A good friend called the other day and our conversation quickly shifted to whitetail deer, bows, arrows, wives and young hunters.

My friend said his wife has shown some serious interest in taking up archery hunting this fall, but was concerned that she might not be strong enough to bring a bow with a draw weight of 40 or more pounds to a full draw.

The draw weight of a bow is gauged by the amount of pressure required to pull the string and fully cock the bow to put an arrow in flight. The higher the draw weight, the more upper body strength required to draw the bow.

"She's only 4-feet, 11-inches tall and weighs 111 pounds, but she's mean as hell and can kick my butt all over the place," he chuckled. "Still, she has got to be the weakest woman I have ever seen. There is no way she can pull a 40-pound bow to full draw."

My suggestion was simple and to the point. Buy her something lighter.

"But the minimum draw weight requirement for hunting in Texas is 40 pounds," he responded."Anything lighter and she won't be legal."

Wrong.

Last April, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to eliminate the minimum draw weight requirement for hunting bows in Texas. Effective Sept. 1, Texas archers will no longer be required to use a bow with a draw weight of 40 pounds or more to hunt deer, turkey and other game animals.

The change -- made to encourage more youth hunters and women to participate in the sport -- makes Texas one of about a dozen states with no minimum draw requirement on hunting bows. Most states require a minimum draw weight that lands somewhere between 30-40 pounds.

My friend was happy to hear the news. His wife was ecstatic. Within days, he purchased a high quality youth/ladies model compound bow loaded with sights, stabilizer, silencers, a half dozen arrows and a few other accessories. The set-up cost just under $700.

The draw weight on the bow can be adjusted as low as 35 pounds -- perfect for a petite adult woman or a budding teenager.

"She's been doing a lot of target shooting and is already shooting two-inch groups out to 20 yards," my friend said.

Hopefully, my friend's wife will keep right on practicing. Practice breeds confidence in archery hunting. It also tones and conditions muscles you never realized you had. More importantly it enhances accuracy, a key component to making good, lethal shots on whitetail deer and other game animals.

Adults who are planning to turn a youth hunter loose in the woods with a bow this fall should be responsible about it:

* Make sure the young hunter can shoot proficiently enough to earn the right. There is no place in the woods for a sloppy bow hunter.

* Make sure arrows are equipped with fixed or removable blade broadheads that are razor sharp. Expandable or mechanical broadheads are not recommended for use with bows with a draw weight less than 50 pounds.

* Be sure the hunter has completed the state-authorized hunter education course before he or she is allowed to hunt alone. It also would be wise for beginning archers to enroll in a voluntary bowhunter education course. The bowhunter education course is not a substitute for the Texas hunter education course, but archers can learn a lot of "specialty" information in the course.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offers several student bowhunting courses though the International Bowhunting Education Program and the National Bowhunting Education Foundation.

The course can be taken online, at home or in a traditional classroom setting. Check upcoming class schedules and options at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/hunter_education/bowhunter.phtml or call 1-800-792-1112.

It should be noted that the minimum age for Texas hunter education certification has been dropped from 12 to 9, the same as the minimum age required to participate in the Texas Youth Hunting Program.

Anyone born after Sept. 1, 1971, is required to complete and pass the Hunter Education Training Course in order to hunt in Texas. Hunters 17 or older who have not completed the course can purchase a one-time deferral for a fee of $10.

With the fall hunting seasons fast approaching, TPWD officials are encouraging anyone who needs to take the course to sign up quickly to avoid the last minute rush.

"It would be much better to enroll early and avoid the rush right at the beginning of the hunting seasons," said Terry Erwin, hunting education coordinator with the TPWD. "Don't wait, because the number of available courses begins to taper off as the hunting season grows closer."

• Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.

Sidebar

Hunter Ed Facts

* Minimum age for certification is 9.

* Hunter ed is mandatory in all 50 states and 10 Canadian Provinces.

* More than 30,000 young hunters become hunter ed certified in Texas each year.

* Since 1972, about 780,000 Texans have completed the course.

* Courses are taught by 2,900 certified instructors including game wardens, professional educators and TPWD volunteers.

* Hunter education has resulted in a substantial reduction in the number of hunting related accidents in Texas. In 1966, there were 12 accidents per 100,000 hunters. The accident rate has lowered to 2.9 per 100,000 hunters during the last three years.

Source: TPWD

Outdoors Briefs

DU, NWTF banquets coming up

Cutlines: Stand alone names for 5 angler mug shots (See Photo Tags)

by Matt Williams

Outdoors Writer

Drumming up money for in use in habitat enhancement and other conservation projects is the main focus of several banquet/dinner fund raisers on tap in coming weeks across the East Texas area.

