Lone Star Outdoor News 052623

For both experienced hunters and firsttimers, the roar of a rutting axis buck inspires hints of primal intrigue seasoned with an instinct to chase. To a new axis hunter, the raspy roars can sound more like a herd of Bigfoot hiding in the oak mottes.

As the summer rut approaches, anticipation within the axis hunting community amps up. The hunting has been hampered the last few years due to drought and a hard freeze, but hopes are high this year.

Willie Waldrip and a friend found themselves hunting near Sonora in midMay. The duo set out to chase big deer with their bows and found themselves in the mix all weekend.

“We were in deer from sunup to sundown every day,” Waldrip said. “That first morning we started out sitting over feed but could hear six different bucks roaring. We picked the closest one and started chasing.”

Where anything flies

Carp, bass and cichlids garner attention from Hill Country fly fishermen

By Nate Skinner

For Lone Star outdoor newS

Anglers on Central Texas and Hill Country rivers have been finding a variety of fish with their fly rods. Carp, bass and Rio Grande cichlids have been among the targeted species.

Fly designer and owner of FishChaseFlies, Chase Smith, has been chasing carp on the Pedernales River.

“Flats with shallow sloping banks that have a lot of mud, rather than gravel, have been the best areas for sight-casting to carp with a fly,” Smith said. “If you’re wading, it’s much easier to get closer to the fish if the river bottom is composed of mud. Wading over a gravel bottom will likely cause the fish to spook, as they will hear you coming.”

Most of Smith’s success has come when he’s found carp cruising by themselves.

“Sometimes you can catch a few fish out of the same pool in the river if the area is large enough,” he explained. “However, if they are all stacked up together, they are going to spook as soon as you hook one of them.”

Smith is known for tying his signature carp fly, called the Scarpion.

“Carp will strike a sinking fly that has a lot of bug-like features and lands softly in the water,” he said. “It’s all about getting the fly right in front of their face. If they are acting finicky, changing colors can sometimes make them eat.”

Most of the carp have been from 25 to 30 inches.

Inocencio Narvaez Jr., a sales associate and an instructor for Tailwaters Fly Fishing Company, has been targeting bass on the Brazos River this year. Fishing has been good, too, as he even topped his personal best twice in

Freshwater inflows plague coastal anglers

By Nate Skinner For Lone Star outdoor newS

Significant rain and flooding events brought excessive precipitation to the upper Texas coast and the tributaries that bring fresh water downstream.

The upper regions of the Galveston Bay complex, Sabine Lake and their surrounding marshes and satellite bays were inundated with freshwater inflows following these rainstorms.

Areas where anglers had been catching fish suddenly became unfishable, as salinities dropped and waters became churned up and dirty, forcing anglers to adjust their on-the-water game plan in order to achieve success.

Trinity Bay guide, Capt. Bryan Maley, said the waters along the Houston Ship Channel and the San Jacinto River were just starting to produce consistent results, as a summertime pattern was slowly kicking in.

Inocencio Narvaez Jr. landed his personal-best bass on the fly while fishing along the Brazos River below Lake Whitney. The fish weighed 7.5 pounds. Photo by Lawson Fish.

Axis bucks are beginning to rut in the Texas Hill Country and areas farther west. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.

Tim Young found fishable water in shallow marshes and back lakes on the northwest side of Sabine Lake that were full of redfish following the heavy rains in the middle of May. Photo by Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

FROM WORK TO PLAY

WHATEVER YOUR ADVENTURE IS, WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED.

HUNTING

Some surprises in 15-year deer studies

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

A new book summarizes and explains 15 years of research on South Texas deer.

“Advanced White-Tailed Deer Management: The NutritionPopulation Density Sweet Spot,” was produced by a group of top researchers who set out to find what combination of supplemental and natural nutrition and whitetail population density

Coming full circle

Youngster’s first turkey a reminder of another father-son hunt

By David Schlake

Lone Star outdoor newS

The moment Geoffrey Puryear caught a glimpse of feathers through a crack in the rear of his homemade, plywood turkey blind, he flashed back to 2015 when he and his father laid eyes on an aoudad during the final day of a West Texas hunt.

“Come on, dad,” he muttered, anxious to cap off a 60th birthday present with the glory that follows a properly squeezed trigger. But without hesitation, his father had already decided what was about to happen.

“No, no, no, no,” his father replied. “I get more enjoyment out of seeing you drop one than I would pulling the trigger myself. As a dad, you’ll get it one day.”

Eight years later, Puryear and his 10-year-old son, DK, shared a familiar exchange, only DK had been chasing his first turkey for two seasons, and time in his second campaign was running out.

The second-to-last weekend of spring gobbler season didn’t come without its challenges, however, as thunder rolled across the skies of Hamilton County, 70 miles west of Waco.

As Mother Nature echoed across the oat fields they were staking out, the father-son tandem stayed patient and quiet. Two previous sits had proven birds were roosting in some adjacent pecan trees, so they initially refrained from calling, given the unusual absence of turkey sign. About 30 minutes prior to DK’s moment of truth, a hen started calling from the neighboring property, prompting Geoffrey to reach for both a slate call and a box call.

“It was just going nuts and calling like crazy,” Puryear said. “Once we heard that, we thought we’d get a little more aggressive, calling back and forth and just kind of having fun with it.”

Puryear scanned his surroundings every so often, hopeful their increased calling would make their hen-and-jake decoy setup enticing enough for a gobbler to get mobile.

“There’s a little crack in the plywood blind, and I looked back one time and could see a gobbler strutting back about 40 yards behind us,”

Please turn to page 6

would produce the largest antlers on bucks without harming vegetation — finding the “sweet spot.”

The research was conducted through the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, led by Timothy Fulbright, Charles DeYoung, David Hewitt and Donnie Draeger, and assisted by 25 graduate students.

Now called the ComancheFaith Project, the research is the first of its kind in the semiarid

South Texas environment with frequent droughts.

Chapters in the book’s 164 pages include detailed information on vegetation response to increasing density and supplemental feeding, antler characteristics with increased deer density, and deer diets with increased density and supplemental feed.

Some of the results weren’t as expected, even for experienced researchers.

Vegetation and density

With respect to reducing deer numbers to improve diet quality for the remaining deer, the study showed that principle doesn’t necessarily work in South Texas.

“Harvesting deer to increase diet quality in semiarid South Texas is seldom necessary,” the book concludes. Noting the study areas were devoid of domestic livestock and feral hogs, the research found the vegetation was not materially impacted

Late evening and nighttime hogs

By Nate Skinner or Lone Star outdoor newS

With temperatures continuing to climb, most feral hog activity has been taking place during the late evening and overnight hours. Recent rainfall events have also helped to keep swine on their feet, as the freshly soaked soils have increased the availability of food sources.

Jeff Butler has been chas-

ing pigs on properties in the Beeville area with his nephew, Kayden Butler, finding the most success after sunset while using thermal optics.

“We’ve been seeing good numbers of hogs rooting in open, coastal fields,” Butler said. “They usually start showing up in the fields a little before sunset, and really start to pile in after dark.”

Butler also has had good luck corning roads and sen-

deros before he starts hunting for an evening.

“We’ll set up where we can overlook the roads and senderos we baited, as well as open fields adjacent to those areas,” he explained. “Once we see a group of pigs while scanning with thermal optics, we try to use the wind in our favor to get set up for a shot.”

Groups of sows with large litters of piglets are most

While on a hunt with his father, DK Puryear, 10, bagged his first tom with just over a week to go in the season. Photo by Geoffrey Puryear.

Allie Wood, right, shot this hog in a wheat field near Abilene while hunting with Wrangler Haresnape of Striker Outfitters. Photo from Wrangler Haresnape.

Handgun hunter takes black Hawaiian ram

By David Schlake

When the pandemic plagued societ ies around the globe and constricted daily lives, international plans largely ceased to exist. Little could be done, as there was no end in sight and there fore no ability to even postpone such arrangements.

Skip Hardbower, a 60-year-old Vir ginian with a lifetime of hunting ex perience, simply refused to accept the verdict forced upon the rest of us, as he was in the middle of pursuing the SCI Alternative Methods 24 Slam, and wasn’t about to stop for an indefinite length of time.

The milestone requires a hunter to take eight species with a muzzleloader, eight with a bow or crossbow, and eight with a handgun.

After having multiple scheduled hunts to Africa canceled, he and his wife decided

Expenses for herd depopulation change

It’s the deer breeder’s ultimate fear. Should one deer in a pen test positive for chronic wasting disease, the breeder is at risk of having the entire herd killed. On top of that, all of the expenses of depopulations, including personnel, hotels, travel, etc., regardless of fault or test results, pass to the deer breeder.

During the current session of the Texas Legislature, at least one of those fears was dealt with. SB 1372, introduced by Rep. Trent Ashby and Sen. Charles Perry, applies only to the CWD-positive facilities, and transfers the burden of the cost of depopulations from the deer breeder to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department unless the department determines that the permit holder, or an agent of the permit holder, caused “(1) the introduction of chronic wasting disease into the facility, or (2) a delay in the detection of chronic wasting disease at the facility.”

The bill passed unanimously through committees in the House and Senate and was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on May 15.

—Staff report

Quail HQ celebrates opening

On May 19, the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch’s new headquarters held an open house to celebrate the official opening of the new facility.

The event was held in conjunction with a Plant Appreciation Day, in which 110 attendees learned about the identification of plants beneficial to quail for nesting and feeding.

The facility was completed a few months ago, and includes offices for the land manager and biologist, along with a conference room; the James R. Curry Research Lab where interns and technicians can work indoors; the Park Cities Quail Coalition multi-purpose room, which has plenty of room for the 110 people and instructors; and a commercial kitchen.

Suspect CWD test result at Kerr WMA

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

A deer at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area triggered a suspect finding in a rapid test for chronic wasting disease, but future tests on the tissue of the deer showed “not-detected” findings.

In connection with studies regarding copper and zinc supplements at the Donnie E. Harmel White-tailed Deer Research Facility, located in the WMA, which was established in 1974 as a high-fenced research facility to study antler growth in whitetailed deer, each of the deer were tested using experimental tests called RT-QuIC, promoted as an early detection tool.

Officials took lymph node tissue from the deer and resampled, receiving “notdetected” results. Then, tissue was taken from another lymph node, also receiving a “not-detected” finding.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department issued a statement on the finding, stating:

TPWD is continuing to investigate a test result on a white-tailed deer at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. Researchers working with TPWD have reported a CWD-positive test result on the deer, produced by an experimental test not yet validated by USDA. However, this result conflicts with a “not-detected” test result from the same animal using a USDAvalidated test.

TPWD has now received additional test results, using immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing, from Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL). The results came back “Not Detected.”

Additional analysis is still being conducted to compare results.

TPWD is investigating this case, which involves one deer. The suspect and unofficial CWD-positive detection resulted from an RT-QuIC test, an experimental assay that shows some promise as a more sensitive CWD detection technique that can be used on a wider range of tissues than other available methods of detection. The “not-detected” test result was produced using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ELISA is a USDAvalidated immunological test administered by Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. Out of an abundance of caution and to reconcile the different test results, TPWD is seeking further tissue testing and in the meantime is treating the facility with a high standard of precautionary measures.

