Here’s what’s worth reading today, Monday, April 15, 2019:
Texas spring hunting pursuits bring out critters that bite back: It doesn’t matter whether you’re hunting turkeys or strolling through the woods to admire spring flowers, you’re in critter country. And this year’s relatively mild winter in many places means there will be a bumper crop of biting, stingy little monsters waiting.
Top ocelot researcher calls conservation strategy “ecological fairy tale”: In the early 1980s, many scientists believed the endangered ocelot, a spotted wildcat that once roamed as far north as Arkansas and Louisiana, had died out in Texas. Then, on a late winter day in 1982 on a remote Willacy County ranch, a young biologist named Michael Tewes trapped the first Texas ocelot of the modern era.
Tennessee hunter bags rare white “turkey of a lifetime”: A hunter in Rutherford County, Tenn., managed to bag the “turkey of a lifetime” less than a week into the state’s hunting season. On April 6, Cameron Bond of Warren County shot and killed the wild-looking turkey, which reportedly had a condition known as leucism, resulting in a partial loss of pigmentation, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Resist the lure of the lure: Natural baits best for Texas coastal fishing: A mottled matrix of shoal grass swards dotted by patches of bare black mud carpeted the bottom of the flat along the Espiritu Santo Bay shoreline. We could see the marine landscape beneath the shallow green water covering the reach on which Billy Freudensprung’s boat silently drifted.
Catfish stocking returns to Neighborhood Fishin’ Lakes in Texas: Starting April 17, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department will begin stocking thousands of catfish at 19 Neighborhood Fishin’ Lakes located in 10 urban areas across the state. Lakes being stocked include five in Dallas-Fort Worth, four in the Houston area, two in the Austin area and San Antonio, and one in Abilene, Amarillo, Bryan-College Station, San Angelo, Waco and Wichita Falls.
198-pound alligator gar caught in the Brazos River: John Williams and Mark Vornkahl thought their fishing line was stuck on a rock Sunday in the Brazos River. It was actually a massive alligator gar that forced the men, both from Cameron, to drop off some of the items in their boat and return to reel it in.
Women’s shooting organizations: 2019 priorities and goals: Here’s what the most prominent female shooting and hunting organizations are up to this year, and what they envision for the future.
Chasing the grand slam: The National Wild Turkey Federation recognizes several types of “slams.” Here, in the U.S., there are three recognized slams, and one that mixes U.S. hunting with a Mexican twist. All of these slams are considered top feats or goals to diehard turkey hunters. The Grand Slam will take you around the country, chasing each of the four most common wild turkey subspecies in the U.S.: Eastern, Merriam’s, Osceola and Rio Grande. Add a Gould’s to your Grand Slam and you’ve got a Royal Slam. If you’re feeling spicy, head to Mexico to hunt an Ocellated turkey and you’ve got yourself a World Slam.
“A hunter’s hope”: Snaring birds in warring Afghanistan: As the early morning light breaks over the plain north of Kabul, bird hunter Jan Agha checks his snares as he has done for the past 30 years, hoping to catch a crane, using a tethered bird to lure others down to the nets.
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