MANAGEMENT
OF WILDLIFE
Who
does it
Seasons, Licenses and High Fences
TEXAS
Although most hunting land in Texas is on private land, wildlife
in the state theoretically belongs to the people of the state,
and we are fortunate to have The Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department (TP&WD) having overall control. They are an
efficiently run organization and are very clear in recognizing
the value of hunters from both a financial and game management
perspective. In 1996, hunters spent $1,475,682,317 on
hunting-related items (no the "Billion" is not an
error..!)They have to constantly walk a tight-rope to ensure the
interests of the landowner, the hunter and other conservation
interests. Our current Governor, George W. Bush, has had a strong
hand in ensuring that hunters are a significant part of his
wildlife management team. The TP&WD establishes seasons,
license and special stamp fees for the state. In the 1997/1998
deer hunting season, an out of state big game license was $250.
The south Texas brush country archery season is generally the
month of October and the gun season is from mid November through
mid January. The dates may be different from county to county
therefore it is essential that the current TP&WD regulations
be reviewed when planning trips.
MEXICO
In the past, wildlife management has not been well organized in
Mexico; however following a comprehensive federal law passed in
1994 a new cooperative spirit exists between the cattlemen
landowners and their organization, ANGADI (Asociacion Nacional
deGanaderos Diversificados Criadores de Fauna), and the Mexican
government. As in Texas, the Mexican rancher now recognizes the
economic importance of the hunter, and therefore are generally
becoming better stewards of their natural resources. One of the
new regulations theoretically requires that each landowner obtain
a game survey, performed by a registered game biologist, prior to
the issue of permits for bucks to be taken on his property. I
have found that the Mexican landowners are intensely proud when a
quality buck is taken on one of their ranches, since it usually
means that they can raise lease prices. License and gun permit
costs usually range from $250 to $500 depending on who is
involved in obtaining them. Although the season dates in Mexico
seem to vary from year to year, the season for white-tailed deer
is generally from the first week of December through the third
week in January.
"GAME PROOF" FENCES
Many Texas ranchers have been and are in the forefront of
intensive game management. Many years ago the intensive
management of wildlife was concentrated on exotic imported
species such as Blackbuck Antelope, Fallow and Axis Deer and
other species. More recently the concentrated development of
trophy White-tailed Deer has increased considerably. The ethical
issues can be debated endlessly; however it is important for a
hunter to consider the game-proof fence issue (which is involved
in virtually all intensively managed properties) because the
Boone & Crockett Club will not accept an animal in their
record book that was taken inside game-proof fencing regardless
of the size of the enclosure. The Buckmasters Trophy Records will
accept trophies taken inside high fences with the restriction
that the game-proofed area must exceed 500 acres. High fences in
Mexico are relatively rare at this time.
A little pickin' and grinnin'