All deer from this CWD research project were euthanized at the end of the project and tested for CWD as part of established research protocol. All other deer tested “not detected” for CWD.

Since 1974, TPWD has maintained the closed, pedigreed white-tailed deer herd at Kerr WMA for controlled studies on age, nutrition and genetics, providing results to stakeholders for management of wild deer herds. TPWD continues to operate the facility to share results with stakeholders for research and demonstration purposes and does not routinely move deer into or out of the facility.

“In the middle of nowhere, it’s hard to get any meals catered,” said former director Dale Rollins.

The halls include a “Wall of Fame,” with photos and placards of each of the T. Boone Pickens Lifetime Sportsman Award.

The crowd also toured the Gordy Family Guest Lodge, which can accommodate six people, designed for visiting faculty and veterans being trained in RPQRR’s ranch and wildlife management program.

RPQRR still needs plenty of items for the facility, including everything from kitchen utensils to towels and a shop vac. The organization has established a registry of its wish list at Amazon.com.

“We can no longer say there’s nothing opulent here but the quail habitat,” Rollins said.

New RPQRF director hired

Lone Star outdoor newS

The Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation hired Dr. Ryan O’Shaughnessy as its new executive director on May 18.

O’Shaughnessy, a native of Zimbabwe, earned a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from Southern Illinois University in 2014, followed by a post-doctorate research faculty appointment with the Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross State University, where he also earned his Master of Business Administration degree. He has spent the past several years as an Orvis-endorsed quail hunting outfitter in West Texas.

O’Shaughnessy replaces Dr. Brad Kubecka, who had served as executive director for the past two years before becoming a full-time director of the Western Pineywoods Quail Program. Kubecka had been splitting time between the program and

RPQRF. Dr. Dale Rollins has been serving as interim executive director after previously announcing his semi-retirement.

“Ryan has the training, skills and passion for quail hunting to help us expand our efforts in quail conservation in Texas,” said Joe Crafton, president of the foundation board. “And he feeds 27 bird dogs, so you know he’s deeply vested in our mission to preserve Texas’ wild quail hunting heritage. That’s an important linkage for us as we rely almost solely upon donations from quail hunters to fuel our efforts.”

O’Shaughnessy said he felt like the job was written just for him.

“Being an avid quail hunter and conservationist, I look forward to the opportunity to serve in a role allowing me to provide a greater good to quail hunting and conservation within Texas,” he said.

Please turn to page 23

Lone Star outdoor newS

This black Hawaiian ram was taken with a handgun at the Ox Ranch by Skip Hardbower. Photo from Skip Hardbower.

Lone Star outdoor newS

Double

by May 31

fighting over one doe. It was wild.”

The duo never did find a buck within range that fit their bill, but the opportunities were plentiful and the rut action was frenzied.

On May 13, Tanner Neill, of Johnson City, was hunting a small piece of property near Stonewall when he was finally able to close the chapter on a deer he named the “Club Buck.” Relatively new to axis hunting, Neill spent months scouting and learning the patterns of the deer before setting up on the ground just off a trail with a bow in hand.

“It was a pretty unconventional setup, I was actually in my turkey chair in a small group of oak trees about 30 yards from the trail,” he said. “Then I heard a roar for the first time and it caught me off guard. I had never heard anything like that, but figured it had to have been an axis.”

The setup seemed to be working, as deer started making their way down his trail as the afternoon progressed.

“About 20 minutes after I heard that roar, two does and a small buck popped out of the brush and started making their way down the trail,” Neill said. “Before I knew it, there were 30 deer at 30 yards just walking right past me and Club Buck was in the back. He was bringing up the rear and looked like a moose swaying side to side as he moved his antlers through the oaks.”

After a well-placed shot, he backed out and returned an hour later with his wife for the recovery.

“The buck ran about 100 yards from the shot when we found him,” he said. “To do it on the ground with my bow, on a 25-acre, low-fence property made it all the sweeter.”

Neil Tyler and his girlfriend Jennie

Tanner Neill arrowed this axis buck he dubbed “The Club Buck” near Stonewall. Photo from Tanner Neill.

booked a trip with Texas Hunting Resources near Menard in search of his first axis buck. The trip began with decent activity, but a chain of violent thunderstorms in the area seemed to shut down

During a brief window of blue sky, the hunting party caught a glimpse of a buck rutting a doe and made a move to get

“We looped around and got on a hill opposite of them,” Tyler said. “There were actually a handful of deer and one really nice buck, but they were out of reach and heading into the thick brush to bed for the day.”

The group made a plan to return that evening, hoping to catch the deer emerging from the bedding area.

Around 6 p.m., Tyler headed back to the same hillside, watching and waiting.

“We caught a glimpse of a really big buck about 600 yards away on the opposite hill, and then after that, all evening long, deer funneled from the hilltops down into the flat below us,” he said.

“Later I glassed up another really big buck that was pushing does and knew immediately I liked him.”

Over the course of the evening, 5060 deer made their way into view with a number of hard-horned bucks roaring and rutting does. One old buck in particular controlled the majority of the harem, but had substantial freeze damage on his antlers that kept him off limits.

“There was this really old, really bigbodied buck that was rutting does right in front of us, and then all of a sudden he put his ears back and we heard the loudest crash, but it was out of sight,” Tyler said. “Our guide told us to grab everything and we started running toward the sound. Come to find out the old buck was fighting another buck and it ended up being the big buck I had seen previously.”

The group watched the two bucks fight for a few more seconds until they separated and offered Tyler his shot. One wellplaced round from his .300 Win. Mag and the hunt for Tyler’s first axis buck was over.

Father-son turkey hunt

Continued from page 4

Puryear said. “Never heard him gobble once.

“I chirped one more time, but the oats were really tall from that angle, so I didn’t honestly know if it could see our decoys or not.”

Things quickly sped up, as not only did they draw the gobbler to the front of the blind where DK could get a shot, but brought it close enough for the pair to enjoy front-row seats to a rare show.

“We could hear it drumming and kind of shaking its feathers,” Puryear said. “I’d never seen that before. It came in real hot and real aggressive before jumping on the jake and pecking its head a couple of times.”

In a matter of seconds, a shot from DK’s .410 shotgun would punctuate two hunting careers.

As an initiated turkey hunter laid hands on a prize bird by any standard — 10 1/4inch beard and 1-inch spurs — his father arrived at a moment of fruition, one that was foreshadowed nearly a decade prior.

“I remember my dad saying that aoudad hunt was the coolest moment of his hunting career,” Puryear said. “As much as I would have loved to take a bird like that, all of the emotions would have been half of what they were seeing him work that hard and get a great bird like that. Even though I didn’t pull the trigger, that was one of the best hunting trips I’ve ever been on.”

Using weather windows for offshore success

By Nate Skinner

For Lone Star outdoor newS

Offshore fishing has been excellent when periods of calmer seas allow boaters with anglers to safely navigate the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Summertime patterns are beginning to prevail, and several species have been caught from the depths.

Capt. Blake Buell, of Come & Take It Sport Fishing, has been running offshore out of Port Aransas and finding swordfish, cobia, wahoo and vermilion snapper. He has been focusing his efforts in areas of the Gulf that are holding the cleanest water.

“The wahoo have been more scattered as water temperatures have started to increase,” Buell said. “There are still some big ones out there to catch, they just aren’t as concentrated as they were earlier in the year. For the most part, we are catching smaller wahoo from 10 to 25 pounds around 45 miles out in about 200 feet of water. Trolling with baits and lures along the surface has produced the most bites.”

Buell said swordfish have been lurking in areas with 1,500-1,800 feet of water about 60-80 miles out.

“Squid and strip baits have been the ticket for the swordfish bite,” he elaborated. “We’ve been catching them in the 80- to 100-pound range.”

When targeting vermilion snapper, Buell has been fishing over rock piles in 180-220 feet of water.

“Chunks of squid fished along the bottom, right on top of the rocks, have been hard to beat,” Buell said. “If

Please turn to page 15

Choke Canyon crappie

By Robert Sloan For Lone Star outdoor newS

Choke Canyon Reservoir has been known for its bass fishing, but crap pie anglers know the South Texas lake, even though it is still 24 feet low, is producing fantastic catches of crappie.

“Our crappie numbers have been incredible for the past couple of years,” said guide Matt Nicholas, who plays baseball for Texas State Uni versity. “I like to play baseball, but crappie fishing is what I really like to do. Last week I put a couple of guys on about 50 crappie in 30 minutes. That’s the kind of fishing we have here.”

Nicholas said the best pattern is to fish brush piles near the dam in about 12-20 feet of water. He’s using live minnows and an assortment of jigs.

“I never know what kind of bite we’ll have from one day to the next,” he said. “But this time of year they can be pretty predictable. However, on some days they will be slow to bite. On other days they are ready to eat as soon we get a jig or minnow to them. It’s a lot of fun.”

Fishing brush piles is the ticket to success. And Nicholas has a bunch of them scattered on the south end of the lake.

“The thing about fishing the brush piles is that if an area is not hold ing fish, I can relocate until we find them,” Nicholas said. “We are not only catching a lot of fish, but a pretty good variety. On just about any trip we will catch crappie, big bluegill, white bass, catfish, largemouth bass and gaspergou.”

Like a lot of other successful crappie fishermen, Nicholas uses electronics that allow him to set up on the structure and see the fish.

“I can actually show my anglers where the fish are and how deep they are holding,” he said. “It takes a whole lot of the guesswork out of the way we fish.”

Nicholas uses both minnows and

jigs. The minnows are about 2-3 inches long and are rigged through the lips with a 1/0 gold Aberdeen hook.

“The thin wire hook will bend, so it’s easy to pull off the brush when it gets snagged,” he said. “If you just slowly add pressure, the hook will just about always pop free. I like to use 1- to 2-inch jigs with very thin

High water catfish

one run.”

By Robert Sloan

For Lone Star outdoor newS

With all the rain we have had, rivers are way up and the catfish are on the move and biting.

“It’s been really good lately,” says Bodie Hausmann, who has been catfishing on rivers for more than 50 years. “We’ve been baiting up lines along the bank of a local river here in Victoria and the bite has been very good. We’re catching blues, channels and flatheads during the day and at night. With a lot of lines out along the bank, it’s a lot of work to run them and keep baits on the hooks. But lately we’ve run our lines and caught upward of 20-30 cats in

Hausmann said during a three-day run of setting and baiting trotline hooks, they had catfish weighing up to 45 pounds.

“That 45-pounder was a blue that ate a big live perch we had just set out,” he said. “We put that line out and continued upriver to bait our other lines. About 30 minutes later, we came back down the river shining a light on our lines. That big perch I used for live bait was eaten by a big catfish and it was tearing up the water.”

Hausmann said the key is keeping the right baits on plenty of hooks, and he spends time

catching perch in the river with traps. But you can also catch quite a few of the big ones with a hook and line under a bobber.

