april 2011

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2 | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E

Published by Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC.TEXAS FISH & GAME is the largest independent,

family-owned outdoor publication in America.Owned by Ron & Stephanie Ward and Roy & Ardia Neves.

ROY NEVESPUBLISHER

DON ZAIDLEEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CHESTER MOOREEXECUTIVE EDITOR

C O N T R I B U T O R S

JOE DOGGETT SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORDOUG PIKE SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

TED NUGENT EDITOR AT LARGEBOB HOOD HUNTING EDITOR

MATT WILLIAMS FRESHWATER EDITORCALIXTO GONZALES SALTWATER EDITOR

LENNY RUDOW BOATING EDITORSTEVE LAMASCUS FIREARMS EDITOR

LOU MARULLO BOWHUNTING EDITORKENDAL HEMPHILL POLITICAL COMMENTATORREAVIS WORTHAM HUMOR EDITOR

TOM BEHRENS CONTRIBUTING EDITORGREG BERLOCHER CONTRIBUTING EDITORPAUL BRADSHAW CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

CAPT. MIKE HOLMES CONTRIBUTING EDITORLISA MOORE CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITORJOHN GISEL WEBSITE CONTENT MANAGER

A D V E R T I S I N G

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TEXAS FISH & GAME (ISSN 0887-4174) is published monthly by Texas Fish &Game Publishing Co., LLC., 1745 Greens Road, Houston, Texas 77032. TexasFish & Game Publishing Co., LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprint-ed or otherwise reproduced without written permission. The publication assumes noresponsibility for unsolicited photographs and manuscripts. Subscription rates: 1year $19.00: 2 years $34.75; 3 years $48.50. Address all subscription inquiries toTexas Fish & Game, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, Texas 77032. Allow 4 to 6weeks for response. Give old and new address and enclose latest mailing addresslabel when writing about your subscription. POSTMASTER: Send address changesto: TEXAS FISH & GAME, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032. Address allsubscription inquiries to TEXAS FISH & GAME, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX77032. Email change of address to: [email protected] Email new ordersto: [email protected] Email subscription questions to:[email protected].

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APRIL 2011 Volume XXVI NO. 12

FEATURES

22 5 BASS BAITS YOUSHOULD BE USINGEveryone has their favorite bassbaits, or confidence baits, thatthey often keep throwing evenwhen they arent working. Hereare 5 alternatives that you shouldconsider keeping on deck.

by Paul Bradshaw

44 5 FAST WAYS TO FINDSALTWATER FISHHow much free time do you havefor fishing? If youre like most mod-ern anglers, probably not much. Sohere are five solid techniques forgetting the most out of your limitedtime on the water.

by Chester Moore

48 THE TF&G TURKEY QUIZSpring turkey season is upon us,and our challenging quiz is a goodway to get mentally prepared forthe hunt.

by Bob Hood

52 GAMEFISH BY DESIGNWith millions of hatchery-raised fishstocked in Texas waters annually,are the regulations and limitscurrently in place to protect breed-ing populations sufficient... or evennecessary?

by Paul Bradshaw

PHOTO

COMPO

SITE

:TE

XASFISH

&GAME

PHOTO

:TW

ILDLIFE

,DREA

MST

IME

ON THE COVERS:

HAVING A BALLThere are fewexperiences insaltwater fishingthat get the blood

pumping the way chasing preda-tors around schools of baitorbait ballscan.

by Calixto Gonzales

BROADHEAD OPTIONSFOR TURKEY

Bow hunting forturkey has manychallenges.Choosing a

mechanical broadhead over afixed blade can increase yourchances of stopping the birdsthat you shoot

by Lou Marullo

STORY:

26

www.FishGame.com

STORY:

34


COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

COLUMNS

APRIL 2011 Volume XXVI NO. 12

10 Editors NotesHeard Aroundthe House IIby DON ZAIDLETF&G Editor-in-Chief

14 Chesters NotesRecoveredDreamsby CHESTER MOORETF&G Executive Editor

16 Doggett at LargeRedRevolutionby JOE DOGGETTTF&G Senior Contributing Editor

18 Pike On the EdgeUnlikelyPairingsby DOUG PIKETF&G Senior Contributing Editor

20 TexasWildTexas CrossbowDoubleby TED NUGENTTF&G Editor At Large

21 CommentaryGettingInvolvedby KENDAL HEMPHILLTF&G Politcal Commentator

33 Hunt TexasLivingHistoryby BOB HOODTF&G Hunting Editor

37 Texas SaltwaterSmallBallby CALIXTO GONZALESTF&G Saltwater Editor

42 Texas FreshwaterAdvanced HookSelectionby MATT WILLIAMSTF&G Freshwater Editor

56 Open SeasonLittleBoxesby REAVIS WORTHAMTF&G Humor Editor

DEPARTMENTS

8 LETTERS

12 TF&G REPORT

12 BIG BAGS &CATCHES

30 NEW! TEXASDEPARTMENT OFDEFENSE

40 TRUE GREEN

www.FishGame.com

Ethics, SchmethicsI BELIEVE IT IS IMPORTANT TO PRESERVE

our heritage of traditional hunting, i.e.opportunities to go afield employing ourprowess to take wild game within acceptedparameters of fair chase. Perpetuating thistradition entails conserving habitat and man-aging for healthy game populations. Payingto kill captive non-wild type monstrosities isbecoming increasingly popular and prof-itable. Mr. Ted Nugent, in his articleEthics, Schmethics (TF&G February2011) maintains that is unethical to forbidthe release of these captives. I disagree.

Game farm animals, besides being genet-ically altered to manifest characteristicsdesired by the customer, tend to have a highincidence of various diseases. Carriers ofchronic wasting disease are difficult to iden-tify. Concern about poached, escaped, orreleased captives polluting a wild populationwith their genes and diseases is really notimpossible to explain in logical terms asMr. Nugent alleges.

I agree that too many game laws arebased on politics and emotion rather thansound conservation principles. We should beworking to change them. Traditional huntersought not make enemies of those who shootcaptives lest the anti-hunters divide and con-quer us. We should have a vested interest inworking together to minimize the threat ofgame farming on traditional hunting.

Releasing captives is neither ethical norschmethical.

John Moisuk, Jr.Richardson, TX

I JUST READ TED NUGENTS COLUMN,Ethics Schmethics, and he hit the nailright on the head. Im glad that we have peo-ple with common sense like him serving asadvocates for us in the public forum.

Jim PurvianceBogata, TX

TED NUGENTS RECENT COLUMN WAS RIGHTon. Schmethics...perfect! One cant even gofishing anymore without the fear of breakingsome absurd regulation, whether it relates tolicensing, fish species, boat registration,equipment, and on and on and on.

I really wouldnt be surprised to learn ofsome hardnosed game warden coming afterNugent for publicly acknowledging that heuses common sense and integrity over lawsthat are obviously inappropriate to the situa-tion.

How do we instigate real change againsta bureaucracy that has manipulated thesports of both hunting and fishing into a self-serving means to increase revenue?

Thanks for stirring up the dust on thisimportant issue, and keep us informed of anyorganized movement.

Larry RobertsonVia email

I GOT ONLY TO PAGE 21 OF THE FEBRUARYissue of TF&G when I just had to stop andmake two comments: one directed at DonZaidles Editors Notes, Lessons inConservation, and the other at TedNugents Ethics Schmethics. Two wordsdescribe bothright on!

Thank you for Zaidles very good lessonabout scams perpetrated by various organi-zations, so-called scientists, and, yes, evengovernment in the name of research andbetterment of our lives. I have livedthrough the chicken necks cause cancer(and now they dont), cranberries causecancer (and now they are good for you),

eggs are bad for you (and now they aregood for you), and on and on. Keep up thegood work. We need people Zaidle toaddress these kinds of silly issues and tokeep us straight.

Ted Nugents column reminded me of anantelope trip my late husband and I made toNew Mexico. He shot a very nice animal,legally, and when we went to retrieve it,drove the truck down what the rancher wasusing as the road to his water tank. Well,here came the game warden, all blusteringand aggressive, and informed us we weredriving illegally. His contention was thateven though the rancher used the road, hehad not mowed it or maintained it (the driv-ing area was plainly marked with wide rutsand frequent use), and therefore did notqualify as a legal road for us to drive on.

Because he pulled out his game manualand showed us that we could not drive acrossa pasture to pick up game, does this qualifyas an unethical ruling?

I also got a ticket in Wyoming becausewhen I skinned my primo buck to quarterand pack it into coolers, I didnt leave proofof sex attached to the animal as required bythe then-game law. (I didnt know it then,and dont know if that still applies, but it dida few years back.) This even though the capeand head were going with the carcass. Alsoan unethical ruling as described in thefifth paragraph of Nugents excellent col-umn, which begins most appropriately, Ourworld is so out of control with imbecilic,illogical...rules...

Joyce D. SchaeferPort Lavaca, TX

Send Your Comments to:

Texas Fish & GameAttn: Letters to the Editor1745 Greens RoadHouston TX 77032

E-mail: [email protected]


Letters to the Editor

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HeardAround theHouse II

AS I WRITE THIS, I LITERALLY JUSTreturned from investigating gunfire in thenight outside my house. That is notunusual around here. Between maraud-

ing raccoons, possums, and other varmintious vil-lains pilfering from feed bins; year-round hog-and coyote-hunting neighbors; and ammo andgun tests, gunfire is normal day or night, andrarely cause for alarm.

However, gunfire in the night (two shots,widely spaced) followed by shouting and theclatter of machinery and tools from the vicin-ity of my shop is unusual, and merited inves-tigation.

