Today marks the beginning of the always highly-anticipated deer season in Texas, but only for archery bow hunters. The general gun season kicks off next month on Saturday Nov. 5, 2011. That said, the general consensus this season seems to be to shoot early and take your full bag limit (5 deer, no more than 3 bucks, all seasons combined) in order to help fend off starvation in the deer population. From expert officials at the Texas Parks and Wildlife department:

“It doesn’t take a biologist to understand that drought has serious impacts on the state’s nearly 4 million white-tailed deer,” said Alan Cain, deer program leader with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “Everything from antler quality, to fawn production and overall survival will be affected by the tough range conditions this year.”

“By reducing deer numbers early on, hunters can help ensure enough groceries will be available through the winter months,” Cain said. “As with many wildlife species the very young and the very old often have much more difficult times dealing with extreme weather events.” These stress periods are a way for nature to ‘thin the herd,’ especially in areas where deer populations are already exceeding the carrying capacity of the native range. As deer become stressed they are more susceptible to infections or other disease. Drought like this can be a contributing factor towards stress.”