The Foundation for Exceptional Warriors (The F.E.W.) and Katie Strief of Dreamcatcher Ranch have partnered with High Brass Hunting Preserve and hosted the 4th Annual European Pheasant Hunt and Paul Strief Memorial on Saturday, October 7, 2017. The Event was designed to thank Veterans for all they have done for our country as well as raise awareness for The F.E.W. and their support of Veterans and nationwide events. The goal is to provide our Veterans with a fun event that is totally free from expense to them. The event took place at the great High Brass Hunting Preserve in Grant, Oklahoma. This is an amazing facility and the people are even better. Spouses were invited to this event with their Hero as either shooters or guest. An incredible lunch was included in the festivities. Special thanks to Pilgrims Pride who donated all of the chicken, plus a smoker, all 4 years.
The F.E.W. Mission is to provide adventures to unite, reward, and inspire those that have served together to heal together. Their mission focus is Special Operations Forces, Ex-Prisoners of War, Purple Heart recipients and those recognized with awards for Valor of every era. The F.E.W. Vision is to reconnect Warriors with themselves, their families and their communities. There is nothing more healing than camaraderie between fellow war heroes, whether by the fire, in a boat, on a hunt or any one of our outdoor adventures. The European Pheasant Hunt, however, is open to all Veterans who were honorably discharged and is not limited by merit or valor.
Many sponsors donated to this event which is free to all veterans and their families in attendance. Sponsor donations are tax-free. All birds were processed, bagged and iced and each veterans went home with their beautiful birds.
ATHENS – After more than 31 years of collecting and spawning 13 pound or larger “lunker” largemouth bass, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Toyota ShareLunker Program is announcing big changes and an expanded mission in an effort to better engage the public in the promotion and enhancement of lunker bass fishing in Texas public waters.
TPWD Inland Fisheries management crews are doing their fall electroshocking surveys. This 10-pounder from Marine Creek Reservoir is an 8-year-old ShareLunker offspring stocked in 2006.
The ShareLunker participation season will now run each year from Jan.1 through Dec. 31; a change from previous seasons. But similar to last year, only those entries collected between Jan. 1 – March 31 will be accepted as broodstock for spawning.
“This provides the greatest opportunity to obtain eligible fish for spawning while minimizing the risk of additional handling and possible mortality,” said Kyle Brookshear, ShareLunker program coordinator.
Outside of the spawning window, the new year-round participation season will allow for anglers catching bass 8 pounds or larger to submit information about their catch through a web application in four categories: 8 pounds or larger, 10 pounds or larger, 13 pounds or larger and 13 pounds or larger with a spawning donation.
The goal is to increase the number of participants in the Toyota ShareLunker program and expand large fish catch rate data for fisheries biologists, Brookshear said. As a bonus, the new size categories open up more ways for anglers to receive prizes and incentives for participating.
“This citizen scientist initiative will allow fisheries biologists to better monitor the impact of ShareLunker stockings across Texas and provide more incentives and opportunities for Texans to help us make our bass fishing bigger and better than ever,” Brookshear said.
Other spawning program changes include converting the entire hatchery broodstock to pure-Florida ShareLunker offspring. Genetically pure offspring will be maintained on the hatchery, grown to adulthood, then distributed to production hatcheries and used as broodstock. Eventually, all hatchery-held Florida largemouth bass broodstock will be descendants of ShareLunkers, Brookshear said.
Additionally, attempts will be made to spawn all donated eligible ShareLunkers — regardless of the degree of genetic introgression. Offspring of female genetic intergrades will be combined and stocked back to the source locations for all ShareLunker entries for the year.
“People come to Texas from all over the country for our lunker bass fishing, and it’s still very rare to catch a 13 pounder,” said Mandy Scott, Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center director. “So that’s why ShareLunker is special. We learned a long time ago that these fish were important and we wanted to try to capitalize on the big fish that we have in Texas already and make fishing even bigger and better.”
Brookshear said the program will announce the full list of changes and the new prizes closer to the beginning of the season, but anglers can also look forward to a complete rebranding of the program to include a new logo, graphics, and eventually more ShareLunker Weigh Stations to aid in the weigh-in process. Additionally, education and outreach specialists at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center are developing ShareLunker science curriculum for Texas classrooms.
For complete information and rules of the ShareLunker program, tips on caring for big bass and a recap of last year’s season, see www.tpwd.texas.gov/sharelunker/ . The site also includes a searchable database of all fish entered into the program. Or follow the program on social media at www.facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram/ .
The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible by a grant to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation from Gulf States Toyota. Toyota is a long-time supporter of the Foundation and TPWD, providing major funding for a wide variety of education, fish, parks and wildlife projects.
“Urban Dialogue: Science After Dark” will present a discussion on the Woodmen Circle Home. Kathy Flynn, journalist and historian, and Linda Robertson, former employee of the Woodmen Circle Home will lead a discussion on the home, its history and legend. The event will be held in Kelly Square’s Grayson Hall, 113 S. Travis Street, in downtown Sherman. It is scheduled for October 3rd, from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. Admission to the event is free with complimentary snacks and beverages provided courtesy of the Sherman Rotary Club. Shawn Kirby of the Herald-Democrat will moderate the event.
“The Woodmen Circle Home is perhaps one of the most famous landmarks in all of Sherman. Though starting as a home for widows, the elderly, and orphans, it has an interesting past that has made it one of the most famous places in town and home to many spooky urban legends,” noted museum director Dan Steelman.
“Urban Dialog: Science After Dark” is a joint production of The Sherman Museum, Austin College, and the Sherman Rotary Club. The series is scheduled for the first Tuesday of every month. Discussions are held in Grayson Hall and cover a variety of timely topics from the fields of science and history.
About The Sherman Museum
The Sherman Museum is a non-profit 501(c) (3) educational organization devoted to collecting, preserving and interpreting objects of historical significance for visitors and residents of Grayson County and the Greater North Texas Region. The museum was previously known as The Red River Historical Museum prior to a name change in March 2011.
