Bow hunting season for White-tailed deer starts tomorrow in Texas. The ongoing extreme drought has culled deer population in many parts of the state. Nevertheless, Chris Mitchell with Texas Parks and Wildlife says the department wants hunters to take their full bag limit of deer this season. And that's less about sport and more about survival of the species.
Mitchell said that this practice "will reduce the number of mouths that are already on a stressed area, and will make it better for those deer that do survive. ”
The deer population has been hurt by a lack of acorns from oak trees and many deer will face starvation over the winter. Hunters who practice baiting will have the advantage this season, because so many deer are hungry. But any deer they do see will likely have low body weight and smaller antlers from lack of food. According to Mitchell, it's too soon to tell how the drought will affect the deer population in the long run. But next spring should bring some answers on both the number of new births and the tally of young deer that didn't make it.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife website has more information on hunting season and the effects of the drought.