Those looking to fill their tags in the region this season should like the bigger, healthier animals they see, suggested Sierra. "Health indices such as antler measurements and body weight for yearling bucks in the Post Oak Savannah have been increasing over the past 10 to 20 years," he said. "This trend should continue this hunting season because the yearling bucks of this season were the fawn crop of the 2007 growing season, when good range conditions prevailed throughout most of the summer and winter."

Good weather conditions mean good things for deer. "This should allow them to put on more body fat and use the extra nutrition to express their full genetic potential," said Sierra. "Hunters can expect to find better-than-average body weights and antler quality in the upcoming deer season."

David Forrester, a TPWD district leader based in La Grange, said the deer outlook for his part of the state is shaping up nicely. "The deer hunting forecast for this part of the state looks good," he said. "We experienced a decrease in harvest last year due to great habitat conditions and one of the best acorn crops recorded. Deer just weren't coming to feeders, food plots and other food sources and were much harder to find."

Forrester anticipated that the animals in his region, especially bucks, would be healthy and slick this season. "The carryover from the decreased harvest coupled with the antler restriction regulation should bode well for more bucks -- and more mature bucks -- available for the 2008-09 hunting season,' he continued. "Additionally, deer body condition coming out of the winter was great, so antler production should be above average for the upcoming hunting season. Fawn production last year was good, so there should be a lot of young bucks out there, too."

MULE DEER
Most Texas hunters shrug off mule deer hunting as requiring too much travel, but those bent on maximizing their haul of venison will find that the animals can provide an added chance to fill a couple of more tags this year.

TEXAS WHITE-TAILED DEER HARVEST BY ECOLOGICAL REGION 2007-2008
REGION	HARVEST	BUCKS	DOES	HUNTERS	SUCCESS
Pineywoods	58,363	34,113	24,250	92,618	46%
Gulf Prairies	9,398	4,989	4,409	13,373	48%
Post Oak Savannah	36,433	25,526	10,907	72,931	42%
Blackland Prairie	1,856	1,392	464	7,677	26%
Cross Timbers	33,649	19,029	14,620	57,205	47%
South Texas Plains	100,018	58,131	41,887	102,772	67%
Edwards Plateau	229,391	119,395	109,996	176,074	75%
Rolling Plains	41,075	24,599	16,476	52,129	62%
High Plains	1,160	348	812	1,733	43%
Trans-Pecos	1,508	928	580	2,353	58%
TOTAL	512,852	268,227	224,625	576,864	60%

Calvin Richardson, desert game program coordinator for TPWD, stated that the Trans-Pecos region would again provide hunters with a chance at a mulie or two, thanks to range conditions.

"Last year (the winter/spring of 2006-07) provided the Trans-Pecos with some above-average precipitation across the landscape," he said. "This resulted in very good deer antler quality this past hunting season. However, an extended dry period from September 2007 through spring 2008 has impacted all wildlife species and associated habitats in the Trans-Pecos. The good news is that, given the several favorable rainfall years prior to this year, there still should be plenty of hunting opportunities for sportsmen this year in the region.

"After above-normal precipitation in spring of 2007, 2008 has proved to be extremely dry during the critical antler growth period. Below-average rainfall throughout the winter and spring will probably affect antler quality to some extent this year. However, there should be numerous mature bucks available for harvest after high reproduction and survival rates from 2003-07.

"Having numerous mature bucks is a real plus because a small portion of the buck segment seems to always produce extraordinarily large antlers, regardless of apparent nutritional conditions. Overall mule deer population estimates remain above average. If the normal pattern of summer rainfall occurs, deer should be in good physical condition this fall."