I grabbed a revolver (choosing it over theutility of a shotgun to keep one hand free forpossible hand-to-gland combat in skunk-breeding season), clipped a flashlight ontomy belt, dropped a speedloader into mypocket, and sallied forth into the night.

The lights in the shop haloed three fig-uresgrandsons allin various states ofconspiratorial animation. Two crept awaylike guilty shadows and disappeared inmoonlit dust clouds and getaway taillights.The third remained in the shop, holding astill-smoking double barrel.

I glanced around for moribund tres-

passers, saw none, and turned to the remain-ing grandson: What the hell happened?

He took a sudden, intense interest in thetops of his boots and pointed toward the wallin one corner, where I found a few feathersand remains of some kind of bird splatteredaround a gaping hole in the interior wall,marked with the unmistakable tracks of twinloads of No. 7-1/2.

When asked the obvious, my grandsonexplained: It had been flying around in hereall day, crapping on everythingincludingmy new welder. We tried to shoo it out thedoor, but it wouldnt go. So, we...

When asked about the two spaced-outshots, he looked even more sheepish andmumbled, I missed the first one.

The heard around the house summarygoes: I missed the first one. (one of my

Editors Notes

by Don Zaidle | TF&G Editor-in-Chief

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grandsons, when asked why he shot twoshotgun holes in the wall)

Other Recent Utterances and Circumstances include:

...When you get upstairs, check thebabys pockets for shotgun shells. (instruc-tions to my granddaughter-in-law regardingmy two-year-old great-granddaughter, whomI had been babysitting)

...Look for it over there by that treewhere I peed this morning. (grandsonsreply to query about the whereabouts ofsome missing object)

...Trying to get my soldering iron out ofthis tree. (grandsons reply to query aboutwhy he was flailing at a tree with a 10-footlength of conduit)

...It was Fowler burning a dead cow. Heoffered us barbecue, but I declined...unlessyou want some. (upon returning from a fireinvestigation)

In the If You Have Ever/YouMight Be... genre:

...Set a trap to catch a non-rodent animal

running loose inside your house....Made toast with an acetylene torch

when the electricity went out....Had your electricity go out because

one of your grandsons shot the cable in twowith a .40 S&W while trying to dispatch araccoon.

...Evacuated your house after one of yourgrandsons pepper-sprayed a stray dog out-side an open window.

- Peered around doorways searching forbooby traps before entering a room in yourown house.

...Had someone call you for advice on thebest place anatomically to shoot a cow.

...Been dispatched as a volunteer fire-fighter to a pickup vs. two donkeys motorvehicle accident (MVA) scene.

...Explained to a DPS trooper the bestway to shoot a donkey at an MVA scene.

...Collided with a tree in a wildland fire-fighting truck while engaging a brush firebecause four B&C bucks fleeing across aflaming pasture distracted you.

...Dispatched someone to the feed storefor blood-stopper powder after a hog-

butchering accident....Had to explain during a teleconference

call that you just shot a squirrel from yourback porch.

...Found a long-forgotten animal hide,head, or carcass while cleaning out yourfreezer.

...Found an animal hide, head, or carcasswhile cleaning out your freezerand haveno idea how it got there.

...Found the hide, head, or carcass of ananimal from another continent while clean-ing out your freezerand have no idea howit got there.

...Found an animal hide, head, or carcasswhile cleaning out your freezer, with a noteattached that reads: Ran out of room in myfreezer. Thought you wouldnt mind. Callme when you find this.

E-mail Don Zaidle at [email protected].

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Lake AustinProduces ThreeShareLunkers

LAKE AUSTINSITUATED PRACTICALLY INthe shadow of the state capital building andtiny by Texas standards at just 1599 acreshas produced three 13-pound-plusShareLunker bass this season, including anew lake record.

T.J. Nissen of Austin caught the 16.03-pound lake record January 27 in 5 feet of49-degree. He was fishing a crankbaitbeneath a dock from a small flat-bottomboat. The fish was 28.25 inches long and21.75 inches in girth, and ranks No. 22 onthe Texas Top 50 list. Only three other fishentered into the Toyota ShareLunker pro-gram have been that long.

Lake Austin is traditionally drawn downin January so lakeside property owners cando maintenance work on docks and bulk-heads, and to expose aquatic vegetation to

freezing temperatures as a con-trol measure. That poses aproblem for anglers,since all the boatramps are out of thewater and unusable.

But where there'sa will, there's a way."The only way you can get in iswith a kayak or a V-bottomboat or a flat-bottom boat,"Nissen said. "We bought one acouple of years ago specificallyfor this.

"I threw a big crankbait upunder a dock, and she ham-mered it on about the third crank. It made abunch of runs and shook its head threetimes. We didn't have a net, but luckily I hada partner in the boat who was willing to takeas many treble hooks in the hand as he hadto [in order tp] get her in the boat. Once wegot her in the boat, we just stood there andstared, wondering what to do next."

Lake Austin gave up two more

ShareLunkers back-to-back on the weekendof February 25.

Billy Weems of Liberty Hill started theaction on Friday with a 13.21-pound lunkercaught around noon in 12 feet of 62-degreewater on a swimbait.

Cody Erin Smith of New Braunfels fol-lowed up Saturday with a 14.28-pounderaround 10 a.m. on a jig.


Ryan Webb of Dickinson caught this 38-inch, 50-pound black drum at San Leon offa friends pier. He caught the drum withdead shrimp on a flounder rig.

Dalton Burke, age 6, of Pasadena shot his first hog at 60 yards with a .243 inMontgomery County. The hog weighed approximately 250 lbs.

The TF G Report&

BIG BAGS CATCHES&

Billy Weems caught a13.2 pound lunker onFebruary 25.

ShareLunker 514

San Leon

Black Drum

Montgomery Co.

Feral Hog

PHOTO: LARRY D. HODGE,

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Both were fishing in the vicinity of theLoop 360 bridge. "This whole area is justone big spawning flat," said Weems. "Thebig fish are just starting to move up."

Lake Austin has now produced 12entries into the ShareLunker program, tyingit with Lake Amistad and lagging ChokeCanyon and Falcon International Reservoirby only one.

Texas Parks & WildlifeDepartment (TPWD) inland

fisheries biolo-gist StephanMagnelia man-ages the LakeAustin fishery,and he attrib-

utes the lake's production of bigbass to several factors. "I believeit's a combination of an ongoingFlorida bass stocking program,good habitat (aquatic vegeta-tion) in the upper third of thereservoir, and catch-and-releaseby anglers," he said.

Since 1996 TPWD hasstocked about 4.5 million Florida bass intoLake Austin, and in 2008 and 2010 itreceived stockings ofShareLunker offspring.Each lake that contributesa fish to the programreceives a portion of thatseason's production of off-spring.

Anyone legally catching a 13-pound orbigger largemouth bass from Texas waters,public or private, between October 1 andApril 30 may submit the fish to the ToyotaShareLunker program by calling programmanager David Campbell at 903-681-0550or paging him at 888-784-0600 and leavinga phone number including area code. Fishwill be picked up by TPWD personnelwithin 12 hours.

Cody Erin Smiths14.28 pounder caughton February 26.

ShareLunker 515

T.J. Nissens 16.03-pounder in January wasa new lake record.

ShareLunker 508

PHOTOS: LARRY D. HODGE, DAVID CAMPGELL


RecoveredDreams

HEARTBREAK: THAT IS WHAT I FELT AS Ipicked up my processed film and real-ized all of the photos of my big bass hadbeen lost.

Before the advancement of digital cam-eras, photographers and outdoor writers shotslide film for magazines. In Southeast Texas,only one place developed slides, and it wasalways a pain to drive there and waitupwards of a week to get them back.

I had just been on a trip to MexicosLake Agua Milpa and caught the biggestbass of my life, a super-fat 9-pounder, andmy only record of it was gonelost forever.

One of my great pleasures is document-ing good times spent outdoors, and for a 25-year-old, catching his biggest bass on anexcursion to Mexico was a pretty big thing(and it still is).

Last year, a chance encounter with theowners of Fish Scale Taxidermy (fishscale-taxidermy.com) in Waco inspired me torecover that lost dream. Elite Replica

mounts, whichfeature a

hyper-realisticbody

with see-through fins, blew me away.Since Fish Scale specializes in bass, I

thought to myself, Too bad I could not havehad that big Mexico fish mounted. Then Ithought, Why not?

I vividly remembered what the fish lookedlike, and through the internet could accessthousands of bass photos for reference. I alsohad the dimensions for the fish, so I contact-ed Jana Dixie Kay at Fish ScaleTaxidermy to recover my lost dream, provid-ing her the fishs size and a photo of a simi-lar bass.

A few months later, the mount was deliv-ered to my house and I was blown away. MyElite Replica is second to none and reflectstrue artistry and intense attention to detail,evidencing intimate knowledge of fish colorsand scale patterns. The dream bass of longago had been recovered in a magnificentway.

Taxidermy has never been about tro-phies for me, but about capturing a momentin time and reminding me of how blessed Iam. Looking at that bass as I write this, Iremember how excited I was and feelinspired to catch an even bigger one.

Unlike caught fish, some moments can-not be captured on a form and paintedbutthey can be captured on canvas and paintedor drawn by creative artists.

Wouldnt you dojust about anythingto capture your sonor daughters first

time in the deerstand or perhaps

your dogs firstretrieve?

