Outdoors With Mat Taylor
There's just a right way to do some things

Texas is a big, diverse state, and all parts -- whether it is the High Plains, Piney Woods, Hill Country or South Texas Plains -- are unique. Each region has its own character. Of course, if you are a regular reader of this column, you know my favorite part of the state is the mountains and deserts of the far West Texas Trans Pecos.

Recently, I read a couple of stories on the Web that have me wondering about the region and whether the stories are indicative of the people who live there.

You may have heard about the first incident. Four Iraan High School students recently took baseball bats, beat and left for dead two deer that were trapped inside a baseball field.

The story really bothered me because the school superintendent said the students were good kids from good families. Good kids? I really doubt that.

It also bothers me that although the kids will have to pay fines for some kind of illegal hunting, their only other punishment will be placement in an alternate school for the rest of the year. They will remain eligible to play football next fall. It seems two of them are all-district players, and in Texas, football is more important than anything else.

What kind of message is going to be sent to these boys and other students? If you are good football players, you can get by with most anything.

They should pay a price for what they did.

Mike Leggett, outdoors columnist for the Austin American- Statesman, has a good suggestion: Instead of playing football every Friday night, at the very least they should spend Friday afternoons patrolling the highways of West Texas, picking up dead animal carcasses.

Maybe after spending several months collecting rotting animals and stinking skunks, they might learn a lesson that their behavior was disgusting and has no place on an athletic field.

Some might ask what is the difference between shooting and killing a deer, or killing one with a baseball bat. Well, the kids broke numerous laws, and what they did was definitely cruelty to animals. A competent hunter usually bags his buck with one shot, and the animal typically dies very quickly with little pain.

Also, hunting in season is a legal sport practiced by thousands of Texans.

There is another report about the killing of animals in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recently announced that a feral-animalharvesting program was under way in the park located northwest of Big Bend National Park.

Up to 100 wild burros reportedly had been shot by TPWD employees in an effort to reduce the number of non-native animals in the park.

Killing the burros has resulted in a flurry of responses from concerned citizens in the area. Some people claimed the burros were killed in an inhumane manner, and TPWD should be obligated to find a more merciful manner to reduce the unwanted animals.

TPWD responded that it has the authority and obligation to remove such animals, as burros have destroyed the habitat of deer, javelinas and other wildlife. Also, TPWD claims the animals did not suffer because experienced riflemen shot them.

The department tried to trap the wild burros without much success, but shooting them is the most efficient method to control their numbers, officials added.

I have a burro in my pasture. We have had her for more than 10 years and when we raised goats, she was our guard donkey to protect the goats from predators such as coyotes. Jenny is now just one of our pets. I do not think I could shoot a burro, but I understand the need to reduce their numbers in order to protect the environment of the largest state park in Texas.

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The fall hunting season is over, sort of. The season continues in several South Texas counties until Sunday. Also as a reminder, the two-day youth season is Jan. 19- 20.

Derrick Wolters, TPWD biologist for Bell, Lampasas and Coryell counties, called me last week to give his report on the fall deer-hunting season. Part of his routine is to check deer processing plants in the counties he works, and all said they processed fewer deer than last season.

Overall, Wolters said the deer killed were in good condition, and buck antler size was above average. He added that, according to preliminary data, the overall harvest was down from last season.

Wolters said this could be a plus, as there will be a good carryover of bucks for next season, and with normal weather and range conditions next season should provide additional opportunities for harvesting a mature trophy buck.

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 e-mail at mntaylor@agristar- .net.