Hunting
Bobwhite counts beat the 15-year average in most regions, and scaled quail keep climbing. South Texas and the Trans-Pecos look best.
By Outdoor Unc
Texas quail season opens November 1, and the state's August roadside surveys point to good numbers, Texas Parks and Wildlife says. Biologists drove more than 3,300 miles of survey routes, and most ecoregions counted more bobwhites per route than their 15-year average, helped by good habitat and timely rain despite a hot, dry summer.
South Texas averaged 10.17 bobwhites per route, above its 15-year mean of 9.92, after multiple successful hatches; the Chaparral and James E. Daughtrey wildlife management areas offer public hunting there. The Rolling Plains came in slightly lower than last year but should still hunt well, with public bobwhite hunting on the Matador, Gene Howe and Teacup Mountain WMAs. Teacup Mountain is a relatively new 11,091-acre area being managed in part for bobwhites.
Scaled quail continued an upward trend, beating the 15-year average in most ecoregions, with late spring rain giving nesting a boost in the Trans-Pecos and Edwards Plateau. The department expects South Texas and the Trans-Pecos, traditionally the strongest regions, to be best.
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Hunting
Drawn from more than 34,000 applicants. New this year, tags are tied to specific units.
By Outdoor Unc
Wisconsin's ninth elk season since the animals were reintroduced opens Saturday, October 17, the Department of Natural Resources says. Sixteen state hunters were drawn from more than 34,000 resident applicants.
In the Northern Elk Management Zone the quota is eight bulls, with four licenses to state hunters and four to tribal members. In the Central Zone, six bull and six antlerless licenses went to state hunters. New this year, tags are unit-specific, so harvest can be concentrated where elk cause more conflicts with people and kept lower where the department wants the herd to grow.
Seven dollars of every $10 application goes to elk management, and the program is nearly self-funded. Applications for the 2027 hunt are expected to open March 1 and run through May 31, 2027, for units with a harvest quota.
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advisory
Rough Rider gravel race in GMUs 17A, 17B and 20AYavapai Co., ArizonaOct 30–Nov 1, during general deer huntchecked Oct 14
Hunting
By Outdoor Unc
Arizona Game and Fish is warning hunters that the Rough Rider, a three-day gravel bike race, runs October 30 through November 1 in the Prescott area, on the second weekend of the general deer hunt. Riders will be in the Camp Wood area in Units 17A and 17B on Friday, the Mt. Union area of the Bradshaw Mountains in 20A on Saturday, and Copper Basin and Skull Valley in 20A and 17B on Sunday. Route maps are on the race's website; the department asks hunters and cyclists to be aware of each other.
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