Chances areyou never

took photos ofyour childasleep in theblind, and the

light was probably too low to get a goodretrieving photo. Your memory, however,probably houses details that no photographcould capture.

Despite having a great mount of that bigbuck, it cannot compare to what you saw inthe wild as it came charging out of a briarthicket grunting violently. By working with awildlife artist who does commissions, youcan re-create the scene that replays in yourmind every time you look at that mount.

Every angler I have ever met, talks aboutthe one that got awayand many do.(Difficulty in landing is part of the big fishmystique.) How cool would it be to capturethat fateful moment when you lost that bigspeck, lunker bass, or maybe a huge tarponthat jumped a few times and soon broke theline.

Over the past couple of years, I haveworked with wildlife artist Don McQueen(donmcqueenart.com ) on several projects,and his work continues to impress me. I planto work with him to recreate my huge floun-der encounter that essentially spawned acareer in outdoor writing.

Imagine a little boy with his Zebco 808battling an 8- to 10-pound flounder in hisdads johnboat. Talk about excitement!

I would like to freeze that moment in timeto express my enthusiasm for flounder, andrecognize it was my fathers desire to keepme on the water as much as possible thatgave me this wonderful career. Well, thatand the Lord getting a saddle-blanket flat-fish to hit the tiny hardhead by-catch I tookout of our box of shrimp. Being able to passthat on to my daughter is an excitingprospect.

I know for a fact recapturing my lost bassmeant a lot to me, and I hope being able togive her some of these memories in a unique,creative format will mean a lot to her as shesegues from being a sweet little girl into awonderful young woman.

Never give up on your dreams.

Chesters Notes

by Chester Moore | TF&G Executive Editor


E-mail Chester Moore at [email protected].

PHOTO: CHESTER MOORE


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RedRevolution

CERTAIN THINGS BECOME BENCH-marks of style. The significance standsthe test of time. This is true in allaspects of life.

When it comes to casting reels, where doyou go from the original Red ReelAmbassadeur 5000?

Certainly, many of todays casting reelssurpass the old Red Reel as reliable, effec-tive machines. But nonecomes remotely close in sig-nificance or impact on thesport fishing industry. Thisespecially is true inSoutheast Texasfordecades the top market inthe nation for conventionallevelwind casting tackle,freshwater and salt.

The Garcia Corporationimported the Ambassadeur5000 from Sweden, the firstreels hit the market duringthe mid-1950s. The retailprice was approximately$45 (a major sum duringthe Eisenhower administra-tion), but pro-class anglersclamored to purchase them.

With one glance and a single heft, youknew it was a winner, the coolest reel evermade. The rich luster of red anodized frameaccented by a chrome levelwind carriage andpearl-colored handle knobs crooned class.

Each Ambassadeur 5000 (or wide-framed 6000) came with a fitted leather caseand a spare parts tubea bit of upscalemarketing few previous products offered (theold round-framed Shakespeare Presidentbeing one exception).

The box proclaimed, By far, the finestbaitcasting reel ever made anywhere in theworld. Bold talk, but true. The

Ambassadeur blew everything else off themarket. Within a few years, the old direct-drive reels were borderline relics against theawesome performance unleashed fromSweden.

Backed by an educated thumb and afavoring breeze, you could cast lighter 1/4-to 1/2-ounce payloads with ease and ele-gance for bass in the lakes, and speckledtrout and redfish on the coast. By adjustingthe anti-backlash weights against the spool,you could even chunk straight into a stiffwind. Well, sometimes.

Even larger fish such as king mackerel,jackfish, and tarpon were vulnerable to themechanical advantage of the star drag.

If you were a have-not making do withold direct-drive or spinning tackle, you gazedat the gleaming display in the nearest sport-ing goods store and turned rednotgreenwith envy. I was a senior in highschool during the spring of 1964 when Ibought my first Ambassadeur 5000. Thatwas a really, really big deal.

Several hundred casting reels later, I stillhave that old 5000. I havent used it inyears. It is worn, scratched, and corroded,but it still more-or-less functions. If I had to,I could fish with it tomorrow. Or I could usea mint 5000 (circa early 1970s, pictured on

this page), but I dont think I will.But, in truth, the original Red Reel was

a bit of a clunker, at least compared to cur-rent products. It was heavy and the retrieveratio was slow (approximately 3:1). Many oftodays low-profile rocket launchers aretwice as fast and half as heavy, with muchbetter drag systems and far superior anti-backlash capabilities.

The 5000/6000 series was upgradedduring the mid 70s by the silver 5500/6500series. These were faster and smoother, butthe Ambassadeur/Garcia dynasty fumbledduring the early 1980s as Japanese reelsincreasingly dominated the market.

Shimano led the charge with fast, light,low-profile models that sim-ply were superior. The ProBantam series comes tomind as an early pacesetter,and, unless I am woefullyuninformed, Shimano con-tinues to set the standard.Models such as theChronarch and the hugelypopular Curado and Citicablanket the water withsmooth levelwind casts.

This is a simplifiedreview of the evolution of themodern casting reel.Certainly, gaps occur in thisaccount, and many fineproducts are available ontodays tackle shelves. Butyoung anglers with no grasp

of what went before might do well to appre-ciate a true benchmark.

Whatever high-tech, free-spool, star-draglevelwinder you might wield, it owes its pedi-greeindeed, its very existenceto theRed Reel.

E-mail Joe Doggett at [email protected]

Dogget at Large

by Joe Doggett | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

16 | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E PHOTO: JOE DOGGETT

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UnlikelyPairings

AN IDLE MIND OFTEN FOLLOWS WHIMS-ical paths. I was reminded of that whenthe following thoughts crept into myhead one late-winter evening:

For no reason, I pondered the markedsimilarities between specific species of terres-trial and aquatic life. If you think of theplane on which air and water meet as a look-ing glass, it is fairly easy to see some of thecreatures that live on one side reflected inthose that live on the other.

Take hardheads, for example. (And take

all you wantnobody will missthem.) The hardhead catfish is a

generally despised, potentially harmful wasteof flesh that never met anything it wasntwillingenthusiasticallyto bite.

My immediate thought as its counterpartwas the cottonmouth, but I actually respect

snakes and do not share that feeling for thehardhead. Ultimately, the nod went to sewerrats. City rats. Garbage eaters, not field miceearning their hardscrabble existence onwaste grain and wild seed.

Scale tipper for the sewer rat-hardheadplay was that if you were hungry enough,although you wouldnt like doing so, youcould eat either one. I couldnt eat a watermoccasin.

Moving on to a more glamorous path,consider the Spanish and king mackerels.Both are high-velocity, acrobatic predatorsthat take most of their meals at full speed.

This one is easy. The smaller and largermackerels are to schools of sardines and mul-let what falcons and hawks are to meadowmice and pigeons. By water or air, theattacks of these lightning-bolt predators are

Pike on the Edge

by Doug Pike | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Take hardheads, forexample (And take allyou wantnobody will

miss them).


swift, and death of the prey is instant ornearly so.

Somewhere near the bottom of the visiblefood chain, you will find shrimp in the baysand grasshoppers in the fields. Both canseem amazingly agile to any of us who try tocatch one by hand, but neither is a match forthe stabbing beaks of birds, rushing mouthsof big fish, or bullwhip tongues of lizards.Where shrimp and grasshoppers live, almosteverything bigger than them eats them.

On the cuddly side, there is commonali-ty between crappie and cottontails. Each isrelatively delicate in its world and, as prey,must constantly watches over its finned orfurred shoulder. Nervous by nature and pro-lific by same, white perch and bunnies arethe marshmallows of fish and wildlife.

I wanted to liken largemouth bass to bob-cats, both being opportunistic ambush feed-ers, but the latter tends to remain leanthroughout its life. A bass, on the otherhand, becomes relatively fat and lethargic inseniority, still capable of feeding itself butmore apt to take one big meal than six small-er ones. I will stick with the comparison forlack of a better one but, in my mind, add abeer belly to the cat.

There are solid matches in the world ofbiting, stinging creatures. The first isstingrays and scorpions, both of whichrespond to threat with a swift upturning oftheir tails. Stingrays are much larger, ofcourse, and capable (with a few exceptions)of inflicting a more painful wound, but eithercan ruin an outdoorsmans day with oneswing of its tail.

No roll call of natural annoyances is com-plete without mention of what most coastalresidents call sea lice, which actually are thepinhead-sized larvae of blue crabs. One theright spring tide, they can be so thick in thesurf that paddling a surfboard through themfeels as if you are pulling your arms througha giant bowl of grits. They have tiny pincerswith which to attach themselves to anyunsuspecting host that happens along.Hitchhikers, they are, with a preference fordark, damp places. (Draw your own conclu-sions.)

Their terrestrial mirror image, of course,is the chigger. Evolution left no clues as towhether chiggers crawled to sea and becamecrab larvae or crab larvae got tired of themarine life and crept up the beach into thenearest open field. It doesnt matter. A fewdozen of either can generate an excruciating,

ceaseless itch in places it is not polite toscratch publicly.

There are plenty moreblue marlinsand lions, wahoos and wolverinesforwhich there isnt room here, but there is onemore that must be shared.

My favorite pair grow big and aggressiveand fearless, and as adults, individuals candefend themselves against anything theymight encounter. Each of their populationshas risen steadily through the past two,

maybe three decades, and both like to feed inthe mud with their noses down and tails up.

As if either needed identification afterthose descriptions, they are the redfish andferal pig. And like all those other animals, Iam convinced each would be proud to beassociated with the other.

