Category: Deer Hunting

Texas Whitetail Hunting

It’s been a good fall for deer hunting in Texas and the month of November is not yet over. There have been numerous reports of really nice whitetail bucks being harvested all across the state, as well as Oklahoma, with everyone indicating above average body weights and antler growth in deer. Sounds like a lot of full freezers for deer hunters.

Nothing grows more muscle, fat and antler than good habitat that is is good condition. Fortunately for both deer and hunters, that is mostly what we had this past year. We were flush with new-growth throughout the growing season. As they, say, it’s better to be lucky than good. Having a deer management plan in place on your property will help you be both.

“We saw a diverse buffet of whitetail deer foods this spring where vegetation growth was measured in feet rather than inches this year,” said Alan Cain, TPWD white-tailed deer program leader. “Meeting nutritional demands of antler growth, raising fawns and building up body fat reserves for the rigors of breeding as well as the winter should be an easy venture for white-tailed deer this year.”

Unlike in recent years, whitetail did not have to look far to find a highly-nutritious diet of native weeds and browse plants. White-tailed deer are quite selective and prefer native forbs and browse high in protein and energy that are easily digestible. Forbs, a biologist term for weeds, fit that bill, and there were in abundance this year. The can have protein levels ranging from 20 to 35 percent!

Source: Buck antler growth should be well above average, predicts Cain. Exceptions to this overall excellent outlook may be in areas of East Texas where unusually wet years can result in lower-than-normal fawn recruitment. But overall, deer hunting will be good.

“I have no reservations suggesting antler quality will be above average this year, and with a good number of bucks in the 5-year-old age class I expect a number of hunters to harvest some exceptional bucks this year,” Cain said. “The habitat conditions statewide are much better than we’ve seen in years, and the abundance of native forage will help bucks maximize antler growth this year.”

So what can hunters expect with regards to deer numbers and quality. For starters the 2014 statewide deer population estimate was 3.95 million deer, the highest estimated population since 2005. Statewide whitetail population trends indicate a slow but steady growth in the deer population during the last 10 years.

Good rainfall helped produce a lot of fawns, which added to the deer herd this year. It also means that that more deer should be considered for harvest, at least in most parts of Texas.

“Although these numbers are from 2014 I would predict the deer population to be about the same if not break the 4 million deer mark for 2015, so hunters should experience a quarry-rich hunting environment this year,” Cain predicted, citing above average fawn production this year.

He also suggests hunters take advantage of opportunities to harvest antlerless deer this season, too, in order to offset high fawn production. “Hunters need to keep deer numbers at a level the habitat can sustain during lean years,” said Cain. If next year ends up being a poor rainfall year, then a smaller deer herd is more likely to have a better fawn crop, as available food is divided up among fewer mouths.

The key to producing good white-tailed deer year-in and year-out is to maintain the proper deer carrying capacity for the habitat. There really is no substitute for population control and habitat enhancement. Of course, it helps when ample rain falls because then every property produces good deer, even in areas with fair habitat for whitetail.

In Texas, dry or low rainfall years seem to be more common than wet ones. It’s best to plan on every year being a tough year. Then, on those years when it does rain you can reap the benefits in terms of both habitat and deer conditions.

Rainfall equates to forbs and those forbs translate into healthy deer, good fawn production and big bucks, even in areas where deer numbers are higher than what would be considered optimal. Again, shooting (literally) for a lower deer herd helps make every year a good year.

Chances are the next spring will not be as good for whitetail as the last one, so do your part for local deer management and take a doe or two if there is a need to do so. Improving the whitetail hunting in your part of Texas means taking inventory of what you have, then making a plan and taking the steps to make it even better.

Texas Bowhunting Good

Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana were blessed with late-winter rains that carried through spring and into early summer of this year. The relatively mild winter last season allowed white-tailed deer to come out of winter in good condition and then they stepped right into excellent habitat conditions. In short, deer populations are in good shape going into the fall hunting seasons.

