Thank goodness for the rain and cooler weather for the opener of bow season. It’s not exactly frost on the pumpkins weather but I’ll take 70s and 80s opposed to the triple-digit temperatures we have endured here in Texas the past few weeks.
Bow hunters might have gotten a bit damp on stand this past weekend, but the moisture will be great for those newly planted food plots.
I must admit I set out the opener here in Texas, something that I haven’t done for several years. For the past couple months, I’ve planned to join my good friend Larry Weishuhn up in Oklahoma for an early season crossbow hunt at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge and I’ll be heading north about the time you’re reading this.
I first began hunting this awesome mountain country in southeast Oklahoma, owned by the Choctaw nation, several years ago. When I introduced my friend to the area, he instantly fell in love with not only hunting and fishing but became great friends with the folks that manage the place as well. Manager Dusty Vickrey and his wife Nacolh make everyone feel at home and through the years, many first-time guests have become friends and regulars at the lodge.
As an outdoors writer for the past 40 years, I’ve had the opportunity to hunt a good number or places from Canada to Mexico and can honestly say that I’ve never enjoyed spending time and hunting anywhere any more that in the beautiful, well managed country. The Choctaw Nation has somewhere around 45,000 acres, about half of which is leased to season hunters, the other half is reserved for guests at the lodge. A 1,000-acre estate section is reserved for hunting trophy exotics and whitetail and package hunts on the remaining low-fence acres fill up fast.
I visited with Weishuhn on the phone as he was driving north headed to the Choctaw land for a fall bear hunt. My plan is to join him for some deer hunting with our Ten Point crossbows after he harvests his bear. Black bear numbers have steadily increased in southeastern Oklahoma throughout the past several years and some big bruins have been taken there. My friend Edgar Cotton and his son David each took bears there, both were big; Edgar’s was the largest weighing around 350 pounds.
Black bear sightings have been steadily increasing in the northeast Texas counties along the Red River for the past decade. I was raised a few miles south of the river in Red River County and back in the sixties and seventies we never imagined our part of the state would one day have black bear again.
Today, bear sightings are pretty common, and many hunters have trail camera images of bear knocking deer feeders over. My biologist buddies tell me that most of the sightings are young male bear leave their home territory in search of mates but trail camera photos from my buddies captured a couple of bear that appeared as round as the 55-gallon feeder barrel they were emptying. It’s exciting to know bear are moving back into areas they once called home.
Who knows, Texas may once again have a bear season if this trend continues.
Acorns spotty
Reports of a spotty acorn crop in much of north and east Texas is the word this year. My friend Mike Ford that owns a hunting ranch in Red River County says the oaks in his area are barren of acorns and the drought has caused many the beautiful dogwood trees to die. Oaks around my place is Kaufman County have few acorns, and deer are hitting corn feeders hard.
With less food available in the form of hard mast (acorns) and far less vegetation such as underbrush and weeds that deer use for both feed and cover, it’s shaping up to be a very good deer season. Usually about this time, the forest floor is covered in acorns and deer all but abandon corn feeders.
Something new
I have some friends that recently introduced me to a new style game feeder called Mag Feeders, the website is www.magfeeders.com. These feeders are gravity fed, pretty much raccoon-proof, they keep the feed dry and are adjustable to feed anything from rice bran and corn all the way up to range cubes.
Set up is simple; the feeder just sets down over a pole or straight sapling that has been sawed off about 47 inches above the ground. I have a couple of these feeders coming in later this week and I plan to get them out in the woods by the end of the week on a couple of ranches that I hunt.
As the old saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words. The website gives detailed information on these innovative feeders, everything from the simple set up to a photo gallery showing how durable they are. In one photo a bear is actually setting atop a feeder.
Getting wildlife acclimated to a new feeder can be a challenge. My friends are using a deer feed blend called Timber Tines wildlife feed that deer pattern to in a matter of days, the feed is a mixture of gains with a strong peanut aroma. The blend is 24 percent protein so it’s not only a potent food attractant but also provides needed nutrients.
I plan to mix the blend with corn for the initial set up. Traditionally it’s a bit late to set up a new feeder for hunting the upcoming season but I feel confident with this set up that deer will be hitting it within a few days. I’ll give an update on my new feeders in a few weeks, I do have high expectations.
Check out Luke’s weekly radio show/podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends” on radio stations in six states. The podcast is available each week just about everywhere podcasts are found. Email Luke through his website www.catfishradio.org.
