Sunday, July 13, 1997
Drought caused total number of deer killed to drop last
season
By JERRY O'BRYANT
The drought of 1995-1996 is well behind us - and good riddance - but
the impact of that lengthy dry spell is well documented in the hunter-harvest
survey results for the 1996-97 white-tailed deer season compiled by the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Probably the most telling number in the TPWDs recent release was the
drop in the total number of deer killed in Texas from the 1995 hunt to last
year's, and that statewide figure was from 450,593 to 333,819.
The total whitetail kill in Texas had not dropped below 421,000 during
the previous 10 seasons, and was at a whopping 504,953 in 1987, but last
season's drastic drop to 333,819 was the graphic result of what a devastating
drought can do to a specific wildlife species in a short period of time.
The TPWD's survey shows that whitetails in coastal regions were among
the hardest hit by the drought. Some kill totals in those areas were down
by more than 50 percent, with a couple of the worst examples being in Refugio
and San Patricio counties where the counts fell from 2,159 to 863 and from
582 to 96 respectively.
There were some equally drastic drops in total kill figures in other
counties last season, but whitetails in the coastal plains, in general,
took a hard shot from the drought.
It should be noted here that if there were concentrated populations of
white-tailed deer in far west Texas they would have been equally diminished
by the recent drought, but since the majority of deer in the Trans Pecos
region are mule deer - a species much more adaptable to dry weather conditions
and not included in this study - that potential decrease in numbers will
not be reflected in this survey.
Deer here in what we call the Big Country - a geographical region that
falls between the Cross Timbers & Prairies (CT&P) and the Edwards
Plateau (EP) ecological areas - came through the drought in relatively good
condition.
In the CT&P ecological area the total kill dropped from 46,623 in
1995 to 45,405 in 1996. In the EP area the numbers were 228,184 in 1995
and 147,941 lastseason.
The TPWD data is most revealing and interesting when taken county-by-county.
Here in Taylor County, for example, the kill totals were actually higher
in 1996 than in 1995 - 1,764 in 1995 and 1,839 last season - but there was
a significant decrease in antlerless deer taken here last year. The antlerless
number for Taylor County in 1995 was 1,123 and fell to 956 during the last
hunt.
Buck deer kills made up the increase, going from 642 in 1995 to 883 in
1996.
It is interesting that a large number of deer are killed each year in
Tom Green County - from 5,000 to 8,000 each season - and they suffered only
a slight decline during the past two seasons from 5,233 to 4,697.
Nolan County also suffered a decrease in total kill numbers last year.
They dropped from 2,632 in 1995 to 1,839 in 1996.
Coke County was another of those hard-hit spots where the decline from
1996 to 1995 was almost 50 percent. Coke County hunters dropped from 6,100
deer in 1996 to 3,302 in 1995.
Concho County, not much more than a rifle shot from Coke County, was
an area where the whitetails were almost unaffected by the drought. Total
kill numbers there were 4,839 in 1995 and 4,557 in 1996.
Brown and Comanche counties were another area where the kill figures
varied widely. In Brown County the count plummeted from 8,781 in 1995 to
4,348 last season. Comanche County kills, on the other hand, only went from
3,735 to 3,372.
Go figure.
Callahan and Throckmorton were both counties where the whitetail kill
numbers increased from 1995 to 1996 - 1,528 to 1,769 in Throckmorton and
1,607 to 1,769 in Callahan.
Shackelford County, located immediately between Throck- morton and Callahan
counties, took a hit from 1,134 in 1995 to 514 in 1996.
White-tailed deer in both Coleman and Runnels counties suffered significantly
from the ex- tended dry weather. The kill count in Coleman County dropped
from 6,810 to 3,999, and in Runnels fell from 4,524 to 1,908.
There aren't a lot of whitetails killed each year in Jones County, and
the deer there didn't seem to suffer greatly from the drought. The survey
count in Jones fell from 109 in 1995 to 96 in 1996.
Another area where the rain- fall in 1995-96 varied greatly was in Kent
and Mitchell coun- ties. In Kent, the deer kill rose from 345 in 1995 to
584 in 1996. In nearby Mitchell County the count dropped over the same pe-
riod from 1,607 to 305.
In several of the counties to the west and north of Abilene the TPWD
survey data was incomplete in either 1995 or 1996 and no comparisons could
be made for those locations.
The really good news in the generally dreary numbers above is they are
old news and the outlook for the coming seasons couldn't be much better.
It will obviously take a while for the mature-deer count to recover from
the months of drought, but there are literally thousands of whitetail fawns
in area counties this year and they have enough forage to keep them, and
their mothers, fat through the coming winter.
Hunting permits
The Colorado River Municipal Water District (CRMWD) will be accepting
applications, by mail only, during July 15-Aug. 15 for permits for public
hunts on the O.H. Ivie Reservoir Wildlife Management Areas.
These hunting permits will be limited and there will be a drawing for
the permits at the O.H. Ivie Reservoir Field Office, located near the north
end of the lake dam, at 10 a.m. on Sept. 17. Applicants are welcome to attend
the drawing.
For more information and application packets telephone the CRMWD at (915)
267-6341, or write to: CRMWD, P.O. Box 869, Big Spring, TX 79721.
Kids competition
The 915 Abilene Anglers Bass Club will host a BASSMASTER Casting Kids
Competition on July 26 at 9 a.m. at the north end of the Wal-Mart Supercenter
inAbilene.
The competition is free and open to children ages seven through 14 years,
and the contest format is to test the skills of casting, flipping and pitching
with a rod and reel.
Casting Kids contests, promoted by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society
(BASS) and Wal-Mart, have been likened to the Punt, Pass & Kick competitions
in football where entrants compete on local levels and the winners advance
to their respective state competitions, national levels and then to the
Top 10 National Semifinalists who will attend the BASS Masters Classic Championship
in August where two children, in age divisions 7-10 and 11-14, will win
National BASSMASTER Casting Kid Championships.
For more information on the BASSMASTER Casting Kids competition telephone,
after 5 p.m., Steve Pena at (915) 698-2588, Karl Owens at (915) 690-1915
or NeelBarnaby at (915) 676-7839.
Big winner
Jim Moynagh of Hopkins, Minnesota made bass fishing history last week
with his $200,000 first-place win at the first $1 million bass fishing tournament
in history.
The Wal-Mart/Forrest Wood Tour tournament on Lake Minnetonka was a 3-round
elimination where the 149-man field was reduced to a final, 5-man competition
where even the 5th place finisher would win $30,000.
Moynagh won his $200,000 with five bass that weighed 15 pounds, 5 ounces.
Kevin Wirth, LaGrange, Kentucky was second with five bass weighing 14-7
worth $100,000. Bernie Schultz, Gainesville, Fla. took 3rd and $50,000 with
five bass that totalled 10-14.
Fourth place and $35,000 went to Craig Wicklund of Orono, Minn. with
five fish weighing 10-1 and 5th place and $30,000 went to Dion Hibdon of
Stover, Missouri with four bass totalling 7-8.
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