“Live baits are tough to beat,” he said. “But a fresh dead perch that is cut in half will produce catfish, too. Catfish can be finicky about what they eat. But when the water level is on the rise, they will go on a big feed and eat a variety of baits from hot dogs to dead shrimp. The big blues and ops (yellow cats) prefer live baits.”

Hausmann and his fishing buddy, Dodd Coffey, are experienced river anglers who and use pole lines, limb lines and trot lines. The pole lines are made

from a piece of PVC pipe that is several feet long. A length of line, about 10-12 feet long is attached to the end of the pole. The lines are rigged with one or two hooks and a weight on the end. The poles are placed in the ground via a long drill bit. They drill a hole in the ground, insert the pipe, throw out the baited line and run on down the river.

“Pole fishing is a very effective way to fish a lot of water,” said Coffey, who, like Hausmann, has racked up well over five decades of catfishing. “The one thing you need to do is keep a gear tag on each line. That’s the law. And it has to be updated every few days. Run-

hooks. The hair jigs are good, but the plastic tails that look a lot like a minnow are my go-to lures.”

Nicholas heads out early for crappie.

“The best bite is usually at sunrise,” he said. “But sometimes they will not feed until the sun is up and shining on the water. It’s fun fishing.”

Noah Lawrence landed this 80-pound swordfish while fishing offshore out of Port Aransas with Capt. Blake Buell. Photo by Blake Buell.

Matt Nicholas, right, plays baseball in college, but guiding crappie fishermen is his favorite activity. Here, he had a double hook-up with a client. Photo by Robert Sloan, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

Bodie Hausmann caught this 45-pound blue catfish on a trotline baited with live perch. Photo by Robert Sloan, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

Sweeping the pots

Chrissy Dyer poses with a redfish during the Babes on the Bay allwomen’s fishing tournament that took place May 19-20.

Hosted by the CCA Texas Aransas Bay Chapter out of Rockport, the Babes on the Bay event first started as a way to educate women on saltwater fishing and the importance of wildlife conservation. It has since become one of the most anticipated fishing tournaments in the region.

Accompanied by guide Drew Donaghue, Chrissy Dyer and her teammate, Jess Junek, won the 12-team fly fishing division and swept all the competition, including Longest Stringer (98.5 inches), Longest Slot Red (26 inches) and the Spot Pot (9 count).

Photo from Jess Junek.

TEXAS FRESHWATER FISHING REPORT

ALAN HENRY: Water clear; 72 degrees; 11.81’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinner baits and soft plastics. Crappie are fair to good on minnows.

AMISTAD: Water slightly stained; 74 degrees; 51.19’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, top-waters and crankbaits. White bass are good up the Rio Grande on shad lipless crankbaits. Catfish are good on punch bait and cheese bait.

ARLINGTON: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees; 0.80’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on swimbaits and Texas-rigged worms. Catfish are good on prepared baits.

ARROWHEAD: Water lightly stained; 75 degrees; 5.61’ low. Crappie are fair to good on minnows. Catfish are good drifting fresh cut shad.

ATHENS: Water clear; 68-71 degrees; 0.55’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on finesse worms, jigs and Carolina rigs. Crappie are good on jigs and minnows.

AUSTIN: Water clear; 70 degrees; 0.73’ low. Largemouth bass are good on dropshots rigged with a wacky worm, small swimbaits and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows.

B.A. STEINHAGEN: Water stained; 74 degrees; 0.09’ high. Largemouth bass are fair to good on hollow-bodied frogs and white/chartreuse swim jigs.

BASTROP: Water slightly stained; 85 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair to good on drop shots, small clear top-waters and walking style baits.

BELTON: Water lightly stained; 76 degrees; 13.49’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on shad imitations. White bass are fair on underspins and pet spoons. Blue catfish are good on fresh gizzard shad and perch. Channel catfish are good on prepared baits.

BENBROOK: Water stained; 69 degrees; 0.60’ high. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. White bass are slow. Catfish are good in the creeks on minnows and worms.

BOB SANDLIN: Water stained; 78 degrees; 0.01’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on top-waters, chatter baits and Texas-rigged worms. Crappie are good on minnows or jigs. White bass are good on slabs. Catfish are good on cheese bait and cut bait.

BRAUNIG: Water slightly stained, 75 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair on dark soft plastics and spinner baits. Redfish are good on live bait and frozen shrimp.

BROWNWOOD: Water slightly stained; 72-76 degrees; 6.67’ low. Largemouth bass are good on glide baits, jigs, crankbaits and shaky heads. Crappie are good on jigs. White bass are fair on crankbaits, jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on cut gizzard shad.

BUCHANAN: Water lightly stained; 75 degrees; 16.44’ low. Largemouth bass are fair

on top-waters and Texasrigged soft plastics. Striped bass are fair vertically jigging or trolling live shad. White bass are good on small swimbaits and spinner baits.

CADDO: Water stained; 72 degrees; 1.54’ high. Largemouth bass are slow. Catfish are slow.

CALAVERAS: Water slightly stained, 74 degrees. Redfish are good on frozen shrimp and live bait. Blue and channel catfish are good on cut bait.

CANYON: Water slightly stained; 78 degrees; 12.07’ low. Largemouth bass are good on a soft plastic worms around isolated grass.

CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 72-75 degrees; 0.11’ high. Largemouth bass are fair to good on top-waters, chatter baits and spinner baits. Crappie are excellent on jigs. White bass and hybrids are good on silver slabs.

CHOKE CANYON: Water stained; 80 degrees; 23.99’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Carolina rigs and crankbaits. White bass are slow. Crappie are good on minnows. Catfish are fair on cut bait and stink bait.

CONROE: Water stained; 77 degrees; 1.29’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on swimbaits, crankbaits and Texas-rigged worms. Crappie are good on hair jigs. Hybrid striped bass are good on swimbaits and trolling live bait. Catfish are good on worms, liver, shad and punch bait.

COOPER: Water lightly stained; 74 degrees. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on cut shad.

CORPUS CHRISTI: Water stained; 70 degrees; 3.24’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-water frogs and soft plastics. Crappie are slow. White bass are good on minnows and spoons. Catfish are good on cheese bait and cut carp.

EAGLE MOUNTAIN: Water stained; 75 degrees; 3.13’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and swim jigs. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are fair to good on jigs with white color combinations. Blue catfish are good on cut bait.

FALCON: Water stained; 6875 degrees; 35.82’ low. Largemouth bass are good on chatter baits, jigs and crankbaits. Catfish are good on stink bait and cut bait.

FAYETTE: Water clear; 75 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on creature baits and finesse worms.

FORK: Water stained; 70-77 degrees; 0.71’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crawfish-colored chatter baits, top-waters and Carolina rigs. Crappie are good on minnows and hand-tied jigs.

FT. PHANTOM HILL: Water stained; 75 degrees; 7.03’

low. Largemouth bass are slow. Hybrid striped bass are good on white and chartreuse flukes. Crappie are fair on minnows and light jigs. Catfish are fair to good on cut shad, prepared baits and nightcrawlers.

GRANBURY: Water lightly stained; 75 degrees; 1.63’ low. Largemouth bass are good on spinner baits, crankbaits and soft plastics. Striped bass are fair on swimbaits and live bait. White bass are fair to good on slabs. Crappie are good on small jigs and minnows. Yellow and blue catfish are fair on cut bait.

GRANGER: Water lightly stained; 72 degrees; 0.98’ high. Largemouth bass are slow. Crappie are good on jigs. White bass are fair on spoons. Blue catfish are very good on shad and prepared baits.

GRAPEVINE: Water clear; 70 degrees; 0.03’ high. White bass are excellent on inline spinners, swimbaits and small shallow-diving crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs.

HOUSTON COUNTY: Water stained; 79 degrees; 0.54’ high. Largemouth bass are good on swim jigs, shaky heads and weightless finesse worms. Crappie are good on minnows.

HUBBARD CREEK: Water stained; 77 degrees; 8.28’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics and top-waters. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Blue catfish are fair on trotlines and juglines with cut baits.

JACKSONVILLE: Water lightly stained; 74 degrees; 0.22’ high. Largemouth bass are good on swimbaits, underspins, jigs and Carolina rigs.

JOE POOL: Water clear; 70 degrees; 0.46’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on Carolina-rigged worms and creature baits.

LAKE O’ THE PINES: Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.93’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters, Texasrigged worms and crankbaits. Crappie are good on minnows or jigs. White bass are fair on slabs. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

LAVON: Water lightly stained; 72 degrees; 0.38’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on spinner baits, squarebilled crankbaits and Carolina rigs. Crappie are fair on minnows. White bass are good on swimbaits and white or chartreuse slabs. Channel catfish are good on punch bait, shad and liver.

LBJ: Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.43’ low. Crappie are good on minnows and chartreuse jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

LEWISVILLE: Water lightly stained; 70-74 degrees; 0.26’ low. White bass are good on slabs, jigs and live

bait. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good drifting cut shad.

LIMESTONE: Water clear; 75 degrees; 0.23’ high. Largemouth bass are good on chatter baits, spinner baits, Texas rigs and jigs. Crappie are good on minnows. White bass are good on spinner baits and jigging spoons. Catfish are good on cut bait.

LIVINGSTON: Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.57’ high. Crappie are slow. White bass are excellent on slabs. Catfish are fair on prepared baits and cut bait.

MARTIN CREEK: Water slightly stained; 75 degrees; 0.17’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on finesse worms and swimbaits. Crappie are good on jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait.

MEREDITH: Water stained; 65-68 degrees; 55.54’ low. Largemouth bass are good on minnows and artificials. White bass are good on minnows and curly tailed grubs. Walleye are good on crankbaits and minnows. Catfish are good on chicken liver, minnows and frozen shad.

MILLERS CREEK: Water stained; 65 degrees; 6.19’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on swimbaits and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and small jigs. White bass are good on slabs and roadrunners. Catfish are fair on cut bait and cheese bait.

NACOGDOCHES: Water clear; 71-76 degrees; 0.92’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters and soft plastics. Crappie are good on minnows.

NACONICHE: Water lightly stained; 77 degrees; 2.00’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on square-billed crankbaits. Catfish are slow.

NASWORTHY: Water slightly stained; 71 degrees. 1.08’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on white chatter baits and soft plastics. Crappie are good on chartreuse jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait and stink bait.

NAVARRO MILLS: Water stained; 72 degrees; 1.33’ high. Largemouth bass are slow. Crappie are good on jigs and minnows.

O.H. IVIE: Water stained; 78 degrees; 25.09’ low. Largemouth bass are good on swimbaits and worms. White bass are fair on live bait and crankbaits. Crappie are good on minnows. Catfish are good on live bait.

OAK CREEK: Water lightly stained; 79 degrees; 12.21’ low. Largemouth bass are good on green worms. Crappie are slow. Channel and blue catfish are good on shrimp and chicken liver.

PALESTINE: Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.52’ high. Largemouth bass are good on wacky rigs, shimmy shakers and square-billed crankbaits. Crappie are good on chartreuse and white jigs or

minnows. White bass and hybrids are good on jigging spoons and tail spoons. Catfish are good on liver, chicken hearts and punch bait.