Reports from the field indicate that buck antler growth is well above average by age class this year. This is simply the result of an ample food supply and good habitat conditions that lasted into mid-summer, a time when the majority of antler growth has already taken place. This is good news for both deer and bowhunters.

Good Food, Good Bowhunting

All that food, as well as great cover, leads to increased reproduction and recruitment into our deer herds. That means more white-tailed deer, as well as bigger deer. For those hunting in Texas, the archery season has been especially good!

As good as the first-half of the year was rain-wise, since about mid-June it’s been a complete opposite—very dry across most of Texas. This has caused deer movement to increase into the fall. With many areas reporting low acorn crops, whitetail have been hitting feed stations and fall food plots hard, at least in areas that caught some of sporadic moisture earlier this month.

October Lull

Source: With the long drought gone for now adult deer are fat, healthy and likely reproduced well this spring and summer. “They should be in great condition and there should be a good crop of fawns from this year,” said Craig Endicott, northeast region supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Archers in the field the first few weeks will find deer concentrating on natural food sources, he said. Oak trees are loaded and the chinkapin oaks already are starting to drop their small, sweet acorns, he said.

“Persimmons have been productive too so there is plenty of soft mast out there as well,” he said. Deer may be difficult to see, but the October lull will fade away once the bowhunting season ends and even cooler weather begins.

One of the greatest challenges for archery hunters this year may be something they had not faced during the years of drought – heavy vegetation and a lot of natural foods. “If anything that’s the only problem, the woods are a lot thicker and that can kind of hurt the hunters just in terms of visibility,” he said.

Bowhunting for Beginners

Hunting white-tailed deer at close range is no easy task. Doing so with a bow only makes that job more difficult. For anyone that plans to take advantage of bowhunting season, the first step is to get a bow that you are comfortable with. That takes a bow that fits you, that you can draw comfortable, are experienced with and have confidence in.

READ: Plan for Deer Hunting Success

The rest boils down to outsmarting deer so that you can get them within range for a bow shot. Whether you are in Texas, or elsewhere, the key is using the wind to your advantage. Despite what folks say, a whitetail’s greatest line of defense is its nose. Stay downwind of the deer you are hunting and the shot will take care of itself, assuming you put in the practice beforehand.

Hunting Gets Support

Reading the headline, “Hunting has Big Support Nationwide,” brought a smile to my face this morning. I cut my teeth hunting small game, honed my skills pass shooting doves and finally got the go-ahead to pursue white-tailed deer. My family was instrumental in introducing me to the outdoors, which hunting was a part of. Good times!

We live in a highly polarized world. Technology is great, but nothing allows people to slug one another right in the face easier than a computer, especially when social media allows otherwise “nice” people to dogpile onto individuals for a “cause.” That cause could be a number of things, but hunters get their share of cyber-bullying.

I would venture to guess that most hunters were introduced to hunting at an early age. It’s easy for them to “get” what hunting is about. However, the majority of the people living in the US have not and will never be introduced to hunting. That’s okay. I have nothing against them, so it made me smile when I realized that most of them do not have anything against what we, as hunters, do.

Hunting Approval Rate High

Source: According to a nationwide survey it conducted this year, 77 percent of those polled strongly or moderately approve of hunting. That compares to 73 percent overall approval in 1995.

The support for hunting has been fairly consistent so far this century, previous surveys have found. Its lowest dip came in 2011 with a 74 percent approval. Just as important, disapproval of hunting overall has fallen from 22 percent in 1995 to just 12 percent. That leaves another 11 percent undecided.

The survey was in depth enough not only to find out attitudes toward hunting, but also which species is more acceptably hunted. These numbers are a little surprising because mourning dove come out at the bottom of the heap, below both black bear and mountain lion. Only 40 percent of those polled approved of dove hunting.

Deer hunting had the strongest support with 78 percent, followed by turkeys and small game such as squirrel, waterfowl and elk. All of those were above the 50 percent threshold.

Probably not surprisingly, hunting for meat got high marks, while trophy hunting and hunting within a high fence both scored last in support in categories called motivation and methods. The latter is understandable because they are issues even hunters can’t agree on, and without a deeper understanding of what really happens to create trophy hunts or within a high fence the names alone make it sound sinister.

