If you’ve always wanted to hunt Texas, this season is the time to go:

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologists say that 2021-22 is expected to be a deer season for the books.

“White-tailed deer forecasts and expectations are, in large part, driven by habitat conditions that the deer are experiencing across their range in Texas in the eight to ten months prior to the season,” said Alan Cain, TPWD White-Tailed Deer Program Leader. “Though the end of 2020 was dry, and early 2021 experienced freezing conditions that delayed green up of important browse plants, the late spring and summer rainfall acted like liquid fertilizer for forb, grass, and woody plant production and has provided a buffet of natural forages for deer.”

Cain says that the favorable habitat conditions should boost the body condition of deer and set them up to enter the fall and winter with a substantial layer of fat. The favorable weather conditions were also vital in helping bucks maximize antlers as they finish out the growing season. Antler quality is predicted to be well above average for the 2021-22 season.