Classifieds

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“When you look back six or seven years, we had a pretty good fawn crop, so there may be more deer to choose from,” Kunz said. “And our spring rainfall was good, which is really important for antler growth in South Texas.”

Tompall Glaser with the Texas Buck Registry said a surprising amount of nice bucks were added to the registry over the first week of the MLD season.

“I’d have thought the warm temps would have slowed everything down, but that didn’t seem to be the case,” he said.

Gary Broach with Rhodes Bros. Taxidermy in Kerrville, said the shop is seeing a higher number of good deer coming through the doors.

“We’re seeing more good deer early this year, both from MLD ranches and from archery hunters,” he said. “And they are coming from South Texas and from the Hill Country.”

David Sunderland of Trinity Ranch, near Batesville, said he has noticed the uptick in early big bucks.

“Around here, it’s so dry that the big deer are hitting the feeders,” he said. “Especially on ranches that have exotics or cattle that put extra pressure on the natural food resources.”

Sunderland said he noticed something else about all of the big deer.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the photos of youngsters and women with big bucks,” he said. “A lot of us are having trouble marketing all of our hunts this year, and people have these mature bucks, so maybe it’s a daughter or granddaughter sometimes. It’s good to see.”

Dunks said one other factor could be in play.

“We’ve really amped up our social media this season,” she said. “We’re posting pretty much every deer that comes in.”

Sunderland agreed.

“People also are a lot better at posting what’s happening,” he said.

Focus on young hunters

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proud that he made an excellent shot.”

Christian Robertson, 13, of Houston, harvested his first deer during his second to last sit of the trip. After not encountering any deer at all, a red deer hind showed up at the food plot he was overlooking right as the sun was setting.

“It took her awhile to get into my comfortable shooting range,” Robertson said. “She came within about 80 yards of the blind and was facing us for what seemed like forever. She finally turned broadside and I took a shot.”

The red deer kicked and then ran about 45 yards before piling into the brush, where he later recovered her.

“I was pretty nervous while I was shouldering my gun, and I was pumped up to harvest my first deer,” Roberston said. “It made it even more awesome that it was a red deer, because that’s a huge animal.”

Robertson’s father, Chad Robertson, was in the blind with him and a guide when he harvested the deer, and said it was extremely special to share that moment with his son.

“Christian has been asking me when we can go hunting again, every day, since the hunt,” Chad said. “I didn’t grow up hunting, but I am already looking into finding more opportunities to get him back out there. This is going to be something that we do together from now on, for many years to come.”

HUNTING

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Bird banding hits century mark

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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the United States Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory. The lab, now based at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland, was established in 1920 to study and help protect North American birds. The USGS laboratory issues permits for banding in the U.S., distributes aluminum bands — about 1 million a year — to participating scientists in the U.S. and Canada, and is a central repository for banding records in both countries.

Established in 1920, the bird-banding laboratory has recorded data on millions of ducks and other birds throughout North America.

The first records of bird banding in North America are those of John James Audubon in 1803. He tied silver cords to the legs of young phoebes near Philadelphia and verified two of the nestlings returned to the site of their birth the next year. In 1902, Paul Bartsch began the first scientific system of banding using voluntary band returns to identify where a group of black-crowned night herons had traveled. By 1909, the American Bird Banding Association had been formed. It was later taken over by the Bureau of Biological Survey (now the USGS) and the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Laboratory staffers manage more than 77 million archived banding records and more than 5 million bird encounter reports, with an average of nearly 1.2 million banding records and 100,000 encounter reports submitted each year.

Biologists use the information in making decisions on migratory bird seasons, focal areas for conservation efforts and critical components of legislation to protect endangered or threatened bird species.

Bird-banding records played a critical role in identifying the devastating effects of the pesticide DDT on some wild birds. The lab’s research uncovered a decline in some falcon species and bald eagles, sparking scientists at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and elsewhere to investigate. This research helped lead to the ban of DDT in the United States more than 40 years ago.

