What comes to mind when you think of Fall? Most people may think of orange leaves, pumpkins, turkey, Thanksgiving, and dressing up while the more adventurous think about driving to the Hill country, hunting, deer season, and youth weekend.
Of course, hunting has many seasons. First Youth Weekend marks the start of Youth Refile Hunting Season for people under 17 beginning late October and lasting until January for whitetail deer. Regular Whitetail season lasts from November 1st to early January. Bow hunting season begins in September and ends in November. Dove season runs from September to October, and wild hogs can be shot anytime of the year because they scare off other animals, tear stuff up and cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost crops and damage every year.
Beginning with deer season, most people bow-hunt until youth weekend. I think the reason for this is because bow hunting is more difficult and less successful, which saves the animals for youth weekend when shooting is legal for everyone. This season opens for whitetail deer, axis deer and animals that aren’t native to Texas.
People who own their own property have a choice of either no fence, a short fence, or high fence ranch. No fence and short fence ranch have the same effect; animals can come and go as they choose. But with a high fence, animals are bought and stay on property. Most of these animals are exotic like axis deer which are native to India, antelope, elk, blackbuck, and cattle.
Hunting on a high fence ranch provides an almost guarantee that a hunter will shoot something because on a high fence ranch mostly exotic animals have nowhere to go. Not exactly shooting fish in a barrel, but fortunately, storms or wild animals sometimes create holes in the fences, and the very rare animals get out and breed.
This past youth weekend was Oct 25th through Oct 26th, and I participated. My dad took me to his ranch in the Hill Country near Junction, Tx. Saturday morning, we sat in the deer stand from about 6 to 9 a.m. We saw a few does and a fawn but no bucks. Then on Saturday afternoon we saw a doe and a buck, but I wanted to wait for a better target. Thankfully Sunday morning I saw an eight-point buck and squeezed off a perfect shot; he ran a little, but only about 40 yards.
Hunting isn’t exactly everyone’s idea of father-daughter quality time, but my dad and I agree that there’s nothing like venison stew on a cold winter day!
