Why No Private Land Antlerless Hunt for 2024-25

[DayDay]

Why is there no 5-day antlerless hunt on private land this season? I'm wondering what the motivation was for not offering the hunt this season. I have not read any discussions on the change during proposals presented prior to the rulemaking. I've come up with some of my own ideas as possibilities.

1) It may be an attempt to get hunters to shoot does rather than pass them during the season with the goal of more does and less bucks killed.

2) The hunt was for private land in Unit-L only in the past (also CWD Unit when it came into being). Maybe it was removed for simplification of regulations.

3) Maybe it was a concern over fairness between public land hunters and private land hunters.

I'm curious if anyone has run across an explanation on this.

 

[MickThompson]

No idea but I've seen plenty of shed and half rack bucks the last week of the regular season as it is.

 

[DayDay]

No idea but I've seen plenty of shed and half rack bucks the last week of the regular season as it is.

Thanks. I wondered about that as well; maybe I shouldn't have dismissed it so quickly.

TWRA Harvest Report for the private land antlerless hunt dates last season (JAN 8-12) shows 1485 female, 86 antlerless male, and 74 antlered male were taken. This includes CWD counties which were open for antlered and antlerless deer; it appears that the bulk of male deer were taken in these counties.

 

[Lost Lake]

I bet there'll be quite a few bucks shedding early this year.

 

[.243 Deer]

I've seen many bucks without antlers in early January. Realistically, it'd be hard to tell the difference between an antlerless buck and a doe for the average joe.

Though, they probably removed the private antlerless hunt due to the simplification of season dates after they removed unit CWD this year. Either way, it's a bummer for sure.

 

[TX300mag]

Because a "focus group" got to make all the decisions for everybody.

 

[Jcalder]

Why would you need an extra 5 days to kill antlerless deer when you could kill 3 a day starting way back in September.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Why would you need an extra 5 days to kill antlerless deer when you could kill 3 a day starting way back in September.

I've always wondered the same thing?
Never understood 5-day antlerless hunt on private land?

 

[DayDay]

Why would you need an extra 5 days to kill antlerless deer when you could kill 3 a day starting way back in September.

Here are some of my guesses.

Some people only want one deer or one more deer during the season and prefer that deer to be a buck. The final 5-day hunt gives them an opportunity to shoot a doe that they would have passed up waiting for a buck that never showed. They get the meat they want for the season.

Some people (or groups) may want to shoot multiple does but feel doing so during the season would disrupt the patterns of bucks they are hunting.

 

[OakHillHunter]

When i listened to the meetings when they were setting the seasons, from what i understood was that the participation in that hunts was minimal at best. I know a couple of the commissioners didn't like that proposal because they took advantage of that hunt but the overall consensus was the participation was minimal.

 

[DayDay]

When i listened to the meetings when they were setting the seasons, from what i understood was that the participation in that hunts was minimal at best. I know a couple of the commissioners didn't like that proposal because they took advantage of that hunt but the overall consensus was the participation was minimal.

I guess this falls in when considering the simplification of regulations.

 

[OakHillHunter]

I guess this falls in when considering the simplification of regulations.

Yeah their was a lot of conversation about that doe hunt and unit cwd and all the special things they was doing for that unit and when it came down to the numbers the average deer harvested per hunter was very close to what it was pre cwd (around 2 i believe) and like you said simplification was easiest to remove the outlier hunts like the doe hunt and the cwd regulations.

 

[Jcalder]

Here are some of my guesses.

Some people only want one deer or one more deer during the season and prefer that deer to be a buck. The final 5-day hunt gives them an opportunity to shoot a doe that they would have passed up waiting for a buck that never showed. They get the meat they want for the season.

Some people (or groups) may want to shoot multiple does but feel doing so during the season would disrupt the patterns of bucks they are hunting.

Guess you'll have to do like the rest and kill them early

 

[ronnycl]

doe herd numbers are down in unit L - thry have been on a decline since 2018. Reduce the doe limit in Unit L

 

[DayDay]

Guess you'll have to do like the rest and kill them early

I got the big doe I wanted a while back. I said those were guesses as to why some people like the 5-day antlerless...

 

[deerhunter10]

doe herd numbers are down in unit L - thry have been on a decline since 2018. Reduce the doe limit in Unit L

Not here. Making blank statement over an area that big is crazy.

 

[deerhunter10]

Here are some of my guesses.

Some people only want one deer or one more deer during the season and prefer that deer to be a buck. The final 5-day hunt gives them an opportunity to shoot a doe that they would have passed up waiting for a buck that never showed. They get the meat they want for the season.

Some people (or groups) may want to shoot multiple does but feel doing so during the season would disrupt the patterns of bucks they are hunting.

If that is true then those people are not smart.

 

[Marlin308]

doe herd numbers are down in unit L - thry have been on a decline since 2018. Reduce the doe limit in Unit L

We have more does on our lease this year than we've had in the last 10 years. Unit L Maury County.

