Texas’ Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper Since 2004
September 10, 2021
Volume 18, Issue 2
Dove limit only for the lucky By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News Opening day hunters in Texas’ North Zone blamed the freeze, heavy rains and late crop harvests for a slower than normal start to the dove season. Some hunters had great success the first day, followed by a drop-off in birds seen, while others said the numbers of dove were way down. And officials’ predictions of frostbitten appendages were proven true, as many dove harvested had damaged or missing feet. “We’re hearing from hunters and outfitters that the bird numbers are down,” the Texas Dove Hunters Association posted on social media. “Many outfitters have even called their hunters and offered them rainchecks. There can be a couple of different reasons for the slow start: the freeze has had some effect but the main problem has been the wet climate. Tanks are full, creeks have water, and grain crops are late being harvested. But above all, migratory game birds are unpredictable.” Lifetime LSON subscriber Hugh Stephenson hunted opening morning north of Stamford. “There were plenty of birds,” he said. “The field did not have any cover so no one limited. With adequate cover I am pretty sure we would have limited.” The next day, Stephenson hunted near Hamlin in a cut sunflower field bordered by mesquites. “There were virtually no birds until 8:30, then the flood came like Noah,” he said. “There were limits for the whole group across the board.” In northern Comanche County, more birds were in the area three weeks before the opener, but then a 3-inch rain came and the birds disappeared. A few birds were spotted in one area with 7-foot-tall native sunflowers and loaded with stickers, making the hunting, and finding downed
Results are in from the impact of February’s freeze on speckled trout. A few unexpected areas were hit harder than officials thought. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.
Impact updates from freeze on speckled trout By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News
For the lucky dogs that got to hunt near water, the hot season opener wasn’t so bad. Hunters found a mixed bag of results for the opening weekend, with some finding plenty of birds, while others weren’t as fortunate. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.
The impact to the fish populations from the February freeze was as expected, but a few unexpected areas were hit harder than officials thought. Robin Reichers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries director, updated the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission at its August meeting. Of the 3.8 million fish killed by the freeze, 90 percent were forage fish, and 160,000 were spotted seatrout. Of the trout killed, 89 percent were in the Laguna Madre, Reichers noted. “There also was a significant kill of black drum in the Upper Laguna Madre,” Reichers said. “The kill was more than 100,000 fish, and 62 percent of the total fish kill.” During spring gillnet surveys, comparisons to the last 10 years and to 2019 (no survey was conducted in 2020) were made. Reichers said the Lower Laguna Madre was down 30 percent from the 10-year mean, and the Upper Laguna Madre was down 30 percent, but not down much from 2019. Interestingly, the Corpus Christi area showed a slight increase in speckled trout. “It’s a deeper bay system, the fish can get to deeper water easier,” he said. On the negative side, the Matagorda area was down
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PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT 3814
TTT permits under fire Landowners fear suspension By Craig Nyhus
Deer captured by TTT are transported and released on high and low fenced ranches across the state. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News
After restrictions were made on deer breeders moving deer in recent months, landowners started fearing that TTT (Trap, Transport and Transplant) permits would be next. The permits are pri-
port of TTT. “It has come to our attention it will be recommended for suspension,” Sekula said. “We have been drug into this battle. TTT sites do CWD monitoring, RFID tags are added to identify each deer trapped, trap sites are registered and we have restrictions on trap sites. The safeguards are in place and are working — there have been thousands of Please turn to page 25
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10 Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 16 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 26 Saltwater Fishing Report . . Page 28 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 28
INSIDE
CONTENTS
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Lone Star Outdoor News
marily used to move surplus deer from one Texas ranch to another, benefiting both areas with too many deer and other areas, such as in the Edwards Plateau where anthrax wiped out deer herds in 2019. At the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission August Public Meeting Jason Sekula, a wildlife biologist and wildlife manager at the Shiner Ranch, spoke out in sup-
HUNTING
FISHING
Whitewings best south (P. 4)
Studying fish scales (P. 8)
Other areas mixed.
Different types, purposes.
Copper and CWD (P. 4)
Catfish factory (P. 8)
Mineral may help fend off disease.
Lake Livingston a hot spot.