Texas deer are malnourished due to the severity of the drought that has hammered the Southwest............Next year the population will likely be significantly reduced due to Does abandoning their fawns.............Very little to eat as plants shriveled and Adult deer had to stay alive while fawn mortality was severe............And that drought has deer movingin predictable patterns where foodstuffs still exists and thus hunters will likely have a high success rate this season

Deer season predicted to be successful despite drought

By Courtney Francisco

Hunters are preparing for what's been predicted as a better than usual deer season.

The drought has taken its toll on the deer population, but hunters won't be disappointed. Despite the drought, hunters say the deer are still out there, and they expect them to be easier targets than ever before.

 Deer seem to be moving around in predictable patterns. Capt. Rod Ousley with the Texas Parks and Wildlife says that movement is all because of the drought. The dry conditions have forced the deer to move around more, searching for food and water. That makes them easier targets for hunters.

Deer should be more visible to hunters in their stands and be more willing to come to feeders.
The bad news is, the lack of nutrition available in the drought has stunted deer growth.  "If someone's out there hunting for a trophy deer, I don't think the antlers are going to be as good as they probably should be," says Capt. Ousley.

 It's next year when Capt. Ousley says the hunters will see the true story of the drought.
"The doe deer probably abandoned their fawns to survive themselves this year. So we have a very low fawn crop," says Capt. Ousley.That means a low adult deer population next season.

The Texas parks and wildlife says the fawn population is down 10 percent this year because of the dry conditions.