DEER HUNTING ANNUAL INSIDE October 10, 2025
Texas’ Hunting and Fishing Newspaper Since 2004
Deer HUNTING
texas A NNUA L 2 02 5
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Volume 22, Issue 4
NOAA says no to TPWD Federal agency continues to withhold gill net survey permits By Nate Skinner
For Lone Star Outdoor News TPWD has not been able to run gill net surveys for more than a year due to permitting delays from NOAA. Photo by TPWD.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s gill net sampling program continues to remain suspended due to a
federal investigation. The impacts of this threaten to dismantle the longest running fishery independent monitoring program of its kind in the country. An interruption in the program could lead to a lack of sufficient and current data necessary to monitor the status of our state’s coastal fisheries. According to Deputy Director of the TPWD Coastal Fisheries Division Dakus Geeslin, all TPWD gill net monitoring and survey efforts ceased on May 23, 2024. This was in Please turn to page 11
Warm and slow
Deer activity poor for many during archery opener By Nate Skinner
For Lone Star Outdoor News Most archery hunters experienced typical early season activity during the opening weekend of archery season. Mild to warm temperatures restricted most deer movement to the early morning, late evening, and overnight hours. Plenty of green vegetation and acorns hitting the ground in many areas made for minimal traffic around feeders. However, some hunters were lucky enough to find themselves at the right place at the right time and a few harvested mature bucks. Cody Johnston hunted on a property he leases in Schleicher County during the opening weekend of archery season and said the deer movement around his feeders was pretty slow. “The deer I did see didn’t spend much time eating corn,” Johnston said. “They Shannon Scott arrowed this seemed to be more 16-point buck in Wheeler County on focused on acorns the evening of opening day. Photo from Shannon Scott.
Many archers, both traditional and crossbow, headed to the woods for the archery deer opener. Many were met with high temperatures and slow deer movement. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
White hot
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT 3814
Sand bass into fall patterns By Cory Byrnes
On Lake Texoma and Lake Ray Roberts, the white bass fishing has been hot. “We have been catching more white bass than normal this year,” said Justin Wilson with UCatchem Guide Service. The morning has been the best bite for white bass. He and his clients have been catching up shallow until late in the morning. “Generally, I have enough time to catch
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For Lone Star Outdoor News
my striper limit and then go catch my white bass,” Wilson said. “It is usually over by mid-morning.” The most productive baits have been small swimbaits in bright colors. “You can pretty much throw anything shiny in them and catch them,” Wilson said. “They are just moving around fast. You will have to keep moving; they will pop up in front of you, and the next thing you know, they will be 100 yards away. “There is a lot of bait in the lake right now.” But different water bodies present different challenges when chasing the schooling, fast-moving fish.
Freshwater Fishing Report . . Page 10 Grip & Grin . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . . Page 18 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . Page 20 Saltwater Fishing Report . . . Page 21 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22
INSIDE
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Greg, Corey, and Luke Richardson triple up on some white bass on Lake Livingston. Photo by Mike Richardson.
HUNTING
FISHING
Bugling bulls (P. 4)
Offshore hauls (P. 8)
Solid season for Texas elk.
Good conditions lead to success.
Quail numbers good (P. 4)
Stabilizing (P. 8)
Counts high for upcoming season.
Canyon Lake recovering from floods.