It’s a Great Time to Be a Deer Hunter Locally

lot more deer this season.

A heavy acorn crop last year kept deer in the woods and out the crosshairs for the most part. Cistern Country Store, which hosts an annual big buck contest, registered only three deer all of last season. The store tagged that many in on opening day alone this year. As of last Friday, there were 10 bucks on the leaderboard.

The heaviest was a 150.7 lb. behemoth harvested by Allen Lastovica on Lastovica Farms in Bastrop County. Glen Harmon Jr. brought in the buck with the widest spread, 17 ¼ inches, harvested on the Harmon Ranch in Bastrop County.

Local Game Warden Shaun Bayless recently took over this area from his predecessor Calvin Harbaugh, who retired earlier this year. Bayless, a La Grange native, worked in the Hill Country last deer season. Bayless said hunters have already harvested some good quality bucks.

“I can’t really compare to last year, because I wasn’t here,” he said. “But you look around and when’s the last time you’ve seen things this green? With as green as it is and as mild as it’s been, here’s a lot of forage for the deer to eat. It might be challenging right now.”

Bayless said the whitetail deer’s annual mating season, known as “the rut,” is in full swing. In addition, he said the Thanksgiving holiday weekend could provide hunters with an ideal time to harvest a deer.

“Coming into the holiday weekend, there will be a very small moon,” he said. “That’ll be good because the deer probably won’t be moving as much at night.”

Fayette County hunters will also have an opportunity this weekend to harvest up to two does. This year’s “doe days” are this Thursday, Nov. 23, through Sunday, Nov. 26. Does harvested on those days must be reported to Texas Parks and Wildlife through the My Texas Hunt Harvest phone app or online at tpwd.texas. gov/myhunt.

Bayless said the majority of hunters he encounters in Fayette County follow all rules and regulations.

“From an enforcement point of view, it’s mostly minor things, tagging violations and things like that,” he said.

Bayless wished to remind hunters about the antler restrictions in place for Fayette County. Hunters here may harvest two bucks, but only one may have an inside spread of 13 inches or larger. The other may be a spike, which is defined as a Buck with at least one unbranched antler.

“I tell people all the time, if you see a deer and you’re not really sure whether the antlers are big enough, then let it go,” he said. “That means two things. One, the deer gets to grow some more and get bigger. And two, you get to come back out to the woods to hunt another day.”