E-mail Doug Pike at [email protected]


TexasCrossbowDouble

PROJECTILE MANAGEMENT. ITS MY LIFE.I have this hand-eye coordination addic-tion that hit me when I was about fiveyears of age, and ever since that first

homemade slingshot-propelled pebble, I havebeen consumed by the goal of placing various pro-jectiles into bulls-eyes of varying shapes and sizedfor nearly 60 years nowand it is worse/betternow than ever.

My first crossbow adventure took placeway back around 1969 when I stalked therolling hills of southern Michigan with myclumsy wooden bolt flinger. I craved mybowhunting fun, and was immediately fasci-nated with this awkward contraption fromthe historical era of William Tell and theHuns and Vikings battling it out in farawaycastles of yore. Cool.

I killed a nice boar and a fat woolyBarbary ram in the snow that winter, thewell-placed bolts delivering a razor sharpBear Razorhead clean through the beasts fortwo rather impressive kills.

I liked it, but not enough to put down myBear recurve bow for very long, still mysti-fied by the allure of self-propelled arrowsover the horizontal bow on a rifle stock. Bothgreat fun, but the hand-held, hand-drawnvertical bow was and remains to this day myhearts desire. Love that mystical flight of thearrow.

Crossbows were always there, but theyexploded onto the hunting scene with avengeance around the year 2000. A strangecontroversy erupted as to whether the cross-bow qualified as archery tackle and was alegitimate hunting tool. To this day, I amastounded that such foolishness could existwithin our hunting brotherhood, but as theysay, it takes all kinds.

Fortunately, the good guys won this sillydebate and crossbows are now accepted forexactly what they area small arrow- (bolt)flinging contraption that is challenging andfun to master, fun to shoot, fun to hunt with,and inarguably effective for procuring veni-son. The jury is not still out on these tru-isms.

I occasionally grab myExcalibur recurve limb crossbow to

change things up during the season,and have had great hunting fun every time.They are extremely accurate, as always, if wededicate ourselves to excellence, and thoughlimited to normal bow and arrow ranges,nonetheless deadly on all big and smallgame.

My bowhunting buddy and vidcamdudeMike Ray and I decided to crossbow hunton a fine December day, and climbed intoour favorite live oak tree for a little venisonshopping. We had been skunked for a num-ber of days in a row, but as die-hardbowhunters, we never give up.

As always, even when no game was visi-ble, our hopes, dreams and expectationsremained powerfully positive.

Then, paydirt. From the mountain cedarthicket strode a trio of handsome whitetaildoes, casually making their way to ourambush setup. I lifted my Excalibur intoready position and waited as Mike rolledSpiritWild film.

As I was about to let fly on a big fat cac-tus donkey, I saw another deer moving ourway and held off. This new arrival was avery strange spike buck that I had seen oncebefore earlier in the season. Its two 9-inchspikes grew parallel straight up from the topof its head like a pair of old television rabbitears, and if ever there were a spike to tag,this goofball was it.

The little buck harassed the ladies, thenmade the terminal mistake of turning broad-side and my Lumenok bolt smashed cleanthrough both shoulders for a lovely kill shot.

My smiley exaltation on camera said it allas I celebrated another exciting hunt forSpirit of the Wild TV. Realizing there wasstill plenty of shooting light left, I re-cockedmy crossbow, loaded up bolt No. 2, andhoped for a second strapper to arrive.

And arrive it did. Just 30 minutes tran-spired before we saw the tawny shape ofanother whitetail coming in. More does,more straps!

The way I spread out my corn and vari-ous bait/feed, I have learned how to get crit-ters to give me a broadside, sometimes, andonce again, it worked. When the old graydoe gave it to me, my second bolt of the dayfound its mark where the crosshairs centeredshoulder and, pung-whop! Thats all shewrote.

We filmed the joys of a double recoveryof two beautiful Hill Country whitetail deer,a ritual and celebration that will never getold or be taken for granted.

E-mail Ted Nugent at [email protected].

On the Web

For more Ted Nugent writings,visit www.tednugent.com


Teds TexasWild

by Ted Nugent | TF&G Editor at Large

My first crossbowadventure took place

way back around 1969when I stalked

southern Michiganwith my clumsy

wooden bolt flinger.

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GettingInvolved

MOST OF US WHO HUNT, FISH, AND EATred meat wonder at the cluelessbehavior of antis. To those whounderstand that hunters and anglers

pay the costs of preserving wildlife habitat andenforcing game laws, its obvious that without uswildlife would suffer and some species disappear.We cant understand how someone can claim tocare about animals and still oppose hunting andfishing.

The answer, in just about every case, isignorance. Granted, there are probably somewho know the facts and still believe huntingand fishing is wrong, on religious or moralgrounds, but the great majority just doesntunderstand what they are talking about.

It would be easy to dismiss these peopleas stupid or crazy, based on their strangebehavior, but that is seldom the case. Mostpeta members are probably normal, intelli-gent folks, except for their lack of educationabout the outdoors.

Sue Watkins used to be such a person.Growing up in California, Sue loved ani-mals, and wanted to help them any way shecould. She became an animal trainer, joinedpeta, and regarded all hunters as cruel ani-mal haters. Sue never went so far as tomarch in protests, or harangue people wear-ing fur or leather, but she was definitely,firmly, ensconced in the anti camp.

And then, at a trap-shooting event, Suemet a man who happened to be a big gamehunter. She immediately placed him on hermental list of undesirables. She never hadanything to do with people who had so littleregard for animals that they would go outand shoot them.

But Sue and the hunter became friendsanyway, and even started dating. Theyargued about hunting and animal rights,each with the righteous conviction of the just.Finally, the hunter gave up on arguing, but

he gave Sue some information about wherewildlife funds come from, and asked her tolook up the facts for herself. To her credit,she did.

The more Sue learned about wildlifeconservation, the more the knowledge gratedagainst her long-held anti-hunting beliefs.She resisted but, because she respected thehunter and caredenough to want thetruth, she persisted.

When the dustsettled, Sue hadlearned that animalrights activists dolittle or nothing foranimals, and thathunters and anglerspay more of thewildlife conserva-tion bill than therest of society com-bined. She learnedthat most poachersare caught because honest hunters alertwildlife officials to their activities. Shelearned that peta, and other animal rightsgroups, spend most of their money on prop-aganda, and almost nothing helping ani-mals. She learned that hunting actuallyimproves wildlife health and habitat, andthat without it many animals die far morepainfully from starvation during the winter.She learned that animal rights activists dontreally care about animals, they only careabout control over their fellowman. Shelearned that animal rights groups lie to theirmembers and the rest of society, in order tokeep them from learning the truth. Shelearned she had been wrong.

Sue was appalled about her discoveries,and realized that, in order to actually helpwildlife, she would have to support huntingand other conservation efforts, whether sheactually hunted herself or not. She alsodecided that others who had spent their livesin outdoors ignorance needed to learn whatshe knew, so that they, too, could makeinformed choices, instead of continuing tobelieve the anti-hunting lies.

Sue realized she had a responsibility tohelp educate the next generation soAmericas outdoor heritage could be pre-served. She decided to do whatever shecould to expose the lies, and encourage kidsto get outdoors.

Her book, Getting Involved! A guide toHunting and Conservation for Kids, is one of

the finest examples of the conser-vation effort I have ever seen. Itdoesnt just tell children theyshould hunt or fish, it explains theentire concept of the conservationphilosophy hunting and fishingsroles. It encourages kids to lookup the facts themselves, instead ofautomatically believing what theyhave been told.

The book also stresses gunsafety and features kids who haveexcelled in outdoor sportsthrough 4-H and other programs.Its full of pictures and illustra-tions that make the outdoors

come alive, and should give children a desireto get involved themselves.

Sue ended up marrying the hunter whochanged her attitude about hunting. Withoutsuch a relationship she doesnt believe shewould have made the effort to learn thetruth.

We all need to do our part to educate oth-ers about the outdoors, especially kids. Agood way to do that is to give a copy ofGetting Involved!, available from SafariPress or directly from Sue Watkins at 916-417-2382

T E X A S F I S H & G A M E | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | 21BOOK COVER COURTESY SAFARI PRESS, INC.

Commentary

by Kendal Hempill | TF&G Political Commentator

E-mail Kendal Hemphill at [email protected].

On the Web

www.safaripress.com

Commentary.qxd:Layout 1 3/7/11 10:45 AM Page 21

22 | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E PHOTO COMPOSITE: TEXAS FISH & GAME; LIVE BAITINSET, COURTESY BLACK SALTY

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T E X A S F I S H & G A M E | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | 23

BY PAUL BRADSHAW



You know there are other baits out therethat would work better, but you choose not touse them. Or there might be baits out therethat you dont even know about that youshould be using for bass. Either way, letslook at five baits you should be using forbass, but are not for whatever reason.

BAIT ONE: SWIMMING JIG

One of the first times I ever saw aSWIMMING JIG was at the 2009Bassmaster Classic on the Red River. Someof the top bass anglers in the nation were tip-

ping theirswim jigs withsoft plasticfrogs and

w o r k i n gt h e mt h r o u g h

vegetation topull in limits.This was soeffective that

the leader goinginto day three of the competition had

relied solely on a swimming jig for the firsttwo days of the event.

After seeing first hand how effective thiswas, youd think I would have one tied on allthe time, but I dont. I still dont throw oneas often as I should, and Im willing to betyou dont either.

I do not mean trying to swimyour favorite jig, but using ajig designed for swimming.The one I favor is the 3/8-ounce SwimMax Jig byStanley. Its smaller size and headdesign allow it to movethrough cover (grass,brush, trees) withfewer hang-ups.

