Texas Game and Fish, Volume 4, Number 10, September 1946 Page: 6
30 p. : col. ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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A S September draws near, a great
stir sweeps across the width of
Texas. It has to do w-th the opening
of schools, football schedules, and the
problem of working in a good hunting
trip. With the first two items, most
people have come to take a more or
less matter of fact attitude, but this
hunting thing is quite something else.
To each prospective nimrod, a whole
series of questions crop up by day and
by night. Will there be another big
buck in that mesquite flat across the
hill? What happened to those big tur-
key gobblers that ranged west of the
creek? Have quail picked up any this
year along Sandy? Why haven't we
heard from Henry abort that hunting
lease? Where should I make my deer
hunt this year? Just where CAN I go, and
be reasonably certain of having a good
hunt? These are but a few of the posers
that come to light through discussions
in garage, barber shop, drug store, lum-
ber yard, and oil field No effort is
made to answer these questions here,
but some observations are submitted
with regard to current prospects.
Changes in hunting regulations may
usually be accepted as indicating the
trends for a given game species, par-
ticularly if the regulations cut (lown
on bag limits, length of season, or hunt-
ing hours. If this be true, conditions
with regard to clucks, geese, and white-
winged doves may be pictured from
reading the new regulations affecting
these species, as given on other pages
of this magazine. Only under the seri-
ous threat of a greatly decreased game
supply would the regulatory agencies
so restrict hunting possibilities of the
public. A similar condition exists with
the lesser prairie chickens. In 1941, the
47th Legislature designated a closed
season for that species, at the same time
repealing all existing prcvisions for an
open season. Since that time, the birds
have given so little promise of increase
that the 49th Legislature did not pro-
vide a new open season.
In addition to facing the restrictions
pointed out above, the average hunter
will have more difficulty finding a place
to hunt in 1946. On the Lasis of license
sales and other information, there will
probably be at least fifty percent more
6hunters afield than at any previous time.
Furthermore, parties, clubs, and busi-
ness concerns have taken up more and
more of the available lease areas. This
applies especially to deer and waterfowl
hunting, and means that there will not
only be fewer available places remain-
ing, but that they will be less desirable.
Old man Weather has apparently out-
done himself the past spring and sum-
mer in an effort to further complicate
the situation. Most of the better game
sections of Texas have been subject to
less rainfall and higher temperatures
than for many years. This means gen-
erally poor range conditions, and game
will suffer as a consequence.Hunting Prospects
for 1946
By W. C. GLAZENER
Hunters will find deer, turkey, and mourning
doves as numerous as they were in 1945 but
fewer ducks, geese and whitewinged dovesTEXAS GAME AND FISH
Reports from field men show agree-
mnent as to a state-widle increase in the
deer population. Although there was
considerable die-off in parts of the Ed-
wards Plateau, the loss was less severe
than in some previous years, and a
high deer population still exists. The
current fawn crop is also reported fair
to good for most localities. Consequent-
ly, except for some local shortages, the
deer hunter's principal problem will be
to find a place to hunt.
Turkey hunting prospects are less fa-
vorable than those for deer, but still
probably as good as they were in 1945.
As a result of the prevailing drought,
conditions of the birds on and after No-
vember 16 will depend considerably on
the rainfall prior to that date. Since
there are probably only about one-fifth
as many turkeys in Texas as deer, the
potential kill is less. They are also less
widely distributed, and fewer hunters
will have access to turkey hunting.
At the time this is written, reports on
the 1946 hatch of turkeys are highly
variable, with most of them indicating
only "fair" hatches.
Surprisingly enough, good populations
of both bobwhite and scaled quail are
reported for portions of western Texas.
This includes a part of the Pecos Val-
ley and some counties along southeast-
ern New Mexico. In contrast, the coast-
al prairie and lower South Texas are
still very short on bobwhites. Seasonal
conditions immediately south and east
*Continued on page 27O /
ti
//
/~Give Them Both
a Chance, Please
Game birds deserve a sporting chance!
Bag them on the wing.
A "pot-shot" at birds on telephone wires may break scarce
telephone equipment . . . and interrupt important
conversations.
So please don't shoot at telephone lines. Thanks.
(4 SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE CO.
'-
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Texas. Game and Fish Commission. Texas Game and Fish, Volume 4, Number 10, September 1946, periodical, September 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1588327/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.