With hundreds of thousands of Texans getting ready for opening day of the general gun season for white-tailed deer on Nov. 5, it’s important to keep safety in your crosshairs.

Mired in what will undoubtedly be one of the worst droughts on record, white-tailed deer in Texas are facing tough conditions heading into the fall hunting season.

Hunters hoping to take advantage of economical quality hunts on state-managed lands are reminded of upcoming application deadlines. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will be offering adult and youth only hunts by special drawing for a wide variety of species as part of its Public Hunting Program.

Nearly half of the sites in the Texas State Parks system will conduct public hunts during the 2009-2010 hunting season. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved scheduled hunts on 44 state park units at its May 28 public hearing.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission on Jan. 21 authorized the department to seek public comment on a suite of proposed wildlife and hunting related regulations that would expand special buck antler restrictions and liberalize antlerless harvest opportunities in dozens of counties, part of a broader move to transition away from political boundaries and toward biologically-based communities for managing deer populations.

A public scoping meeting to gather additional feedback will be held in Grayson County on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 at Grayson County College’s Center for Work Place Learning Auditorium near Sherman. The auditorium will open at 6 p.m. and the public meeting will begin at 7 p.m.