BAIT TWO: BIG SPINNERS

Go look at every SPINNERBAIT youown and see what size they are. I bet mostare 1/4- or 1/2-ounce, withthe occasional3 / 4 - o u n c ebecause youbought it bymistake or got it as a gift fromsome crazy aunt who knew youlike to fish. While youprobably catch your fairshare of bass on thesespinners, it might be time tothrow the bass a change-up bysupersizing your spinnerbaitofferings.

Buy some really big spinnerbaits (think1-1/2 ounces or bigger) and start chuckingthem for deepwater bass. Slow rolling a hugespinnerbait over a main lake point in 20-plusfeet of water is a great way to fool bass intostriking, mainly because nobody else is doingit so the fish have not grown accustomed toit yet.

BAIT THREE: THE CLASSICS

The next bait is actually a group of baitsthat you used to use, but with the advent ofnew and improved baits, have forgottenabout. When was the last time you threw a

JITTERBUG, or TINY TORPEDO,or CRAZY CRAWLER, or HULAPOPPER? I suspect most under-25s have never thrown a Jitterbug,

which is sad becauseyou can still buy thisclassic, and it is as

effective today as itwas when invent-ed 70 years ago.

Some of the first bassI caught were on an oldJitterbug.

The idea behind using these old baits isthat since few anglers use them, most basshave never seen them and so are not accus-tomed to them. Its like when a new baitcomes out and the bass cant get enough of it

because they have never seenit. Just because these baits

are old or vintagedoesnt meanthey wont catch

fish, so dig intoyour old tackle box

and pull a few out.

WE ALL HAVE OUR FAVORITE BASS BAITS. The popular term for these is

confidence baits since it is something you feel comfortable throwing and confident

you can catch bass on at any time. Mine is a Watermelon wacky worm, and sometimes

I throw it even when its not working at the expense of other baits that would be much

more appropriate for the situation. Im sure you do the same thing.

PHOTO : TEXAS FISH & GAME


BAIT FOUR:WACKY JIG

As mentioned, a weightless wackyworm is one of my favorite baits. Thefourth way you should fish but arenot is with a WACKY WORMON A LIGHT JIGHEAD.Instead of jabbing a bare hookthrough the middle ofthe worm, use asmall jig-

head (1/8ounce or smaller)

instead. Just toss it near like-ly bass cover, let it sink on a slack line, andlet it sit there.

Using this rig, you have to be a linewatcher. Watch the line as it sinks for anyjumps or twitches, and watch it again as thebait sits on bottom. This slow method takesa lot of patience, but will pay off if fish arenot actively feeding.

BAIT FIVE: LIVE BAIT

This last one garners askance looks fromsome fishermen (and probably will elicitsome nasty emails to me), but LIVE BAITis the one bait you never use that will helpyou catch more and bigger fish. Live bait

catches bass. There, Isaid it.

Most fishermenhave never inten-

tionally caught abass on live bait. I

use intention-a l l y becausep l e n t ybass are

caught on livebait every day by

anglers after other species. Heck, the staterecord bass was caught on a minnow by acrappie fisherman, illustrating that live baitdoes, indeed, catch bass. Isnt that the pointof fishingto catch fish? Why, then, shouldwe have an aversion to soaking bait for basswhen we do it for other species without a sec-ond thought?

When using live bait for bass, think big;your average minnow isnt going to cut it.This might be an issue since a lot of baitshops dont carry large shiners, but dontworry; you can mail order live bait. You canget farm raised Black Salty baitfish (black-

salty.com) via FedEx if youcant find anything locally.If you read ChesterMoore s

blog on theTexas Fish & Game

website (fishgame.com), youalready know that these are effec-

tive when free-lined for bass.

The ways you can catch bass are nearlyendless. If you get the chance in the next fewmonths, you might want to give one of thesefive methods a try. Chances are you will putmore fish in the boat that you currently thinkpossible.


26 | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E PHOTO COMPOSITE: TEXAS FISH & GAME

Year-RoundTactics for

Catching Fish UnderBalled-Up

Schools of BaitBY CALIXTO GONZALES

JOHN HART HAD NEVER seen anything like it.There were schools of bait everywhere, he said about the September trip out

along the South Padre Island beachfront with Captain Steven Deveries.Youd see these black clouds of baitfish in 9 to 10 feet of water, and these big fishjust blasting them, he continued. You could see bonita, kingfish, jackfish and tar-pon of all sizes just tearing up the schools. There were pelicans and seagulls every-where, too. Sometimes you saw a big shadow from a shark, and everything justexploded. It was amazing. We hooked a few tarpon, but lost most of them. Someof them were absolute monsters.

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Thats how fishing baitballs can be:intense, wild, and fantastic.

BallinThere are few experiences in saltwater

fishing that can get the blood pumping theway chasing predators around schools ofbaitor bait balls, as they are commonlyreferred tocan. Whether it is chasingaround Sabine Lake or Corpus Christi Bayand watching for flocks of birds markingschools of baitfish or shrimp being pushed tothe surface by frenzied trout and redfish, orrunning the South Padre Island beachfrontfor balls of rain minnows that are beingstrafed by everything from trout, redfish, andtarpon all the way to bruising pelagics suchas bonita and kingfish, baitballing adds anexciting and novel dimension to the coastalfishing experience.

Ive never had a client complain about

me hitting the baitballs along the beach-front, said Captain Richard Baily ofEdinburg and Port Mansfield. They seeall the action blowing up in front of the boat,and they get excited to cast into them. Whenthey hook up and the fish takes off on them,theyre to busy having fun to say anything.

A baitball is formed when predatory fishsuch as trout, tarpon, redfish, or when offshorebonita, tuna, kingfish, and otherpelagics- school start stalking and corrallingbaitfish or shrimp. As an act of self preser-vation, the prey species form a tighter andtighter aggregate and thus form a ball. Asthe predators begin to slash through andaround the baitball, it moves closer and clos-er to the surface, where birds join in on thefun. With hungry predators exploding fromall sides, and birds swooping down fromabove, it is a bad place for a small fish to be.

Getting the BirdsA common application of fishing the bait

balls is chasing the birds around Texas baysand saltwater lakes. Experienced anglersknow that a flock of diving and wheelingbirds is the telltale sign of feeding fish. Asstated earlier, the birds spot the bait balls

from the air as the hapless prey are corralledbetween the sky and the hungry jaws of ahungry predator. The big question that getsasked is, what kind of predator is causing thechaos? Trout? Skipjack? Gafftops?Jackfish?

A good rule of the thumb is to watch how

PHOTO CREDIT: ELISA LOCCI DT


the bait is attacked. A slashing, knifingsweep into the school is usually indicative ofan uber-aggressive feeder such as a jack or aladyfish (ladyfish are also prone to clearingthe water when the hit the ball). Chuggingor popping explosions usually hint at speck-led trout, although Lower Laguna Madreanglers have reported catching the occasion-al snook under a bait ball. If there seems tobe no action other than bait leaping out ofthe water, and no popping or slashing, thenchances are that redfish or gafftop are lurk-ing about.

Sometimes anglers dont seem too con-cerned about what is swimming under thebaitball. I took some friends who were neo-phyte anglers out onto Lower LagunaMadre. I spotted a flock of birds. We hus-tled over, drifted into casting range, andstarted throwing jigs. Three casts, threeskipjack.

Okay, reel em in, I said. These arejust some nasty skipjack.

But, were catching fish! both of myfriends protested. Lets stay here.

We spent the next three hours followingthe bait ball and catching one skipjack after

another. My buddies were slimy, bloody,and happy.

You never can tell how people react tobait balls.

Fall BrawlAnglers along the Texas coast live for the

transition period from summer to fall.Baitfish of all sorts begin collecting along thebeach front, and predators including somehighly prized species such as tarpon andkingfish start balling up their prey rippingthem into pieces.

"On a good day, youll find dozens ofbaitballs along the beachfront, said CaptainRichard Bailey. All of them have fishunder and around them. It can get prettywild.

One experience that Baily recountedunderscores the wild action beachfrontballers encounter.

We had baitballs all over the place.Some had bonito and kingfish on them, andwe jumped tarpon all over the place.

Baily indicates that some anglers will castright into the school and hookup to aSpanish mackerel, bonita or kingfish. The

best lures for such an exercise is a silverspoon with a short length of wire leader tomitigate the cutting of line by sharp teeth. Ifyoure hoping to latch onto a big redfish thatlurk around these schools, a fast-sinkingKastmaster or soft plastic on a heavy jigheadis a good choice.

You can find some really big reds underthose schools, Bailey said. Theyll giveyou a tougher workout than the kingfish.

The key is matching the hatch, more insize than color. Most of the baitballs areformed by rain minnows or small menhadenthat are less than 2 inches in length. Smallspoons, bucktails and soft plastics are goodchoices. The classic Mr. Twister curlytailgrub in white has accounted for plenty ofbait ball raiders.

Fly fishermen would have a blast chasingbait balls and throwing a 3 inch white orshad-patterned fly. Imagine a 120 poundtarpon inhaling your trout fly.

That would be intense, said Baily.Thats how having a ball can be. Intense.



Introductionto Self-Defense

IN THE U.S. TODAY, AND PARTICULARLY INTexas along the border with Mexico, vio-lence is escalating on what seems almost alogarithmic scale. Because of this, the sub-jects of self-defense and concealed carry areon the minds of many.

This is completely logical, as every per-son has the basic instinct to protect himselffrom harm, and every person living in a freesociety has the basic human right to do so.

