Central Texas – Hill Country
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Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
Fawn survival still a concern
It’s a good year for antlers, judging by bucks that were harvested the first two weeks of October on ranches in the Managed Lands Deer Permit Program. Unrelenting hot, dry weather had caused some land managers and biologists to question if range conditions this year would crimp antler quality. But some of the deer killed on several mldp-enrolled ranches tell a different story. Take, for example, the buck that gross scored 247 after it was downed at the Bang Whitetail Ranch in Gillespie County. Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, Oklahoma, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tags: Antler, antlers, Bandera County, buck, Deer, East Texas, fawn, Gillespie County, Habitat, Hopkins County, hunting, Land, MLDP, ranch, ranches, survival, whitetail
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
It’s a report no hunter or wildlife manager wants to hear — mother deer leaving their fawns because they’re heat stressed, unable to produce milk.
Similar fears were realized in 2009 when fawn survival or “recruitment” dipped below 10 percent in some South Texas counties. Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tags: Deer, Drought, Ground Cover, Habitat, hunting, Land, property, Rain, ranch, ranches, south texas, Texas, Wildlife
Monday, July 11th, 2011
SNAP, NOT CRACK: Coleman gun maker Brent Hemphill demonstrates a .308-caliber rifle with a suppressor that runs the full length of the 20-inch barrel. Its report is no louder than a BB gun, and recoil is unnoticeable. Photo by Bill Miller, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Thwack.
It was the only sound heard by a sounder of feral hogs as something slammed into one of them, toppling it.
Then another went down. And another.
Gun maker Brent Hemphill was systematically dropping hogs with a high-powered rifle fitted with a sound suppressor, also called a “silencer.”
“The most I ever got was six,” Hemphill said.
The growing feral hog populations of Texas, and their depredations on property, have spurred new markets for sound-suppressed firearms. Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, Oklahoma, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tags: Feral Hogs, hog hunting, Pigs, suppresors, Wildlife
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, Oklahoma, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tags: Ducks Unlimted, Habitat, Migration, Waterfowl
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
A wobbly-legged whitetail fawn tottered along the edge of a barren field, alone. The days-old deer was the first of two I spotted while driving Highway 71 between La Grange and Columbus in the middle of an afternoon this past week. Many people would have been thrilled to spot the delicate, adorable, newly minted fawns. I wasn’t. Seeing them was disheartening because of what it said about the challenges Texas wildlife face from the brutal drought that has withered the state over the last eight months or so. Whitetail in most of Texas deliver their fawns in May and June, with those in South Texas dropping their newborns in July. Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tags: Deer, Drought, food, Ground Cover, Rain, Texas, Wildlife
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
The Texas House of Representatives unanimously approved SB 332 on Tuesday morning, strengthening a landowner’s ownership of the groundwater below their land. Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, Legislative Updates, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tags: bill, Groundwater, house of representative, Legislation, senate, Texas
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a 6-part series on prescribed burning, which is also referred to as controlled burning. Although fire is an important tool in a range manager’s toolbox, its role is sometimes misunderstood by the general public, who see only its potential for destruction.
In dry times, particularly when burn bans are in effect, county Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, Oklahoma, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
Check out the Cabela’s Recon Hunt mobile application for Android and iPhone. They just added online mapping tools so you can preplan your next hunting trip and send it wirelessly to your phone along with other upgrades. If you already have this app, the upgrade is free! More detail below…
Posted in Announcements, Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, Oklahoma, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
As large Texas tracts are broken into smaller ones, landlocked properties increase. Before purchasing land, buyers should investigate whether easements exist and, if so, what type they are. One attaches to property and benefits the buyer and subsequent owners. Another attaches to the person who receives it and may stay with them even if ownership changes. To learn more follow the link below:
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, East Texas, South Texas, Texas, Texas Panhandle, West Texas | No Responses »
Monday, May 9th, 2011
The Llano River in Texas has been named one of 10 “Waters to Watch” for 2011 in the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. The watch list doesn’t necessarily indicate waters in trouble, but points to those that will benefit from strategic conservation efforts to protect, restore or enhance them, thus providing models for good work elsewhere. Click to continue »
Posted in Central Texas - Hill Country, Texas | 1 Response »
