Deer season should be good one in 2009-10
Texas is a hunting mecca with a national reputation for producing high quality big game animals, especially whitetail bucks.
Deer hunting prospects are always best during fall seasons that follow a wet spring and summer. Wet weather during the offseason promotes good habitat, which optimizes antler growth on bucks and survival rates among fawns.
Just the opposite occurs when the weather doesn't cooperate. Poor habitat means a reduction in nutrients vital for growing antlers and optimizing fawn recruitment.
Though it is still too early to paint a picture of what the 2009 season might bring to Texas' tightly-woven deer hunting fraternity, things are looking pretty good right now in terms of habitat conditions statewide. That's the word from Mitch Lockwood, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's whitetail deer program leader.
"Parts of South Texas and deep West Texas are still hurting pretty bad because of a lack of rainfall, but throughout most of the state it sounds like things have improved dramatically over the last several weeks," Lockwood said.
Lockwood said parts of the Hill Country are lush with green vegetation as the result of recent rainfall. However, the water table in that area remains well below normal, as evidenced by low water levels in stock ponds, reservoirs and streams.
Meanwhile, the biologist said tanks are full and creeks are running on parts of the Edwards Plateau around San Saba and Llano counties. Timely rains across much of the Post Oak and Pineywoods have left those regions in good shape as well.
"I'm hearing mixed reports, but habitatwise, the conditions throughout most of the state are looking fairly decent, much better than last year," Lockwood said.
A lingering drought took its toll on much of Texas' best whitetail range last year. Numbers turned by David Brimager support that claim.
Brimager heads up the Texas Big Game Awards program for the Texas Wildlife Association. The program promotes quality game management practices in Texas by recognizing hunters who take quality deer, as well as the land managers who produce them.
The program has scored categories for whitetail deer (typical and non-typical), mule deer (typical and non-typical), and pronghorn antelope. There also is a first harvest category.
According to Brimager, the 2008-09 season was the fifth worst in the 18-year history of the program. He said TBGA received only 987 scored entries by the Feb. 15 deadline. The overall numbers including first harvest entries totaled 1,501 entries, well shy of the 1,980 entries received the previous season.
Brimager blamed mediocre season using two words: habitat conditions.
"If you were to place a rainfall map over the entry data, it would tell the story," Brimager said. "In years when we don't get timely rainfall in Texas, the TBGA entry numbers go down. Things just didn't pan out last season for a lot of hunters. What we heard from a lot of them was that the quality was there, but the quantity wasn't."
Even in a poor year, Texas always manages to crank out some outstanding bucks, and last year was no exception, according to the 2008-09 TBGA scored entry list. Brimager said he almost ready to make the list official.
Three of the biggest surprises came on the heels of the first mule deer season in Gaines County. The Top 3 mule deer bucks taken in Texas last season were reported from that county located along the western edge of the lower Panhandle.
All of the bucks were non-typicals. The biggest was shot by Danny Young of Seagraves. The enormous rack grosses 230 Boone and Crockett points. Jason Stine killed the No. 2 mulie, which grosses 224 3/8. The No. 3 Gaines County buck taken by James Moore grosses 221 3/8.
The 2008-09 season also produced a pair of pronghorn antelope from Hudspeth County that rank No. 2 and No. 5 on the TBGA's all-time list.
The No. 2 pronghorn belongs to Tina Buford of Harlingen at 87 7/8. It was Buford's first antelope. The No. 5 antelope scores 87 2/8. It was shot by Robert Anderson of Rockwall.
The storied King Ranch in South Texas cranks out some giant whitetail bucks each season, but New Mexico archer Terry Hall set a new benchmark for typical racks on opening day of the 2008 early archery season. Measured in velvet, the impressive 13-pointer grosses 194 1/8 and nets 186 1/8. It ranks as the No. 7 TBGA typical of all-time and the No. 1 typical turned in for Region 8 last season.
East Texas turned out some whopper whitetails last season as well. The top scoring non-typical in Region 6 is a 17-pointer shot in Trinity County by Chuck Journee of Spring. Journee's buck grosses 190 gross and 186 3/8 net.
The top-scoring Region 5 non-typical is a 19-pointer shot in Burleson County by Brian Bender of Brenham. Bender's buck grosses 181 2/8 with 177 5/8 net.
Jeff Schafer's Shelby County 10-pointer was the highest scoring typical reported in the Pineywoods last season. With a gross score of 170 6/8 (164 5/8), it is also one the best scoring typicals to come from East Texas in recent times.
Brimager said the Top 15 big game animals taken last season will be on display and recognized during the 2009 Statewide TBGA Sportsman's Celebration held in conjunction with TWA's 24th Annual Convention on Friday and Saturday in San Antonio. The top 15 include the top three each in the following species and categories: typical whitetail, non-typical whitetail, typical mule deer, non-typical mule deer and pronghorn antelope. The awards ceremony gets underway at noon Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa.
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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