A Weekend For the Birds - January 17-18, 2009

This past weekend was spent bird hunting at the lease with Lee and Shane. We primarily focused on ducks, but also managed to get a quail hunt in on Saturday.

The first morning we got an early start and had our decoys set up in our favorite spot well before legal shooting hours, which happened to be at 7:07 Saturday morning. The waterbody we were hunting is surrounded almost entirely by cattails and is a hotspot for ducks and teal to roost on, so most of the ducks take off and leave before legal shooting light or come back late in the evening after sunset. Just as we expected, several large groups of ducks - probably 80 to 100 in all - took off about 10 minutes before legal shooting hours.
We did have several other groups of ducks come in throughout the morning and bagged a total of seven. This was Shane's first duck hunt ever, so we set him up in a prime spot to try to make sure he got plenty of shots.
It didn't take him long to get his first duck. He dropped the first one that came in - a very pretty drake Wigeon. Even after my dog retrieved the bird it was still in really good shape, so Shane decided he is going to have it mounted.

Scooter did an excellent job retrieving the ducks.

After duck hunting, we checked the status of our protein feeder in the deer sanctuary and got the game camera so we could view the most recent activity at the feeder. The deer have finally begun to hit the protein and the best buck that was seen this season is one of the most frequent visitors. I can't wait to see how his antlers develop this spring and summer.

Just before lunch we decided to walk through the pasture with my birddog to see if we could find a covey of quail. We stumbled across one covey and then chased the singles after the birds scattered from the initial covey rise. I was able to knock down one bird and Sioux retrieved it for me.
Saturday evening we went back to our duck hunting spot and got three more birds. Lee got the trophy bird of the weekend, a beautiful drake Pintail. It was Lee's first Pintail, so he too is going to have this bird mounted.

After the evening hunt we set up on the side of a ridge where we would have a good vantage point to try to call in some predators. After four series of calling with a jack rabbit in distress mouth call, I was able to lure in a grey fox.
Sunday morning's hunt ended up being really slow. We only had one bird come in, a green-winged teal that Shane was able to bring down. So we ended up with a total of eleven for the weekend.

Another highlight of the weekend was the double-meat double-cheese burger at Herd Hamburger (est. 1916) in Jacksboro. If you ever pass through Jacksboro I highly recommend stopping by and trying one.

TPWD Public Scoping Meeting - Grayson County

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department held a public meeting in Grayson County on Thursday night to address possible changes to the deer hunting regulations for next season. The department is considering adding a firearms season for deer in Grayson County, which is a topic of much controversy. Currently Grayson County is the only county in the state which allows archery equipment as the only means of harvest for the general deer season.

My Dad and I attended the meeting to hear what TPWD had to say concerning the matter as well as to hear what the majority of Grayson County residents had to say. TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith, TPWD Commission Members John Parker and Ralph Duggins, and TPWD deer biologist Mitch Lockwood were all present to represent Texas Parks and Wildlife. Local officials were also in attendance - a county judge, the district attorney, all four county commissioners, and mayors from several cities. There were also about 200 members of the general public there as well.

TPWD began the meeting by explaining the process by which they evaluate their regulations and the biologist gave a presentation detailing how the department has the entire state broken down into Resource Management Units, or "RMU's". The RMU's do not relate to political boundaries and are grouped based on common factors such as soil type, vegetative cover, and land use practices. There are 33 RMU's across the state. TPWD believes these RMU's will help them more accurately collect biological data and better monitor the deer herd. The department has Grayson County lumped in with several other surrounding counties, all of which either allow a firearms season or have no deer season at all. The idea that TPWD was trying to express is that it would make the regulations simpler by creating a firearms season in Grayson County to streamline it with the rest of that specific RMU.

The biologist himself acknowledged the fact that the state currently has little to no data concerning Grayson County and the local whitetail herd. TPWD has used data collected from Hagerman Wildlife Refuge, which is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and represents a very small portion of the county. The proposal to create a firearms season in Grayson County is based on the idea that there is no biological data which suggests the deer herd could not sustain a firearms season, when in fact the biological data to support the change does not exist.

