You do not need a calendar to know that the time to hunt deer and turkeys in Texas is here. Instead of looking at a date on a printed page, simply step outside during that cool and crisp first hour of daylight and you'll get the message loud and clear. The smell of wood smoke in the air (real or imagined), a likely heavy dew covering the ground, and the light winds of the weather seasons are all good indicators. The fall hunting seasons are here.

The Texas archery hunting seasons for deer and turkeys opened yesterday and continue through the entire month of October. Wouldn't it be nice to know the exact number of heavily camouflaged men, women and children who spent the past two mornings in trees and shooting blinds, and even better, be able to view a montage of the sights they were able to enjoy? Ah, the sights and sounds of the fall hunting seasons, and the joys of being outdoors for another fall and winter portion of the year.

Deer- and turkey-wise, as far as numbers go, this should be another very good season for Big Country hunters. Deer have been active during the past few weeks with some buck rubs and scrapes noted (buck deer start polishing their antlers against trees and heavy bushes during this time of the year, and marking the boundaries of their home turf by pawing out scrapes on the ground and urinating on the disturbed earth), and their movement during the early mornings and late afternoons has been significant.

Turkeys across the region are numerous anywhere there are creeks and river drainages and it would surprise many nonhunters to know how far wild turkeys range each day in their regular search for food. Most counties in the Big Country contain very healthy numbers of wild turkeys and bowhunters should have little problem rounding up a nice gobbler or two.

Deer horns, or antlers, may be a different situation this year. At least if you're looking for a really heavy-horned buck. Think back to the early part of this year, and late last year -- you know that time when it almost didn't rain -- and recall just how dry it was hereabouts. A little primer on that period was .36 last September, .43 in October, 1.20 in November, .57 in December, .07 in January and .87 in February. Those are the months when buck deer start storing nutrients to grow antlers and body weight for the coming year and I'm afraid it was too dry in this area to promote really good antler growth.

Of course, it rained a ton during the summer and those rains are the reason our deer are so fat and sassy right now and their habitat is still May-green, but the relatively dry conditions during the horn-forming months are likely the reason we won't see too many grande-antlered deer this fall and winter.

But Hey! Two out of three is still a pretty good return on a year that started off dry. The deer this year will be plentiful and Lord knows they have never been in better physical condition. Turkeys are also plentiful, so overall the prospects for all those folks spending their early mornings sitting in tree blinds with hunting bows in hand is darned good.

TPWD cancels events in Ike's wake

The damages from Hurricane Ike have been far reaching in Texas. Besides the devastation along the upper Texas coast, the storm tracked inland across East Texas with flooding and high winds. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Department has had to cancel some public hunts and planned seminars along the upper coast and across eastern Texas along the storm's path.

All scheduled hunts in September have been canceled at the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Also canceled were dove and teal hunts by Annual Public Hunting Permit scheduled for portions of September on the Justin Hurst WMA, and canceled until further notice are all the public hunting activities by Annual Public Permit on the Bannister WMA, Sam Houston National Forest WMA and Alabama Creek WMA.

For more information on these closures, and other possible cancellations of public hunts due to Hurricane Ike go online at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/site/emergency/.

Dove move on, but more coming

Doves, doves, where have you gone?

We all know there are some spots in Big Country counties where shootable numbers of doves are holding? Well, maybe there are some of those spots where YOU know there are enough birds to shoot. I really do not know of such a place. Not even one such location.

But WE do know that doves from the northern plains will migrate into this part of Texas during the coming weeks (no, we do NOT know how long they will stay) and there will be decent dove hunting again before the dove hunting season closes on Oct. 30.

Also remember the short winter dove hunt in the Central Zone (the area south of Interstate Highway 20) during Dec. 26, 2008-Jan. 4, 2009. The possession limits during the winter hunt are the same as during the regular season and that is 12 birds per day in the Central Zone.

Odessa to host quail workshop

Quail hunters and landowners across the western portions of the Big Country will likely be interested in the Texas Quail Study Group's workshop Thursday and Friday to be held in Odessa at the MCM Grande and the Railway Ranch.

Topics at this seminar will touch on scaled (Blue) quail and Montezuma/Gambrel quail, as well as bobwhites, and will include a dinner and social hour sponsored by the Texas Wildlife Association on Thursday.

For more information contact your local AgriLIFE Extension agent or go online at www.texas-wildlife.org.