This is from an article I posted on the site about 2 years ago:

A common topic among landowners is white-tail gene pool management.   When talking about the management of a deer herd’s genetics there are basically two schools of thought.  One is the genetics management strategy developed and championed by TPWD and their research station on the Kerr wildlife management area.   This strategy, based on half a century of controlled environment research (their only test subjects have been deer who literally spend their entire lives in a small pin), emphasizes the importance of killing all spikes- no matter what.  Their reasoning for killing spikes stems from research showing that if two deer are born in the same year and one is a spike and the other is a 4 point the spike will always be inferior to the 4 point, which is true, with pin raised deer. 

The other school of thought comes from one of the, no, the greatest deer manager of all time, Al Brothers.  In a time when deer populations were managed like cattle and shooting does was thought to be a cardinal sin, Mr. Brothers applied his real world experiences from the field and co-authored a book called, Producing Quality White-tails, changing the way we look at deer management today.  His management strategy was based on 3 principals: letting bucks grow old, planting food plots, and keeping buck doe ratios as close to 1:1 as possible.   What Mr. Brothers strategy has over the archaic dogma that TPWD is now using to set harvest regulations in parts of Texas, is that his strategy can actually be applied by ranchers, hunters, and deer managers to create deer populations with more bucks and bigger racks.  Until the day that deer walk out from the woods with their age, weight, and a record of what they have been eating and will eat in future seasons tattooed on their backs, the indiscriminate killing of young deer, thought to be inferior, is not practical for managing deer genetics, unless of course these deer live their entire lives in a variable controlled pin, living off an ample ration of pedigree.  If you are managing an average Texas lease, between hunter error and environmental variation, there are just too many variables too implore the Kerr WMA’s harvest strategy on your ranch.

Unfortunately, Horn Hunter hit the nail the head.  Probably will be a little warm, but at this point there is really no telling.  I was in Abilene hunting last year in early December.  When we got to the ranch it was warm and dry.  When we left it was cold and rainy.  You'll just have to check the weather before heading out.  Good luck.

What ranch are you hunting?

Yea! This was interesting.

Dear Dandy Lion (...if that's your REAL name...) ;-),

I'm surprised none of the guys have mentioned this yet, but I'll go ahead and say it. I'm not a big hunter, but I do work for this website. I am not against hunting b/c hunting is not killing.

God gave us dominion over the animals. That is why many people stand over the one they have hunted hard for (sometimes following the animal for 8 days, watching it first) with pride and excitement. Then they use the meat to provide for their family.

Humans have been doing this for years. Really. Lots of years. Since the beginning of time, actually. Yep...long time, because it works out really well that way.

Have a good one!

Post Oak Savannah

Deer hunting may be more difficult this year, according to Tyler-based biologist David Sierra. “The vegetation will be lush and thick, providing more cover and making deer harder to spot,” he noted. “The increased amount of forage and mast will allow deer to move less and bed down early. And again, better range conditions will spread the deer over larger areas and not concentrate them in the bottoms and other prime habitats.”

With the mild winter, excellent spring and cooler summer this year deer should not have experienced the usual environmental stresses. This should allow them to put on more body fat and use the extra nutrition to express their full genetic potential, said Sierra. “So I would expect them to be heavier and with better then usual antler development.”

Because of the abundant vegetation available, Sierra suggested hunter look for an opening in the woods bordering a native meadow and a stand of oaks or pecan trees. “Because of the excellent range conditions there should be an abundance of both forbs and mast; hunting the edge will allow me to take advantage of both.”

If deer are conditioned to come to feeders some will still visit them, but fewer will probably use them this season.

Tyler Morning Telegraph reported the following response to the above article: