Texas Dove Hunting Outfitters Wanted

Some of my most treasured memories are of dove hunts that I went on as a youngster with my father. Later memories are of my daughters going along with me and dropping that first dove out of the air. With the cost of shotguns, shells, fuel and mostly places to hunt this gets harder and harder to do each year. This is a real shame as we need to keep instilling the love of hunting in the next generation.

Every year I get requests for referrals of Texas Dove Hunting Outfitters that provide dove hunts at a reasonable price for families. I am not talking about the $500.00 a day per person fancy deals. I am talking about a place where a Mom or Dad can afford to take a child or two and provide them a classic day of dove shooting. If they can hunt more than one type of dove such as Mourning, White Wing, Pigeons and or Eurasian it would even be better. What we are interested in here is providing some young people with lots of targets and a chance to learn wing shooting at an affordable price. I you have such a deal or if you hunt with a family friendly outfitter that has hunts available send me an email and tell me about the hunt along with the cost. Email WildEd or post in the comments below. I will forward the information and post a contact here on my blog if I think it is something my readers would like. Take a kid hunting this year, Wild Ed

Bee Hives Ready for New Tenants

Recently I was invited to spend some time helping a friend work his bee hives. The experience made an impression on me. It is something I have really become interested in pursuing since I found out about the large losses in the bee population in Texas and the rest of the country. It is distressing to me for us to know that some of the pesticides that are approved in this country are destroying our bees. European countries have already outlawed some of these and the bee populations are rebounding. Following France and Germany, last year the Italian Agriculture Ministry suspended the use of a class of pesticides, nicotine-based neonicotinoids, as a precautionary measure. The compelling results, restored bee populations, prompted the government to uphold the ban.

Research from America confirms that at very, very low concentrations neonicotinoid chemicals can make honeybees vulnerable to fatal disease. If these pesticides are causing large numbers of honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies and moths to get sick and die from diseases they would otherwise have survived, then neonicotinoid chemicals could be the main cause of both colony collapse disorder and the loss of wild pollinator populations.

Looks like the evidence is there just that the chemical companies have too strong a lobby in the USA.

Anyhow I have decided to do my part and become a keeper of bees in hopes that I can help preserve some of them. I do not want to buy domestic bees but would prefer to trap a swarm or obtain feral bees from another beekeeper. I am hoping to get a start from a friend and add feral or wild bees to that group. I would like to keep the little wild bees as they are more adapt at fighting parasites and pests that we have in Texas. Since I am not in it for the dollars in honey I would like to preserve some of the wild bees and if we get a little sweetness along the way that will be a bonus. I ordered some equipment and bee hive parts to put together myself. I figured that if I can put all this stuff together myself I will understand a little better how it works and how the bees use the hive. The pictures are of the two small hives that I finished in a natural finish to blend into the habitat. I got a garden copper top for one hive on an ebay auction and hope it will dress the hive up for backyard use. I just did not want the white hives I remember seeing in most apiaries.

It will most likely be spring before I am able to get a start in bees unless I happen to luck into a wild swarm somewhere. The drought has been very hard on local bee populations and many hives will have a hard time making it through the winter. Most bees will not even start swarming until spring so that is when I hope to catch a wild swarm or obtain some local bees. If you see a swarm be sure and let me know so I can come give them a new home, Wild Ed

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Corn Bandits Back in Force

As much as my family and I enjoy watching the raccoons it seems like they move in and invite all their family members to visit every time food and water becomes scarce. At $10.00 per 50 pound bag it is expensive enough to supplement the deer and turkey in this drought. We don't mind a few handouts to the coons either but when they tear the motors off the feeders or spin the fan until a feeder is empty in just a few nights something has to be done. They have taken to tearing up the hummingbird feeders, chewing off the plastic bases and turning over the bird waterers. It want be long now before some of them are invited to leave the place. I thought you guys might enjoy this picture taken at my brother's feeder this last week. I think he threw a special party for the raccoons and must have sent out invitations. Wild Ed

