LSONews.com
LoneOStar Outdoor News
November 22, 2013
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Texas’ Premier Outdoor Newspaper
November 22, 2013
Volume 10, Issue 7
Page 28
Just moving in
Inside
Goose hunting heating up in west central Texas, Panhandle; lots of specks along the coast ❘❚ HUNTING
First split producing for many
More ducks arriving in Texas with each front. Page 4
A job well done DU’s Jim Lillis retires after 17 years. Page 7 KIND OF SLOW: A full moon, combined with hotter weather, made for tougher hunting in some areas. However, cold fronts are in the forecast and rutting activity should be more visible as the full moon’s effects fade. Photo by James Richards, for Lone Star Outdoor News.
❘❚ FISHING
A little tougher
Deep and shallow Fall transition happening now in North Texas. Page 8
Highest ever Nueces Bay records highest-ever salinity levels, but helped by recent rain. Page 8
BEGINNING TO TAKE OFF: Goose hunters around the state are reporting increasing numbers of snows and large flocks of specklebellies in areas. Photo by Scott Sommerlatte, for LSON.
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By Conor Harrison Goose hunters in the heart of Texas had a tough time the first few weeks of the season. Low numbers of geese, except for a few big flocks of specklebellies, greeted hunters in early November. “Most of the outfitters in this area haven’t even gotten started yet,” said Knox County Game Warden Jay Oyler. “There were just some specks around to begin the season, and a lot of hunters
don’t want to drive out here for a few of those. But the last cold front we had (Nov. 12) pushed a lot of Canadas into the area.” Oyler said the majority of the geese were hitting peanut fields in Haskell County. Near the Garwood Prairie, hunters reported a big push of snow geese during the same front. “There are more snows than specks,” said one area guide. ‘I would say we are seeing 50 snows for every one speck. The goose hunt-
ing has been a little tough to begin the season, but we are expecting good hunting as the weather pushes more and more down.” Along the coast, guide Daniel Kubecka with RunN-Gun Adventures said the specks showed up at the end of October, and the early hunts were “spotty.” “The first part of November it was pretty tough,” Kubecka said. “The snows arrived the middle of last week and See GOOSE, Page 16
Deer hunters deal with warm fronts, full moon during mid-November By Conor Harrison Lone Star outdoor newS
It turns off just as quick as it turns on. The white-tailed deer rut is a fickle mistress, and Texas hunters are learning that the hard way after a warming trend, compounded by a full moon, put the brakes on visible rutting activity across much of the state. Even in areas where hunters were seeing lots of chasing earlier in the month. “We’ve had some nice deer come through,” said Ryan Schmidt, a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist in Rocksprings. “The body weights are up See DEER, Page 30
Reds on the rise Coastal Bend bite improving Capt. Kevin Sparks has seen good numbers of redfish again showing up in the Upper Laguna Madre and Land Cut. “The bite is getting better in Baffin,” he said. “I have been drifting with shrimp under a popping cork and also throwing white (scented plastics) catching both reds and trout. The redfish really started
showing up along the west bank of the Land Cut. “And there are still some bulls around.” Sparks said the pattern of cool fronts that have hit the coast regularly has the fish turning on. But one issue has kept the fishing from being great. “The water has been real high,” he said. “It has scattered the fish and made them hard to locate on the big flats. They have finally started moving a little bit.”
STILL BIG ONES AROUND: Bull redfish, along with plenty of smaller ones, are still being caught along the coast. The bite is getting better in some places like Baffin Bay, according See REDS, Page 20 to local guides. Photo by Scott Sommerlatte, for Lone Star Outdoor News.