Archery deer hunters in the Dallas Metroplex and Houston areas won’t have to travel far this fall to hunt deer.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission last week approved opening a hunting season for deer in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and Galveston counties as part of changes to the 2012-13 Statewide Hunting Proclamation.
Under the new regulations, the current season structure in Grayson County will be altered to allow full-season, either-sex whitetail harvest. The amended Grayson County archery-only deer season structure will also be implemented in Dallas, Collin, and Rockwall counties.
In addition, the Commission approved implementing the current Harris County season structure in Galveston County.
The deer season in Collin and Rockwall counties has been closed since 1976 after agricultural development had virtually eliminated deer habitat. Since that time, agriculture has been gradually displaced by the extensive urban, suburban, and exurban growth of the Metroplex, which has resulted in highly fragmented habitat and minimal populations of white-tailed deer, mostly in riparian areas surrounding lakes and streams.
