Can TPWD cancel hunting due to the drought?

If the drought continues till next year does TPWD have the authority to cancel state hunting seasons?

Not sure about canceling but bag limits could change. To many $$$ to be lost for a cancelled season. (IMO)

I am sure they do have that authority.

They do indeed have the Authority, but they don't have the justification IMO. A LOT of these animals would be put out of their misery if you were to kill them now...

have authority? - yes

will they? - doubtful. That is a decision that will cost revenue and impact votes in the next election ... which means it is a political decision that will cross the governors desk.

They could but don't think they will. If they closed it and we had a huge die off it would be even worse. They will try to put emphisis on taking off more numbers in some areas to help with this drought though I would think.

I think population reduction is exactly what the deer need at the moment. I can't imagine that any of the state biologists would recommend cancelling the season. We had the TPW biologist from Mason out at our place 2 weeks ago and she certainly wasn't singing that tune.

We have a very balanced buck to doe ratio at our Palo Pinto lease and have opted to not take any doe this season due to the fawn loss that we have seen or more like have not seen on our cameras.
I think we all need to feed heavy throughout the fall and winter and continue to do so if we do not get spring rains.

Not sure if they will cancel season due to the revenue they will make from tags, grocery and gear that will be sold but in Oklahoma they have canceled blackpowder season in the past due to the muzzle blast causing fires.

I would think they would want more deer taken.

I wonder if the possibility of more wildfires could weigh into their decisions to possibly cancel hunting seasons? More people in the woods means more possibilities of fires.

Yep, No campfires in deer camp for sure.

Personally, I would open it up for a slaughter. I think it will make for a healthier population.

I'm of the opinion that you take a larger amount of does "only" if you have a large population and the deer are being stressed.

Now on the other side of that if you are noticing few deer, and low fawn production I would opt out of taking any does at all.

If you are already losing deer, and fawns then you could really put your deer herd in jeopardy by taking more does right now.

Remember the saying, "only the strong survive" and if you take them out of your herd it may do more harm than good for the long term.

To reduce the impact on the stress habitat that's out there now, less deer to feed and give those not taken more available forage. Habitat factors = food, water, shelter and space and those factors need to be arranged suitably in order for the population to survive.

No different than shrinking ponds drying up, less space, food, water, cover and dissolved oxygen - for those that don't remove adequate numbers of fish from a pond, the population isn't getting smaller, their habitat is and results in oxygen difficiency, less for forage to eat and then die off.

This has been a bumper crop year for fawns around my area.

If you take away campfires from some hunters, you take away from the hunt. I have talked to a few that believe TPWD might cancell hunting due to fires set by campfires.

I don't believe it for one minute. Too late anyway.

Ron - you are correct!

Well I was going to make some bush blinds to hunt with my smokepole out of... but I think I will let that pas for a greener year.

matt

I doubt that they reduce the bag limit this year because that might lead to die-offs. Might as well let hunters take them instead of letting them starve. However, for the next few years, they could reduce the bag limits on Does to compensate if there's a reduced survival rate (fawns and/or adults) this year. They might give the herd a couple of years to bounce back. They could set the bag limit on a County by County basis based (is that proper grammer?) on the herd condition.

For me to imagine all of those hunters not being able to have a campfire this year is kind of sad. But with this drought, its just not worth the hazard I think. To me part of the hunt experience I loved growing up, was the evenings around a campfire and cleaning my game by the glow of the campfire. It will just have to be flashlights and headlights this year I think.

We had some hunters come to hunt at our place recently that brought in a pit with a gas burner in it. I still told them they could not use it. I'm afraid something may still happen and cause a fire while in use.

When my son and I got drawn for Kickapo Caverns a few years ago they did not allow fires at that time.

I remember as a kid going to Monkey Wards(Montgomery Wards for you young fellers)and seeing those electric Fireplace inserts with the fake flames,that's what we're going to use in the fire pit this year.Good times for sure.

I am sure someone at the stae level could.. but probably wouldn't. I think people need to be very responsible with anything to do with fire or sparks this year though.

But suggestion I can give is you guys who can take does, do it early. The less Does the buck have to chase during the rut, the less stress they will feel. Remember this year they are not going to have alot to help them recharge after the rut so any little bit helps.

We haven't had a campfire for the last 5 years or so. Honestly it doesn't ruin the hunt.