White-tailed deer population looks strong ahead of archery-only season opener

  • DEERLY BELOVED While archery-only deer season kicks off the first weekend of October, the general season opener is still more than a month away on Nov. 6. The general season runs through Jan. 2, 2022 in the North Zone and Jan. 16, 2021 in the South Zone. | COURTESY PHOTO
    DEERLY BELOVED While archery-only deer season kicks off the first weekend of October, the general season opener is still more than a month away on Nov. 6. The general season runs through Jan. 2, 2022 in the North Zone and Jan. 16, 2021 in the South Zone. | COURTESY PHOTO

    Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologists say that 2021-22 is expected to be a whitetailed deer season for the books. Last year, the overall white-tailed deer population was estimated to be 5.4 million deer. While that estimate is down from the previous two years, TPWD biologists say that if fawn recruitment predictions hold true this season, coupled with good carryover of deer from la…