A Hunter’s Paradise

Hunter’s Paradise

Gillespie County draws hunters year-round to harvest animals.

Gillespie County is big game country. Hunters of all types make their way to Gillespie County during the fall.

The 2021-2022 big game seasons for white-tailed deer and other wild game such as turkey, quail and dove bring hunters from all over to this particular part of the Texas Hill Country for its famously successful yields.

The archery-only season in the designated North Zone (to which Gillespie County belongs) for turkey and deer runs from Oct. 2-Nov. 5.

General rifle season for turkey and deer starts Saturday, Nov. 6, and runs through Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022.

Youth-only hunting weekends, for those licensed hunters 16 years of age or younger, are planned on Oct. 30-31, 2021, and Jan. 3-16, 2022.

A special late season during which harvests are restricted to antlerless deer and spikes, runs simultaneously to the late youthonly season, from Jan. 3-16, 2022.

Aside from whitetails, Gillespie County is also considered to be in the Central Zone for dove hunting.

Dove season will run from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, and then again from Dec. 17 through Jan. 14, 2022.

The quail season across Texas will run Oct. 30, 2021 to Feb. 27, 2022.

Information on bag limits, license requirements and other general information is available from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Outdoor Annual or at tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/ outdoor-annual/.

The Texas Hill Country also has an abundant amount of non-game wildlife such as armadillos, raccoons, hawks, opossums, coyotes and numerous other birds, not to mention an occasional porcupine and skunk.

Among the factors accounting for the large populations of deer and other forms of wildlife in the Fredericksburg area is the rugged, hilly terrain, which affords plenty of cover, vegetation and water to sustain the animals year-round.

In other parts of Texas, the terrain is flatter and less wooded, perhaps even converted to farmland. Also, the increasing development of housing and expanding city limits in other places has forced wildlife out of its natural habitat.

Gillespie County values wildlife. Farmers, ranchers and residents hold animals in high regard not only because of their presence, but also because of their contributions to the area’s economy.