The Suburbia News (Seagoville, Tex.), Vol. 35, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 4, 2007 Page: 3 of 12
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Page 3, The Suburbia News, January 4, 2007
OUTDOORS
ON THE WATER
With Larry Nixon
W|1|WB RANCH
quail hunt
By Luke Clayton, Outdoor Editor
Scott Hutchinson, Wildlife Manager at the W.B. Ranch near Whitney
takes aim at a quail “Suzie ” a very stylish English Setter, pointed in a
hedgerow.
NEW YEAR, NEW
GEAR
If you're anything
like me, I'm sure that
during the recent holi-
day season someone
accused you of being a
difficult person to buy
presents for. Whether
it's birthdays, Father's
Days or holidays, no
one seems to know
what to get me. So,
like many of you, I
ring in the new year
with a fist full of gift
cards to my favorite
sporting goods stores -
each entitling me to my
own little shopping
spree. But these
thoughtful gifts do
more than give you the
ability to roam aisle
after aisle of your fa-
vorite retailer, they
give you a chance to
load up your tackle box
for the upcoming year -
arming you with the
tools you need to make
2007 the year you
catch the big ones.
So before you cash
in your gift cards on
tacky shirts and talking
fish, here's some of the
things you're sure to
need in your boat this
year.
A long, cold winter
in the closet or the ga-
rage can be extremely
damaging to fishing
line. The normal wear
and tear of scraping the
line on rocks and
stumps, the constant
straining of the line as
you wrench those big
bucketmouths into the
boat and sunlight all
work together to
weaken the structural
integrity of the tough-
est, best-made fishing
lines. Most pros re-
spool their reels after
every day of competi-
tion. Sure, it can be
time consuming - espe-
cially when you're
tired - but you don't
want to miss the cut or
a paycheck because a
fish broke your line. At
the store, look around
and see which line best
suits your needs. There
are lines designed for
every possible condi-
tion and technique. So
start the year right --
fresh line makes a dif-
ference. There's a new
Fireline for all you an-
glers that love this su-
perline as much as I
do. It's called Fireline
Crystal, it's a white
line that is just as good
as the original line but
with the lighter color it
gives you more options
with your presentation.
If you were really
good this year, maybe
you've got enough
money on the gift card
to get a new rod or
reel. Abu Garcia re-
leased a new reel this
year, truly the strong-
est, smoothest reel I
have ever used. The
Revo is a heavy-duty
low-profile reel that is
the best one Abu Gar-
cia has ever put out.
It's perfect for flipping
jigs or retrieving crank
baits and has all the
features you need to
land even the biggest
fish. Pick one of these
reels up and crank it
one time - you'll feel
the difference. You'll
want a new rod to
mount your new reel
on, too, so check out
the new Berkley Series
One rods. They're high
quality and very af-
fordable, so even if
you don't have enough
money on the gift card
you won't have to dig
too deep into your
pocket to take it home
with you.
And finally, if
you've got any money
left over, this is a great
time of year to pick up
some really good deals
on baits. Who knows
where you'll be able to
fish this year or what
the fish will be biting
when you get there. I
like to keep some vari-
ous sizes and colors on
board.
A trip to the sport-
ing goods store is a
great way to spend one
of the cold winter days
that stand in the way of
you hitting the water.
Take your kids or
grandkids with you and
pick them up some-
thing, too, that way
you're sure to have
someone to share the
experience with this
year. So don't let those
gift cards go to waste,
turn them into some-
thing that will help you
catch the fish of a life-
time in 2006.
Larry Nixon is a
former Bassmaster
Classic champion with
more than $1.5 million
in career earnings on
the BASS Tour. Cur-
rently fishing the FLW
Tour, Nixon lives in
Bee Branch, Ark.
Whitney, Texas-
Suzie, a black/white Eng-
lish setter with more than
her share of style and
heart, made a wide circle a
few yards downwind of a
brushy fence row on the
W.B. Ranch near Whitney.
Years of selective breed-
ing were evident in every
move the stylish setter
made. She was doing ex-
actly what she and her an-
cestors for the past four
hundred years were bred
to do: hunt quail! Her
head was high and her
nostrils flared as she
tested the wind for that
sweet scent of game bird.
Then she froze in mid-
stride as though she had
slammed into an invisible
brick wall. In essence, she
had entered a “scent wall”
that the quail nestled in
the thick cover of the
fence row emitted. When
the pointing instinct was
triggered by the “hot”
quail scent she froze in a
classic point, one foot held
above the ground, tail high
with nose stretching for-
ward in efforts to inhale
every molecule of bird
scent carried by a slight
breeze. My friend Scott
Hutchinson, like myself,
has the greatest of admira-
tion for good pointing
dogs and the quail they
hunt.
Quail numbers vary
greatly; last year was a
banner season in much of
the Rolling Plains and
South and West Texas.
Things are vastly different
this year. Hunters from all
over the state are reporting
tough hunting conditions.
