Why now?

Published 10:04 am Monday, January 4, 2016

Tie a ribbon around her, she’s done.

She, of course, being the Texas deer season that ended Sunday.

Well, of course she isn’t exactly done. The regular season in South Texas roles along until Jan. 17. So does special youth, muzzleloader and late antlerless and spike buck seasons in North Texas counties. Those opened Monday and continue through Jan. 17.

Then there is the South Texas late antlerless and spike buck season that runs Jan. 18 through Jan. 31.

And don’t forget those hunting with Managed Lands Deer permits. I think they can continue to hunt until the 2016 deer season opens, or something like that.

It is all about opportunity and management. And no one can argue that for the number of hunters and the number of deer taken, there isn’t any better hunting in the country.

But, and I am always sounding like the contrarian, I would still like a simple change. I would like to see a single closing date statewide.

The biggest issue is that the South Texas rut doesn’t come until December so hunters there are just getting started about the time the rest of the state is coming to an end.

By extending the regular season in North Texas, it would also mean the muzzleloader and youth seasons would have to be moved or abandoned. That could be a problem

Another argument is that bucks outside of South Texas are often starting to lose their antlers by the end of the regular season. That is a good argument, but not good enough to prevent their being three other types of late-season hunting in North Texas. If there isn’t a concern hunting in January with MLD permits why would there be with a regular hunting license?

The biggest detail may be resistance from landowners who really may not want the hunters any longer than they already have them.

It continues to sting a little though that for some reason hunters in South Texas pay the same for their license as hunters in other part of the state, but South Texas hunters get a two-week longer season.

Of course it isn’t going to change, but there are some changes in the works that should help East Texas deer hunters put more in the freezer. Hang on for upcoming announcements from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

And now that the season is over, I guess it is time to start getting ready for opening day. It really isn’t that far off.