By Gary Joiner
TFB Radio Network Manager
Early favorable forage and range conditions could boost white-tailed deer prospects in Texas this season, according to the state’s white-tailed deer program leader.
The early spring period of March and April set the stage for potential antler growth, Alan Cain of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
“If we got good conditions then, those bucks are really starting to develop their antlers, start their own growth period. And there’s been some research that shows that’s one of the critical times,” Cain said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “If you’ve got good conditions then, the buck should likely have a good set of antlers or have a good start and finish out well.”
Cain said conditions in July and early August also helped with maximizing growth potential and boosting white-tailed deer prospects.
“If we’ve got good range conditions, then those bucks are going to have the good forage out there to allow them to maximize their antler growth potential under these conditions. And when we have conditions like this, they ought to be at the top of their game,” he said. “Even if it dries out a little bit, we have a lot of deep soil moisture out there, and that’s going to sustain that vegetation and native forage out there for those deer and those bucks so they can maximize on the nutritional benefits and, ultimately, put that back in antler growth. Hopefully, we should see some exceptional antlers this year.”
Cain said hunters should see a fair number of four-, five- and six-year-old bucks, relative to other age classes, as a result of good fawn crops in those years.
He said the average fawn crop statewide is about 40 percent (40 fawns per every hundred does). He expects the 2019 fawn crop to be above that, maybe near 50-60 percent statewide.
“We’re expecting good things this hunting season, and that’s all because of earlier rainfall and the resulting habitat quality that means there’s lots of available forage, lots of quality forage out there for those deer,” Cain said.
The archery-only season for white-tailed deer for all 252 counties with an open season is Sept. 28 to Nov. 1. The general season for the North Zone, which is 226 counties, is Nov. 2 to Jan. 5, 2020. The general season for the 30 counties in the South Zone is Nov. 2 to Jan. 19, 2020.
The youth-only hunting season in the 226 counties in the North Zone and 30 counties in the South Zone is Oct. 26-27 and Jan. 6-19, 2020. The muzzleloader season is Jan. 6-19, 2020.
The special late season in the North Zone, which includes 106 counties, is Jan. 6-19, 2020, and the special late season in the 30 counties in the South Zone is Jan. 20-Feb. 2, 2020.