Grayson County is very unique when it comes to whitetail deer. The county does have a growing deer population, but it is still small relative to other parts of the state. The deer are primarily located in the northern part of the county, near the refuge and Lake Texoma, as well as in the southwestern part of the county near Ray Roberts Lake. However, the population is expanding to other parts of the county throughout habitat that has been heavily fragmented by development. Over the last decade this county has produced numerous record book bucks, primarily due to the fact that the county is restricted to archery only. This has allowed the deer to mature and reach their full genetic potential.

Grayson County has received national fame over the last few years with the harvest of several deer that score right around or above the 200" mark. The following links are just a few examples of the mature deer that have been harvested in Grayson County over the last few years.

http://www.texassportsmanmag.com/hunting/whitetail-deer-hunting/tx_aa075102a/

http://www.texassportsmanmag.com/hunting/whitetail-deer-hunting/TX_0708_01/index.html

http://www.sportsmansevents.com/muzzy200club/members/donnieherod.php

http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/deeroftheday/dd_october_2007/index8.html

I personally would like to see the regulations remain the way they are. I feel like the deer herd would be drastically diminished within a few short years if a firearms season was implemented. I know TPWD is not in the business of managing for "trophy" deer, but they are in the business of managing for a healthy deer herd that produces quality animals. I think the pictures in the articles above speak for themselves. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

The End of a Good Season

Sunday was the last day of deer season here in North Texas. This turned out to be a pretty good season for us. There were six deer harvested off our lease, which is the most we have taken in the four years we have hunted this property. We also saw more young bucks this year than we have seen in years past, which is promising for next year. In the overall management scheme, I believe we did ourselves a big favor by reducing the number of does and passing on all of the young bucks, especially the borderline "shooters", as well as bringing the buck/doe ratio closer to where it needs to be.

On the last weekend of the season I saw deer each of the three times I was in a stand. I saw lots of wildlife, but forgot to bring my camera with me to the stand, so I apologize for not having any pictures. I saw squirrels, armadillos, a barred owl, lots of cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, another beautiful bird known as the rufus-sided towhee, and lots of ducks. But I still didn't see a shooter buck. I can't wait for next year, and hopefully I won't have to miss archery season again. We still have several weeks of duck season left and quail season is also still open and I plan to get my dogs some work in over the next few weeks.

After Christmas Hunting Trip

This Christmas season has been very memorable. I am in the middle of about a two-week vacation from work (it sure is nice to have enough leave built up to have to use it to keep from losing it). I have been able to enjoy spending time with my family, go hunting, tinker with some projects around the house, but most importantly - celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My family came over on Christmas Eve and we spent Christmas Day with Steph's family. After all of the Christmas get-togethers were through, Daddy and I drove out to the lease for some late-season archery hunting.

We enjoyed very pleasant temperatures as we sat in our treestands on Friday morning. I saw four deer (3 doe and a 3-point buck), three of which walked within bow range. Daddy also saw a few deer and attempted a shot at a doe that was about 30 yards away. Unfortunately, a treelimb was in the flightpath of the arrow and redirected it away from the intended target.

After the morning hunt, we checked the status of the protein feeder/food plot area in the middle of our deer sanctuary. There were a few signs of deer around, but they still haven't started hitting the protein yet. The oats/clover mixture that we planted earlier in the fall has been grazed down quite a bit. Shane moved his trail camera to the protein feeder so hopefully we will get some deer pictures. This is a picture I took last month showing the feeder area (which we have fenced off to keep the cows out) and the oats that were beginning to come up.
Since the last few times sitting in my easternmost stand have provided shot opportunities, I decided to put my Dad in this stand on Friday evening. Once again, deer walked within bow range of this stand, but Daddy decided to pass on the shot because it was just a very small yearling doe.

I decided to hunt out of my stand behind the lake that hasn't been hunted in over a month. I didn't see any deer activity that evening, but about 4:30 a large male bobcat walked down the ridge behind me and into a clearing about 25 - 30 yards to my right. Just as I was about to draw my bow I noticed he was turning in my direction. He continued on a trail that passes almost directly under my stand. As he approached he walked behind a thicket allowing me to draw my bow undetected. When he stepped out from behind the thicket, five yards from the base of the tree I was in, I made a grunt noise to stop him and loosed the arrow. It was a perfect shot and the cat never knew what hit him. He managed to make it 15 yards before expiring.
I weighed the cat on the game hanger we have at the bunkhouse and he weighed right at 30 pounds, which is quite a bit larger than the average bobcat. I found a publication on the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department website that said the average weight of an adult bobcat is 12 - 20 pounds, with the occasional older cat reaching up to 36 pounds. The largest one ever recorded in Texas weighed a little over 37 pounds.
I plan to have a lifesize mount of the bobcat made for my trophy room. I'm thinking maybe it would look good to have him mounted in a leaping position where he is swatting at a quail.
Saturday morning there was a threat of thunderstorms so my Dad and I decided to wait the storms out. So we didn't get in our stands until about 8:30 that morning. I didn't see any deer so I took the opportunity to try to take a few pictures. I think this is a Black-capped Chickadee (poecile atricapillus).