Shooting preserves such
as the W.B.Ranch provide
excellent quail hunting
regardless of range condi-
tions. Granted, the birds
Hutchinson and I were
hunting were “pen raised”,
but they flew almost as
strong as their wild coun-
terparts. “We keep our
birds away from direct
contact with man and they
are placed in large, flight
conditioning pens where
they can fly and get all the
exercise that wild birds
enjoy. This makes for a
much more hardy, chal-
lenging bird to hunt.” Says
Hutchinson. The birds are
stocked well before the
hunts take place and are
well adapted to their sur-
rounding, just like wild
quail. They know the loca-
tion of every plum thicket
and briar patch in their
habitat and, instinctively,
they head to the heavy
cover for protection from
predators.
Quail hunting is
challenging, whether on a
big ranch in west Texas
shooting wild bobs or
blues or on a preserve.
Many of the birds the
dogs pointed evaded our
game bags and that’s as it
should be.
If you’ve never en-
joyed the thrill of walking
up behind a good pointer
or setter that’s telling you
with it’s body language
“the birds are here,
RIGHT here”, you’ve
missed one of hunting’s
most exciting moments.
Well managed shooting
preserves such as the W.B.
Ranch are great places to
take kids and introduce
them to upland bird hunt-
ing. The terrain varies
greatly on the ranch; we
hunted everything from
rolling pasture land to
heavily brushed draws and
hillsides. Scott says that
hunts can be tailored to
suit the hunter.
Safety is always the
primary concern when
hunting over pointing
dogs. And each hunt be-
gins with a short but infor-
mative safety meeting.
Such things as passing up
low flying birds and
knowing one’s shooting
window are covered thor-
oughly. I have spent much
of my life hunting upland
birds as well as just about
everything else that is le-
gal game and I welcome
the time devoted discuss-
ing safety before the hunt.
Quail hunts at the
W.B. Ranch can be in-
cluded with an overnight
stay at the lodge that
comes complete with
gourmet meals or guests
can simply schedule a
hunt and show up a little
early to hone their shot
gunning skills on the
sporting clay’s course. A
trip to the ranch JUST for
sporting clays might be a
good way to get to know
the place and plan a future
hunt. I’ve visited the ranch
many times and it comes
highly recommended.
To learn more about
the activities available, go
online to
www.wbranch.com or call
800-WBRANCH.
Check out LUKE
CLAYTON’S OUT-
DOORS SHOW online at
www.catfishradio.com
This little guy was caught Dec 28th by Carol Po-
dany, in the same location as the Bobcat from
last week.
One deal that’s right
on the money.
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Weekly Migratory
Bird Hunting Report
Weekly migratory
bird hunting reports are
posted from late August
through early February.
High Plains Mallard
Management Unit /
Panhandle: The High
Plains received three to
four inches of rain then
saw three inches of
snow fall. This helped
the goose hunting, but
made for a muddy mess
in the field. Canada
geese are readily decoy-
ing in hot feeding
fields. Snow geese are
fair to good. Best hunts
have been had around
Lake Etter. Duck hunt-
ing near Dumas has
been steady and the re-
cent rains recharged
play a lakes. Duck hunt-
ing is good in the Knox
City area with mallards,
wigeons, teal and gad-
walls showing in bags.
Canada geese and a few
snow geese continue to
provide steady shoots.
Pheasant hunting
suffered due to the wet
conditions. Prospects
are good.
North Zone Water-
fowl: The region re-
ceived rain over the
weekend. Duck hunting
has been fair to good.
The bright spot has
been the number of
diver ducks like scaup,
ringed-necks and can-
vasbacks on Toledo
Bend, Lake O'the Pines,
Lake Fork and other
deep water lakes in the
region. Hunters closer
to the coast on the IH-
10 corridor have seen
fair to good hunting. If
not for green-winged
teal, duck hunters
would be taking much
less than half-limits,
which has been the
norm during most of
December. Central
Zone dove hunters get
another crack Dec. 26-
Jan. 4. Doves have been
building with each pass-
ing front, though hunter
participation is expected
to be light. Prospects
are fair to good.
South Zone Water-
fowl: Duck hunting was
solid last week across
the coastal prairies and
marshes, though few
hunters took advantage
over the weekend due to
the Christmas holidays.
Good numbers of ducks,
including scaup, teal,
gadwalls and pintails
are feeding on the vege-
tation on the shorelines
near Port O'Connor,
Rockport .and West
Matagorda Bay. Shovel-
ers, gadwalls, teal, pin-
tails and mallards are
the species showing up
on prairie straps. Hunt-
ers there have been tak-
ing 3-5 birds per man,
recently. Goose hunting
picked up last week as
snow geese have moved
from rice to fields with
green vegetation. More
Canada geese have
found the prairie and
are showing on straps.
Sandhill crane season
opened Dec. 23 and re-
sults were mixed. Those
who hunted and were
able to find conceal-
ment got their birds;
however, since the sea-
son opened the weekend
of Christmas, few hunt-
ers participated. South
Zone dove hunters get
another crack at doves
Dec. 26-Jan. 12. Pros-
pects are good.
On the Net: Hunt-
ing Regulations: http://
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/
publications/annual/
hunt/
Avian Influenza:
http://
www.tpwd.state.tx.u
s/birdflu/
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The Suburbia News (Seagoville, Tex.), Vol. 35, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 4, 2007, newspaper, January 4, 2007; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth635864/m1/3/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .