Bow hunting OK during gun seasons
Outdoors With Mat Taylor

First, let me correct an error in last week's column. An observant reader called to let me know I had listed the wrong dates for the upcoming archery deer and turkey season.

I stated the archery season opens Sept. 29 and ran through Oct. 2. The correct dates are Sept. 29 through Nov. 2. The Texas archery season has always run for approximately one month before the regular gun season.

Another reader inquired about using a bow and arrow during the gun season. Yes, you can. The 2007-2008 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Annual Hunting and Fishing Regulations state any legal weapons may be used to hunt deer and turkey, which includes archery equipment and/or a muzzleloader. Use of 22 rimfire firearms is not allowed.

One point to note, according to the annual, is that a person may use a crossbow to hunt game animals during the general hunting season but not during the archery season. Don't ask me why. Only a person with an upper-limb disability may use a crossbow to hunt deer and turkey during the archery-only open season. An upperlimb disability is a permanent loss of the use of a finger, hand or arm.

Some controversy surrounds the use of crossbows to hunt game. There are people who disdain the use of the weapon and who want crossbows outlawed.

I know from attending many public hearings that Texas archers are well organized, very vocal and carry a lot of weight with the TPWD Commission that makes the rules and regulations.

It doesn't make any difference to me. I also don't think it makes any difference to the deer whether he is shot with an arrow from a bow or a bolt from a crossbow. For what it is worth, I believe the current use of crossbows is a compromise.

Anyway, refer to page 54 of the outdoor annual for a complete description of legal means and methods of hunting game in the state.

In a previous column, I wrote about TPWD public hunts and how to apply for one. The odds of getting drawn for many hunts are very low. I have applied for numerous hunts over the years but was drawn only once, and that was for a javelina hunt on the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.

Anyway, I decided to spend a few bucks and submitted applications for several deer hunts. As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" I received a letter last week from Texas Parks and Wildlife that my son and I had been selected for an antlerless/spike-only hunt on the Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area.

My wife responded by asking why we would want to hunt there, when we can harvest a doe without any

trouble on our property.

Yes, we can, but it is more exciting and adventuresome to hunt where you have never hunted before.

Walter Buck WMA is located adjacent to South Llano River State Park near Junction.

It is too late to apply for most public hunts, however there is still time to enter the drawing for Big Time Texas Hunts. The program offers the opportunity to win one or more guided hunts with food and lodging.

The most desirable is probably the Texas Grand Slam hunt package, which includes four separate hunts for the top Texas game animals: desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, mule deer and pronghorn antelope. There are several quality whitetail hunts, as well as opportunities to pursue alligator, exotic big game, waterfowl and upland game birds.

Entries for the Big Time Hunt drawings are $10 each and are available wherever hunting licenses are sold or by phone at (800) 895-4248. Deadline to apply is Oct. 15. Purchasers must be 17 years of age or older, and there is no limit to the number of entries an individual may purchase.

Even if you don't win, the funds generated by the program provide hundreds of thousands of dollars that are dedicated to more public hunting opportunities, and additional funding for wildlife conservation and research in Texas.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via email at mntaylor@agristar.net.