 

[gobbler32]

doe herd numbers are down in unit L - thry have been on a decline since 2018. Reduce the doe limit in Unit L

3 antlerless a day from archery thru gun season is ridiculous. Whomever decided to implement that isn't right in the head in my opinion unless your goal is to obliterate the deer herd

 

[gobbler32]

Should be certain number of antlerless allowed per hunter per year. For example 4 per hunter per year or something like that

 

[Jcalder]

Should be certain number of antlerless allowed per hunter per year. For example 4 per hunter per year or something like that

I don't think they ever intended on people trying to actually kill 3 a day, every day, for the whole season. But what they did try to do is promote killing does, and allowing someone to take several in one sit. You wanting to put a cap on it would probably do more harm, as more people would feel there is limits and they'd try to achieve those limits.

 

[deerhunter10]

3 antlerless a day from archery thru gun season is ridiculous. Whomever decided to implement that isn't right in the head in my opinion unless your goal is to obliterate the deer herd

As said a ton on this thread any many others. Has been this way for many many years. How many people do you know that kill 3 a day every day? The answer is zero. It's for management plain and simple. Or for those guys that can only hunt a few days a year to fill their freezers. Some of yal are being ridiculous, and have zero clue on what you're talking about. This is a great thing twra has done and they need to leave it alone.

 

[deerhunter10]

Should be certain number of antlerless allowed per hunter per year. For example 4 per hunter per year or something like that

We need to take 15 to 17 off of one property this year. How do we do that? With that philosophy? We can't then farmers get depredation tags and they it is screwed up. We have the control use control when needed it's not hard.

 

[JJ3]

Why is there no 5-day antlerless hunt on private land this season? I'm wondering what the motivation was for not offering the hunt this season. I have not read any discussions on the change during proposals presented prior to the rulemaking. I've come up with some of my own ideas as possibilities.

1) It may be an attempt to get hunters to shoot does rather than pass them during the season with the goal of more does and less bucks killed.

2) The hunt was for private land in Unit-L only in the past (also CWD Unit when it came into being). Maybe it was removed for simplification of regulations.

3) Maybe it was a concern over fairness between public land hunters and private land hunters.

I'm curious if anyone has run across an explanation on this.

I watched the videos of the meetings where the changes were discussed. TWRA conducted focus groups and at least 2 rounds of surveys. They said that the majority of comments they received indicated hunters wanted the same seasons statewide (stop start), they didn't want the private lands antlerless hunt, they wanted muzzleloader season brought back in CWD counties, and they wanted CWD counties to end with the rest of the state (not end of January).

So to "simplify" they eliminated Zone CWD and made the same seasons across the state, but with different management limits by zones.

 

[redblood]

Why would you need an extra 5 days to kill antlerless deer when you could kill 3 a day starting way back in September.

my thoughts exactly. i like the old way.

jan 1- season ends at sun down

 

[gobbler32]

We need to take 15 to 17 off of one property this year. How do we do that? With that philosophy? We can't then farmers get depredation tags and they it is screwed up. We have the control use control when needed it's not hard.

Deprecation permits shouldn't be allowed, I know of some who've used them to completely annihilate deer populations in parts of our county and a few others. Im sorry but I grew up hunting in the 80s and seen more deer then than now, just my opinion

 

[gobbler32]

As said a ton on this thread any many others. Has been this way for many many years. How many people do you know that kill 3 a day every day? The answer is zero. It's for management plain and simple. Or for those guys that can only hunt a few days a year to fill their freezers. Some of yal are being ridiculous, and have zero clue on what you're talking about. This is a great thing twra has done and they need to leave it alone.

I disagree but understand your thinking. Im sorry but ever since the extensive doe killing began the county I live in and hunt in has seen a drastic population decline, disease included but there are no way as many deer as in the past. People can get disgruntled, upset or whatever. I grew up hunting from '79 until now and the population where I hunt is overall less

 

[gobbler32]

I disagree but understand your thinking. Im sorry but ever since the extensive doe killing began the county I live in and hunt in has seen a drastic population decline, disease included but there are no way as many deer as in the past. People can get disgruntled, upset or whatever. I grew up hunting from '79 until now and the population where I hunt is overall less

Also I do still see numerous out of county vehicles leaving out with antlerless deer stacked up but to each his own

 

[deerhunter10]

I disagree but understand your thinking. Im sorry but ever since the extensive doe killing began the county I live in and hunt in has seen a drastic population decline, disease included but there are no way as many deer as in the past. People can get disgruntled, upset or whatever. I grew up hunting from '79 until now and the population where I hunt is overall less

We generally only kill 3 to 5 a year. But the cold snap last year we have entirely to many deer. We have had several hunts where we are seeing 50 to 60 does a sit between 2 people. Our farms can't support it long term.

 

[gobbler32]

We generally only kill 3 to 5 a year. But the cold snap last year we have entirely to many deer. We have had several hunts where we are seeing 50 to 60 does a sit between 2 people. Our farms can't support it long term.

I understand, it's just between liberal doe limits and disease the herds around here have been hit hard for a long time