Under the category of motivation, several reasons for hunting scored high along with collecting meat. Protection of habitat, wildlife management, population control and to protect humans from dangerous animals earned support from more than two-thirds of those polled.

Even hunting for sport had the support of more than half of respondents. While the public supports hunting overall, it has little support for hunting methods. Only hunting with dogs, presumably for upland birds and waterfowl, had an approval rating over 50 percent. Hunting on Sundays, hunting over bait, use of scent attractants and high tech gear were only as popular or slightly more than hunting within a high fence.

Should I Shoot Does?

Question: “I have hunted on a lot of different farms and a lot of public hunting properties and the farm I am hunting on now has me puzzled. The property is around 800 acres and there are deer on it but I feel the number of deer is low for the size of the farm.

There is plenty of food, water and deer cover on this farm. I just think the number of mature does and bucks are way too low. However, the landowner says the bucks don’t move because there are too many does and tells every hunter to shoot all the does they see and this will make the bucks more aggressive.

I disagree with this. I have heard the shoot does slogan many times, but if you shoot most of the does on a property won’t all the bucks be gone also? And what bucks you would have may be fighting for breeding rights but it’s going to be on the neighboring properties that are still holding does?

Also, if you have a fair number of does wouldn’t that mean more does that will come into heat and pull bucks onto your property?”

Doe Harvest Considerations

Response: Everything that you said about the over-harvest of does is correct. Beware of the ole “I heard that to manage deer you have to…” trap. Many hunters and landowners have fallen into it. Like a lot of things we hear, if it’s taken out of context then it’s no longer accurate, it’s not applicable.

In the case of the property that your hunting on, there likely was a time when the doe population needed to be reduced. It sounds like that is no longer the case—unless that is still the goal.

I don’t know the stipulations of you being able to hunt this particular 800 acre farm, but maybe the owner of the property just wants fewer deer on his farm. Fewer does means fewer deer and less crop damage, which may be the landowner’s goal.

The take-home lesson for others reading this: Before applying someone else’s management strategy to your property  make sure it’s relevant to the deer herd and your goals.

Doe Harvest to Manage Density

Reducing the number of female deer is the principle way to limit the growth of a whitetail population. We should all be in agreement on this one. That’s why the intense harvest of does still has a time and a place. There are still pockets scattered across the whitetail’s range where high numbers of whitetail deer are causing problems.

This spells bad news for habitat, agricultural producers and the owners of motor vehicles. A few good years of fawn production, population growth combined with little to no deer harvest and—boom—you’ve got a problem.

Doe harvest is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to reducing deer density in an area, but it’s definitely not a management silver bullet for better hunting.

Using Does in Estrus to Attract Bucks

Another no-brainer: Bucks are attracted to does in estrus. The more does you have hanging around the better the chances that bucks will want to visit your property. This seems like a good thing, but too many does causes problems down the road.

The problems that arise from too many does are when (1) deer numbers get out of hand (see above), (2) buck to doe ratios get out of whack, (3) breeding takes 3-4 months and (4) bucks get run down to the point that they don’t survive the winter or it takes a series of years for bucks and their antlers to recover.

Yes, it’s good to have does but only up to a point and then it’s counterproductive on many levels.

Adaptive Resource Management: A Principle for Deer

Managing a white-tailed deer population is about changing what you are doing in response to an ever-changing deer herd in order to achieve desired results. In one instance it may be perfectly justified to harvest every doe that a hunter sees.

This would make sense on a property with a very high deer density. It would even make sense on a property with a very skewed buck to doe ratio, where bucks are in short supply and does are numerous. But at some point the increased harvest of female deer should achieve the desired results.

It may take a season or two or three or even longer, but then that practice is not necessary.

At some point, the harvest management strategy of “shoot every doe in sight” becomes something different. It has to change or you will have very few deer left. Management means adapting to a new deer herd each season. Otherwise you are simply hunting, rather over-hunting as in the prior example.