Saturday evening I saw one doe. A large grass fire had started about a mile from where we hunt earlier in the day at someone's deer camp. The wind was really strong and the fire got out of control in a hurry and ended up burning a house to the ground. Here are a couple pictures I snapped of the fire.

Two Deer, One Morning

As of Friday evening, I thought my deer season was quickly becoming a total bust. Archery season came and went while I was in Houston, my first couple of trips to the lease had proved to be unsuccessful, and due to some unfortunate circumstances my Missouri trip had to be cancelled. I woke up on Saturday morning with the intent of taking a doe if I was presented with a shot.

There was a slight wind from the south as I headed to get in my stand early Saturday morning, not exactly the best scenario for the stand location I was going to hunt. I climbed up in the stand, got situated and watched as the stars faded into the light of day. About 10 minutes after 7:00 I heard deer movement to my right. I could tell there were multiple deer heading in my direction, but I couldn't tell exactly how many. I went ahead and reached for my bow so as not to make any more movement than possible if the deer did proceed to walk within bow range.

And that they did. The first one, a doe, approached on a trail that leads out of the woodline and skirted within ten yards of my stand. I could see out of the corner of my eye that a second doe was about 15 yards behind her, still in the thicker woods. The first deer continued crossing in front of me from right to left and I drew my bow as she walked behind a small mesquite tree. As soon as she stepped out from behind that tree I loosed my carbon arrow. The arrow flew true and the 100-grain Thunderhead broadhead connected at 14 yards. The doe ran about 60 yards before expiring in the clearing. There would be no need to track this one. The other deer apparently wasn't spooked by the havoc that was wreaked by the flight of the arrow. She continued in my direction but veered away without stepping into a clearing within bow range. A third doe appeared behind her, following her same path. I watched these two deer feed about 80 yards away for the next hour and forty-five minutes. Several times they appeared to be heading back in my direction, but changed course while milling around in the open area in front of my stand.

Finally, at about five minutes until 9:00, the larger of the two deer made her way back toward my stand. When she got within 25 yards I drew my bow and made a risky decision to take a shot at this deer as she was quartering to me. The shot was slightly errant to the left. Not a big deal if it were a broadside shot or a quartering away shot, but the angle the deer was standing resulted in the shot placement being way too far back. I saw the deer run off, and I was somewhat concerned about recovering this one.

I got down out of the stand about 15 minutes later and was able to locate both arrows. I walked back to the truck and met up with Shane, who snapped these awesome pictures. He took the pictures of me with the first deer, we took care of the field dressing duties, and then began looking for the second deer. Fortunately, we found her about two hours after I shot her, and she had only gone about 100 yards.
After taking pictures of the second deer, Shane took some of me with both deer.
The fact that both of these deer were directly downwind of me and never even knew I was there is evidence of the odor-eliminating abilities of the Scent-Lok clothing I was wearing.

The weather was progressively getting cooler throughout the day, and I knew there wouldn't be any chance of the meat spoiling, so I let the deer hang overnight at the bunkhouse.

Saturday evening I hunted out of that same stand and didn't see anything but an opossum.

Sunday morning we woke up to frigid temperatures. It was 15 degrees when I got in my stand just before daylight. A familiar situation unfolded Sunday morning as two more does walked in on the same trail at about 7:30. Both of them walked past my stand within bow range, but I had filled both of my doe tags the previous day.

I quit hunting at about 8:15 because I needed to allow myself time to get the deer to the processor in Muenster, which was a little over an hour away. I dropped both deer off and placed an order for ten pounds of deer sticks and ten pounds of summer sausage. I'm gonna need some more freezer space!

Two deer in one morning with the bow. I'd say that was a hunt to remember.