Title: November - Founder's Letter
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Blog Entry: My health gets better in October. Why is that? Is it because the weather is cooler and deer season is here? Most of you archery hunters are out in force, and I envy you. I’m not a bowhunter myself, but I have a lot of bowhunting friends. They love their sport, but I will stick to my old Jarrett 300. Now that many landowners, including myself, have the advantage of Managed Land Deer Permits (MLD), there are a lot of gun hunters in the brush, trying to get that old mossback buck before he changes his habits and starts chasing does. MLD permits have made a big change in the quality of bucks killed each year in Texas. These old bucks, killed early in the fall, do not have broken antlers. Also, a lot of bucks that are taken early would not be killed at all later in the season because they get so secretive and elusive that they just can’t be killed by the average deer hunter. Let’s face it. Deer hunting is changing fast. The trail camera is becoming a seemingly necessary tool in every hunter’s bag of tricks. Many landowners and hunters have found that cameras will show bucks that are never seen otherwise. Bucks that show up on cameras may never be killed or seen by a hunter, but the cameras let everyone know that they are out there. Much of Texas has had a record-breaking drought during most of the year. Deer and quail hunters know what that means—below-average antler growth and poor quail production. Don’t get your hopes up about taking a prize-winning buck this year. There will be some good bucks killed, but they will come from ranches with very good management that include a good supplemental feeding program. Quail will be scarce except for North Texas. If you attended one or more of our Extravaganzas this year, I’m sure that you were impressed with the new attractions, and the new (and more) exhibitors. The triple-digit weather may have been a factor, but all of the shows were up in attendance. Going to one of the shows and seeing all the hunting gadgets and big deer heads in our Deer Competition was a good way to kick off the beginning of a new hunting season. As I write this letter, South Texas dove hunters are oiling their shotguns and counting their shells. The season in South Texas starts in about a week. It has been very dry, and dove food items are scarce, so the season may be just so-so. I haven’t heard much about the North and Central Zone hunts, but they were hardly better than average. We have a lot of doves, but nothing to concentrate them for good hunting. And, to top it all off, it has rained cats and dogs for the last two days in the southern half of the state. No telling where the doves will be by next week! Speaking of rain, the weather folks tell us that El Niño is returning to the Pacific waters. We may get a lot of rain between November and February—that’s their prediction. We need the rain, but I remember the winter of ’76 when it rained so much that vehicles stuck in South Texas pastures were still there in March and April! A repeat of that would be a real departure from the drought we have suffered through these last few months. If you can find your rubber boots, you need to keep them handy. Good luck with your hunting seasons, remember to practice hunter safety, and take the kids every chance you get. Jerry Johnston, Founder
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