Arching a point

Bowhunters, bowfishermen speak

Texas bowhunters are a close-knit group. They are just as passionate about protecting their sport as they are about playing their game. It comes as no surprise that archers around the state are getting organized to oppose a trio of possible regulation changes announced earlier this fall by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Perhaps the most controversial topic on the list is one calling for a youth only rifle deer season that would run concurrent with the month-long Archery Only season in October. For years, October was reserved strictly for Archery Only hunting in Texas. The Archery Only season is open to hunters who pay a $7 Archery Stamp endorsement each year.

Courtesy Photo (enlarge photo) Bowfishing organizations are planning to oppose a possible regulation change calling for more restrictive limits on alligator gar in Texas, because there is no scientific data to support such a change. Courtesy Photo (enlarge photo) Youth hunters like Ben Smith of Nacogdoches could get a few weeks extra to hunt deer with rifles next year if the TPW Commission decides to extend the youth season through October, a month historically reserved for bowhunting. The idea is drawing heavy criticism from Texas archers. Smith recently took this big 8 pointer while hunting near Cotulla. He is the son of Shannon and Marcie Smith.

Also under fire are TPWD suggestions to create a general rifle deer season in Grayson County and to place a restrictive limit on alligator gar statewide.

Located in far northeast Texas, Grayson County has a rich history of producing world class bucks. It is unique from other counties in that it is the only Texas county with a deer season that does not allow for harvest using rifles. Deer may only be harvested using archery gear and crossbows.

Alligator gar are pre-historic looking rough fish. They are highly prized by bowfishermen, mainly because they are top end predators capable of reaching weights in excess of 200 pounds and lengths greater than seven feet.

Though none of the possible changes have become formal proposals yet, there is good chance one or more of them will be presented as such to the TPW Commission in early 2009. That?s enough to make guys like Jack Jetton of Pearland a little bit antsy.

Jetton is president of the Lone Star Bowhunter?s Association. The organization was founded 34 years ago to promote the sport and to provide a united front when it comes time to protect bowhunting privileges.

Jetton said the LSBA plans to voice strong opposition to all three regulation changes when they come up for discussion at public scoping meetings next month. The organization is especially concerned about the idea of extending the youth only rifle season because it will essentially spell the death of the special Archery Only season, Jetton said.

The LSBA is taking the issue serious enough that it created an online petition that has drawn signatures of more than 1,500 bowhunters.

Jetton pointed out that archers lost a piece of their exclusivity in 1997 when TPWD created the first youth only hunting weekend in late October. They eventually lost more ground with the inception of Managed Lands Deer Permits. The permits allow hunters with access to property with a TPWD-approved management plan to hunt deer with rifles from October through mid-February.

Jetton made it clear that the LSBA is not opposed to exploring new avenues to get more youths into the woods. However, he thinks there are better ways to accomplish the goal than expanding the youth season in a way that it infringes on the special Archery Only season.

?We fully support the TPW Commission?s desire to increase the opportunities for kids to hunt in Texas,? Jetton said. ?Our concern with this regulation is about the timing. It would open up the entire special archery season to firearms. That is not fair to the archers, especially those who hunt on small tracts in areas of the state where the property is extremely fragmented.?

Jetton reflected on his own hunting situation to illustrate one that is common with bowhunters across the state, especially in eastern Texas.

He hunts on a small, 30-acre tract in Colorado County. If the property were surrounded by rifle hunters, he would feel like his chances of taking a deer by bow and arrow would be greatly diminished.

?It probably would not have that big of an effect on hunters on big ranches in South Texas, but it could have a big impact on the little guy,? Jetton said.

Jetton also hinted that opening the entire month of October to youth rifle hunting could be perceived as an invitation to do something dirty by adults who don?t mind bending the law.

?Trust me, they are out there,? he said.

Jetton theorized the youth hunting cause might be better served if TPWD considered creating more inexpensive or timely hunting options rather than just putting more youth hunting days on the calendar.

To wit:

Increase youth hunting opportunities on state parks. Schedule hunts on the weekends, when kids are not in school, and make them affordable.

Make the weekend before the statewide archery only season a youth only archery weekend.

Create youth only segments that would coincide with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, when kids are not in school.

Add more youth hunting weekends after the close of the regular season.

?To me, it is a hollow gesture to make the full month of October a youth season,? Jetton said. ?Kids are in school then and there are all sorts of extracurricular activities going on with football and things like that. I don?t think it would be a good idea to encourage kids to skip school to go hunting.?

