While many Texas youth are roaming neighborhoods collecting sweets this Halloween, others will be pursuing something a little more savory.

The special youth-only hunting weekend (Oct. 30-31) offers kids a head start on adult hunters, as the general deer season opens Nov. 6. The youth weekend is designed to give kids the first shots of gun season and to encourage adults to dedicate their time to assist without being preoccupied with their own hunting interests.

“The youth-only weekend offers a chance to mentor young hunters and can be a valuable management tool on ranches needing to reduce antlerless deer numbers,” said Clayton Wolf, TPWD’s Wildlife Division director.

TPWD has set aside Oct. 30-31 as special youth-only season for white-tailed deer and Rio Grande turkey. During the statewide special youth-only hunting weekend, licensed youth 16 or younger will be allowed to hunt white-tailed deer and Rio Grande turkey.

The department has also coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer a youth-only waterfowl season in the North and South Duck Zones on Oct. 23-24 for licensed youth 15 or younger.

A Special Youth Hunting License ($7) is required and may be purchased wherever hunting licenses are sold, as well as online and by phone. This year, more than 139,000 special youth hunting licenses have been sold.

To encourage young Texans to give hunting a chance, TPWD has made an extra effort to open as much public hunting land as possible to youth hunting on department-managed lands. Youth who are hunting on TPWD lands must be accompanied by a supervising adult 18 or older who possesses the required Annual Public Hunting permit, a valid hunting license and any required stamps and permits.

The Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit is a $48 permit, valid from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31 of the following year. The APH permit allows an adult access to designated public hunting lands in the TPWD public hunting lands program. With the APH permit, hunting is allowed for small game, turkey, white-tailed deer, exotics, predators, furbearers, and fishing without having to pay daily permit fees and in most instances, without having to be selected in a drawing.

Due to a number of factors, the hunting population in America has been declining for decades, and the number of young people who hunt has dropped off significantly.

Among the top reasons for the decline in kids hunting are that young people have a lot of activities competing for their attention, the successful campaigns of anti-hunting groups, and the fact that hunting is becoming prohibitively expensive.

But Texas gives hunters hope for the future. Deer and other wildlife are flourishing thanks to excellent habitat conditions throughout the state this year, setting the stage for what could be a season to remember for many young hunters. Now’s the time for sportsmen to take a kid outdoors.

Crappie biting at Navarro

Navarro Mills Lake Marina owner Brenda Wallen (578-1131) reports that fishing is on the upswing, especially for crappie and sand bass.

Crappie are good on minnows in 14-16 feet of water along the dam and around structure, and fishing is fair on the fishing docks. Sand bass are hitting slabs bounced off the bottom in 12-16 feet of water. Allen Morehouse from Hubbard used this technique to haul in a boat load of sandies last week.

Fish gaining weight

Lake Whitney striper guide Clay Yadon (817-219-3707) has taken some impressive photos lately, and as the weather cools and fish start putting on their winter weight, he’s looking for bigger and better catches.

“When the wind is blowing, we’re catching them,” Yadon said, “along humps and channel edges in 17 to 25 feet of water.” Yadon finds live shad to be the most effective bait.

Saturday’s trip took longer than usual to get a limit, but yielded five fish between 17 and 19 pounds. Visit the Centex Outdoors website for pictures of last week’s catches.

www.centexoutdoors.com

717-8907