Page 4
July 14, 2017
LoneOStar Outdoor News
LSONews.com
HUNTING
Aoudad numbers are up near Possum Kingdom Lake, and ranchers are dealing with damaged feeders. Trappers have been called in to help remove some of the animals. Photo from Emitt Woods.
Prolific exotics headache for ranchers By Darlene McCormick Sanchez Lone Star Outdoor News
Many Texas hunters value aoudad as an exotic game animal, but they can also be a problem when it comes down to ranch management. Emitt Woods, a wildlife manager for a low-fence ranch near Possum Kingdom, said a herd of about 30 aoudad have been wreaking havoc on feeders at area low-fence ranches.
Woods said the exotics located a protein feeder on a 500-acre ranch he manages and went through 1,000 pounds in about three days. Not only do they eat the feed, but also they can destroy the feeders. Aoudad will head-butt corn feeders and bend feeder legs. They have been making their rounds to various feeders, travelling from ranch to ranch, Woods said. “They have started being as bad as wild hogs,” Woods said.
“They’ll run your deer off. People are getting sick of them.” Woods said the animals weren’t causing major problems when there were only a few of them. But that changed when their population increased. The damage to the feeders and the loss of feed intended for deer was serious enough that the landowner wanted them gone. Hunters value the animals, Woods said, so he called in a trapper.
escaped. Aoudad are tough and can reproduce quickly, he said. What caught his attention about the Possum Kingdom herd is several rams are in the 20- to 30-inch “trophy” category. He intends to trap them and relocate them to his ranch, which supplies whitetails and exotics to other ranches. To get that large of a herd, Beatty set up a $10,000 wall trap around a protein feeder that can Please turn to page 7
Austin chef teaches cooking of game
Cameras useful to learn about quail
By Julia C. Bunch
For Lone Star Outdoor News
By Darlene McCormick Sanchez Lone Star Outdoor News
Game cameras are pretty common in the world of deer management tools, but they can also be great for quail. Game camera virtues in quail management include nest surveillance, monitoring relative abundance of predators, feeder and or water visitation rates, and occupancy. According to the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, game cameras are useful tools for quail management. Gone are the days when the cameras were
Bryce Beatty with Brown Trophy Whitetail Ranch out of Robinson County traps aoudad and other game and exotic animals across the state. He said he gets about two calls a month from ranchers wanting to remove aoudad. “Aoudad are pretty good about beating up feeders,” he said. Beatty thinks the problem in Possum Kingdom started after the fires destroyed fences and animals
Trail cameras help quail managers determine water site visits, brood size and predator impact. Photo from Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch.
expensive and actually held film. Now they can often be picked up for around $100 and have easyto-use SD cards that can hold a plethora of images. In July and August, the cameras can give managers an idea of brood size if they are set up
near a watering hole or feeders. Cameras can also give an indication of how much of the feed is actually going to quail. A study at the research ranch showed a 5-15 percent visitation rate by quail to feeders. Camera information has been Please turn to page 14
Feral hog, deer liver, wild duck — lots of people think there’s no tasty way to cook up these game animals or less desirable parts of the animal. Jesse Griffiths has heard all these wild game misconceptions — and he’s made a living prov- Cooking wild game isn’t easy for everyone, but the New School of Traditional Cookery helps students learn to preing them wrong. Griffiths runs the pare game of all types. Photo from Jesse Griffiths. New School of Tra“People waste so much food, ditional Cookery in conjunction often because they don’t know with his East Austin restaurant, what to do with less popular Dai Due. The restaurant serves up cuts,” Griffiths said. “Many huntonly locally grown and sourced ers and fishers have been taught meats and vegetables, but the they can grill some pieces, but school is where Griffiths’ food beyond that, the animal goes to philosophy really shines. Please turn to page 6