Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
It’s that time of year friends! Lead shot will soon be flying all over the Lone Star State. And if our aim is true then little feathered rockets should start falling from the sky on the September 1st Dove Opener! With the season just days away, we start the show off by checking in with Shaun Oldenburger- Texas Parks & Wildlife Migratory Shore and Upland Game Bird Program Leader.
He is the man with his finger squarely on the pulse of our state’s dove population, recruitment and overall numbers of both mourning and white winged dove. We discuss the continued phenomenon of white wing expansion northwards. How much of the country’s dove harvest is Texas responsible? All that and much more as we get Shaun’s fearless forecast for the upcoming season.
Next we hear a remarkable tale of how one Texas hunter’s life came full circle. David Vaught of Llano was vacationing with his family at Big Bend National Park in west Texas on a fateful August day in 1984. That is where his life was forever altered when a male mountain lion attacked him on a popular hiking trail. Luckily, David’s step father was able to fight the lion off David. He did, however, sustain major injuries that would result in over a dozen surgeries as the lion basically removed David’s scalp from his head.
Fast forward 30 years later and David answered his lifelong calling to once again come face to face with this apex predator. This time though the result would be far different as the West Texas lion would leave on David’s back. We talk about dry ground lion hunting with hounds and go into great detail on David’s successful lion hunt near Sheffield, Texas. What went through his mind when David first put his hands on the lion he harvested? David tells all as we cover this incredible journey that lasted nearly 3 decades. (David walking back to camp with his lion)
We wrap up this week’s show on a lighter note when Captain Len Girard joins us live from the Upper Laguna Madre. Myself and a couple friends hit the coast with Captain Len last weekend and we hammered the trout. Captain Len tells his secrets of where to find nice specs on really hot days. I witnessed first hand how many other anglers and guides were struggling with the wind and temps but Captain Len put us on ’em!
