So, clean your guns and put them away.
Whoa. Not so fast. Thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s what you do when the season ACTUALLY CLOSES. And it hasnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t.
The white-tailed deer season is open until January 5 in most counties in North and Central Texas. By all means check the òòò½ÊÓƵœTexas Outdoor Annualòòò½ÊÓƵ (OA) for your county. Some counties may be closed.
Closing date for whitetail season in South Texas counties comes later, on January 19.
Most counties have a special late season for antlerless deer (including bucks with no more than one unbranched antler). Itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s open for two weeks immediately after closing of their regular season. But not in all counties.
Check the OA òòò½ÊÓƵ Listings starting on page 67. CWD information, Antler Restrictions, Tagging, and Mandator Harvest Reporting also apply and are listed in the Index and under Deer in the Game Animal section (P. 54).
Although many hunters have tagged a buck and òòò½ÊÓƵœstacked armsòòò½ÊÓƵ (military term for setting rifles away safely when not in immediate usage), thereòòò½ÊÓƵ™s still plenty of hunting left.
Many counties allow a second buck and several does. Sure, most of the hunting season has passed, but there are good bucks available. Hunting pressure has also lessened.
A lady landowner took a ride around her South Texas ranch on the last day of the season years ago and killed a true trophy buck they hadnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t seen before, with a .243. It was close to being the biggest buck of the year. I verified her story with her and TPWD Wildlife Biologist Butch Young at a wildlife program. Butch had scored the buck. It really happened.
A Missouri hunter shot an albino buck on the last day of the 2019 season, according to the internet. And recently, a woman named Cindy killed a deer on the last day of last season with a .44-40 caliber black powder rifle replica of an 1866 Winchester rifle.
And, I watched a buck tending a doe for ten minutes once on the last day of the season. Late season success happens.
A late rut for yet unbred does may still keep bucks busy. But an article by Brian Grossman, Communications Director for the National Deer Association, shows that toward the end of the season, bucks often change their eating places and plants. But after an active rut, theyòòò½ÊÓƵ™re worn out and hungry. They donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t feed where and on what they dined earlier in the season. Crops are gone as are most acorns. If feeders run low, they turn to woody browse. Look for any green areas and woodlands with good understory. Do more scouting. Look for tracks. Move cameras to suspected sites.
Antlerless deer season nullifies excuses for not taking does. My wife and friends just finished making muchos doe-venison tamales for Christmas Eve. Backstrap steaks are great on cold nights. And doe overpopulation is rampant. Most hunters donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t take ONE doe. And wonder why they donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t see more bucks.
Get out and help control does. Unless you really donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t like to hunt.
Commented