Further, I believe self-defense is morethan a rightit is a duty. If every adult inthe U.S. possessed, were trained to use, andallowed to carry a handgunconcealed orotherwisewe would have very little crime.If every household possessed a shotgun and

the knowledge to use it, home-invasion rob-bery would be the stuff of fantasy. If crimi-nals knew every house on every block, everyrural home, harbored a tactical rifle or threeand household members who knew how touse them, opportunities for burglary, theft,vandalism, and assault would be mighty slimpickins.

Self-defense is one of the most importantaspects of responsible firearms ownershipand deployment. That is why Texas Fish &Game has decided to launch this new depart-mentthe Texas Department of Defenseto provide our readers the best informationavailable on firearms, ammunition, gear, andtraining for personal defense, in public andat home.

In this inaugural offering, we will discussthe justifications and ramifications of using agun in self-defense. It is a highly chargedissue and has many not-so-obvious complica-tions seldom discussed in print.

Mental Preparedness: No person intheir right mind wants to shoot anotherperson. You hear people with no

combat experience say that they would haveno trouble killing someone if they had to.Almost invariably, that is just bravado. Thetruth is, nobody knows how they will reactwhen compelled to use deadly force.

Some people simply cant pull the trigger.Some do so purely by reflexive reaction anddont even realize they have fired until its allover. Some are as cool under fire as a moun-tain stream, and some go totally crazy,screaming and shooting wildly until they runout of ammo.

A lot depends on your mental makeup; alot depends on how, and how thoroughly,you have been trained; and a lot depends onhow prepared you are mentally.

There are four states of mental readiness,best represented by conditions white, yellow,orange, and red.

In condition white, you are totallyunaware, unprepared, oblivious to your sur-

roundings, andunsuspect-

i ng

TexasDepartmentof Defense

30 | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E GRAPHIC: TEXAS FISH & GAME

| Self Defense |

| Concealed Carry |

| Tactical |

by Steve LaMascus

Last year, the Texas Department of

Public Safety announced the availability of

an on-line application system to stream-

line the process and reduce delays in issu-

ing CHLs. I tried to contact DPS by phone to

determine the current wait time.

I called 13 times. The last time I waited

on hold for 25 minutes (I timed it) before

giving up. Apparently, the CHL

licensing division is still back-

logged. The on-line application is at

the web address below:

www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/

crime_records/chl/chlsindex.htm.

Scroll down and click Apply for a New

Concealed Handgun License or Instructor

Certificate. SL

The CHL WaitingGame

DefenseDept.qxd:Layout 1 3/8/11 11:34 AM Page 30

that you are in danger.In condition yellow, you are aware of your

surroundings, but calm, not expecting anattack, but prepared to go into immediateaction if the need arises.

In condition orange, you feel somethingis not rightsense danger and expect anattack. You are aware of the position of allpossible hostiles around you, what they aredoing with their hands, and the weaponsavailable to them. You have formulated aplan of action should you be attacked. Youmight even be moving to a location advanta-geous for defense and concealment (tacticalpositioning). Condition orange is what apolice officer adopts when clearing a build-ing in which there is a suspected armed anddangerous criminal.

Condition red is when you are fighting foryour life. You have identified the threat, areunder attack, have decided the attack war-rants deadly force, the gun is in your hand,and you are pulling the trigger to stop thethreat or threats. In condition red, you arefighting or running for your life, or lookingfor a way to escape an overwhelmingly supe-

rior force. This is where flight or fight syn-drome kicks in.

I dont know who first came up with theseconditions, but I first saw them severaldecades ago in an article by the late Col. JeffCooperretired Marine combat veteran,firearms instructor, and gun writer.

Most people go through life in conditionwhite, lacking a clue and not wanting one.They are the sheep preyed upon by thewolves of the world. They are the oneswho sanctimoniously call you paranoid andpsychotic because you carry a gun. Dontworry about them; they are wrong, alwayshave been, always will be.

These same people think Bambi andDumbo were documentaries, and thatpolice provide all the protection you need.

Your brain is your first line of defense, sothink ahead. If you are wise, whether youcarry a gun or not (if you are wise you willcarry a gun), you should train to never be incondition whitenot even in your own liv-ing room with your family around you.Never allow yourself below condition yellow.This will help keep you alive when the sheep

lie dead.The normal criminals of the world

seem to have a sixth sense about who toassault and who to leave alone. If you are incondition yellow, armed, aware, and pre-pared, there is a good chance that thugs willrecognize this and leave you alone.

The most dangerous problem is the irra-tional crook who lacks that sixth sense, thedoper high on meth or some other drug thatrobs him of both his senses and his inhibi-tions; or the nutcase out to indiscriminatelykill everyone he can because his favorite TVshow was cancelled. Since you never knowwhen you might have to defend yourself oryour family, be prepared to do so at alltimesat all times.

Legalities: The Texas Penal Code con-tains the laws regarding when homicide(defined as the taking of a human life byanother human) is justified. You need tounderstand them, intimately and unequivo-cally.

Personally, I have a very strict personalcode: I will only shoot to protect myself, my



family, or an innocent third party from deathor grievous bodily injury. I will not use a gunto protect only property. A human life is tooprecious to take to protect material things, nomatter what the worth in dollars and cents. Ifsomeone was robbing me and I knew withouta doubt that he would leave me alone if Ipaid him, I would write the guy a check.Unfortunately, we never have such assur-ances.

If you do have to use a gun to save a life,remember this: you do not shoot to kill.That should never be your intention whenyou shoot another human being. Youalwaysalways shoot to stop anotherperson from killing or causing serious bodilyinjury to you or someone else.

Do not tell anyone, ever, that you wouldor did shoot to kill. If you do have to shootsomeone in self-defense, in the aftermath youwill be talking to a lot of official people.When the responding police officer askswhat you did, you tell him unequivocally thatyou shot to make the bad guy stop assaultingyou; that you were in fear for your life; thatyou had no other option but to shoot or die.Tell this to the detective who investigates, thelawyer who defends you, the lawyer whoprosecutes you (should that happen), thegrand jury, the judge, and anybody else youtalk to. If you have to shoot someone and hedies, that is just too danged badbut thatwas not your purpose in shooting. You didnot want to kill him, but he forced you toshoot.

Got it?

Do notevertalk to the news media.If for some reason you fee it is necessary, letyour lawyer talk to the media for you. Younever know how the media will spin a story,so it is best to keep silent and not speak withthem at all.

Neverevershoot to wound or dis-arm. While this might seem paradoxical, it isnot. Anything short of total incapacitationmeans the bad guy can still kill or hurt you.You do not stop a person that is intent onkilling you by purposely shooting them in theleg, arm, or shoulderand most certainlynever try to shoot the gun out of his hand.That is Hollywood bull-stuff that does not

work and that has no place in a real life ordeath scenario.

I once saw a video of an actual eventwhere a police sniper tried to disable a pairof terrorists with non-fatal shots from his.308 rifle. He knocked the man down andshot the woman in, I believe, the shoulder.She was still functioning and able to shoother accomplice and then commit suicide withher gun. Had other targets been available,she undoubtedly would have taken as manyothers with her as possible. If a high-pow-ered rifle failed to do the job, what chancedoes your dinky little handgun have?

You shoot the bad guy right in the mid-dle, where he is biggest, where the solarplexus is (the center mass), and you keepshooting until he is no longer a threat. Mostlaw enforcement agencies train to fire twoshots at center mass, every time. This hasbeen determined by thousands of armedencounters to be the most effective tactic. If itis good for law enforcement, it is good for thearmed citizen. Some people, especially thosehigh on drugs, can be almost impervious topain and might require several shots to stop.(We will cover this tactical scenario ingreater depth in future issues.)

Rumor Control: You might have heardthe bit about if you have to shoot someonethat has broken into your house and assault-ed you, and he manages to crawl outsidehouse, you should drag him back inside.

Dont do it! That is tampering with acrime scene, a crime in itself. Dont touch athing, dont let anyone else touch anything,and dont tell a lie to make it seem morebelievable. Cops are psychologically trained,professional snoops with a bloodhound nosefor lies. Tell it true and tell it straight, withno embellishments to make yourself lookmore heroic or less sinister. Answer ques-tions as precisely and concisely as possible. Ifthe words yes or no will suffice, use them.Dont elaborate or offer more informationthan asked for.

In most cases, it is best to simply statewhat happened as you remember it, and saynothing else. If questioned, state that you areuncomfortable answering without consultingan attorneythen clam up or refer the ques-tioner to your previous statements.

You might also have heard that if youhave to shoot someone, make sure he is deadso there is only one story of what happened.

Dont do it! Once you are certain thatyou have stopped the threat and he is nolonger endangering your life, your reason forshooting is over, gone, past, ended.Anything more is not self-defense, it is mur-der. You go from legally and morally justifiedand innocent, to legally and morally guilty ofa crime, and a good homicide detective cantell exactly what happened. Dont go fromthe victim forced to defend yourself to a mur-der suspect.

Before you go for your concealed hand-gun license (CHL) class, find a good,down-to-earth firearms instructor and learnhow to use your chosen weapon to the bestof your ability. A good teacher can make youa better shooter, and better prepared to meeta deadly threat. I cannot stress too stronglythat this training is invaluable and life-sav-ing. The little bit of training (if you can evencall it that) you get in CHL class is laugh-able. The shooting part is only a proficiencytest, not a training course. You should bewell trained before taking that test.