The new harvest strategy may be one where only enough does are harvested to maintain a specific deer density or the new goal may be to maintain a particular buck to doe ratio. Ideally, adaptive harvest management factors in deer density (impacted by fawn production) and ratio goals as the deer population changes each year.

Why do We Hunt?

We are all born cold, wet and hungry. That’s why it’s human nature to be a hunter. When we hear the question, “Why do people hunt deer and other game?,” we all know it’s in our genes. Whether we hunt or not, we all know it because we all hunt — for one thing or another.

For those lucky enough to be exposed to white-tailed deer hunting at an early age, those first few outdoor experiences can light a fire inside us that lasts a lifetime. Someone mentoring another to hunt is nurturing a wise use of nature.

It was awesome being a youngster back in the day, waiting with as much anticipation for the opening day of deer season as I did for Christmas, probably even more. Even now, it’s still pretty darn exciting.

Hunting can be super intense, usually for mere seconds, but most non-hunters would classify the majority of the time spent hunting at “boring.” Hunting game animals requires a fair amount of time and there is not always a reward that can be easily shown for it; sometimes it’s only inside us.

Deer Hunting is Focus

Hunting was also simpler back when I was a kid. Of course, everything is simple when you’re young and unable, or maybe just unwilling, to interject the complexities which adults like to bring to situations. Do we need to deliberate over which broadhead or rifle caliber is best for killing something? No, they all do the job when used properly.

While less than 10 years old, I got swept up into chasing critters  — dove, quail, ducks, geese, the whole lot — and putting real, organic food on the table at a time when white-tailed deer management on private lands was in its infancy and full-blown, guided deer hunting was not yet widespread.

In fact, “organic” was implied on the food we ate. It didn’t need to be labeled as such. Times have definitely changed, but have hunters?

Hunting to Keep Score

Source: “If another kid under the age of 10 comes up to me and gives me the Boone & Crockett score of the buck they shot or says something like, “Dad shot a buck last year but it was only a 140” I will scream.

It is perfectly natural for kids or adults to become excited with the prospect of shooting big bucks but the fact is in the state of Texas we have created an unhealthy obsession. Many young hunters are so antler crazy they have zero regard for the deer and measure their hunting experience only by what a tape measure can show them.

The industry itself has not helped matters.

Trophy bucks that cost hunters between $5-$10,000 to shoot are paraded around hunting programs and many outdoors magazines like they are the only measure of a good hunter.

I have nothing against folks with money but what these deer in most cases are is a sign that a hunter could afford to hunt on the right high fenced ranch.

Fishing has not quite reached this level due to far more public access and the fact catching big fish still requires a skill set. These days the only thing required to shoot a monster buck is a monster payday.”

Why do You Hunt Deer?

The “hunting industry” takes it’s licks from time to time from hunters and non-hunters alike. But let’s face it, everything is controversial now days. Spoiler alert: The things that get the most attention in big media are actually of little consequence to most of us in our daily lives. That’s why I canned my live TV subscription. I can read the (often divisive) headlines online.

As a rule, we should not apply the standards of others to our own lives. Don’t size up your job, house or vacation against that of a friend’s seen on Facebook. As hunters, we should not measure the trophies of others against our own. Don’t use another’s tape measure of success to define your own.

We hunt game animals, but hunting is not to be gamed. We all have our reasons for why we hunt deer and other wildlife. The hunting community shares those reasons, for which there are really only a handful, for the challenge, food, recreation, tranquility, our heritage, and it’s in our DNA.

Deer hunting is still as simple and pure as we make it. We can improve the habitat found on our lands by maintaining the deer herd. We can manage the deer populations that use our properties, whether it be 10 acres, 100 acres or 10,000 acres. We can put food on the table, something that literally and figuratively satisfies our innate hunger to hunt.

Every hunter chooses the conditions under which he or she releases an arrow, pulls a trigger, takes a deer. We all have our reasons. Why we hunt deer and other game animals is our own business. We define our trophies in different ways. There’s plenty we could argue about in this world. Each and every deer I’m lucky enough to harvest is still a trophy to me.