Local Weather Forecast
Today: Current:57	Saturday: 84/59	Sunday: 86/60
Complete Forecast for  May 17 2008

An odd and unusual spring turkey season ends in Texas' North Zone Sunday.

For those who like to call, this has been a tough season with mature gobblers still courting hens in some portions of the state.

"I think it is the lack of rain. The birds are getting a late start," said Jason Hardin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's turkey program leader.

Hardin said it has been a similar story statewide. Biologists are following about 100 radio-collared birds in South Texas. As of two weeks ago, only one had gone to nest. The region has since picked up a little rain and a few more hens have moved onto nests.

The story is different in East Texas. There seems to be a goodly number of hens on nests already.

The season wrapped up in the South April 27 and in East Texas April 30.

There will be a youth-only season in the 101 counties of the North Zone May 17-18.

It has been a good year for the lake at Tyler State Park.

First, Tyler fisherman Brett Harris catches a lake record and ShareLunker 14.5-pound bass. Then, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocks it with 59,000 Florida bass fry.

"Normally the State Park lake would be too small to receive Florida fingerlings but they had some extra fry and needed a place for them to go," said Richard Ott, TPWD fisheries biologist from Tyler.

Despite a 13.28-pound ShareLunker caught by Brad Sharp in 2000 that spawned, there is no record of the lake being stocked with Florida bass since 1990 when the department released 6,500 fry.

Harris' bass has spawned twice at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center meaning the lake should also get fry from that spawning.

The National Wild Turkey Federation's Texas State Chapter, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Forest Service have joined in an effort to improve turkey habitat in the state.

In what will be a five-year program, each group has pledged $125,000 to create a shared biologist position and oversee the completion of projects designed to improve habitat for turkeys and other wildlife.

Included on the list was 1,000 acres of habitat on the Pat Mayse Wildlife Management Area near Paris.

"The availability of quality nesting and brood-rearing habitat is the single most limiting factor influencing ground-nesting bird populations," said NWTF's East Texas regional biologist Scotty Parsons. "Native warm season grasses on this management area had been choked out by eastern red cedar trees that absorb huge amounts of water. In this case, removing the cedar trees and conducting prescribed burns was essential to restoring vital habitat."

Other planned projects include: enhancing brood habitat on Alabama Creek WMA in Apple Springs; restoring Blackland Prairies and enhancing brood habitat on Sam Houston National Forest in Livingston; restoring longleaf pine and overseeing moist soil management projects on Alazan Bayou WMA in Nacogdoches; removing eastern red cedars and restoring native warm season grasses on the Fannin Unit of the Caddo National Grasslands in Fannin County; constructing wildlife watering facilities, improving roost habitat for wild turkeys and removing salt cedar trees on Matador WMA in Paducah; and improving roost habitat for wild turkeys, constructing wildlife watering facilities and controlling brush on Gene Howe WMA in Canadian.

Shooters can still participate in Lock and Load's Monday Night Shooters League.

There are four weeks left in the competition, and scoring is done on a shooter's best four scores.

The shoot is divided into ladies' and men's divisions in four divisions, open, production, revolver and rimfire.

In the open class shooters are required to use 9mm or larger centerfire pistols. Optics and compensation is allowed.

The limited class is restricted to semi-automatic pistols in a .380 or larger caliber. The revolver class is open to double-action pistols in a .38 Special or larger caliber with a six-round capacity.

Shooters in the rimfire class may use a .22 long rifle in either a semi-automatic or double-action revolver.

The cost is $10 per match for members and $20 for non-members. Shooters may participate in more than one class for an additional fee.

The shoot begins at 5:30 p.m. at Lock and Load, 3408 SSW Loop 323. For more information call 903-939-1500.

Dr. Larry D. McKinney, director of Coastal Fisheries and senior director of Aquatic Resources for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), has been named executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

University President Flavius Killebrew made the announcement today following an international search. McKinney, who earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 1976, is a recognized authority on the habitats of amphipod crustaceans in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. He will assume his new duties in July.

"Dr. McKinney's experience in the ocean sciences and his record of leading successful international research initiatives will serve the University well as the Harte Research Institute grows in national and international stature," said Killebrew. "His credentials and talents will increase the University's standing within the research community and play a vital role in the continued development of A&M-Corpus Christi as a major research institution."

In 1976, McKinney was a Smithsonian Fellow and from 1977 to 1980 he was a research associate and instructor at Texas A&M University-Galveston. Prior to joining TPWD, McKinney was director of the Texas Environmental Engineering Field Laboratory in Galveston where he worked on water issues including the diversion of the Mississippi River. During his career he has had articles published in more than 80 scientific and technical publications.

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies is an endowed and developing research institute that supports and advances the long-term sustainable use and conservation of the Gulf of Mexico through a tri-national approach between the United States, Mexico and Cuba. The institution was created in 2000 by a $46 million endowment from Edward H. Harte, philanthropist and former publisher of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

A study by a group called The Peregrine Fund could be costly for hunters in the future.

The group sponsored a study on the health hazards posed to birds that ingest lead shot residue in the remains of gun-killed animals.

The study's findings are that birds that eat others shot with lead shot are at risk. The group will present its findings at a conference this month at Boise State University.

"We've been studying the effects of condor lead ingestion for years," said Rick Watson, Vice President of The Peregrine Fund, a conservation organization that leads the California Condor recovery program in Arizona. "Condors are sickened and some die from eating the remains of shot animals. The possibility that other species, including humans, are also at risk prompted us to organize this conference."

The study has already has already had an affect.

North Dakota state health officials recently ordered food banks to discard donated venison because it can contain lead fragments. Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck physician and member of The Peregrine Fund board of directors, made the discovery after learning about the problem in a Peregrine Fund report. Cornatzer collected about 100 one-pound packages of ground venison from food pantries in December and ran CT scans on the meat. The North Dakota Health Department confirmed the presence of lead in its own tests. Cornatzer plans to present his findings at the conference.

This study comes at a time when there is growing support to ban the use of lead shot and bullets for hunting. If it happens, it could have a major impact on the cost of shotgun shells and rifle ammunition.