By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) recently previewed potential changes to regulations for turkey, waterfowl, desert bighorn sheep and deer hunters in 2024-2025.

White-tailed deer
One change would expand doe days in 43 counites in the Post Oak Savannah and Pineywoods ecoregions.

“Survey data suggests there’s an upward trend in the deer population in those 43 counties. Additionally, our survey data indicates there’s a skewed sex ratio of 3.9 does per buck, which is less than desirable,” Alan Cain, TPWD big game program director, said. “Our big game harvest surveys indicate that antlerless harvest is about 45% of the total harvest there.”

During a recent public hearing, a farmer from Bell County asked TPWD to expand doe days to help landowners control the growing deer population that was hurting his and other farmers’ crops.

“Myself and some other staff have received feedback from farmers and landowners in that western part of those counties along the I-35 corridor about crop depredation or crop damage issues related to growing deer populations in that area,” Cain said. “They’re seeing an increase in the amount of habitat fragmentation, habitat loss from development, and it’s just shrinking those deer populations into smaller areas and created some problems.”

The proposal, if adopted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in 2024, would expand doe days in the selected counties from 16 to 23.

“That would provide more opportunity to manage those deer populations, reduce crop damage in some areas and provide more antlerless hunting opportunities,” Cain said.

TPWD is also considering removing the special muzzleloader season in part of the state.

“Staff have received multiple requests from individuals to replace the muzzleloader season with a primitive weapon season to allow various methods of take, such as archery equipment, muzzleloader or straight black powder rifles or other types of primitive weapons,” Cain said.

Muzzleloader season is currently the two weeks following the close of the general deer hunting season in the north zone.

“Rather than create a primitive weapon season—so we’re not carving out some special options for people with these different requests—staff would be considering a proposal to eliminate the muzzleloader season and the special late season, the doe and spike season, in the remaining North Texas counties, and extend the general season an additional two weeks to overlap essentially what the muzzleloader and special late season is now,” Cain said.

That would allow hunters to use any legal means to hunt deer rather than limiting it to muzzleloader only.

Youth deer
The department is also considering modifications to the rules pertaining to youth hunting on properties enrolled in the Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) Harvest Option.

“Currently, harvest of branch antlered bucks during the first 35 days of the season can only occur with archery equipment. It doesn’t matter who it is—youth or adult,” Cain said.

Unlike the MLDP harvest option season, during the early youth hunting season, youth hunters may use a firearm, under county regulations, to harvest any buck.

The two seasons overlap.

“The difference between what method of take youth can use to harvest branch antlered buck under the harvest option versus the county regulations has been confusing and provides some restrictions on what youth can actually harvest buck-wise under the harvest option during that early part of the season or those weekend dates,” Cain said.

To ease the confusion, TPWD staff propose easing restrictions on the method of take for youth under the MLDP harvest option by allowing them to take a buck with any firearm on the same dates as early youth season under county regulations.

Desert bighorn sheep
One proposal would shift the season dates for desert bighorn sheep hunting.

The season currently runs from Sept. 1 through July 31.

“That one month break in August is necessary to avoid hunting during the period in which our biologists conduct the bighorn sheep surveys. However, staff have shifted the survey period from August to Oct. 1 through Nov. 14 in response to revisions to the department’s aerial survey protocol, in which we conduct surveys at a cooler time of year for safety matters,” Cain said.

If approved by the commission next year, the new desert bighorn sheep hunting season would be Nov. 15 through Sept. 30.

Goose hunting
One proposal under consideration would remove species limitations for dark geese hunters in the west zone.

“In the western zone, the dark goose aggregate daily bag limit, for this season, is five with no more than two white-front geese,” Shaun Oldenburger, TPWD small game program director, said. “Simplistically, it’ll just go down to five with no species limitation for basically the next hunting season.”

The removal in the western zone is the result of additional research on greater white-fronted geese, partially funded by TPWD, indicating the species wintering in the western zone mix with all the other midcontinent greater white-fronted geese and are not specifically from a breeding location that was once a concern to waterfowl managers.

The change, according to Kevin Kraai, TPWD waterfowl program leader, would bring west Texas in line with the rest of the western tier of the Central Flyway.

The species restrictions would remain in place for the eastern zone due to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requirements.

The commission may also be asked to approve removal of the Light Goose Conservation Order as the result of fewer light geese wintering in Texas.

“This last year, we were well under 200,000 geese,” Oldenburger said. “That’s a fairly large decline over the last 20 years on the Texas coast.”

The conservation order is not a hunting season. Instead, it allowed hunters to harvest more light geese in an attempt to reduce light goose numbers. At the time, it was believed too many light geese would create an ecological collapse at wintering grounds in Canada.

Two public scoping meetings were held on the future of light goose management in Texas in early November.

Duck hunting
Duck hunters may also notice a small change in the next edition of the Outdoor Annual.

In 2020, the American Ornithological Union accepted Mexican ducks as a separate species.

This year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added the species to the list of those protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

“That’s a federal regulation. Our state regulations have to conform with that. We have a regulation on ‘Dusky Ducks’ we define as mottled ducks, Mexican-like ducks, black ducks and their hybrids,” Oldenburger said. “Our proposal in January will just remove the ‘like,’ and it’ll just say Mexican duck. That’ll be in the definition of dusky ducks moving forward.”

Dove hunters may have to take some time off to take advantage of the six special white-winged dove days next year.

“This year, it worked out pretty well because Sept. 1 was on a Saturday, but thanks to a leap year in calendar progression, next year’s September looks a little uglier with Sept. 1 falling on a Sunday and then you have Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 2). Then you have the weekend of the seventh and eighth and then the 14th. The 14th is the earliest day we can have regular dove hunting in the South Zone,” Oldenburger said. “We’re going to have to decide where to put those six days. It’s going to be a little bit more complicated, and it won’t just be weekends and Fridays like the last couple of years.”

Youth turkey, deer and squirrel hunting
TPWD is considering adding an extra day to the fall wild turkey, deer and squirrel hunting seasons.

“We received some public comment that they (the public) would like to extend our fall youth seasons to a Friday,” Oldenburger said. “We have a Saturday and Sunday, but they’d also like to see a Friday. Biologically, adding one more day to the youth seasons it not a big deal.

Turkey
The department also discussed some potential changes for turkey hunters. A list of those is available here.

Timeline
The proposed regulation changes are informal until January. At that time, TPWD staff will bring formal proposals to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission for their consideration. If approved, the proposed rule changes will be published in the Texas Register, and TPWD will begin accepting public comment.

TPWD will take those comments into consideration and then potentially bring back any proposed rule changes to the commission for adoption in March.

The rule changes, if adopted, would impact the 2024-2025 season.