The Nacogdoches Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and the Gregg County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited will host their annual banquets during early August.

The 48th annual Nacogdoches DU event is set for August 1 at the Fredonia Hotel in downtown Nacogdoches. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for browsing raffle and auction items. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m., with auctions to follow. Forty guns including 20 by raffle will be presented throughout the evening.

Tickets cost $40 per person or $80 per couple. Sponsorships are available for $300; corporate tables, $1,000.

For tickets or other information, contact Robert Crow, 936-564-2437......

The Gregg County Chapter DU event is set for Aug. 5 at the Maude Cobb Center in Longview. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. For ticket information, contact Kim Winn at 903-759-3111......

The Pineywoods Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host its 20th Year Celebration Heritage Super Fund banquet on Aug. 15 at the Lufkin Civic Center. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

In addition to 15 guns to be given away by raffle, there will deer hunts, turkey hunts, fishing trips and special items for women on the live and silent auction tables.

Tickets are $70 for couples and $50 for singles. Standard sponsorship is $250; table sponsor, $400; silver table sponsor, $600; gold table sponsor, $800.

For more information, contact Dale Bounds, 936-637-4972.

Four days = $1 million

Some of the nation's top bass pros, including five from Texas, are getting their game faces on in preparation for bass fishing's richest event, the $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.

The 'Cup is the Wal-Mart FLW Tour's version of the Bassmaster Classic. Difference is, the field is somewhat larger and the stakes are twice as high.

A win at the 'Classic pays $500,000. The 'Cup champ takes home $1 million cash, provided Ranger Boat contingency guidelines are met.

Either way, there is a huge chunk of change on the line at the upcoming 'Cup set for Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C.

The full field of 77 pros and 77 co-anglers will compete for two days and the Top 10 will zero their weights and advance to Day 3. The co-angler title will be determined by the heaviest catch on Day 3. Pros will fish the final round alone. The angler with the heaviest accumulative total over the final two days wins.

Houston bass pro Bud Pruitt is one of the five Texas pros who qualified for the 2008 'Cup. A two-time 'Cup qualfier, he finished the 2008 season ranked No. 21 in points.

I caught up with Pruitt last Thursday afternoon by cell phone as he plied the upper reaches of the 48,000-acre in hopes learning a little something before the lake went off limits. He is guessing the tournament will be won deep.

"The early morning topwater bite could be a factor, but I am betting that somebody will pull this deal off in deep water, say 15-30 feet," Pruitt said."The blue back herring (a preferred forage on Murray) get super deep this time of year and bass love to eat them."

Pruitt runs a Skeeter bass boat, so he will leave $500,000 on the table if he happens to fish his way to the top in the four-day event. The other four Texas qualifiers in the pro division are Ranger guys: David Curtis of Trinity, Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Jerry Green of Del Rio and Shinichi Fukae of Mineola.

Texas will represented in the co-angler division by Hector Delagarza of Garland and Keith Honeycutt of Temple.

Two other Texas anglers will compete in the 2008 National Guard Junior World Championship, which will be held Aug. 15-16 on South Carolina's Lake Monticello in conjuction with the Forrest Wood Cup.

Matthew Bowden of Spring will compete in the 11-14 age group, while Jordon Lane of N. Richland Hills fish in the 15-18 division.

The Texas youths will compete against other anglers representing 39 TBF state federations. They will fish for $30,000 in college scholarships and $12,000 youth program grants for their home states.

10 most influential in fishing tackle

Which products have had the biggest impact on the sport of fishing as we know it today?

The American Sportfishing Association and Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation launched an extensive angler survey to find out. The results were released at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show held earlier this month in in Las Vegas, Nev.

Here are the 10 products that have been the most instrumental in shaping sport of fishing over the last 75 years:

* Rapala Original Floater Minnow (1936)

* Spring-loaded bobber by Nibble Nabber(1947)

* Mitchell 300 spinning reel (1949)

* Creme Plastic Worm (1949)

* Closed face spincast reel by Zero Hour Bomb Company (1949)

* Lowrance Fish Lo-K-Tor (1957)

* DuPont Stren Monofilament Line (1958)

* Minn Kota Trolling Motor (1958)

* Fenwick High Modulus Graphite Rod: (1972)

* Shakespeare Ugly Stick Fishing Rod (1976)

Financing for state park renovation, repairs

The Texas Bond Review Board recently have the green light for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to let contracts for needed repairs at several state parks.

According to TPWD reports, the board approved $44.12 million for park repair bonds. The bonds will be sold as needed in coming months to fund various repair projects. The earliest work is expected begin in Fall 2009, according to TPWD reports.

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