I recommend Clint and Heidi Smith ofThunder Ranch because I am familiar withtheir program. Whomever you choose, makecertain they teach basic self-defense tacticsand not some fancy pseudo-ninja, secretagent garbage that will only get you hurt orkilled if you try to use it in a high-stress, lifeor death situation. After you get your train-ing, practice regularly (preferably weekly,but at least monthly) to maintain the highestpossible level of proficiency with yourweapon. (Again, more on this in upcomingissues.)

I hope you never have to use your gun onanother human being, but if you do, remem-ber this: The first rule of gunfighting is tohave a gun.

Email Steve LaMascus [email protected]

Texas Department of Defense


LivingHistory

EVER SINCE I CALLED UP MY FIRST GRAYfox with a wooden Weems predator callwhen I was 16 years old, I have lovedpredator calling. Its mostly about the

anticipation of suddenly seeing a coyote, fox, bob-cat, or other predator busting through the brushtoward me in a race to grab that squealing rabbitor bird that I am imitating. It also is about learn-ing new tactics.

In my early days of predator calling, Icalled only during daylight hours,usually early mornings and lateevenings. In the early 1970s, Imet Glen Avery who had justhelped form a new club called theNorth Texas Varmint CallersAssociation. Averys passion forpredator calling was as high itgets, and we soon teamed up onnumerous predator-calling jour-neys to many North, West, andSouth Texas ranches. When manyof our friends were going fishingon the weekends, we were goingvarmint calling.

A trip to a ranch near Tildenin Southwest Texas, for example,involved calling all night and onthrough the first two hours of day-light, stopping to eat and sleep afew hours, then heading back outto call during late-evening and on throughthe night and next morning.

I felt pretty confident in my style of usinga mouth-blown call, but I learned many newtactics and ways of calling from Avery, espe-cially at night.

My night-calling equipment was a bat-tery-powered spotlight, always aimedupward so only the glow of the light touchedthe surroundings. Averys A1Manufacturing Company designed, manu-factured, and sold a shooting light that

mounted under the barrel of a shotgun, oper-ated by a pressure switch on the forearm ofthe gun, and powered by a 9-volt battery. Itcould be mounted on a bow, too.

I learned from Avery the advantages ofusing a Rayovac headlight powered by alantern battery and operated by a rheostatswitch that lowered or increased the bright-ness of the light. We used the low light tospot an incoming animal, a brighter light toidentify it, and then Averys gun light tomake the shot.

One day in 1971, while reading a newly-published Readers Digest, I came across anarticle detailing how biologists and zooworkers at a northern U.S. city had usedvarious colors of light to entice some of the

zoos animals to reverse their nocturnal lives.They realized the nocturnal animals werevery active at night when the zookeepers fedthem, but just laid around in their cages dur-ing daylight hours. They wanted zoo visitorsto see the animals at their more playfulmoments.

Zoo employees decided to try to reversethe animals habits by putting them in aroom lit up at night to simulate daylight, andthen to create a moonlight setting during thedaytime hours. They experimented with red,

green, yellow, and blue lights to simulatemoonlight. Red became the choice becauseit was not as dense as the other colors, andthe animals adapted to it well. As I read thearticle, two sentences caught my attentionmore than the rest: Nocturnal animals,biologists had discovered, cannot see redlight. It does not contract the iris of the eyeas most other lights do.

I called Avery and we soon purchasedred Plexiglas from a company in Fort Worth,cut it in circles with a band saw, and usedelectrical tape to attach it to our headlights.First on a ranch near Granbury, later atJacksboro, and then in South Texas, we usedthe red lights to call numerous fox, coyotes,bobcats, ringtail cats, and even a few badg-

ers into extremely close range. Weused 45-rpm vinyl record calls ona Weems portable battery-operat-ed caller, and mouth-blownWeems and Olt calls.

Avery took our discoveryfarther by having a company pro-duce a headlight with a red lens sohe could sell it as an A1Manufacturing predator-callingkit with his gun light. Iannounced our discovery in aFort Worth Star-Telegram columnthat year. It didnt take long forother predator call manufacturersto catch on. Within a few years,other companies began sellingspotlights and hunting lights withred lenses for predator calling.

I still have one of our originalsaw-cut red lenses we cut from the

Plexiglas as well as my rheostat light control.I also have the 40-year-old Readers Digestwith the article that stirred the imaginationof two young predator fanatics as well as pre-sented new ideas to others who share thesame passion for predator calling.

T E X A S F I S H & G A M E | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | 33PHOTO: BOB HOOD

E-mail Bob Hood at [email protected].

Hunt Texas

by Bob Hood | TF&G Hunting Editor

Fea5-BowTurkey.qxd:Layout 1 3/4/11 5:45 PM Page 33

34 | A P R I L 2 0 1 1 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E PHOTOS: DON ZAIDLE; ERIC ISSELE, DREAMSTIME



BY LOU MARULLO



Oh how I love turkey season! As a mat-ter of fact, the only type of hunt I enjoy moreis when I go after whitetails with my bow.Granted, it is more challenging to bringhome the game if you have a bow in yourhand, but that is why it is so much fun.

If you choose to hunt these critters with abow and arrow, you will have to make a fewchanges to your equipment. One of the firstthings you should do is to lower yourpoundage of your bow. Loosen the limbswith equal pressure. This will help to keepthe arrow from having the power to have apass-through on the turkey. Although theargument exists and always will, I am of theopinion that you should try to keep thearrow in the turkey to avoid any chance ofthe bird flying off after a lethal shot. Otherswill disagree and tell you that the arrowshould pass through to cause a better bloodtrail. Still others will tell you that if you havegood shot placement, the bird will not fly atall anyway.

I totally agree that shot placement isextremely important. I also agree that a well-placed shot will keep the bird on theground but I also agree with Mr. Murphy.You are familiar with Murphys Law? Ithink Murphy was an optimist and I believethat if something can go wrongoh it defi-nitely will.

That is why I try to keep the arrow in thebird and through the butt of the wing. Itshould be impossible for him to fly off withyour arrow and recovery should be fairlysimple.

Broadheads come in many differentshapes and sizes and all will do damage tothat turkey. Which one you use is a personalpreference, but I recommend using amechanical broadhead as opposed to a fixedblade broadhead. I have taken a number ofturkeys with my bow and have found thatevery time I used a fixed blade, the arrowsailed completely through the bird. Not sowith the mechanical broadheads. As a mat-

ter of fact, I have never had a complete pass-through using these blades. One of the rea-sons is that combined with lowering thepoundage of the bow limbs and the energy ittakes for the blades to open on impact, itseems like it is just enough to slow that arrowdown and that is exactly what you want todo. I also use four inch feather fletching onmy arrow shaft as opposed to a plastic vaneor a quick spin set up. This also helps toslow the arrow down a bit. Believe me, it isnot enough for the human eye to notice, butit is a fact that a feather fletch causes a muchslower arrow and a more forgiving shot. Thefeathers also gather more wind and thereforemuch more friction than the plastic fletchstyles.

There are many mechanical broadheadsto choose from. I can give you a small list ofthe ones I like. The NAP Spitfire and GrimReaper both do an excellent job at harvest-ing a turkey. The Rage boasts that theirblade will expand up to a 2 inches. HoweverTrophy Ridge has a mechanical blade theycall the Tom-O-Hawk that will open to 2 inches! Where does it end? Not here!

Arrowdynamic Solutions has come outwith a broadhead made exclusively for hunt-

ing turkeys. Although it is not a mechanicalbroadhead, the Guillotine, as it is named,has a cutting diameter of a whopping fourinches! Four inches! The obvious advantageto this is that even if you are off your targetby just a little, you will still get the job done.The object here is to aim for the head andharvest the bird with a clean, humane shot.Not for everybody, but the videos of thisbroadhead in action are truly convincing.

If you are one of those hunters that wantto give this unique broadhead a try, thenthere are a few things you will need to know.You should plan on using a stiffer spine onyour arrow. Some bow hunters even use alonger shaft than usual. They claim that ithelps stabilize the arrow flight. I am not sosure if that is true. I have not tried this blademyself, although I plan to. Also, I am toldyou should limit your shots to no more than30 yards. Personally, I like to bring the birdsin nice and close for the shot. It is more chal-lenging and certainly way more excitingwhen the big tom comes spitting and strut-ting within 20 yards of your setup. One dis-advantage that I can see is that with a cuttingdiameter that large, you run the risk of theblade glancing off a piece of brush sendingthe arrow off target.

For me, there is no question about it. Amechanical blade is the way to go. They justworkand they work well on the turkeys.

Whatever broadhead you decide to usewill still require you to practice often to beproficient when the moment of truth comes.

The gobbler that was making his waytowards me brought a few of his friends withhim. Three tom turkeys came in strutting 12yards from my arrow that was already set atfull draw. The biggest one went down andthe other two had no idea what just hap-pened.

Oh how I love turkey season. Especiallywith my bow.

OPENING DAY OF TURKEY SEASON found me on the edge of a woodlotwaiting for the toms to start their morning serenade. Off in the distance I could hearthe familiar gobble that I was searching for. Then, without warning, came a very loudgobble and he was very close. My decoy setup looked impressive, if I do say so myself,and it was certainly good enough to fool the wary gobbler that was looming closer andcloser to me.

PHOTO JOHN SARTIN, DREAMSTIME



SmallBall

ANY GOOD BASEBALL MANAGER WORTHhis weight in chaw will tell you that youcan't rely on the home run. Even the verybest slugger is going to fail 2/3 of the

time. Sometimes the umpire's strike zone is thesize of a garage door; or everything your madbomber hits is a towering shot caught on thewarning track; or hits don't make it out of theinfield. Sometimes, there is no joy in Mudville.

