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I was disappointed in August when the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved waterfowl seasons. The general seasons came out about as well as anyone could expect but, once again, TP&W has scheduled youth duck season in most of the state for the same weekend as youth deer season.

Texas has had special hunting seasons for kids 16 and under since 1998. Since 2003, the deer season has been the same weekend as the duck season.

Clayton Wolf, TP&W's big-game program leader, said I'm one of the few people who complains about making youth hunters choose between hunting ducks or hunting deer. So here I go again.

It's disingenuous and totally unnecessary to set the two most important youth hunting seasons for the same weekend, Oct. 25-26.

All states choose their migratory game bird seasons from guidelines set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, so there's less latitude on scheduling duck seasons for youth. Texas, however, has more white-tailed deer than any other state. We also have a longer and more complex layer of deer hunting seasons. It should be easy enough to fine-tune a youth deer hunting weekend that doesn't fall the same weekend as the duck season.

Wolf said he wouldn't want to give up the last weekend in October for youth deer hunting because that's pre-rut in the whitetail woods and a pretty good time for kids to be afield. Waterfowl hunting is likewise better when set as late as possible. That's when ducks are most abundant.

Other states, however, manage to have youth seasons that do not conflict. Oklahoma is one neighboring example and Arkansas is another.

Mike Berger, wildlife division chief for TP&W, wrote in an e-mail that the state's biggest archery organizations protested a 2001 proposal to make every weekend in October youth deer season. October is also archery deer season in Texas.

Berger, who retires at the end of October, did not respond when I asked him if the archery hunters objected to the state's Managed Lands Deer Permit program, which essentially gives permit holders the entire month of October to hunt with rifles. Since TP&W commissioners, both past and present, are among those who hold MLDPs, it's doubtful that complaints from any sector would affect the MLDP program, which essentially privatizes deer on ranches with the proper permits.

The excuses for why the Texas youth deer and duck seasons fall on the same weekend strike me as childish. In fact, I'm reminded of a youth deer hunt when my son was 9 years old. I was trying to talk him out of shooting a beautiful 8-point buck in hopes that a bigger one might show up.

In exasperation, Zach finally put the whole issue into clear focus. "Dad," he said, "what would you do if you were my age?"

We should be looking at youth hunting opportunities from the perspective of kids. Whether you choose to take a kid deer or duck hunting, here are two important things to remember.

1. Have more than one practice session with rifle or shotgun before the actual hunting date. A deer blind or a duck marsh is not the ideal place to teach a kid how to shoot. There are too many variables in where a deer shows up or how the ducks fly. Practice shotguns with clay targets and practice rifle shooting with paper targets until your youth hunter can shoot effectively. Only then should you mix in the excitement of wild and unpredictable game.

2. When you mentor a kid, you're the hunting coach. That's no different from being a baseball or football coach. Your purpose should be to teach your young hunter everything from natural science to hunting ethics and wild game cooking. It's the youngster's hunt, the youngster's experience. The best part is the opportunity to spend time with kids in a quiet, natural place. You can also accomplish that goal during traditional hunting seasons.