Drought impacting deer hunting season
With dry weather persisting throughout much of the state, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists expect hunters to see deer consistently frequenting feeders during the start of the general white-tailed deer season.
“A number of hunters and landowners report seeing lots of deer, especially younger deer,” said Alan Cain, White-Tailed Deer Program Leader for TPWD. “Part of that is a result of good fawn crops the last couple of years so there’s more bucks in those younger age classes relative to bucks in that four- to six-year-old range. As we move into November and closer to the rut, those older bucks should increase movement activities in search of does, hopefully presenting an opportunity for a lucky hunter.”
The general white-tailed deer season runs through Jan. 1 in the North Zone and Jan. 15 in the South Zone for Texas.
Harvest has been light to this point, Cain said, but that’s not unexpected with the warm weather that prevailed in October.
Additionally, drought's effect on deer habitats have already shown an impact on antler quality heading into October’s archery season.
“Overall antler quality is down a bit, but there’s still some great bucks being harvested during archery and Managed Lands Deer Program season,” said Cain.
For the four counties that remain dedicated to archery-only hunting (Dallas, Grayson, Rockwall and Collin), hunters are now required to report all white-tailed deer harvests within 24 hours through the My Harvest Hunt App. Accurate reporting allows agency wildlife biologists to properly study hunting impacts on local herds and develop more hunting opportunities.
A special youth-only gun deer season is set in both zones for Jan. 2-15, 2023. For additional late season deer hunting opportunities, county specific regulations and information on how to properly tag and report a harvest, consult the 2022-23 Outdoor Annual.
Archery hunters are required to purchase an Archery Endorsement in addition to their hunting license. Hunters taking advantage of Texas public hunting lands must have the Annual Public Hunting Permit. Public land hunters should also consult the Public Hunting Lands Map Booklet to review regulations that may apply to specific areas. The My Texas Hunt Harvest app can be used to complete on-site registration electronically at a public hunting area.
Beginning with the 2022-23 license year, Texas residents can purchase a digital Super Combo license (Items 111, 117 and 990) that will authorize digital tagging of harvested deer, turkey and oversized red drum. The digital license option is available through online purchase only. More information about the digital tag can be found on the TPWD website.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Drought impacts deer hunting season in Texas
