The beginning of November has marked the beginning of Texas’s general deer hunting season for years. Most gun hunters have waited over 9 months for another shot at their favorite game animal, the white-tailed deer. The deer are still out there, or so says Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). And they should know, they base their county hunting regulations based on deer surveys conducting in late summer and early fall.
And speaking of regulations, I noticed in TPWD’s Outdoor Annual that deer hunting regulations have changed throughout many Texas counties. In many cases, hunting regulations have gotten more liberal, adding crossbows to the Archery season, raising doe bag limits for many places, and adding in the late doe and spike season for additional counties, as well. So read up the regs before jumping in the bind, and good luck!
Houston Chronicle: Saturday marks the opening of Texas’ general hunting season for white-tailed deer, a fact easily discerned by observing traffic on highways across the state over the next 48 hours. Beginning with a stream today and building to a torrent through Friday, tens of thousands of trucks and SUVs packed with camping equipment, groceries, hunting gear and often towing trailers loaded with all-terrain vehicles will spread across the state. Inside those vehicles will be a majority of the 650,000 or so Texans expected to participate in the most popular hunting ritual in the state.
White-tailed deer draw afield more of Texas’ 1.3 million hunters than any other game animal. Approximately one out of 35 Texans over the age of 8 hunted deer this past season. About 62 percent of them were successful, according to data collected by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The number of deer hunters and the percentage of deer hunters taking at least one deer are the highest they have been since TPWD began using standardized surveys following the 1972-73 deer season.
“I expect those numbers to be about the same this season, and maybe even higher,” said Mitch Lockwood, TPWD’s white-tailed deer program coordinator. “Deer hunting is huge in Texas.”