RANCHING Wildlife
Texas White-Tailed Deer — 2016 Hunting Season Forecast By Alan Cain, white-tailed deer program leader, Texas Parks and Wildlife
I T HAS BEEN QUITE A WHILE SINCE I CAN REMEMBER A TIME
when we have experienced great back-to-back years of good rains across most, if not all, of the state.
Because Texas is such a large state we don’t always see good habitat conditions that stretch from Amarillo to Brownsville or El Paso to Houston, but 2016 has been an unusual year. The vast majority of the state has received good rains and, surprisingly, temperatures remained relatively mild into early June. This weather pattern bodes well for white-tailed deer, and the 2016 deer season is expected to be another excellent year. However, there are a few areas where deer season may be impacted by the torrential rains and fl ooding that occurred this spring. The foundation for a great deer season starts with
the native habitat that supplies the nutritional resources deer need to maintain excellent body condition, that does need to raise their fawns, and that bucks need to maximize antler growth. Consistent and timely rains as well as cooler tem-
peratures this year have created a smorgasbord of the lush green forbs and woody browse plants that compose the majority of a deer’s diet. Deer should be in top body condition this year and
antler quality should be above average. Those river bottom habitats along portions of major river drain- ages (Brazos, Trinity, Sabine, Colorado) in the eastern
78 The Cattleman September 2016
portion of the state that are still inundated with fl ood waters will not likely recover soon enough to benefi t deer during the next month or 2 from a nutritional perspective. However, deer displaced by fl ood waters and forced into upland habitat will not have to search far to fi nd plenty of high quality forage. Hunters who haven’t found a deer hunting spot
for this fall should consider putting in for one of the drawn deer hunts conducted on Texas Parks and Wild- life Department (TPWD) Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and state parks. Each year some excellent quality bucks are bagged
on our WMAs and lots of hunters go home with an ice chest full of venison from an antlerless and spike hunts. You can fi nd out about the draw hunts on the TPWD website under the hunting link
tpwd.texas.gov/ huntwild/hunt/public. Statewide deer population growth indicates a slow
and steady increasing trend. The 2015 deer population estimate was 4.12 million
deer or about 42 deer per 1,000 acres. This is the high- est estimated deer population in 11 years. TPWD wildlife biologists will not start our statewide
deer surveys until later this fall, but hunters should expect the statewide deer population estimate for 2016 to be similar to 2015, about 4 million deer. That population estimate translates into plenty of deer
thecattlemanmagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132