POSSUM KINGDOM: Water clear; 75-78 degrees; 5.45’ low. Striped bass are good on live bait and trolling artificials. White bass are fair on small jigs and lipless crankbaits. Catfish are fair on live shad and cut shad.

PROCTOR: Water stained; 72 degrees; 9.95’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass and hybrids are good trolling crankbaits. Catfish are slow.

RAVEN: Water clear; 80 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters and Texasrigged stick baits. Crappie are good on scented plastics and minnows. Catfish are good on cut bluegill.

RAY HUBBARD: Water lightly stained; 74-77 degrees; 0.08’ low. White bass are excellent on small swimbaits and slabs. Crappie are good on jigs or minnows. Catfish are fair on cut shad and punch bait.

RAY ROBERTS: Water stained; 72 degrees; 0.16’ high. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters and swimbaits. White bass are good on paddle tail swimbaits and slabs.

RICHLAND CHAMBERS: Water clear; 72 degrees; 0.46’ low. White bass and hybrid stripers are very good on slabs and swimbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Blue catfish are fair on shad and punch bait.

SAM RAYBURN: Water stained; 77 degrees; 1.07’ high. Largemouth bass are slow to fair on crankbaits, jigs and soft plastics. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair on prepared baits.

SOMERVILLE: Water slightly stained; 72 degrees; 4.22’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on craw jigs and spinner baits. Crappie are excellent on minnows and jigs. White bass are good trolling pet spoons and on shad. Catfish are good on minnows and worms.

SPENCE: Water stained; 75 degrees. 45.90’ low. Largemouth bass are good on spinner baits. Catfish are good on worms, cut bait and prepared baits.

STILLHOUSE HOLLOW: Water lightly stained; 77 degrees; 12.55’ low. Largemouth bass are good on dark soft plastics.

TAWAKONI: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees; 0.21 feet above pool. Largemouth bass are good on spinner baits, crankbaits and flukes. White bass and hybrids are good on swimbaits and slabs. Crappie are good on jigs. Blue and channel catfish are very good on cut shad and prepared baits.

TEXANA: Water stained; 71 degrees; 0.04’ low. Large-

n Saltwater reports Page 21

n Guide reports Page 23

mouth bass are fair on soft plastics and spinner baits. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait and cut bait.

TEXOMA: Water stained; 65 degrees; 2.36’ low. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are fair to good on live shad. Striped bass are good on top-waters, live shad and swimbaits. Crappie are fair on jigs. Catfish are fair on prepared baits and cut shad.

TOLEDO BEND: Water stained; 68-72 degrees; 0.46’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas-rigged creatures, spinner baits, top-water frogs and worms. Crappie are fair on jigs.

TRAVIS: Water stained; 75 degrees; 42.46’ low. Largemouth and Guadalupe bass are good on worms, craw worms, spinner baits and topwaters.

TWIN BUTTES: Water stained; 78 degrees; 23.99’ low. Crappie are slow. White bass are fair on slabs, jigging spoons and minnows. Channel catfish are good on cheese bait.

TYLER: Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.36’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits, spinner baits and worms. Crappie are fair on minnows. Catfish are fair on nightcrawlers.

WACO: Water stained; 74 degrees; 9.76’ low. Crappie are good on dark jigs and minnows. Catfish are fair on cut bait.

WALTER E. LONG: Water stained; 74 degrees; 1.00’ high. Largemouth bass are good on finesse worms. Crappie are good on chartreuse jigs. Channel catfish are fair on punch bait.

WHITNEY: Water lightly stained; 69 degrees; 5.02’ low. Striped bass are good on swimbaits, live shiners and shad.

WORTH: Water stained; 75 degrees; 2.67’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs with white color combinations. Catfish are good on cut shad and cut-bait.

WRIGHT PATMAN: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees; 2.91’ high. White bass are good on spoons, swimbaits and tail spinners. Crappie are fair on jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

—TPWD

Tornado impact

By Tony Vindell

For Lone Star outdoor newS

A couple who makes a living catching and selling bait for fishing enthusiasts and bait and tackle shops from the Port Isabel/ South Padre Island area are still feeling the impact of a tornado that swept through the small community of Laguna Heights two weeks ago.

Louis and Maria Luisa Villarreal have made a living selling bait for nearly 40 years to local fishermen and to scores of winter visitors who descend into this region of South Texas later in the year.

They are likely the only people in the area doing this kind of business from shore.

On most days, the couple walks along the north jetty throwing a cast net toward schools of mullet swimming up and down the rocky structure.

Each of them carries a couple of white buckets to hold the bait they sell — sometimes right on the spot — or they take to bait shops where the price of a small plastic bag sells for three or four times as much.

When not on the jetty, the two also go to the Jaime Zapata Boat Ramp or the Gayman Bridge on Texas Highway 48 to catch bait.

Fishermen regularly approach the couple to buy handfuls of mullet for a dollar or two.

“This is how we have been making a living,” said the Laguna Heights resident. “Catching bait has been our bread and butter.”

Maria Luisa, who came from Honduras

Casting flies

Continued from page 1

about 40 years ago, shared a few of her secrets for catching fish.

“A mullet, whether live or cut in small pieces, work wells on mangrove snapper,” she said. ”The speckled trout love live croaker. A red prefers a live small mullet or a big chunk for the big ones. They also like shiners.”

But their livelihood has been impacted since May 13, when a tornado swept through the small community of less than 2,000 people during the early hours of Saturday, May 13, as people were sleeping.

The tornado killed one person, left about a dozen others hurt and left several wooden houses and travel trailers either damaged or destroyed.

“We were awakened by a rumble,” Louis said, referring to the twister that unexpectedly appeared shortly after 4 a.m. “Everything shook so we hunkered down.”

They said they waited for the first sign of light before venturing out.

To their surprise, scores of structures around their house were damaged or destroyed.

While their home was miraculously spared, the F1 twister did damage the back of the house, knocked down a wooden fence in the backyard and moved a storage shed a couple feet from where it stood.

A portion of the ceiling in the house caved in and they lost several appliances.

They lost a refrigerator, a TV set and other appliances.

Instead of heading out to catch bait, the Villarreals have been fixing what they can.

the same day on a recent trip with some friends.

“Early on in our trip I managed to land a 6-pound bass on the fly, and then later on in the day, I caught one weighing in at 7.5 pounds,” he said.

Deeper pools with structure and cover like boulders, low-hanging branches and dropoffs are holding plenty of bass.

“Flies in a white color pattern with some flash have been working well, because they look a lot like a shad,” Narvaez said. “Any fly that creates a lot of commotion or vibration in the water is also a good choice.”

Narvaez also has had success on crawfish-orange color patterns, as well as flies in an olive color pattern.

Fly angler Grant Powell has been catching plenty of bass in the 1- to 3-pound range on the fly along the Guadalupe River near the mouth of the upper end of Canyon Lake.

“Areas with trees and hydrilla along the bank have been holding good numbers of bass,” Powell said. “The mouths of creeks have also held consistent action.”

Powell has been casting frog popper flies and other top-water flies over the edges of hydrilla.

“Around the trees, I like to use a large, subsurface fly that’s about 3 inches in length and mimics a baitfish,” he said.

Powell also has been catching quite a few Rio Grande cichlids along a tributary off the Guadalupe near downtown New Braunfels.

“The cichlids have been extremely aggressive,” Powell said. “I’ve been finding them tucked up along the bank, as well as hunkered down among stretches of rocks. Small sinking flies dropped right in front of their face have been the ticket. Furry or bug-like patterns have been working well.”

Fly angler Grant Powell has been catching good numbers of Rio Grande cichlids on a tributary off the Guadalupe River on small, bug-imitating flies. Photo by Grant Powell.

KEEPING SMALL FISH

A tip to the Operation Game Thief hotline on March 15 reported a man catching and keeping undersized sheepshead at the South Port Aransas Jetty. A game warden responded and located the subject, who had two undersized sheepshead in his possession. The minimum length requirement for sheepshead is 15 inches. OGT paid a $200 reward to the caller.

REWARD OFFERED FOR INFO ON GATOR SHOOTING

On May 2, game wardens were contacted about an injured alligator in Cherokee County west of the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. The wardens determined the alligator had been shot twice in the head area with what appeared to be a small caliber firearm. The act left the alligator injured until it finally succumbed to its injuries. Contact Operation Game Thief with information, and a reward is offered for information leading to the conviction of the person(s) responsible.

FIRST HUNTS

Freestone County Game Warden

Shawna Poole assisted with a group of kids enjoying their first hunt through the Texas Youth Hunting Program. Two of the youngsters harvested their first whitetail doe,

while another harvested his first hog. Also, Coke County Game Warden Dan Waddell hosted four military vets for an Operation Outdoors Veterans Hunt on the Texana Ranch. The hunters harvested two 8-point white-tailed bucks, a wild pig and a scimitar-horned oryx. The event was sponsored by Operation Pay it Forward, B&K Processing in Bronte and Bronte Guns and Tackle.

OFFSHORE BOAT SINKS, THREE RESCUED FROM OIL RIG

The Coast Guard rescued three boaters from an oil rig after their vessel sank near Freeport.

Coast Guard Sector HoustonGalveston watchstanders received a report at approximately 3 a.m. from the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office that a vessel began taking on water, and three men sought refuge and were stranded on an offshore oil rig platform. An aircrew located and relayed the position of the men to a response boat. Once the boat crew arrived on scene, the three men were taken aboard and brought to Surfside Marina. The three men were in stable condition.

REPORT ILLEGAL HUNTING AND FISHING ACTIVITY FOR A REWARD OF UP TO $1,000. CALL OPERATION GAME THIEF AT (800) 792-4263

DEAD ALLIGATOR MYSTERY SOLVED

Anderson County Game Wardens recently responded to a call of a dead alligator floating in Squirrel Creek. During the investigation, it was observed that the alligator had both its head and tail cut off. With initially no leads to follow, wardens sought the assistance of Operation Game Thief. OGT posters were created and distributed locally and shared on social media. The wardens were eventually able to gather enough tips to begin to identify a potential suspect. The wardens conducted several interviews and were able to locate the subject responsible for illegally harvesting the gator. It was determined the alligator was killed in the Neches River, near Highway 294, and discarded into Squirrel Creek after the head, tail and edible parts were removed. The suspect said he and some friends were walking the riverbanks frog gigging, when they noticed the alligator surfaced in the river, at which point he fired multiple shots, ultimately killing it. In fear of being caught, the suspect left the scene, returned the next morning to retrieve the alligator and buried the head of the gator in a pasture to avoid apprehension.

UPGRADE YOUR

AND YOUR SKILLS

Even after you upgrade to a new HK VP9, with its best-in-class trigger pull and ergonomic, customizable grip, you’re not quite done yet. You still need a couple of important accessories. And we’re not talking about holsters, lights and optics either. Training and Practice – They are two different things and we all need more of both. Look into it … and go do the work!

