by John Jefferson
If you feel a loss when hunting season ends, you’re not alone.
Then, in about 1993, TPWD inaugurated a late doe season. Does were the only whitetails that were legal, then. In most of Texas, it began the day after the regular season ended and lasted two weeks.
Later, spike bucks were added as eligible game. Ultimately, bucks with one unbranched antler were also declared legal. That helped some. I’ve since enjoyed the late season, discovering that it was less stressful than trying to outwit a wary buck. In some deer camps, it became more of a hunters’ party.
It also made many of us better hunters and more accurate shooters since there was more opportunity for both. Practice makes perfect.
The idea behind the late season was to help remove some of the does that were a large part of the overpopulation of deer. It was also hoped that it would narrow the doe to buck ratio that was so one-sided by too many does.
Hunters also were concerned over spooking a buck while shooting a doe, so many missed taking home fresh venison. And what a loss of high protein, low fat, and low cholesterol meat that was! Sure, it’s a challenge preparing it to replace beef, but there are legions of cookbooks that overcome that.
I mentioned some make it a party. My first doe hunt nearly produced a hanging. There was a dozen or so hunters in camp. I had a funeral to attend and arrived late. Most were already asleep. I took a vacant bunk. My roommate was a Ph.D. from A&M-Kingsville.
Restless over being around seasoned hunters and wildlife authorities, I had trouble getting to sleep. Later, a man opened the door and demanded to know If Rex Kelly was in there. I sleepily looked over at the man in the other bunk, and asked, “Is he a Ph.D.?”
“Naw, he’s a Bohemian, and he’s got the cord to the coffee pot,” the intruder blurted out. “Go back to sleep!” Through the door he left partly open, I heard him say as he left another room, “He ain’t in here, either; guess I woke them up, too,”.
I listened for a round being chambered. Lots of grumbling. When I walked into the main room, the man was cooking breakfast and defending himself from the other hunters’ harsh words. A famous knife maker was sharpening a blade, saying, “You don’t have to get up at 4:30 to shoot does!”. Another mentioned getting a rope. A third added, “Let’s wait ‘til he finishes cooking breakfast.”
He had unintentionally united an entire hunting camp against a common foe. We laughed about it for years.
TPWD’s whitetail leader, Alan Cain, told me, “The late doe and spike season … (is) a great opportunity for hunters to put more venison in the freezer, especially if they weren’t able to during the general season.“ He added that he doesn’t think it much affects population.
And it eases end of season sorrow.
JJ
