December 8, 2023
Texas’ Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper Since 2004
Volume 20, Issue 8
Hunter gets the full experience
CWD found at state facility
By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News On his first morning in a deer blind during his first deer hunt, Andrew Starnes saw more deer activity than he could have imagined. The 24-year-old arrived at the Stonewall County ranch late on the night of Nov. 27, as he works in retail and couldn’t leave early. Fortunately, as a U.S. Army veteran and retail and gunsmith employee at Mission Ridge Range & Academy, his sighted-in rifle or his shooting skills weren’t in question. At the DUX Expo at the Texas Motor Speedway in May, the opportunity came for the born-and-raised Garland resident to make his first deer hunt with the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation. When asked if all of the employees of Mission Ridge in their booth had hunted deer, all had — except for Starnes. “I have hunted dove and went on one duck hunt,” he said. “My dad hunted ducks some but that was it in my family.” After a short night’s sleep, Starnes was headed to the deer blind called the “Rattlesnake Blind.” Within 10 minutes of arriving and well before the feeder threw any corn, there were deer in front of them, including a nice buck that walked right through the group and led the deer away. “Then the feeder went off and a doe and fawn came right back,” Starnes said. A few minutes later two bucks, including one from the right, came walking in. “That’s a good deer,” said his guide, David Sams. “You can take him if you want.” Let’s see what he does,” Starnes replied. Both bucks in the area were mature 8-pointers and Sams gave the green light to take the one Starnes liked best. “I had my gun ready and looked through the scope,” Starnes said. “I watched him for a
Lone Star Outdoor News After years of testing and regulations, chronic wasting disease has been found at a Texas Parks and Widlife Department facility. A positive case of CWD was found in a 14-month-old captive male white-tailed deer at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area research facility, according to TPWD biologists. “TPWD staff are disappointed to abruptly end nearly 50 years of white-tailed deer research that has significantly influenced deer management in Texas and across the country” said John Silovsky, Wildlife Division director. “Staff will continue to investigate opportunities to enhance the understanding of this insidious disease in both captive environments and free-ranging populations.” The detection resulted from ante-mortem testing conducted on all captive white-tailed deer as part of ongoing research. Samples from the buck were sent to the National Veterinary Service Laboratory in Iowa for confirmation. Out of an abundance of caution, the staff killed all the deer in the research facility and collected post-mortem samples, which resulted in no additional detections. Built in 1974, the high-fenced research facility offers research-
U.S. Army veteran and gunsmith Andrew Starnes approaches his first deer, taken on a deer hunt with the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Please turn to page 19
Quail hunters encouraged
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT 3814
Please turn to page 26
Some areas show improvement By Craig Nyhus
Many Texas quail hunters are still in the waiting mode, even though the season opened in November. Rattlesnakes are still out, causing concern for both dogs and hunters, causing many to prefer to wait until after a good freeze. Some hunters are hitting the fields, though. Riley Schankle, of Amarillo, hunted bobwhites in Wheeler County and blues in Potter County in November. The dogs flushed eight coveys of bobwhites one day, and several blue
Please turn to page 26 Freshwater Fishing Report . . Page 10 Game Warden Blotter . . . . . Page 12 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . . Page 16 Saltwater Fishing Report . . . Page 20 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . Page 24 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 26
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Lone Star Outdoor News
quail were taken the next. Jay Stine, the executive director of the Quail Coalition, has been receiving reports from hunters, although he will likely wait until the holidays to begin chasing quail. “I’ve heard from some guys in Jayton (Kent County) that are moving three to four coveys per hour,” he said. “That’s much better than last year.” Stine said the eastern Panhandle looks promising. “I’ve heard some bad reports, too, but I think it depends on where you are,” he said. Jeff White, of Raleigh, North Carolina, made the trek to the Texas Panhandle and said the hunting was good for both bobs and blues, but the terrain was hard on the dogs. “There were lots of sand burrs,” he said. “I
While quail aren’t abundant in the Rolling Plains and Panhandle, dogs are flushing more coveys this year than last. Photo by Phil Lamb.
HUNTING
FISHING
Encouraging goose numbers (P. 4)
Pompano from the beach (P. 8)
Outfitters seeing more birds this year.
Long casts a must.
Standby hunt pays off (P. 6)
Umbrella rigs for schooling bass (P. 8)
Up early in hopes of hunt.
Angler lands three at once.