So it is with fishing. Every coastal anglerknows you can't always rely on the adage"big bait, big fish." Sometimes, thetrout only tail-slap your SuperSpook; or the meaty "plop" ofsplashdown scares every fish on theflat and leaves you surrounded bymud boils; or your soft plastics backsans tail. Sometimes there is no joyin Troutville.

What to do? The Joe Torres ofthe baseball world know that whenthe tater machine is on the fritz, it'stime to go play small ball. "Smallball" is the strategy of earning runsone at a time. Get a runner on baseany way possible, and then advancehim around the horn a bit at a timeuntil he scores. If a batter gets apitch he likes, he can swing for thefences. Otherwise, get on base andget home.

The fishing equivalent to small ball isfocusing on putting fish in the boat instead ofsimply keying on the one apex fish. Anglersseek high percentage fish and focus on themwith the correct-sized lures. If a trophy troutor redfish comes along, great, but the key isto get fish in the boat.

A small ball tactic that has paid off bigfor me is downsizing my tackle. I am a long-time proponent of swimbaits for trout andredfish, especially baits in the 5- to 7-inch

sizes. I have caught many trout in the 22- to26-inch range on a big bait such as the 7-inch Money Mino and the 5-inch Gulp! JerkShad. Even trout under 20 inches attemptone of these economy-sized baits; redfishand snook can't get enough of them.

In spring, the prevalent baitfish size isquite small; 2-4 inches is the norm, andsome prey is even smaller. These young-of-the-year finfishes and newly emergentshrimp are the primary forage for trout andredfish up and down the coast (except inBaffin Bay, where sand eels are abundant).It makes sense to use smaller lures to temptthe peanut-eating elephants.

Shad tails always fit the bill quite nicelyfor trout. The classic 3-inch Sassy Shad orNorton Bull Minnow pinned on a 1/8-ounce jighead accounts for plenty of spring-

time trout and redfish. Flounder find it nighimpossible to turn down a Norton bouncedalong the sandy bottom of a spoil island. A3-inch Gulp! Or Attraxx Shrimp Tail isequally effective, especially if game fish areholding in deeper water because of still-coolwater temperatures.

One of my favorite springtime bait is theCrme Li'l Fishie Shad. The natural bodydesign and swimming action perfectly mimica small menhaden, and is absolute killer

under birds or on the flats.When I first started fishing more with

artificials instead of bait, the Li'l FishieShad was the one bait I was confidentenough in to not even consider buying a pintof shrimp as backup.

Topwater aficionados look to walk-the-dog topwaters such as the Heddon Spook,Jr. and Mir-O-Lure Top Pup for small ballsuccor. I know one captain in Port Mansfieldwho throws the Spook, Jr. (in Baby Troutand Baby Redfish patterns) first thing everymorning all spring. He and his clients naillots of trout--some of them real monsters.

If you want to go a bit old school, theRebel Pop-R and Heddon Tiny Torpedoare excellent baby topwaters, especiallyfished along jetties and rock piles. The spit-ting, popping action infuriates predators,

which strike at it with more than justa tail slap.

Small ball isn't limited to lures;you must downsize the delivery sys-tem to match. Your typical medium-action rod and 12-pound-test linemight be a bit on the heavy side.There is no need to go too far in theother direction and start flailing witha buggy whip threaded with gos-samer, but a light-action rod and areel with an excellent drag systemand decent line capacity is highlyrecommended.

Think 7-foot light spinning rodwith a 2000-sized spinning reelloaded with 8-pound mono or braid.The extra line is handy should a 32-inch redfish grab your wee bait andhead for the horizon. Don't forget to

adjust your drag for the no-stretch qualitiesof braid lest you lose fish or, worse, breakyour rod.

Small ball strategy is not always the bestgame, but neither can you bank on the longball. Stay versatile, stay successful.

PHOTO COMPOSITE: TEXAS FISH & GAME

E-mail Calixto Gonzales at [email protected].

Texas Saltwater

by Calixto Gonzales | TF&G Saltwater Editor

SaltwaterGonzales.qxd:Layout 1 3/7/11 11:11 AM Page 37

The goal is to bolster the diminishedTrans-Pecos herd and help researchersdetermine why the West Texas herd hasbeen in decline in recent years.

This is a win-win for all concerned,since removing surplus pronghorns from the

northwestern Panhandle will help minimizecrop depredation, said Shawn Gray,TPWDs Alpine-based mule deer andpronghorn program leader. This reloca-tion is also going to help us try to figureout what has been causing pronghorn num-bers in the Trans-Pecos to drop.

Helicopter pronghorn trapping opera-tions began on a ranch 8 miles southwest ofDalhart at daybreak and were expected tocontinue on other ranches in Dallam Coun-ty.

The last of the first days catch wasreleased about 1 a.m., bringing to 49 thenumber of animals successfully released onthe Hip-O Ranch 4.5 miles west of Marfa

in Presidio County. Four otherPresidio County ranches also werescheduled to receive pronghorns.Were very pleased with how theoperation has gone, said TPWD

regional Wildlife Division director BillyTarrant, who along with Gray has beencoordinating the trap-and-release effort, thelargest antelope transfer the department hasundertaken in decades. Also playing amajor role in the operation is Dr. LouisHalverson, director of the BorderlandsResearch Institute for Natural ResourceManagement at Sul Ross.

Some 35 TPWD personnel, augment-ed by graduate students from Sul RossState University in Alpine, traveled to Dal-hart for the trapping, an operation stem-ming from the establishment of the Trans-Pecos Pronghorn Working Groupa coali-tion of landowners, biologists, huntingguides and scientistsin 2009.

Using net guns, crewmembers withQuicksilver Air, Inc.a chartered privatehelicopter companywould ensnare apronghorn from above, then jump from the

Re-Seeding West TexasPronghorn AntelopeTWO HUNDRED PANHANDLE PRONGHORNS GOT A NEW HOME ON THE RANGE WHEN

TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT BIOLOGISTS TRANSPORTED THE ANIMALS 500

MILES FOR RELEASE ON THE MARFA PLATEAU.

GREEN


Continued on page 40

PHOTOS: TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE

Pronghornswere netted andtransported byhelicopter.

Air Pronghorn

TPWD relocated 49pronghorn antelope.

Catch & Release

TrueGreen.qxd:Layout 1 3/7/11 5:28 PM Page 38

FuturePowerSource

SIGNA CHEMISTRY INC RECENTLY

unveiled new hydrogen cartridgesthat provide energy to fuel cellsdesigned to recharge cell phones,laptops, and GPS units for out-doors enthusiasts as well as resi-dents of the Third World, whereelectricity in homes is considereda luxury.

The spark for this ground-breaking technology came fromthe laboratory of James Dye,SiGNas co-founder and Universi-ty Distinguished Professor ofChemistry Emeritus at MSU. Hiswork with alkali metals led to agreen process to harness thepower of sodium silicide, which isthe source for SiGNas new prod-uct.

By adding water to sodiumsilicide, were able to producehydrogen, which creates energyfor fuel cells, Dye said. Thebyproduct, sodium silicate, is alsogreen. Its the same stuff found intoothpaste.

SiGNa was able to build onDyes research and develop apower platform that produces low-pressure hydrogen gas ondemand, convert it to electricityvia a low-cost fuel cell and emitsimple water vapor.

Staff Report TG

TrueGreen.qxd:Layout 1 3/7/11 5:05 PM Page 39

A Washington Department of Fish andWildlife (WDFW ) biologist who receiveda CD of the hunters remote camera cougarimages raised his eyebrows and called it, amagnificent one-time observation; notunheard of, but its very rare.

Cougars are notoriously territorial,said Jon Gallie, the state wildlife biologistin Wenatchee. Seeing eight in one spot isa wildlife jackpot.

This is the second year Ive had a

camera in that location, and Ive got imagesof some coyotes, about five deer and oneskunk, but I cant tell you how many pic-tures I have of cougarsa lot, said thehunter who requested anonymity.

The hunter said the camera was mount-ed on an old cow trail along a rimrock cliff.Its the first wide spot in the trail with aview of the huge valley below.

Its a perfect place to stop and scan forprey below, Gallie said, noting that 300-

500 deer might be wintering in a 5-milestretch of that valley when forced down bysnow. Thats why the cougars were there.When the snow clears up at higher eleva-tions and the deer disperse, you wont seethat many cougars in one area again.

The only photo as interesting as theimage of eight cats occurred when he wentback after Christmas to check his cameraagain.

The first picture is of me leaving thecamera after setting it up two weeks previ-


GREEN

Rare Photos: EightCougars in One FrameA HUNTERS TRAIL CAMERA IN WASHINGTON STATE CAPTURED AN EXTREMELY UNUSUAL

GATHERING OF EIGHT COUGARS ON THE DOUGLAS COUNTY RANCH WHERE HE HUNTS.

WILDLIFE ENTHUSIASTS WERE IN AWE OF THE SCENE, WHICH FEW PEOPLE WILL SEE IN

THEIR LIFETIMES.

low-hovering chopper to quickly blind-fold and hobble the animal.

Snug in a sling, it and up to fourcompanions would be flown to a stag-ing area. Once the animals were low-ered to the ground, ground personnelcarried each pronghorn to a stretcherfor examination and aging by veterinar-ians and biologists.

Workers took each animals temper-ature along with blood and feces sam-ples. The pronghorns also received amild sedative. Then an ear tag wasattached. In ad

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