A Place to Shoot

San Antonio, 210-628-1888

Abilene Indoor Gun Range

Abilene, 325-698-4224

Able Ammo

Huntsville, 936-295-5786

AJC Sports

Clute, 979-265-4867

Ally Outdoors

Midland, 972-332-3700

Richardson, 972-332-3700

Alpha Armory

Houston, 888-932-7660

Alpine Shooting Range

Ft Worth, 817-478-6613

Americana Arms, LLC

Beeville, 361-362-3673

Athena Gun Club

Houston, 713-461-5900

BPS Outfitters

Sherman, 903-832-2227

BTO Range

Conroe, 936-588-3333

Buck & Doe’s Mercantile, LLC

San Antonio, 830-980-3637

C.A.C Tactical

Southlake, 888-211-8191

Caroline Colt Company LLC

Abilene, 325-232-7501

Carroll’s Gun Shop

Whaton, 979-532-3175

Carter’s Country

Houston, 713-461-1844

Houston, 281-879-1466

Pasadena, 713-475-2222

Spring, 281-443-8393

DFW Shooting Sports

Bedford, 817-285-0664

Champion Firearms College Station, 979-693-9948

Collectors Firearms

Houston, 713-781-5812

Danny's, Inc.

McAllen, 956-687-4692

Defender Outdoors

Fort Worth, 817-935-8377

DFW Gun Club

Dallas, 214-630-4866

Dury's Gun Shop

San Antonio, 210-533-5431

Field & Streams Sporting Goods

San Angelo, 325-944-7094

Fun Guns

Waco, 254-755-0080

Gibson’s Weatherford, 817-594-8711

Glick Twins

Pharr, 956-787-429

GRITR Sports

N. Richland Hills, 817-200-7470

Grabagun.com

Coppell, 972-552-7246

Guard & Defend Firearms

Silsbee, 409-201-9468

Guns Warehouse LLC

Cedar Park, 512-986-7330

Hoss Arms, LLC

New Braunfels, 830-609-8891

John Doe Investigations, LLC

Lewisville, 214-773-0129

Kirkpatrick Gun & Ammo

Laredo, 956-723-6338

Marksmen Firearms

Mansfield, 817-453-8680

McBride's Guns

Austin, 512-472-3532

Misson Ridge Range & Academy

San Antonio, 210-504-9000

Mister Guns LLC

Plano, 214-901-7429

Modern Pawn & Guns

Corpus Christi, 361-993-9390

Nagel's Gun Shop, Inc.

San Antonio, 210-342-5420

Nardis Gun Club

San Antonio, 210-369-9199

Omaha Outdoors

Rosenberg, 713-703-4648

Past & Blast Antiques & Firearms

Whitesboro, 903-564-5444

Point Blank Sporting Goods

Pharr, 956-992-8799

Primary Arms

Houston, 713-344-9600

Ranger Firearms of Texas Inc.

San Antonio, 210-822-4867

Ray's Hardware & Sporting Goods

Dallas, 214-747-7916

FROM WORK TO PLAY

WHATEVER YOUR ADVENTURE IS, WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED.

Hill Country masterpiece: the Colorado River Ranch

The award-winning TT Ranch Group at Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty is proud to present another exceptional property: the Colorado River Ranch, a 3,304+/- acre recreational oasis in the famed Texas Hill Country’s legendary Lampasas County.

This masterpiece offers majestic views, extensive lodging options, an excellent road system, high fencing, live water, clearings, a longrange shooting tower and various barns and shops. The wildlife features hogs, dove and world-class white-tailed deer, as well as rare, exotic species, such as sable antelope, greater kudu, Grevy’s zebra and one of the few established Cape buffalo herds on a private ranch in the United States.

Just 14 miles from Lampasas, the Colorado River Ranch is a secluded retreat, yet convenient to the town’s amenities and the bustling cities of Austin (83 miles), San Antonio (135 miles) and Dallas (181 miles). As its name suggests, the ranch has nearly 2.5 miles of Colorado River frontage, all of which is easily accessible. The views of the river are remarkable, with many vantage points throughout the 300 feet of elevation change. The clear, cool river waters are ideal for tubing, canoeing, swimming and fishing. Sunsets overlooking the river are memorable, to say the least.

There also is a 10+/- acre lake with fantastic fishing, fed by a main water line that runs all the way from the river to the lake (the ranch has water rights to pump from the river when needed). Secondary water lines supply various water troughs and stock tanks strategically located throughout the property. Seven electric- and solarpowered water wells are also on the ranch.

The homes of the Colorado River Ranch offer privacy, functionality and luxury. The main lodge is a 10,000+/- square foot beauty with multiple

gathering areas, a full bar, a gaming room, a commercial kitchen, three bedrooms, an oversized screened porch, a large outdoor firepit and scenic views. A smaller lodge is a stone’s throw away, with six bedrooms and six baths. A three-bedroom, two-bath home on the ranch offers a swimming pool and an outdoor living area, while two more homes are ideal for a ranch manager, ranch staff and hunting guides.

With its abundance of native game, the ranch is a wildlife enthusiast’s dream. Extensive herds of exotics offer a remarkable sight and add significant value to the ranch. American bison, axis deer, aoudad sheep, blackbuck antelope, fallow deer, gemsbok, nilgai antelope, oryx, bongo, roan, Grant’s gazelle, dama gazelle, springbok, Thomson’s gazelle, Nile lechwe antelope, Transcaspian urial sheep and nyala all call this property home.

The entire property is under high fencing and also includes cross high fencing. Numerous electric gates are located throughout. There are multiple support structures on the property, including barns, shops, equipment sheds and a processing facility with a walk-in cooler. An existing deer breeding facility could easily be converted into additional living quarters or another lodge.

The Colorado River Ranch near Lometa, in Lampasas County, Texas, is represented by the TT Ranch Group for $60,000,000.

TT RANCH GROUP

BRIGGS FREEMAN SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY ☎ (214) 396-9692

TTRANCHGROUP.COM

WATERFOWL MAGNET

FRESHWATER PONDS AVAILABLE

CALHOUN COUNTY NEAR PORT O’CONNOR

196 ACRES MOIST SOIL IMPOUNDMENTS DIVIDED IN FOUR PONDS

FLOOD WITH CANAL WATER FROM GBRA RECENT SURVEY & TITLE POLICY

DOVE AND UPLAND BIRD HUNTING ASKING PRICE: $5,450.00 PER AC

PLEASE MENTION YOU SAW THIS AD IN LONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS TO RECEIVE A BONUS TWO-YEAR MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT.

TIM SODERQUIST (281) 814-5442 CELL OR TIM@HABITATLANDSERVICES.ORG DAVID SMITH (713) 204-4798 CELL OR DAVID@TEAMRFS.COM

MAKES A GREAT FATHER' S DAY GIFT!

310 (+/-) ACRES

A rare find – your own duck hunting mecca

Gather your group of waterfowl-hunting friends — this property is for you.

Many duck hunters struggle with access, and many grow weary of the crowds, nearby decoy spreads and sky-busting at public hunting waters.

The Duck & Dove Farm, also called the Calhoun 310, is the perfect answer. Located in Calhoun County, next door to the Powderhorn Ranch, it includes 196 acres of managed moist soil improvements divided into four ponds. The impoundments each have large levees and aluminum flashboard risers to regulate water levels. Mounds, nipples and peninsulas are built throughout for easyaccess hunting locations.

The ponds are seeded with a variety of duck foods designed to mature for teal season through the spring departure. And, canal water from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority available for purchase from August to February for waterfowl habitat. The current cost is $98 per acre, and Habitat Land Services (HLS), the current owner, spent about $10,000 for water last season.

Hunters unfamiliar with moving water or management of pond water levels needn’t worry. As a bonus with the purchase, HLS will oversee the existing water management. Consultation will cover water flow from the GBRA canal system to the timely draining of ponds; moist soil vegetation (duck food) management; control of invasive plants; and any dirt work construction oversight for adding

hunting mounds, peninsulas, walkways or nipples.

There’s more than just ducks at the Duck & Dove Farm. Food plots attract solid numbers of dove, along with a growing population of bobwhite quail.

“It’s ideally set up for waterfowl hunting,” said Tim Soderquist of HLS. “And it can be a good location for both mourning dove and whitewings. It’s not easy to find 300 acres of premier waterfowl habitat anymore.”

The seller will provide a recent survey and title policy, and HLS has a specialist to help buyers who want to take advantage of conservation easement opportunities. These allow the owner to continue managing the property for wildlife conservation and farming, while also enabling them to obtain 20-30 percent in tax credits from the certified appraised market value.

The price? At $5,450 per acre, the total for your duck hunting piece of heaven would be $1,689,500 — a manageable number for a group of hunting friends. With power and water, adding a few prebuilt custom MBRK Cabins from MB Ranch King will create the perfect hunting camp in plenty of time for the teal opener.

HABITAT LAND SERVICES

Tim Soderquist

☎ (281) 814-5442

tim@habitatlandservices.com

Dreaming Big

Raising Cape buffalo in Texas

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

Thousands of hunters have made the trek to Africa to hunt the Cape buffalo, one of the Big Five of the continent’s dangerous game species.

Now you can have the chance to own a herd right here in Texas.

There aren’t many Cape buffalo herds in the U.S., but for those who would like a ranch with one, the Colorado River Ranch, near Lampasas, is available with a group of the African beasts, along with many other exotics, African and otherwise.

“We have 15-20 head, and there are a few other larger herds in Texas and a few about the same size as ours or smaller,” said ranch owner Devin Nevilles. “There are between 200 and 300 Cape buffalo in the U.S.”

Nevilles said the animals can be dangerous, but he hasn’t had any issues.

“I’ve heard horror stories,” he said. “We have them in a pen over

the winter and turn them out into an 1,100-acre pasture. There’s so much brush there, you don’t see them for weeks at a time.”

Nevilles said his animals have settled down nicely.

“My son said they got after him when he was hunting other exotics,” he said. “I think they smelled the leftover alfalfa in the buggy and ran toward it. Mostly they run away from you.”

Nevilles said he is able to enter the pen when the buffalo are wintering.

“We cubed them like cattle and they eventually got used to it,” he said. “Now they like them and run to within 20-30 feet when you shake the bag.”

The ranch owner said you still have to be extra cautious around the animals, however.

“Like any Cape buffalo, the biggest risk is if one is injured or if you mess with a calf,” he said.

“They are herd animals that stick together.”

The Cape buffalo haven’t been

more.”

The herd got its start when Nevilles bought two bulls and three females from another Texas herd.

The animals don’t come cheap. A good female now brings $500,000 or more, with a recent cow bringing more than $700,000

exotics, you’re trying to raise females. Most of the time if you buy a female they make you buy a male.”

Cape buffalo weigh more than 1,000 pounds, with some exceeding 1,900 pounds. The adult male horns diverge downward from

the bases, and then curve upward and outward. The bases come close together, forming a shield referred to as a “boss.” As grazers, they do require water daily. In the wild, their lifespan is generally 11 years, but they have been known to reach 22.

