I’m not sure what is going on, but the deer hunting has been tough. In fact, my buddy in Lampasas County agrees with the the “half-ass” deer rut. It has been strange that hunters across Central Texas have not seen the heavy rut observed during 2008 and 2009 even though bucks have been chasing does here-and-there throughout the entire month of November.

In some areas, hunters are reporting seeing nothing going on while other ranches just down the road are seeing bucks right on top of does. As far as what I have seen in the field while whitetail hunting, the highest level of rut activity was around mid-November. Whitetail hunters on our deer lease saw a few bucks chasing during opening weekend and Thanksgiving, but it’s not been widespread. My feeling is that the majority of the rutting activity is over for the year, but there will still be some bucks chasing into late December.

White-tailed deer harvest was a bit down over much of Texas. The many deer processors throughout the state have reported that the number of deer they had taken in from hunters was down this year, although some more than others. I suspect the already-slow economy may have decreased the number of trips hunters made during the season. It may have even caused some to process their own deer. However, the improving habitat conditions Texas experienced last year played a role as well.

Before archery season it was dry. Very, very dry. However, just before archery season it started raining and we caught a good number of timely showers during October. That transformed the poor habitat into great habitat within a matter of days. Great from a whitetail deer management perspective, but not from a hunting perspective. The abundance of forbs caused by good ground moisture combined with a good acorn crop meant deer were eating well during October and November. Deer were not depending on corn feeders, so they tended to stay away from them.

Does were simply not visiting feeders. Does will often neglect feeders when abundant (and especially when better) forbs and acorns are available. Plus, during the rut I think whitetail does avoid feeders regardless of food availability because of constant unwanted attention from bucks. If the there was a low buck to doe ratio in your area (where you have a low number of bucks per doe), then you probably did not see many deer this year.

Deer hunting was slow this year in Texas, but that can only mean that some deer will be carried over into the upcoming hunting season. One season may have ended, but now it’s time to get ready for the next one!

The beginning of November has marked the beginning of Texas’s general deer hunting season for years. Most gun hunters have waited over 9 months for another shot at their favorite game animal, the white-tailed deer. The deer are still out there, or so says Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). And they should know, they base their county hunting regulations based on deer surveys conducting in late summer and early fall.

And speaking of regulations, I noticed in TPWD’s Outdoor Annual that deer hunting regulations have changed throughout many Texas counties. In many cases, hunting regulations have gotten more liberal, adding crossbows to the Archery season, raising doe bag limits for many places, and adding in the late doe and spike season for additional counties, as well. So read up the regs before jumping in the bind, and good luck!

Houston Chronicle: Saturday marks the opening of Texas’ general hunting season for white-tailed deer, a fact easily discerned by observing traffic on highways across the state over the next 48 hours. Beginning with a stream today and building to a torrent through Friday, tens of thousands of trucks and SUVs packed with camping equipment, groceries, hunting gear and often towing trailers loaded with all-terrain vehicles will spread across the state. Inside those vehicles will be a majority of the 650,000 or so Texans expected to participate in the most popular hunting ritual in the state.

White-tailed deer draw afield more of Texas’ 1.3 million hunters than any other game animal. Approximately one out of 35 Texans over the age of 8 hunted deer this past season. About 62 percent of them were successful, according to data collected by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The number of deer hunters and the percentage of deer hunters taking at least one deer are the highest they have been since TPWD began using standardized surveys following the 1972-73 deer season.

“I expect those numbers to be about the same this season, and maybe even higher,” said Mitch Lockwood, TPWD’s white-tailed deer program coordinator. “Deer hunting is huge in Texas.”

Read the rest of the story

I went whitetail hunting North of Highway 190 between Menard and Christoval last weekend. I observed lots of really healthy deer, bucks and does. The area we hunt had a bluetongue epidemic about three to four years ago, so we still do not see as many 4.5 to 5.5 year old bucks as all the hunters would like. As other hunters I know have stated, the deer look great and it should be good year in Schleicher County. They received much more rain than a lot of the State, so there was abundant food. Antlers and body condition should be well above avergae.

I saw both mature and immature bucks all weekend, but never saw any rutting activity by the deer. I even used some doe in estrus scent just to see if I could get any reaction, but nothing. The mature bucks I saw completely ignored the hot scent and ignored the does themselves, too. The big bucks were still more interested in pushing the others away from the feeder and filling their bellies. Most years, the rut kicks off with the first major cold front in early November.

We will see what happens this year. A lot of things have gone good this year, so we can only hope for the best. If any of you guys hunt out here, drop a line so we can see how the hunting is going.