12/03/2008

Want a holiday gift for an outdoors lover? Here are some ideas
It's not long until Christmas. Columnist Ray Sasser offers some gift ideas, most of them under $100, for the sportsman on your shopping list:

Outdoors notebook
With the 2009 Panhandle pheasant season looming Saturday, Texas Parks and Wildlife is asking hunters and Panhandle landowners to comment on an idea that would open future pheasant seasons for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Outdoors tip
Try to schedule late-season duck or goose hunts around a forecast that calls for brisk winds.

Outdoors calendar
Area even listings through April 25.

11/29/2008

Austin program helping young hunters grow
I relearned some valuable deer hunting lessons from Jon-Michael Greaney last weekend. Jon-Michael is 10, and it had been awhile since I'd hunted with a 10-year-old. You tend to forget the little things that make deer hunting difficult for young hunters.

More than 268,000 hatchery rainbows to be released statewide
Texas Parks and Wildlife's popular winter trout stocking program begins next week at some community lakes in the Dallas area. The state agency is scheduled to release more than 268,000 rainbow trout in approximately 100 lakes and streams statewide.

Outdoors notebook
Steven Patton of McKinney was deer hunting near Brady last weekend when he spotted what he thought was a buck with nice antlers running away from his tower stand. Patton made a good shot, only to discover that the seven-pointer wasn't a normal buck.

Outdoors calendar
Outdoors events scheduled through March 7, 2009.

11/26/2008

Let's be thankful for conservation movement
There are many things to be thankful for today, columnist Ray Sasser says, including the growing conservation mind-set that saved much of the wildlife we now enjoy.

Outdoors briefs
Louisiana's Greg Hackney added to the big-bass allure of Falcon Lake last week, barely missing the Wal-Mart FLW Series cumulative record with a three-day catch of 109 pounds, 6 ounces. The record of 110 pounds, 2 ounces was set at the lake near Zapata, Texas, over three days last January.

Outdoors tip
The first split of the Texas duck season ends in the North and South zones Sunday.

Outdoors calendar
Area event listings through March 7.

11/22/2008

Texas may get restrictions on blue catfish, alligator gar
Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologists expect to recommend the state's first slot limit for catfish on three lakes near Dallas and will also recommend the state's first restrictions on archery or rod-and-reel fishing for alligator gar.

Noise adds fun to deer hunting
The rocky draw where I perched is a travel corridor for whitetails, so I began clashing my rattling horns together to simulate a buck fight. It was a perfect morning for deer hunting, about 40 degrees and deathly still. The sun was peaking over the rim at my back, and bucks that came from the west would be looking into the sun.
 Video: Ray Sasser demonstrates the effectiveness of the antler call

Outdoors notebook
Texas Parks and Wildlife is considering sweeping changes in white-tailed deer hunting regulations for next season.

Outdoors calendar
Outdoors events scheduled through March 7, 2009.

11/19/2008

TP&W has bowhunters feeling outgunned
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is considering an expanded youth hunting season next year that might bump up against archery season, writes columnist Ray Sasser. The Lone Star Bowhunters Association plans to oppose what it considers an infringement on its hunting dates.

Outdoors notebook
Texas' newest state park, Resaca de la Palma, has scheduled a grand opening for Dec. 6 near Brownsville.

Outdoors tip
Stick a few packets of chemical hand warmers in the pockets of your hunting or fishing clothes for days when the temperature is uncomfortably cold.

Outdoors calendar
Area event listings through March 7, 2009.

Cycling calendar
Regional event listings.

11/15/2008

Unsteady perch
Quail season opened with a whimper Oct. 23. That's way too early for quail hunting in Texas, where the weather doesn't get cool enough until late this month for a bird dog to run without keeling over from heat exhaustion.

Opening weekend of deer hunting memorable for two local men
It's still very early in the white-tailed deer season and there are already two terrific stories involving monster, free-ranging bucks not far from Dallas.

Outdoors calendar
Outdoors events scheduled through March 7, 2009.

11/12/2008

My world, and (ouch!) welcome to it
Columnist Ray Sasser is an outdoorsman with a problem: He's allergic to the outdoors.

Outdoors notebook
Bryan Schmidt of Olney, Texas, won the 2008 BASS Federation National Championship Tournament on Nov. 8 and earned a coveted berth in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.

Outdoors tip
As water temperatures decline with cooler weather, fishermen should slow their lure presentations to catch more fish.

Outdoors calendar
Area event listings through March 7, 2009.

11/08/2008

Sightings of non-native animals aren't all that unusual in Texas
Dallas resident Jeff Cook was working in his home office late one afternoon in October when a neighbor came to his door and reported that he had just seen a beautiful bird fly into Cook's back yard.

Totaling points isn't best way to score bucks
Another deer season is well under way in Texas, meaning numerous big bucks have already fallen to lucky hunters with many more to come over the next two months. How big is that buck you've shot?

Outdoors notebook
Oklahoma quail counts are complete, and the results are not good. Oklahoma is second only to Texas in quail hunting importance and has much more public quail hunting lands than Texas.

Outdoors calendar
Outdoors events scheduled through March 7, 2009.

11/05/2008

Floating elbow could sink your best rifle shot
Best accuracy for shooting a rifle requires three supports for the gun -- the triangle effect.. Columnist Ray Sasser has a variety of tricks to avoid what he calls a floating elbow -- letting your shooting elbow hang free, which means only two supports for your gun.

Outdoors notebook
Michael Burns of Plano finished third in the Bassmaster Central Open at Lake Texoma last weekend and earned a coveted spot in the Bassmaster Classic championship tournament.

Outdoors tip
Use oversized safety pins to keep your socks up underneath chest-high waders or hip boots.

Outdoors calendar
A listing of area events through March 7, 2009.

Cycling calendar
A listing of regional events in November.