Nevilles also raises bison on the Colorado River Ranch, including white bison, and said the oftendocile-appearing animals can be just as dangerous, or worse, than the Cape buffalo.

We’ve all pondered what Heaven might look like. But Al Johnson is pretty sure he knows. It’s a place without concrete and traffic and commotion A place that helps you find balance and peace

When Al told us he’d found just such a place for sale, all of us here at Heritage Land Bank moved quickly to find him the perfect loan A loan that worked within his budget, so the Johnson family could make this little bit of heaven their own

So now, when Al wants to meet, we ’ re inclined to talk at his place rather than the office. Because, as Al told us, being out on the land is good for the soul

NMLS# 408898

Cooper Kiffe, 8, caught several mangrove snapper using shrimp while fishing with his dad in Port Isabel.

In her first year of hunting, Kinsley Benavides, 10, took her first deer and filled the rest of her tags during the season.

Masen Silva caught this 4-pound, 2-ounce personal best bass with his dad.

Lindsay Anselmo used her box call to bring in her first turkey she harvested near Cuero.

Priscilla Moore harvested her first axis during a birthday trip planned by her boyfriend, James Nugent. The 34inch buck was taken with her custom Aero Precision rifle chambered in .300 HAMR.

Navigating the weather

Continued from page 8

Able's Sporting Goods

Huntsville |936-295-5786

Ally Outdoors

Midland |432-203-3661

Alpine Range

Fort Worth |817-478-6613

Apache Rifle Works

Comfort |830-995-3894

Ark-La-Tex Guns & More

Gilmer |903-680-4867

Athena Gun Club

Houston |713-461-5900

BPS Outfitters

Sherman|903-892-2227

BTO Range & Training Center

Conroe|936-588-3333

Burdett and Son Outdoor College Station |979-695-2807

Carroll's Gun Shop

Wharton |979-532-3175

Clay Shooters Supply

Dallas |214-347-4913

Collectors Firearms

Houston |713-781-1960

Defender Outdoors

Fort Worth|817-935-8377

Dury's Guns

San Antonio |210-533-5431

East Texas Pawn

Lufkin |936-639-3322

Fehner & Son

Gonzales |830-672-3710

Field & Streams Sporting Goods

San Angelo |325-944-7094

Fun Guns Waco |254-755-0080

Gordy & Sons Outfitters

Houston |713-951-0100

Guard & Defend Firearms

Silsbee |409-201-9468

Hootens

Emory |903-473-8788

Johnny's Sport Shop

Eagle Lake |979-234-3516

Magnolia Hunting Supply

Magnolia |281-766-1045

McBride's Gun

Austin |512-472-3532

McQueeney Gun Club New Braunfels |830-609-8891

Modern Pawn & Gun

Corpus Christi |361-993-9390

Mumme's Hondo |830-426-3313

North Texas Piggin Products

McKinney |214-837-1994

Oakwood Outfitters

Oakwood |903- 545-2825

Oasis Outback

Uvalde |830-278-4000

Outdoorsman San Angelo |325-947-8859

Parker County Gibson Products

Weatherford |817-594-8711

Ray's Hardware & Sporting Goods

Dallas |214-747-7916

Riflegear

The Colony |972-292-7678

SK ARMS

Flowermound |972-628-6200

Midland|432- 704-5127

Sportsman's Finest Austin |512-263-1888

Spring Guns & Ammo

Spring |281-288-7000

Superior Outfitters

Longview |903-212-2200

Tyler |903-617-6141

Texan Guns and Gear

Stephenville |254-965-9099

Texas Gun Experience

Grapevine|817-285-0664

Texian Firearms

Houston|346-775-8363

Trinity Armory

Cleveland|281-659-2800

Wings & Whitetails

Carthage|903-693-6129

Xtreme Guns & Ammo

Richmond|832-363-3783

you keep your bait too far up in the water column, you’re going to be dealing with a lot of red snapper instead of vermilion snapper.”

Buell said cobia can be caught along rigs in 150 feet of water or less on bucktail jigs and live bait.

Capt. Blake Rogers has also been running offshore out of Port A, chasing tuna, wahoo and marlin about 150 miles out to the south in 9,800 feet of water.

“Casting top-water baits has worked well for catching yellowfin tuna in the 60- to 100-pound range,” Rogers said. “When we mark them up high in the water column while trolling, it’s been pretty easy to get their attention with a noisy plug worked on the surface.”

The wahoo have been striking trolled ballyhoo, and small blue marlin have been hitting live skipjacks and blackfin tuna.

The folks at Williams Party Boats out of Galveston Island said their anglers have been enjoying some great 12-hour trips when the weather allows. Good numbers of beeliners, yellowfin tuna, amberjack and lane snapper have been the norm.

Brandon Skinner recently went on a 12-hour offshore trip with Galveston Party Boats Inc. and caught a variety of species, including vermilion snapper, lane snapper, red snapper, blue runners, amberjack and grouper.

“We ran about 70 miles out and were fishing over wrecks and reefs in about 150-200 feet of water,” Skinner said. “The action was pretty steady the entire time we were out there.”

Creative catfish rigs

Continued from page 15

ning lines is a lot of work, and to do it right, you need about three people in the boat. One is on the motor, another handles the bait and hands it to the person on the bow of the boat who is baiting the hooks. The middle man also handles the net. It’s a coordinated effort.”

Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News

First May 27

Deer management reference

Continued from page 4 by an increase of deer density to one deer per five acres on the areas studied.

“Increasing deer density did not decrease first-choice plants in the habitat or increase second and third-choice plants, and supplemental feeding did not decrease first-choice plants,” the book states. “Increasing deer densities did not result in dramatic changes in vegetation when high-quality supplemental feed was available year-round.”

Possible reasons given were that heavy browsing during drought years is usually temporary and the native shrubs replace browsed parts through regrowth in wet years.

Antler quality and deer density

Deer managers have speculated that decreasing deer density would help antler scores for the remaining bucks.

Even in areas with supplemental feeding, antler scores in the same bucks still vary from wet years to dry years.

“A buck is more likely to have larger antlers in a wet year than a dry year,” the book reports. “A buck that meets your criterion for a “management” buck in a dry year might be a “trophy” in a wet year.

However, the research did not fall in line with the theory that antler scores increase when density decreases and vegetation improves.

“Deer population density had no effect on the gross Boone-and-Crockett score of mature bucks with and without supplemental feed,” the studies concluded.

Harvesting does

Southwest Texas is not an area where harvesting does is helpful, the book concludes.

“There are many cases when harvesting does makes sense; but in the semiarid, highly variable environment of our study

area, doe harvest is either unnecessary or detrimental in the absence of supplemental feed,” the book reads.

So what is the “sweet spot?”

“Our assumption at the beginning of our study was that the sweet spot would be the population density at which antlers were largest and vegetation was unharmed,” the book reads. “We did not anticipate that increasing density would not affect antler size and other measures of deer performance, or that deer diets would be almost entirely supplemental feed at the highest deer densities.”

The conclusion was the anticipated “sweet spot” probably doesn’t exist, at least in a one-size-fits-all prescription.

“The keys for large antlers are supplemental feed and rainfall, regardless of deer density,” the book states.

Therefore, economics, such as the cost and logistics of feeding, may be the driver of finding the sweet spot.

During the study, researchers spent roughly $100,000 per year on feed for 2,000 acres with one feeder per 50 acres, at a cost of approximately $40,000 just for the feeders.

“In southwest Texas, the availability of high-quality food depends on precipitation and the type and amount of supplemental feed,” the book concludes. “Precipitation and supplemental feed influence the availability of high-quality food and antler growth in bucks more than deer population density.”

The book makes an excellent reference for landowners and managers in South Texas and beyond, gaining understanding of the relationship of vegetation, nutrition and deer density. It is available for $35 through Texas A&M University Press.

LONE STAR OUTDOOR PUZZLER

Solution on Page 22

INDUSTRY

New execs at Quantum

Mike Rice was named the senior vice president of Quantum Fishing by parent Rather Outdoors, and Gary Borland was named the vice president of Quantum brand management.

Kallam joins ASA

The American Suppressor Association hired Jessica Kallam as the vice president of marketing.

Position at Fiocchi

Fiocchi of America, Inc. is seeking a director of sales in Ozark, Missouri.

New hires at Delta Waterfowl

Delta Waterfowl named Scott Vance, of Nashville, Tennessee, and David Steele, of Dallas, Texas, as the organization’s new development directors.

Suvama to lead Suzuki

Marine

Suzuki Marine USA, Inc. appointed Nobuo Suvama as its new president, to be stationed at its Tampa, Florida headquarters.

Marketing agency for Ozonics

Ozonics retained Gunpowder as its marketing agency of record.

Awards manager job at WSF

The Wild Sheep Foundation is seeking an awards and hunting program manager.

Sarsilmaz sales rep

Scissortail Firearms, the US importer of firearms manufacturer Sarsilmaz, retained Outtech Sales Service as its sales representative nationwide.

Marine consultant leader

YESSSS, New Zealand business and marketing consultants in the marine industry, appointed Chris Baird as joint chief executive officer alongside Nona Pedersen.

Stutz joins Johnson’s board

Johnson Outdoors Inc. appointed Jeffrey M. Stutz as an independent director to the board of directors.

DOWN 1) An exotic in Texas

2) Hunting boot brand

3) Central Texas lake

5) Bass lures good for redfish

6) Spinner bait brand

9) Hill Country lake

10) The beginning of a fishing rod

14) A spinner bait blade

17) The G1

19) Ammo brand

20) Squeeze, don’t pull

21) Sinker type

23) Turkey call type

24) Hunting dog breed

26) Cousin to the redfish

30) One of the Great Lakes

31) DFW-area lake

32) South Texas lake

34) Rangefinder brand

35) Plastic worm brand

36) An African game species

38) Trout species

39) One of Leopold’s five tools

41) One of the setters

FOR THE TABLE

Bluegill chowder Italian goose sandwich

1 lb. bluegill fillets, cut into 1-inch

pieces

4 slices bacon

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 medium potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch

cubes

4 cups water

1 can creamed corn

1 cup cream

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot, brown bacon over medium-high heat. When crisp, transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the remaining grease. Sauté onions, carrots and celery in reserved grease. Stir in potatoes and cook an additional 2–3 minutes. Pour the water into the pot and raise heat to bring water just to the boiling point. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add bluegill, creamed corn, and cream. Simmer 5 minutes or until fish is cooked through. Served with reserved bacon crumbled on top.

—Eat Midwest Fish

Boneless goose breasts, about 4 pounds

Onion, 1 large, chopped

Celery, 3 stalks, chopped

Green bell pepper, 1 large, chopped

Sweet red bell pepper, 1 large, chopped

Pepperoncinis, 1 medium-sized jar

Tomato, 1 large fresh or canned, diced

Italian dressing, 2 or 3 dry mix packets

Water

2 tbsps. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsps. sweet pickle juice

Salt

Crushed red pepper

Provolone/mozzarella cheese, shredded

Deli buns

Mix a dry packet of Italian dressing with 2 cups water. Pour mixture over the goose breast and refrigerate overnight. Lay drained goose in bottom of large crock pot and add course-chopped vegetables (except pepperoncinis and tomato). Mix Worcestershire and sweet pickle juice with a dry packet of Italian seasoning in 1 cup of water and spread evenly over the crock pot. Add pepperoncinis (minus stems) with half of jar of juice. Add the diced tomato. Season to taste with salt and crushed red pepper. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the goose easily separates. Serve on deli bun topped with shredded cheese.

