Texas adopts liberalized hunting, fishing rules for 2016-17

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Texas' million-plus hunters heading afield this autumn will see liberalized regulations governing the hunting of white-tailed deer, the longest dove season in at least 80 years, a slightly later opening of duck season in the state's North and South zones and a continuation of a two-decade run of generous waterfowl hunting bag limits and season lengths.

Later this year, the state's 2 million recreational anglers also will fall under a smattering of new rules, including the restitution of an inadvertently removed maximum length limit for black drum and a loosening of largemouth bass regulations in the southeast corner of the state.

The changes were part of the 2016-17 statewide hunting and fishing proclamation, the annual listing of hunting and fishing regulations, adopted Thursday by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

Beginning Sept. 1, the effective date of the regulation changes, anglers fishing in the near-coastal freshwater fisheries of four Southeast Texas counties and the lower Sabine River will see the minimum length requirement for largemouth bass reduced to 12 inches from the current statewide minimum of 14 inches.

Tournaments benefit

The change, which applies to public waters in Chambers, Jefferson, Galveston and Orange counties and the reach of the Sabine River downstream of Toledo Bend Reservoir, comes in response to increased interest by bass tournaments in the coastal and riverine bass fisheries in Southeast Texas coupled with the demographics of the bass fishery in those waters.

Recently adopted changes in Texas hunting regulations now define "unbranched antlered deer," addressing confusion over rules governing taking of "spike" bucks. Recently adopted changes in Texas hunting regulations now define "unbranched antlered deer," addressing confusion over rules governing taking of "spike" bucks. Photo: Shannon Tompkins Photo: Shannon Tompkins Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Texas adopts liberalized hunting, fishing rules for 2016-17 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Those coastal bass populations, while thriving, hold fish that grow much slower and suffer higher mortality rates than those in reservoirs and other inland fisheries, TPWD research indicates. Few of the largemouths reach the 14-inch statewide minimum, meaning anglers seldom catch a fish they can legally retain. That is a source of frustration for bass tournaments and their participants, including high-profile professional bass tourneys as well as a growing number of high school and college bass tournament circuits that have discovered the coastal estuaries' bass fishery.

Reducing the minimum length requirement to 12 inches for bass taken from these coastal fisheries but leaving the daily bag limit at five fish will not increase harvest enough to damage the fisheries, TPWD research indicates. But it will allow tournament anglers to retain more fish during the contests and give other recreational anglers opportunity to keep a few more bass for the table.

Few Texas saltwater anglers retain large black drum - fish measuring more than 30 inches - because the flesh of these adult fish is coarse and often riddled with unappealing parasites. Not that it mattered; until this past year, Texas fishing regulations prohibited retaining black drum measuring more than 30 inches - a rule designed to protect the adult class of fish that provide the spawning stock maintaining the fishery.

But a clerical error made last year inadvertently omitted the 30-inch maximum length limit for black drum from the annual hunting and fishing regulations. The 2016-17 regulations reinstate that 30-inch maximum. A 14-inch minimum length requirement, five-drum daily bag limit and a one-fish-over-52-inches rule (designed to allow an angler who catches a potential state-record black drum to retain the fish for weighing) remain in effect.

Deer hunters participating in the 2016-17 late-season "antlerless and spike" whitetail hunting season - a brief season offered during January in 139 counties after the close of the general whitetail season - will see clarification of what had been confusion over the definition of a "spike" buck.

In counties under antler restriction regulations during the general deer season, one of the criteria defining a legal-to-take buck is that the deer have at least one unbranched antler - a "spike" antler. The other antler may be branched or unbranched.

But regulations were unclear concerning whether a "spike" buck during the late-season "antlerless and spike" season was defined as having two unbranched antlers (the common definition of a "spike") or at least one unbranched antler.

Under the rule change, any buck with at least one unbranched antler will be considered legal game during the antlerless/spike season.

Deer density plays part

Increasing deer densities and significantly skewed doe/buck ratios in the state's Post Oak Savannah region triggered state wildlife managers to recommend liberalization of antlerless deer-harvest rules in 23 counties and portions of two others, said Alan Cain, whitetail deer program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In Post Oak Savannah counties that allowed no harvest of antlerless deer during the general season, hunters will have four "doe" days during the 2016-17 season. Counties where the 2015-16 deer season included four "doe" days - when antlerless deer could be taken and tagged with a tag from a general hunting license - will see 16 "doe" days during the 2016-17 season. And 32 counties in the region will be added to the scores of Texas counties having a 14-day, muzzleloader-only deer season after the general deer season.

Fourteen Panhandle counties that did not have an open season for white-tailed deer will be opened to whitetail hunting this coming season, with an archery-only and general season allowed. The move comes as whitetail populations have expanded in those counties.

Texas' 2016-17 dove season will be the longest in at least 80 years as the state took advantage of a change in federal migratory game bird hunting frameworks that added 20 days to the dove season. This year, Texas is allowed a 90-day dove season, up from the 70-day season federal rules have allowed in recent years. That is the longest dove season federal rules have allowed in Texas since at least the 1930s, TPWD records show.

The 2016-17 dove season in the state's North Zone will be Sept. 1-Nov. 13 and Dec. 17-Jan. 1; Central Zone, Sept. 1 Nov. 6 and Dec. 17-Jan. 8; South Zone Sept. 23-Nov. 13 and Dec. 17-Jan. 23; and Special White-winged Dove Area, Sept. 3, 4, 10, 11, Sept. 23-Nov. 9 and Dec. 17-Jan. 23. The daily bag limit remains at 15 doves per day.

Migratory seasons set

Changes in the federal timetable for developing annual hunting regulation frameworks for all migratory birds allowed Texas to set all 2016-17 migratory game-bird seasons in March instead of as late as August. The federal frameworks for the 2016-17 waterfowl seasons mirror those from this past year.

The TPW Commission approved a statewide, teal-only season to run Sept. 10-25, the 16-day maximum set by federal rules. The daily bag limit remains six teal.

Duck season in the state's North Zone will open a week later than it has in recent seasons, running Nov. 12-27 and Dec. 3-Jan. 29. South Zone duck season will run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29. The daily bag limit will remain at six ducks per day, with the same species restrictions as this past season.

Goose season in the East Zone will run Nov. 5-Jan. 29, Nov. 5-Feb. 5 in the West Zone. Daily bag limits are unchanged.