Mind you, I am not claiming to have invented the turkey decoy, but I did carve a life-sized hen turkey from a block of Styrofoam before I ever saw a manufactured turkey decoy. And Delilah, as I named her, did lure a wild gobbler to my gun on her first outing, on the Nueces River a little downstream from Montel.

Much controversy exists about which type of gun is proper for spring gobbler hunting.

There’s no doubt that the second-ranked big game animal in Texas is the wild hog ... sometimes glamorized as “wild boar” or “Russian boar.”

Most kinds of hunting involve a lot of waiting. The best thing about this fact is that the waiting is mostly done in some very pleasant places — autumn woods, near stock tanks in dove season, and in blinds on the bays, rice fields and river bottoms frequented by waterfowl, for a few examples.

There is solid archeological evidence that deer antlers have always fascinated humans. Even tens of thousands of years ago, back in Paleolithic times, antler material was used not only for tools but also as the medium for artistic engravings and carvings, some of which probably had religious significance in that culture.

It’s a fair question. When I loaded my first cartridge, back in the early ’50s, properly assembled handloads beat factory ammo on every count. The homemade product was cheaper, more reliable, usually more accurate, commonly more powerful and flatter shooting, more versatile, and could use much superior bullets for whatever the task at hand. The only things going for factory ammo were convenience and savings of time.

The hunter gripped his rifle in sweaty hands, facing the crouching lion only 30 yards away. Suddenly the animal launched his charge in deadly silence. The man with the gun knew he had only four or five seconds to stop that yellow ball of fangs and claws ... (no, wait! an African lion in full charge covers 30 yards in only half that much time. Maybe it was a grizzly ... yeah, they’re not quite as fast as a lion) ... to stop that half-ton of silvertip fury.

Faulty range estimation may cause more misses by experienced riflemen at big game than any other single factor.

This is the prime time of year for calling predators. The carnivores are lean and winter-hungry, and young varmints from last year will fall all over themselves trying to get to a squealing-rabbit call. A little later on, as the females get closer to whelping time, they get harder to fool, but for now, calling can be exciting sport.

Last week we spoke of aging whitetail deer on the hoof. This week we find out how to tell whether we were right last week.