Category: Outdoor News

Wildfire Burns Chaparral WMA

Chaparral WMA fire 2008

A wildfire burned 95 percent of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s 15,200-acre Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in LaSalle and Dimmit Counties south of San Antonio. The fire started late Friday, March 14, and by Monday morning, March 17, was almost entirely burned out on the WMA, where it caused no injuries and spared most of the facilities but did destroy a research building.

Chaparral WMA fire 2008Chaparral WMA fire 2008Chaparral WMA fire 2008Chaparral WMA fire 2008

When the fire started, eight parties of public hunters were on Chaparral WMA, but the two staff members on duty were able to evacuate all of them safely. “The powers that be must have been watching over us,” said David Synatzske, Chaparral WMA manager.

“The most important thing is that all hunters were safely evacuated by staff, and there was no loss of life or injury to any of the hunters, staff, or the hundreds of folks who fought this fire.”

Synatzske said two of the hunters were found Friday after dark in a pasture without a vehicle, spotted by a WMA staffer who had gone up in a military helicopter to help find them. The Texas Forest Service said by early Monday the fire was 100 percent contained, and had burned a total of 67,500 acres in South Texas. The service said they believe the fire started on a ranch in Dimmitt County, although the exact cause is still under investigation. Continue reading Wildfire Burns Chaparral WMA

Budweiser Sharelunker Caught at Richland Chambers

Jeremy Bruton and his Richland-Chambers Monster

Jeremy Bruton of Blooming Grove, Texas, landed a Budweiser Sharelunker over the weekend at Lake Richland-Chambers. The bass just did meet the minimum 13-pound requirement for the program, but that was enough to get Mr. Bruton a mounted replica of the fish and his name in the paper! In addition, the fish will be used by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for spawning at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center and fish stocking. An addition Sharelunker bass was caught at Lake Waco over the weekend.

The Stats on Bruton’s Bass:

ShareLunker No. 446
Caught by Jeremy Bruton of Blooming Grove, TX
March 9, 2008 in Richland-Chambers
13.05 pounds, length 25.25 inches, girth 22 inches
Bait/Lure: Stanley Wedge spinner bait
Water Body Record? No
Day of Week: Sun
Moon Phase: N+2

Lake Waco Produces Budweiser ShareLunker

Ricky Culverhouse and his big bass

Lake Waco produced it’s first-ever Budweiser ShareLunker when Ricky Culverhouse caught a largemouth bass weighing 13.87 pounds on Sunday, March 9, 2008! The bass was also a Lake Waco water body record. The big fish will be brought to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens, Texas. The eggs from Budweiser Sharelunker fish are used to raise (genetically better) bass for stocking at the TFFC.

The Stats on the Bass:

ShareLunker No. 444
Caught by Ricky Culverhouse of Waco, TX
March 9, 2008 in Waco
13.87 pounds, length 25.5 inches, girth 21.5 inches
Bait/Lure: black-and-red flake Baby Brushhog
Water Body Record? Yes
Day of Week: Sun
Moon Phase: N+2

Alton Jones Puts on Fishing Clinic at TFFC

Alton Jones

Question: When was the last time you had the chance to talk one-on-one with a professional bass angler who had just won $500,000? That’s just what you can do at the largemouth bass seminar set for March 28 and 29 at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, Texas.

Bassmaster Classic winner Alton Jones of Waco will speak on fishing techniques for largemouth bass in small impoundments at the Athens meeting following the Friday evening fish fry put on by the Texas Game Warden Association.

Jones took home the top prize of $500,000 at the Bassmaster Classic in Greenville, S.C., February 24. Over three days of competition, Jones weighed in 49 pounds, 7 ounces of bass. Continue reading Alton Jones Puts on Fishing Clinic at TFFC

Rounding Up Longhorns in Big Bend

Longhorns in Bend Bend

Big Bend Ranch State Park’s most popular program — the Texas Longhorn Cattle Drive — is on the horizon. The spring round-up of the park’s Texas State Longhorn herd will be held April 3-5, 2008.

Two times each year up to 25 “city slickers” from throughout the state and around the world come to participate and experience a piece of Texas’ cultural heritage. The three-day event allows one to experience life as a cowboy and lasso a lifetime of memories.

“If you’re looking for a genuine taste of the wild, Western range life,” says Colorado travel writer Christine Loomis, “the Big Bend Ranch State Park cattle drive is about as real as it gets.”

Participants have the opportunity to see cattle in the rugged and remote pastures of the 300,000-acre ranch, learn how the herd is moved with horses and help drive the historic longhorn herd to ranch headquarters, where they can take part in branding calves, recording lineage and practicing the traditions of the North American cowboy culture, according to park interpreter Marvin Steinback. Continue reading Rounding Up Longhorns in Big Bend

Rocky Mountain Wolves Not Endangered Anymore!

Grey wolf

Gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains are increasing in population size and no longer requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett announced today. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will remove the species from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Scarlett said:

“The wolf population in the Northern Rockies has far exceeded its recovery goal and continues to expand its size and range. States, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions can be proud of their roles in this remarkable conservation success story.”

Continue reading Rocky Mountain Wolves Not Endangered Anymore!