—Illinois DNR

Puzzle by Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News

Low-light hogs

Continued from page 4

common, with a few larger boar seen running by themselves.

Wrangler Haresnape of Striker Outfitters said wheat fields in the Abilene area have been loaded with hogs during the late evening hours.

“With warmer weather setting in and wheat crops heading out, the pigs have been tearing up the fields lately,” Haresnape said. “We’ve been running a bunch of spot-andstalk hunts during the evening hours, and our hunters have been pretty successful.”

The hogs have been starting to feed in wheat fields a couple of hours before sunset, giving hunters plenty of time to stalk in close for a shot opportunity.

“Playing the wind has been key to getting in range of the pigs in the fields,” Haresnape said. “We’ve been seeing a ton of sows with piglets. The boars have been more scattered and inconsistent.”

Matt Olsen has been hunting hogs at night with thermal optics on properties surrounding Victoria, where the shot opportunities have been plentiful.

“The pigs have been rooting in open pastures quite a bit lately,” Olsen said. “I’ve got a good relationship with several landowners in the area, and a lot of them have been complaining about hogs tearing up their pastures around their properties, especially after recent rains.”

Once he spots a group of pigs, Olsen tries to sneak in as close to them as possible.

“Here recently, I’ve been able to get as close as 25 yards or so when the wind and conditions were right,” he explained. “Stalking in close to them on foot is pretty exciting. It’s all about using the wind to your advantage, as well as whatever vegetation or structures are around to help conceal your presence.”

Finding clean water

Continued from page 1

San Jacinto River were really starting to turn on,” Maley said. “There were tons of shad showing up everywhere, and the redfish were beginning to get thick over areas with shell, rocks, riprap and other structure. This whole area turned into a mud hole overnight after the big rains that we had. Even if some of the reds did stick around, the water got so dirty that it seems it would be impossible to catch them.”

Maley did find some redfish willing to eat crankbaits over structure near the lower end of Trinity Bay.

“Eventually that fresh water is likely going to make its way across all of Trinity Bay, which will push the fish into East Bay,” he said. “It’s a pattern we’ve seen many times here in Trinity Bay over the years, and you just have to adjust where you plan to fish accordingly.”

A few days after the rains cleared, recreational angler Jeff Herford found trout, redfish and black drum stacked up along the spoils of the ship channel along the lower end of Trinity Bay.

“I’m pretty sure these fish were stacked up along the channel, having been pushed from further upstream by the runoff,” Herford said. “They seemed to be piled up along the bottom and were hitting soft plastics on a heavy jig head.”

Ryan Welch recently fished the lower west end of Galveston Bay and found birds working over schools of trout that were chasing swarms of shrimp.

“I’m guessing that all of the rain pushed the shrimp out of the bayous and marshes and into the saltier waters of West Bay,”

a large bayou off the Intracoastal Water way between High Island and Sabine Lake that was holding good water prior to the floods.

“After all of the rain, the majority of the bayou was full of nasty looking water,” Parker said. “There was one stretch that was holding some cleaner water because it was fed by a marsh drain. That stretch with better visibility had quite a few slot redfish feeding in it. Small top-water plugs produced the most bites.”

Tim Young said marshes and back lakes on the northwest side of Sabine Lake that had grass in them continued to hold good water clarity after the rains subsided.

“Every shallow marsh pond that I fished in that had some grass growing in it was fishable, and loaded with redfish in the 22- to 25-inch range,” Young said. “Topwater lures and soft plastics rigged weightless and weedless worked the best.”

Sabine Lake anglers reported that portions of the Intracoastal Waterway, parts of the ship channel, and the northern half of Sabine Lake were all trashed as far as water clarity was concerned.

Angler Gary McElduff said the best water left to target after the rains cleared was located in Sabine Pass. He caught redfish and a few trout over deep structure and along the jetties on soft plastics and crankbaits.

“It’s looking like the pass and the lower end of Sabine is going to hold the best options for catching fish until all of this freshwater filters out of our system,” he said.

Upper Coast anglers were forced to make adjustments after significant freshwater inflows eliminated stretches of water that had been producing fish. Photo by Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

TEXAS

Competitive shooter passes

John Michael Plaxco, of Corinth, passed away on May 17 at the age of 69.

Plaxco turned an early interest of hunting with his father into a decades-long career as a professional marksman, winning numerous national and world titles. He also nurtured a passion for teaching by hosting instructional courses and producing books and videos.

—Staff report

OKLAHOMA Record bighead carp snagged

An Oklahoma angler is the state’s first record holder for bighead carp after landing a 118-pound, 3-ounce carp recently at Grand Lake.

Bryan Baker a paddlefish guide, was credited with the capture and removal of a bighead carp that was nearly 30 pounds heavier than the world record, set in Tennessee in 2005.

Baker’s carp was snagged instead of baited, so it won’t qualify for an IGFA record, but his catch is a new state record. Oklahoma added bighead carp, an invasive species, for record consideration to encourage their capture and removal.

—ODWC

MINNESOTA Group backs out on Governor’s deer opener

The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association won’t participate in this year’s Governor’s Deer Opener because of Gov. Tim Walz’s con-

tinued support for anti-gun legislation and attempts to ban wolf hunting, the group said.

In a unanimous decision, MDHA’s executive board voted not to support the Governor’s Deer Opener because of stances that “are in direct opposition to our mission.”

MDHA, along with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Explore Minnesota, had been an organizing partner of the event since the inaugural Governor’s Deer Opener in 2002.

“Until our governor represents the interests of wild deer and deer hunters around the state, we cannot, in good conscience, support the 2023 event,” MDHA added. “We encourage you to still celebrate this exciting time of year, we know we will be.”

—Staff report

OREGON

Poachers shoot two bear cubs

Poachers who shot two bear cubs last October must pay $15,000 in damages, lost their hunting privileges for three years and will be on bench probation for 60 months.

Gail Faye Freer, 52, and her son Corey Douglas Loving II, 29, both of Siletz, committed the crime while trespassing on private land. According to law enforcement officials, Loving and Freer were trespassing on private land when they spotted a bear cub wandering among blackberry bushes. Freer encouraged Loving to shoot the cub, which he did.

The two decided to return later to retrieve the bear when they were certain it had died.

When they returned, they spotted a cub foraging in the same place. Loving shot it, thinking it was the same bear. Loving and Freer eventually approached the bushes expecting to find a single bear cub with two gunshot wounds. Instead, they found two bear cubs, each with a fatal gunshot wound.

OSP Fish and Wildlife Troopers located the carcasses after an anonymous call to the

Turn in Poachers line several days later. Both cubs had been left to waste.

It is illegal to hunt bear cubs under 1 year old, or sows with cubs less than 1 year old.

WASHINGTON D.C.

Boating fatality stats

During the National Boating Safety Advisory Committee meeting on May 11, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard released a summary of statistics on calendar year 2022 recreational boating incidents, revealing there were 636 boating fatalities nationwide in 2022, a 3.3 percent decrease from 658 deaths in 2021.

From 2021 to 2022, the total number of accidents decreased 9 percent and the number of nonfatal injured victims decreased 15.9 percent.

Alcohol was the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents in 2022, accounting for 88 deaths, or 16 percent of total fatalities.

The data also showed:

• The fatality rate was 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels, a 1.8-percent decrease.

• Property damage totaled $63 million.

• Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure ranked as the top five primary contributing factors.

Where the vessel types were known, the types with the highest percentage of deaths were open motorboats (47 percent), kayaks (14 percent) and personal watercraft and pontoons (9 percent).

—Coast Guard

$100K prize for conservation innovation

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize competitions are open for entries until June 27. The competitions will engage the public to help address six important conservation issues: preventing wildlife poaching and trafficking, promoting wildlife conservation, managing invasive species , protecting endangered species, managing nonlethal human-wildlife conflict, and reducing human-predator conflict. Prize winners are eligible for up to $100,000 for each winning prize solution.

Through the competitions, the Service seeks to spark the interest and imagination of out-of-the-box thinkers across the nation, to source diverse solutions and catalyze new markets addressing complex conservation challenges. Last year’s winning ideas included an invasive reptile smart-trapping system, a nucleic acid barcode that identifies poached and trafficked wildlife products anywhere in the world, and a robotic technology that reduces cattle predation by encouraging natural herding behavior.

The Service is partnering with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which has helped administer the competitions. The competition is guided by the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize Advisory Council, a designated Federal Advisory Committee.

Judging will occur July through August and winners will be announced in October.

—USFWS

QUAIL HUNTING

Guided-Self Guided-Training 700 yard RANGE PoetryShootingClub.com (214) 728-2755

C4 RANCH - WHITETAIL & EXOTIC HUNTS

Cull, Management & Trophies up to 300”

Duval County, TX

High Fenced & MLD Managed 10+ Years Vernon Carr (361) 774-2442

DEER HUNTERS USED DEER BLINDS

For sale: 4x6 fiberglass with 10-foot towers

Three available $2000 each

Used feeders also

Located one hour north of Abilene

For photos Text (214) 695-2950

PATAGONIA ARGENTINA

RED STAG HUNTS

100% free range 5 day guided hunts, luxury lodging and meals. Trophy and management packages available. (210) 748-9392

WHITETAIL + HOGS

Brush country whitetail bucks!

Doe, management bucks and hog hunts

All-inclusive guided hunts zacatehunts.com (325) 446- 6716

NEED ARCHERY RANGE? www.TexasArchery.info

DOS HERMANOS RANCH

Trophy Whitetails & Exotics On 4000 acres near San Angelo, TX doshermanosranch.com Jake at (208) 477-9065

EXOTICS + WHITETAIL Several species Trophy and meat hunts Owner guided Very reasonable

Let’s have fun! (325) 475-2100

Available Huntershilton.com for more info (361) 244-0544 or (361) 443-9330

MID-TEX LAND SERVICES LLC

Land Clearing, Mulching, Rock Milling, Roads, Excavation Professional and insured WWW.MIDTEXLAND.COM (254) 595-1696

SKID STEER BRUSH CUTTING / HYDRO AX

All your clearing needs, right-of-ways, senderos, creek & river bottoms, fence lines etc. South Texas Call Frank (512) 699-5381

FISHING

CRAPPIE. CATFISH. SANDBASS. STRIPER.