USGS scientists are currently involved in a banding project to track the migration patterns of blue-winged teal, which are among the waterfowl vulnerable to avian influenza. The research focuses on bluewinged teal due to their widespread distribution and suspected role in spreading avian influenza viruses.

Bird banding also was critical in recognizing the recovery of wood ducks and allowing a third bird in the daily bag limit for duck hunters. Because these birds nest and congregate in flooded hardwoods with overhead cover, their breeding populations were not able to be accurately reflected through aerial surveys. Banding records have allowed biologists to bolster their data and relax the daily bag limit to reflect current population trends.

Puzzle solution from

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NATIONAL

MARYLAND Beretta opens pop-up stores

Beretta is expand its nationwide footprint with the opening of several pop-up retail locations across the country.

The pop-up retail stores are open for a limited time (90 days) in Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall, the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, Colorado. —Beretta

FLORIDA Flounder reg changes proposed

Texas anglers might notice the familiarity in draft changes to the management of Florida’s flounder fishery. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved draft changes, which will be considered for final determination in December.

A recent stock status update suggested that the flounder fishery statewide has been in a general declining trend in recent years and is likely overfished.

Draft rule changes include increasing the minimum size limit from 12 to 14 inches; reducing the recreational bag limit from 10 to 5 fish per person; closing the season from Oct. 15 through Nov. 30; and limiting the allowable catch and modifying the bycatch limits for commercial fishermen. —FWC

Monster python caught

Members of the Python Action Team captured an 18-foot, 9-inch Burmese python. Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis, who make their living selling products made from snakeskin leather, caught the snake.

The removal of the pythons is an effort to reduce predation on native wildlife, which has been dramatic since the snakes began multiplying in the Everglades some 20 years ago. The giant snakes have been found to prey on water birds, small mammals and occasionally on alligators and deer.

The snake weighed 104 pounds. —FWC

Flying squirrel trafficking

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrested seven suspects and charged them with racketeering and other felonies.

The subjects were illegally trapping flying squirrels, a protected species, and selling them internationally in the pet trade. The squirrels were illegally captured by poachers and then sold to a wildlife dealer and were laundered through the licensed business of this dealer, who claimed they were captive bred, not wildlife.

As many as 3,600 flying squirrels were captured in less than three years. The wildlife dealer received as much as $213,800 in gross illegal proceeds. —FWC

MINNESOTA Black bear harvest up

Bear hunters in Minnesota had killed 3,065 bears with a week remaining in the season, the most since 3,172 in 2007. The harvest already is up 32 percent over the total from 2019.

The wild food crop in the woods was poor this year due to drought across much of the black bear range in northern Minnesota. With less food in the woods, bears were more likely to hit hunter bait stations.

This year’s total will be way up from the last seven years, when harvests ranged from a low of 1,672 in 2014 to a previous high of 2,633 in 2016. —MDNR

SOUTH CAROLINA NWTF 2021 convention going virtual

The National Wild Turkey Federation announced its 45th annual Convention and Sport Show will be held virtually in February.

The NWTF will be conducting its popular annual convention online in a format that will be announced at a later date. The NWTF’s 2020 Convention and Sport Show drew more than 57,000 people to Nashville’s Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

“The show’s scope makes limiting audience sizes and implementing social distancing measures in compliance with government guidelines extremely difficult,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “Even if guidelines change and restrictions are eased by February, it is not feasible for us to quickly adjust an event of this magnitude.”

TENNESSEE Purina recognized for conservation efforts

Nestlé Purina was awarded the Ducks Unlimited Corporate Conservation Achievement Award at this year’s virtual Ducks Unlimited National Convention.

Purina supports several key initiatives that preserve critical ingredients and conserve soil, water and wildlife habitat. Purina joined the USA Rice-Ducks Unlimited Rice Stewardship Program which keeps working ricelands healthy, preserves wetlands and creates habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.

Purina also partners with DU to improve wetlands and lakes across Iowa’s Prairie Pothole Region to help restore and protect 1,600 acres of wetland and grasslands across the state. —DU