By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter
After months of waiting, the day many Texas hunters have been waiting for is finally here—the white-tailed deer and turkey hunting seasons open Saturday, Nov. 5.
Deer
Although the drought has taken a toll on both deer and turkey numbers, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) reports hunters should still see plenty of deer this season.
“From a hunter perspective, the season will be a good one because the number of deer will still be similar to what it has been the past couple of years,” Alan Cain, TPWD white-tailed deer program leader, said. “I think what hunters will potentially notice is a decline in antler quality compared to last year or the year before just because we had such poor conditions coming out of last winter, spring and summer. The deer just didn’t have the maximum available nutritional resources they need.”
The fawn crop this year is estimated to be lower than in previous years due to the drought and poor conditions.
If there are several low fawn crops in a row, Texans may not see as many bucks several years down the road.
“People can use that to help them make harvest management decisions,” Cain said. “Do I want to let some of my bucks go this year so I’ll have some more next year to help that age distribution? At least young, middle, mature bucks will be a little bit more equal down the road. That’s something to consider.”
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a few changes to hunting regulations that go into effect this season.
One is mandatory harvest reporting in Collin, Rockwall, Grayson and Dallas counties.
“Those are archery-only counties through all seasons, whether it’s archery, general or the last season there,” Cain said. “That’s going to help the department get a handle on impacts of that archery harvest on the population there—especially that area that is experiencing a lot of development and growth.”
Hunters in those counties will need to report any buck or doe harvest on the My Texas Hunt Harvest app within 24 hours of harvest.
“That will give us an idea of how the population is responding to that (development) and also if the harvest is able to help reduce or maintain the population as habitat becomes less and less,” Cain said.
This year, the commission has also expanded and implemented new Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance and containment zones.
The new and expanded zones will impact hunters in parts of the following counties: Medina, Bandera, Uvalde, Duval, Jim Wells, Live Oak, McMullen and Kimble.
After the commission took action on those zones, TPWD announced new detections of CWD, a fatal, neurological deer disease, in Limestone and Gillespie counties.
“The commission, I suspect, will be contemplating this implementation of a CWD zone in a portion of Gillespie (County), and then again in that northwest part of Limestone County,” Cain said. “Hunters need to be aware of that. If you’re in one of those zones, at least in Duval County or the other existing zones, a mandatory check of your deer is required.”
Hunters in CWD zones are required to bring deer they’ve harvested to a check station within 48 hours of harvest for testing.
There are also carcass movement restrictions in all CWD zones in Texas.
“So, you can’t take a whole carcass out of the zone. It needs to be quartered before it leaves the zone,” Cain said.
There are CWD zones in the following counties and areas: the Trans-Pecos, South Central Texas and the Panhandle, as well as Kimble, Val Verde, Hunt, Lubbock and Duval counties.
A decision regarding the potential new zones in Limestone and Gillespie counties is expected this week before the general season opens.
“The intent behind the zones is to help us determine how widespread CWD is in that zone, and in the cases where it may be localized to just captive breeding facilities, it helps determine whether that disease is spread beyond that facility,” Cain said. “Obviously, if we have that, the rules that we have, like carcass movement restrictions, helps us contain the disease to a particular area.”
A list of all requirements and a list of CWD check stations is available here.
Hunters may also notice a change in the proof-of-sex requirements for harvested buck deer this year.
The general white-tailed deer hunting season in the north zone is Nov. 5-Jan. 1. In the south zone, the season is Nov. 5-Jan. 15.
Wild turkey
Due to the drought, hunters in Texas will see fewer young birds this year, but there should be plenty of two-year-olds out on the landscape.
Jason Hardin, TPWD wild turkey program leader, told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network the good news is he is forecasting an average turkey hunting season across much of the Rio Grande turkeys’ range.
“If you’re in places where you’ve turkey hunted in the past, and you regularly see birds, they should still be there,” Hardin said.
Wild turkey numbers are down in the Eastern Rolling Plains.
“A turkey roost that may have at one time had 300 birds on it today has probably 75 birds on it. There’s still a lot of birds on that landscape, but when you’re from there, and you’ve hunted there in the past, it’s just not the same number you historically would have seen,” Hardin said.
There is no fall turkey hunting season in East Texas and parts of Central Texas.
“A few of those counties along the eastern edge of the Rio Grande turkey range do not have a fall season. Always look at the Outdoor Annual and make sure you do have a fall season if you’re going to go out there,” Hardin said. “The majority of our counties with a four bird bag limit will have a fall season, but there are a handful that do not.”
The bag limit outlined in the Outdoor Annual is an annual bag limit, so if a hunter is in a county with a four bird bag limit, and harvest three turkeys in the fall, he/she can only bag one during the spring season.
The only change to turkey hunting regulations this year is the closure of the season east of IH-35 in Ellis County.
Hunters who have a Super Combo license this year have the option to digitally tag any deer or turkeys they bag.
“It’s an experiment this time around, but if you buy a Super Combo online, you can opt-in or out to do digital tagging,” Hardin said. “That means if you harvest a turkey, if you opted in for that, you’ll go onto the My Texas Hunt Harvest app, report it and get a confirmation number back. That’s your harvest report.”
After digitally submitting a harvest report, hunters should then write their confirmation number on a piece of tape or something and place it on the bird or deer wherever they would normally put a tag.
Fall turkey hunting in the north zone is open Nov. 5-Jan. 1. In the south zone, hunters may bag turkeys Nov. 5-Jan. 15.
The season in Brooks, Kenedy, Kleberg and Willacy counties is Nov. 5-Feb. 26.
Turkey hunting regulations are available here.