert Sloan
For Lone Star Outdoor News There is not a better month to be fishing the surf along the Texas coast than October. The water is still warm, there is plenty of bait to attract trout and reds, and thanks to cool fronts moving through, the surf is often clean and green to the beach. There are two different ways to fish the surf. One is from an anchored boat and the other is to wade. For the most fun you can’t beat wade-fishing, according to longtime surf angler Joe Chatham. “The surf is another world,” he said. “If you time it right after a cool front, you stand a very good chance of catching limits of trout that are usually bigger and
After watching this buck for four years, Braden Rohde took this 7-year-old 20-pointer just 15 minutes into the archery season. Photo from Braden Rohde.
A Mason County buck arrowed by Braden Rohde just minutes into the opening morning of archery season has quite a history. “We’ve been watching him since he was 3 1/2 years old,” Rohde said. “He was only 8 inches wide then, but he had 12 points and two kickers.” The next year the buck still with 12 points, started looking more typical, and the 21-year-old Rohde, his father, grandfather and brother looked forward to watching him grow on the family’s 450acre, low-fenced ranch. “At 5 1/2, he was still narrow, about 9 inches wide, but was a 14-pointer — a 6-by-6 with two kickers,” Rohde said. “Early in the season, he got in a fight and broke off half of his main beam.” The family team decided to wait another year. “Last year, it was dry and conditions were tough,” Rohde said. “He went backwards to a 10-inch, 9-pointer. We let him go another year.” The year, with great conditions, the buck stuck around and grew. “He turned into something we had never seen on the ranch,” Rohde said. “He stayed narrow but got more stickers and a drop tine.” The family decided to hunt the buck during archery season, before he might break off his beam again. Rohde said his grandfather and father bought the ranch in 2000, around the time he was born. “It didn’t have many good deer on it,” Rohde, now a firefighter in College Station, said. “Over the years, we figured if you let the bucks grow older, they can do some great things. We waited on the good bucks until they were 5 1/2 and saw an increase in the size of the bucks.” Rohde said each year, they see a buck
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Hunts staying consistent down south By Nate Skinner
Dove hunters in the South Zone are reporting more birds arriving each day. Fields with crops and native weeds have been hotspots, as well as stock ponds. The majority of
South Zone dove hunters are seeing new arrivals of mourning dove in early October. Photo by Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News.
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CONTENTS
Time Sensitive Material • Deliver ASAP
For Lone Star Outdoor News
hunters have been harvesting more mourning dove than whitewings, with the exception of those hunting over sunflower fields in the Rio Grande Valley. Guide and outfitter Clayton Roth, of Dilley Dove, said the concentrations of birds in the Dilley area just keep improving. “We keep getting new birds each week, and in my opinion, we’ve
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10 Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 16 Saltwater Fishing Report . . Page 20 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 24
INSIDE
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT 3814
More dove as season continues
HUNTING
FISHING
Early arrivals (P. 4)
Bass scattered (P. 8)
Specklebellies move first.
Anglers waiting for cooler water.
Late hatches (P. 4)
Cutting barbs (P. 8)
Quail numbers could improve.
Cutting stingray tails not advised.
