DEER HUNTING ANNUAL INSIDE Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
October 11, 2019
Deer HUNTING
texas AN N UAL 2 0 1 9
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Volume 16, Issue 4
Friends fight the same fish Spotted bass eats offering from both By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News Michael Boyd moved to the Lake Conroe area last year, and is still trying to learn the lake
before getting back into competitive fishing. While fishing on the lake with his buddy, Tommy Woodard, the pair found an aggressive spotted bass. “We were pitching plastics around docks,” Boyd said. “I had a fish bite and set the hook, but he took the claws off of my
craw lure.” Boyd pitched again, had a hit and missed the fish. A few minutes later, Woodard pitched his craw into the same area, while Boyd was pulling line out after his cast. “He set the hook,” Boyd said. “When I engaged my line I felt the tension in my line, too. The
fish ate them both.” Boyd felt the small Kentucky bass was likely the same fish he had missed twice earlier, and it clearly had both hooks in its mouth. “He was a pretty hungry fish,” he said. “It was weird, it had been kind of a slow day. We joked if it was a record spot we
A spotted bass took the plastic craws of two anglers on Lake Conroe. Photo by Michael Boyd.
Please turn to page 23
Summerlike conditions greet archery and MLDP hunters By Nate Skinner
For Lone Star Outdoor News Hot, humid conditions combined with gusty winds and an extensive mast crop in certain regions of the state produced mixed results for those pursuing white-tailed deer on the opening weekend for archery and the Managed Lands Deer Program seasons. Some hunters enjoyed plenty of close encounters while others were left sweating, looking at stretches of brush and feeders void of activity. Hunters who harvested deer in the South Central Mandatory CWD Sampling and Carcass Movement Restriction Zone were required to bring their animals to the check station within 48 hours to have tissues removed for CWD testing. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist for Atascosa, Bexar, and Medina counties, Matt Reidy, manned the South Central CWD Check Station in Hondo during the first several days. He reported only six bucks were brought to the check station on opening weekend. “We did not have any animals checked in at the station on opening day,” Reidy said. “Of the six bucks that were brought in on day two, one was still in velvet. Most hunters in the region reported seeing quite a few deer, and that many of the bucks still had velvet on their antlers.” The bucks that were harvested on opening weekend were covered with a thick layer of fat. Please turn to page 6
Some archery and MLDP hunters are seeing bucks still in velvet in South Texas. The season opened Sept. 28. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
By Robert Sloan
“When it comes to kids, wives, whole families and just a group of friends, the fall bull red run here in Port O’Connor, at the jetties, is what everybody loves,” said Capt. Benny Judice, a longtime guide with 25 years on the water, mostly
at the jetties. “For the entire month of October and into November it’s a time when lots of fishermen come here to catch the heaviest fish of their life, and also some to take home.” Fisheries biologists with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have found that for the first three years of their lives, red drum live in
the bays or in the surf zone near passes. As they mature, they move from the bays to the Gulf of Mexico where they remain the rest of their lives, except for infrequent visits to the bays. During the fall, especially during stormy weather, large adult reds move to the Gulf beaches for spawning. This is known as the bull redfish run.
Shane Carwin landed this bull redfish at the Port O’Connor jetties on a sardine. Photo by Benny Judice.
Please turn to page 15
CONTENTS
Time Sensitive Material • Deliver ASAP
For Lone Star Outdoor News
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10
HUNTING
FISHING
Saltwater Fishing Report . . . Page 11
Pronghorn season ends (P. 4)
Conroe hybrids (P. 8)
Most hunters find success.
Cooler water spurs bite.
Allen to receive Pickens award (P. 5)
Shark fanatic (P. 8)
Park Cities Quail to recognize quail enthusiast.
Houston native pursues fish from shore.
Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 16 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 20 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 21
INSIDE
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PLANO, TX PERMIT 210
Running with bull reds at POC jetties