Central Texas Drought Continues

As triple digit temperatures continue day after day we see more and more signs of the effects the drought is having on Central Texas. I worry that somehow a fire will start in our area and burn off the whole place. The grass is all burnt from the intense heat and not much green remains at all. All over Williamson and Lampasas Counties I see oak trees dying. I don't know if it is oak blight, oak wilt or just plain death from no moisture but the number of dead trees is unreal and will change the look of the country around here for decades. It looks as though we will be planting a lot of replacement trees on our place but most will be for the next generation as they take so long to grow. My brother and I have been running feeders, putting out water and even keeping hummingbird feeders out at the ranch just to try and help some of the wildlife. We have even been putting out dry dog food for the predators and other animals that need some protein. We have seen the following animals or tracks of turkeys, fox, squirrels, rabbits, deer, raccoons, various birds and even road runners coming to get their share of the kibble. We have been seeing hawks carrying snakes to eat as smaller prey is in short supply.


My brother and I contracted to drill two water wells this week and though they will not produce a lot, it is still water which seems to be more and more precious each day. I feel that the people of Central Texas and for that matter all of Texas need to take another look at how we use water. It scares me to see how much drinking water we all put on our lawns. We are not using surplus water or treated sewer for most lawns, we are putting precious clean drinking water on our lawns, gardens and golf courses by the millions of gallons. I think we need to really examine the use of water for these purposes and make some changes or I see a future with real problems just to furnish water for existence. Remember to feed and water the wildlife if you have the means and or funds. This will be a hard year for them to survive. Next article I will show you how to make an inexpensive butterfly/bee feeder and waterer to try and keep our pollinators going as they are not finding many blooms or flowers to feed on.

I thought you might like to see a few pictures and game camera images from this last week at our place.

Remember to click on comments below to leave a comment or read the comments of others. You may always scroll down to the bottom of the page to mute or cut off the music in my play list if you desire. Wild Ed

A Request to Help out Drought Stricken Texas Wildlife

I drove up to the stock pond at my uncle’s place in Lampasas county this last week to see how much water was there and if the Mustang grapes were anywhere close to ripe. The stock pond was little more than a mud hole and it looks as if most of the fish have died. I counted 27 turtles that had congregated in the last muddy waterhole on the place. There were no Mustang grapes to be found and none of the Algerita bushes had berries this year. There is very little green anywhere and I noticed that the deer have already started eating browse that they usually save for the fall and winter. The countryside looks as if it could all burn away in just a flash if a fire started in the area. Most of the crops in the Central Texas area did not make and the corn fields look to be a complete loss. Corn was up to $10.00 for a fifty pound bag Saturday so no telling what it will climb to price wise? This means that a lot of people will be feeding the deer and other wildlife a lot less feed this year just because they can not afford to do so. Not only are livestock and deer suffering but all wildlife is having a hard time making a living right now. Our humming bird feeders at the ranch were empty in just one week and one was full of drowned ants and bees. I have seen a lot fewer birds, squirrels and small game in our area. We are seeing coons, skunks and foxes out hunting in the daylight hours which is a sure sign they are not finding food during their normal nocturnal hunts.

All of this means that if rain does not come very soon it will be too late for a lot of native wildlife. I have already found dead fawns and other signs of distressed wildlife. If you have the means please put out feeders and water for some of these creatures to help them through the hard times. Whether it is just a hummingbird feeder for birds and bees or corn/protein feeders for deer and other game do what you can to help. An old tire with a rubber tub in it with some rocks piled inside filled with water may save a lot of birds and small animals in an area where there is no natural water supply. If you have water troughs make sure they are running and working. I have a feeling it will be a long summer and a hard winter for lots of Texas wildlife this year. Do whatever you can to help, Wild Ed


The entire State of Texas has just been declared a Natural Disaster. Over 1/3 of the crops in the State have failed so far and millions of acres are burned or they are so dried up they might as well have burned. The crop loss will get higher as the season progresses. We are all going to have to chip in and work hard to help our wildlife survive the coming hard times. Please be careful with fire and stay on the alert. We do not need anymore habitat burned away.

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