One of the most important wildlife management tools for hunters and landowners in Texas is selective harvest.
Selective harvest is used by wildlife managers, hunters and landowners alike to best manage resources on a specific property.
“I think (selective harvest) is extremely important. We had a small eight-point come out in front of us that would have been a trophy for a lot of folks. My brother was kind of urging me to take that one. I had seen that deer last year with its second set of horns and I knew that he had the potential to be enormous. I want to make sure that I harvest a mature deer so that we can manage that herd and will be able to hunt for years to come,” Roger Hall, a bow hunter from Waxahachie, said in an interview with Gary Joiner for the Texas Wildlife Radio Show on the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network.
Although some bow hunters feel pressure to take a deer before general season begins, Hall reports he wasn’t concerned with that on his last hunt in Blanco County.
“I think the animals, once people start moving into the woods a little more, are going to get scared somewhat,” Hall said. “I think it’s more important to pick the animal that’s mature and harvest that one than it is to shoot the first thing that comes in front of you.”
Archery-only white-tailed deer season is open now through Nov. 6.
The general white-tailed deer season opens Nov. 7.
The full Texas Wildlife Radio Show on selective harvest can be heard here: http://bit.ly/1QPCVJi.