‘Doe season’ yields positive early results
Hunters benefit from rule change allowing four-day harvest of antlerless white-tailed deer in 21 counties
Thousands of Texas white-tailed deer hunters took advantage of a recent rule change over the Thanksgiving weekend that helped fill the freezer and manage herds.
Hunters were able to harvest antlerless deer as part of a four-day “doe season” that began on Thanksgiving Day in 21 counties in the southern portion of the state’s Post Oak Savannah region. Those counties are Austin, Bastrop, Caldwell, Colorado, Comal (east of Interstate 35), DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad (north of U.S. 59), Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays (east of Interstate 35), Jackson (north of U.S. 59), Karnes, Lavaca, Lee, Travis (east of Interstate 35), Victoria (north of U.S. 59), Waller, Washington, Wharton (north of U.S. 59) and Wilson.
For hunters not participating in Texas’ Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP), the doe days marked the first time in decades they could take antlerless deer during the general rifle season in those counties. Previously, hunters could only harvest antlerless deer during the archery, youth-only and muzzleloader seasons. Doe harvest during the general season was restricted to permit only in 1993 and to MLDP only in 1996.
The implementation of the season not only gives hunters an added shot at antlerless deer but also keeps deer numbers in check. Populations have gradually increased over the last decade-plus in those counties and hunting helps maintain habitat by keeping herds within their carrying capacity. Balancing gender ratios and taking pressure off buck harvest are also perks of the doe days. Hunters who spend evenings surrounded by 20-30 does gorging under the feeder were glad to see the season’s arrival.
“It’s adding a little bit of harvest, but it’s not excessive,” said Alan Cain, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s white-tailed deer program leader. “I think it’s a good balance. It’s helping us get to where we need to be.”
Cain said the first run of the four-day doe season and the mandatory harvest reporting it accompanied seem to be a resounding success. The regulations in those 21 counties require hunters to report antlerless harvest within 24 hours to TPWD’s website or the “My Texas Hunt Harvest” app on their phones throughout the archery-only, muzzleloader-only, youth-only and general seasons.
When the doe season was proposed, Cain said some landowners and hunters voiced concerns about the potential for overharvesting. Results from the season ease those worries.
A harvest of 2,980 antlerless deer was reported during the four-day season, which is roughly 140 does per county and a substantially lower number than what Cain anticipated.
“I was expecting a harvest of 5, 6, 7,000 deer across those 21 counties, at least 5 or 6,000,” Cain said. “I wasn’t expecting it to be as low as it is.”
DeWitt held the distinction of being the most bountiful county over the elongated Thanksgiving weekend, producing 437 does. Fayette came in second with 387. Several counties had 200-plus antlerless deer harvested over the doe days: Bastrop, Caldwell, Colorado, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Lavaca, Lee and Wilson. Meanwhile, Comal and Hays had one and three antlerless deer harvested, respectively.
With the number of does harvested and reported at 3,783 when including archery and youth-only season deer, about four out of every five in those counties were taken during the new four-day season. Regulations allowed for two antlerless deer to be taken per county, but 80 percent of hunters filled only one tag.
Hunters taking fewer deer than expected during the doe days is coupled with MLDP harvest recommendations usually only being half fulfilled. The wide gap between harvest recommendations by TPWD biologists and what hunters take creates a buffer of sorts and shows that overharvesting was not an issue.
In 2017 under MLDP, 11,486 antlerless deer were harvested in those counties. That number was only a little more than half of TPWD’s harvest recommendation of more than 20,000 deer. By adding the 3,783 does taken in those counties this year to the 11,486 MLDP deer, there is still plenty of wiggle room under the 20,000-deer recommendation. That harvest recommendation was just for MLDP and doesn’t even touch the recommendations for the regular deer seasons.
Cain says if the antlerless harvest stays near those levels, it will bode well for the doe days in the future. The regulations will be assessed after four years in effect. It’s still early in the process, but the initial signs are positive.
“If that harvest stays consistent with about 3,700 animals — or somewhere in that range (of) 3,000 to 4,000 animals — I think we leave that regulation in place,” Cain said. “It’s not having a significant biological impact on that population and it’s providing additional hunting opportunities.”
Most Texas counties allow for the taking of antlerless deer during the general season, with abbreviated seasons mostly in the eastern part of the state.
Wildlife management cooperatives enrolled in MLDP are prevalent there and those co-op members take advantage of the program’s expanded opportunities for antlerless deer harvest. Participants in the MLDP season could harvest does by any legal means between Sept. 28 and Feb. 29 — copious chances in comparison to the short stint that general-season hunters get.
However, only some hunters receive the extended window provided by that MLDP season. These new doe days give opportunities to hunters in the general season.
“It also is helping folks in some areas who don’t want to participate in MLD or don’t have the ability to do that for whatever reason,” Cain said. “It gives them a chance to help manage the deer numbers in their area.”
With a proposed fee structure looming for MLDP, those who once found the program appealing for the extended season may not want to pay the price. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission aims to implement a fee for the 2021-22 season and hunters could choose to utilize the doe days instead.
Cain said only time will tell if the amount of folks participating in the fourday doe season will increase if a proposed fee for MLDP is adopted. A fivemonth long MLDP season, liberal bag limits and conservation assistance by TPWD staff remains a huge benefit for participating hunters and landowners.
Hunters in the 21 counties in south-central Texas who have waited years to shoot a doe during the general season, however, have plenty to be grateful about from a long Thanksgiving weekend.