Jetton said he has discussed several options with TPWD brass and is hopeful a compromise is reached that everyone can live with.

Grayson County gun season

Grayson County archers contend there is no room for compromise when it comes to a proposal that could call for the creation of the first-ever general rifle season for whitetail deer in that county. They are expected to show up in number at a public scoping meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 8 at the Grayson County College?s Center for Work Place Learning Auditorium near Sherman.

Located north of Dallas along the outer fringes of urban sprawl, Grayson County has enjoyed an archery only deer season since 1984. As expected, the annual harvest has been limited. But there have been some magnificent bucks taken, several of them of Boone and Crockett caliber.

TPWD is considering the change largely due to a petition that was submitted to the department by a Fort Worth resident last summer.

Jetton said the idea has been adamantly opposed by Grayson County landowners, hunters and even county and state government officials.

?That is the main reason we (the LSBA) are opposed to a gun season in Grayson County,? Jetton said. ?The people up there don?t want it and they have been very vocal against it.?

Ragan White, a TPWD regulatory wildlife biologist based in Sumner, has heard from a number of parties who have voiced opposition to the change. A few have expressed an interest in a rifle season, but only if there is evidence to show the deer population can sustain an increased harvest, White said.

White said the only data available for the county is two-years old and indicates a relatively sparse deer population. White says he is unsure if the deer population could endure an increased harvest or not based on that information.

?I would have to see some more current data before I could make an informed decision,? White said. ?The argument to that is surrounding counties have similar deer densities and they have a rifle season. But those counties don?t produce the quality of deer that Grayson County does, either. Both are valid points.?

Alligator Gar Limits

State fisheries experts contend that Texas represents one of the last alligator gar strongholds in the nation. The Trinity River in East Texas is considered by some to be the best alligator gar fishery in the world.

TPWD hopes to keep it that way by implementing a limit to protect alligator gar populations statewide, while at the same time allowing for utilization of the resource with limited harvest of trophy size fish. A couple of options are under consideration:

Issue tags that would limit the size and/or number of alligator gar an angler would be allowed to harvest in one year.

Set a minimum length limit of seven feet and a daily bag limit of one per angler.

Native to the southeastern United States, alligator gar numbers have dwindled in many states where they were once plentiful. Several states have already created limits to offer the regal fish some protection.

Though no one knows for certain what has caused alligator gar populations to plummet across much of its historic range, it is believed that habitat alteration and over-exploitation are among the culprits.

What experts do know is alligator gar are a slow-growing species that can live beyond 50 years. Females don?t reach sexual maturity until age 12 and it can take 25-30 years for a fish to reach six feet in length.

Fisheries biologists also have a good hunch that more anglers are coming to Texas these days to target big gar than ever before. If that is the case, is the increased sport fishing pressure combined with commercial fishing pressure having a negative impact on the numbers?

TPWD fisheries biologist Craig Bonds of Tyler says he can?t answer that question, because up until recently not much emphasis has been placed on learning about alligator gar or their population dynamics. However, he believes ?gator gar? deserve some protection just the same.

?We don?t have solid scientific information that suggests these fish are being overharvested in Texas,? Bonds said. ?But we try to take a conservative approach and protect what we know we do have, which in this case is fast becoming a natural treasure. Alligator gar populations have declined significantly outside of Texas and we are fearful and concerned about doing damage to something that would take years to come back.?

Steve Barclay of Kennard is all about taking good care of alligator gar populations, particularly on the Trinity River. Barclay and his partner, Sam Lovell, run guided bowfishing trips on the river. They command a $2,500 fee for a three-day hunt. Clients are allowed one gar measuring six feet or longer.

Barclay is admittedly no fisheries scientist, but he spends about 200 days a year on the water, most of it chasing big gar. The guide is concerned that placing such a restrictive limit on alligator gar could seriously damage the resource it is intended to protect.

?The Trinity River became the world-class gar fishery it is today without these types of regulations, and I am concerned of what might happen if that formula is altered,? Barclay said. ?TPWD has no scientific data to base these proposals on. But I can tell you that both of them would drastically reduce the harvest and virtually eliminate commercial fishing. These fish are top end predators. With such restrictive limits, they could end up eating themselves out of food.?

Barclay said the Texas Bowfishing Assocation, Bowfishing Association of America and LSBA also have expressed opposition to the regulation changes under consideration.