Guided Hunts and Offshore Adventures. www.DFWOutdoors.com

DEER HUNTERS

Used Deer Blinds for sale

4x6 fiberglass with 10-foot towers

Three available, $1850 each

Used feeders also available

Text for photos

Located 1 hour north of Abilene (214) 695-2950

Call Capt. Lane Palmer at (817) 266-9811

BAY FISHING

6 Hour Trip from $275 Port Isabel, TX (956) 551-1965

THE CHIMNEY BOX OUTDOOR FIREPLACE

Great for your hunting camp or backyard Keeps smoke out of your face. New $1,500, asking $800 (214) 695-2950

EXQUISITE GREATER KUDU BRONZE BY RENOWNED SCULPTOR TOM TISCHLER

“Fleeting Apparition” is 27” high, 33” long, and 19” at its widest point. It sits atop a wooden base and can rotate 360 degrees. Signed and dated 1982, this sculpture is #11 of 25.

A rare find, as the mold has been destroyed. Excellent condition. Perfect for an executive office or exclusive hunting lodge. Valued at $20,000, asking $14,000. Crating/Shipping/Insurance paid by the buyer. (214) 763-0844

MAY 27

WILLACY COUNTY YOUNG FARMERS

Fishing Tournament

Chamber Pavilion, Port Mansfield wcyf.org

JUNE 1

NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION

South Plains Banquet

4 Bar K, Lubbock (806) 786-2117 nwtf.org

COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION

North Texas Banquet

The Cotton Mill, McKinney (214) 402-3825 ccatexas.org

JUNE 2

DUCKS UNLIMITED

Houston Guns & Bugs Clay Shoot

Premier Sporting Arms, Sealy (713) 471-8854 ducks.org

JUNE 3

DALLAS SAFARI CLUB

Hunter’s Field Medicine Course

DSC Headquarters (972) 980-9800 biggame.org

JUNE 3-4

TEXAS GUN & KNIFE SHOW

Abilene Convention Center (830) 285-0575 texasgunandknifeshows.com

JUNE 15

COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION

Centex Banquet

Extraco Events Center, Waco (254) 405-1300 ccatexas.org

JUNE 16

DALLAS SAFARI CLUB

Sporting Clays Shoot Elm Fork Shooting Sports (972) 980-9800 biggame.org

DUCKS UNLIMITED

South Texas Concert Guns & Gear The Post, Orange Grove (830) 391-7300 ducks.org

JUNE 21

MULE DEER FOUNDATION Texas Taxidermy Awards Killeen Civic Center (817) 565-7121 muledeer.org

JUNE 22

NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION

GCOT Banquet Victoria Community Center Dome (713) 823-2958 nwtf.org

COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION Brazoria County Banquet Dow Academic Center, Lake Jackson (713) 626-4222 ccatexas.org

JUNE 23-25

DUCKS UNLIMITED State Convention Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center College Station ducks.org

JUNE 25

TX SHOOTOUT ON LAKE FORK Lake Fork Marina (817) 439-3274 basschamps.com

S

H A R E

A N A D V E N T U R E

W e w a n t t o s e e y o u r f a v o r i t e h u n t i n g a n d

For home or office delivery, go to LSONews.com, or call (214) 361-2276, or send a check or money order to the address below. Lone Star Outdoor News, ISSN 2162-8300, a publication of Lone Star Outdoor News, LLC, publishes twice a month. A mailed subscription is $35 for 24 issues. Newsstand copies are $3, in certain markets copies are free, one per person. Copyright 2023 with all rights reserved. Reproduction and/ or use of any photographic or written material without written permission by the publisher is prohibited. Subscribers may send address changes to: Lone Star Outdoor News, P.O. Box 551695, Dallas, TX 75355 or email them to editor@lonestaroutdoornews.com.

f i s h i n g p h o t o s ! S e n d u s y o u r h i g h - r e s o l u t i o n i m a g e s f o r a c h a n c e t o b e f e a t u r e d i n L S O N s h e r o e s s e c t i o n e m a i l p h o t o s w i t h c a p t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n t o : e d i t o r @ l o n e s t a r o u t d o o r n e w s c o m

T h e b e o w i m a g e s a r e s o m e p a s t f e a t u r e d h e r o e s !

S h o p

Handgun ram

Continued from page 5

to try something different and travel to Uvalde to visit Ox Ranch. With more than 60 species — native and exotic — across 18,000 acres, Ox Ranch is about as close as it gets to an authentic African hunting experience on this side of the Atlantic.

Upon his first visit to the ranch, Hardbower met Sam Morrow, then one of the newer guides working at the ranch, and shared his story, as well as his quest to complete an SCI slam. It didn’t take long for a genuine friendship to blossom.

“Sam and I have been knocking some stuff out, let me tell you,” Hardbower said. “We hit it off and he’s game for what I’m doing. Muzzleloading isn’t very big down in Texas, so I think he’s had fun doing this with me.”

For the average hunter, “fun” would likely be quite the understatement, as a series of visits to Sam and Ox Ranch have netted Hardbower eight of his 24 species.

In fact, he’s already completed the muzzleloader leg of the slam, taking a Texas non-typical whitetail, a scimitar-horned oryx, a dama gazelle, a Catalina goat, an Armenian mouflon, a sika deer and a fallow deer, all alongside Morrow. Hardbower also took a bison in South Dakota with a muzzleloader on his own, giving him an even eight.

He’s taken three species with his bow — a greater kudu and a nyala in Africa, as well as a whitetail in Virginia — and a bobcat with his Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Magnum.

The veteran hunter knew he wanted to add another to the handgun list, so he decided to give his buddy Morrow a call.

“When he decided on a black Hawaiian, I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Morrow recalled. “He’s been to Africa five or six times, he has incredible stories, and overall he’s just a very knowledgeable guy. He was very capable of shooting at 50 yards or more with no problem.”

The hunt itself conveniently teemed with luck, however, as not only did they set up on a sheep during the first evening, but it was a particularly large, loner ram they’d never seen before.

“We’d found several sheep before that one, they just weren’t up to par with what we were wanting to do,” Morrow said. “We still wanted a top-10 looking sheep.”

After feeling like they struck out on sheep for the day, the pair decided to head to the opposite side of the ranch, where Hardbower could set up on a feeder with good odds of seeing a feral hog.

Just as the two were getting set up, though, Morrow received a call from another guide who’d spotted an unfamiliar, but impressive ram.

“He went, ‘Sam, I’ve never seen him before, and he looks like a really big Hawaiian,’” Morrow said. “So I was like, ‘Well, let’s try and haul it over there,’ and we covered the entire length of the Ox in a jeep just trying to beat the daylight.”

With the sun escaping the horizon, Morrow and Hardbower spotted the ram with certainty. Starting from about 200 yards out, the two got mobile without wasting any time. As soon as they closed the gap to about 50 yards, Hardbower set up sticks and got a good rest for a shot.

“He ended up being in the perfect position for us to make a move, so it all happened really fast,” Morrow said. “The whole thing only took about 15 minutes. Despite it being the first evening, it worked out as an amazing hunt.”

Hardbower’s ram scored 141, which is the No. 4 pending black Hawaiian with a handgun, per SCI.

His quest for the Alternative Methods 24 Slam will continue in August when he finally returns to Africa for a hunt in Zambia.

FISHING REPORTS FROM THE GUIDES

Twin Buttes: Capt. Michael Peterson of 4 Reel Fun Guide Service out of San Angelo reported the channel cats have been great on Twin Buttes during weather windows. Peterson has found cats in anywhere from 2- to 24-feet of water but noted the better cats are found in the deeper, cooler water. The water temperature has been around 78-80 degrees and over the last week the water level has risen at least one vertical foot. Peterson also reported Mr. Whiskers cheese bait has been the bait of choice and producing the most bites.

Choke Canyon: Guide Scott Springer of fishchokecanyon.com reports the bass fishing to be good, and the lake is on the rise. Most of the fish are being caught shallow, anywhere from 2-8 feet of water, on points and around some trees. His best lures have been plastics that include flukes, brush hogs and 4-inch Senko-type baits.

Lake Buchanan: Guide Fermin Fernandez of trophystripers.com reports the white bass bite is good on fresh caught shad fished 25-40 feet deep on humps and in submerged timber. He said fish can also be caught in areas where you find birds working the shad. Several areas of the lake, including the north end, around Hi-Line, in front of Beaver Creek and around Garret and Shaw islands, are holding good numbers of fish.

THERMAL HUNTING

AVENGER 40

WAVE12 384 Sensor

9+ Hour Runtime

MSRP: $4099

AVENGER 55XR

WAVE12 640 Sensor

7+ Hour Runtime

MSRP: $5989

Fusion Thermal Exclusive Features

Micro Click Focus Leave the Collars to the Dogs

Getting your target into focus quickly and easily is a must, and you won’t find a better system than our Micro Click Focus. Our tactile focus knob is conveniently located on top of the front lens, and unlike the dog collar design used by our competitors you won’t need to perform a circus act just to focus your scope. Plus, you’ll always get your best shot as the micro click adjustments put you on the perfect focus point every time.

ARCLIGHT Ultra HD Germanium Lens

High Purity for Maximum Energy

The single most expensive component of a well-crafted thermal is its germanium lens. If you skimp here, you’re not even in the game. Our high purity ArcLight Ultra HD Germanium Lens is the crowning jewel of our technology package. It perfects the task of collecting and funneling infrared energy into the thermal sensor unhindered by distortion. This clean transition results in an infrared energy dump that unleashes the full potential of our WAVE thermal sensor delivering a user experience well beyond expectations.

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) Menu Industry’s Easiest Menu System

We think you’re really going to like our menu; it uses words, English words. Written for Americans by Americans. That’s why we called it KISS. You’ve heard the phrase, and at Fusion Thermal it’s the reason we can make the industry’s boldest statement: Our operating system is so easy to use you’ll likely never read the instructions.

T3 Control System

Don’t Let Your Fingers Get Lost in the Dark

Our highly intuitive three button control system with center tower makes using your scope simple and easy. Every command is at your fingertips, and the Center Tower evenly splits the control panel, so you’ll never be confused about what button you’re going to press. We thought this a particularly good idea since you’ll be using it in the dark most of the time.

WAVE Thermal Sensor Same Money, Better Performance

Is it possible for one thermal scope to dramatically outperform everything else in its class? Yes, so don’t make the mistake of shopping by specifications alone or you just might get burned. Our WAVE thermal sensors push the limit of what is technically possible and set the standard for image quality, ruggedness, and long life. So, before you plop down your hard-earned cash make sure you do a side-by-side to any similarly priced competitive alternative. We think you’ll find the difference to be clearly obvious.

XGEN Alloy Housing

Plastic is for toys. Metal is for tools. It’s a fact, thermals produce heat, and heat is the enemy of all thermal devices. If you don’t get the heat out operational performance will degrade, and long-term internal damage is a certainty. Our XGEN (Next Generation Alloy Body) shields your expensive investment in a metal clad of armor, and our high-end AL6082 Conductive Structural Alloy displaces heat at an astounding 71,900% better than plastic. You don’t think of your thermal as some cheap plastic toy. Why should it be built like one?

Game-changing simplicity. Industry leading runtime. Onboard video, photo and HD audio recording. Meet the new AVENGER from Fusion Thermal.

Available at fine retailers all across the Great State of Texas