AUSTIN, Texas -

The online public comment period is 12:00 p.m. November 17, 2008, through 05:00 p.m. January 14, 2009.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has transitioned away from political boundaries for the purpose of monitoring white-tailed deer populations and toward biologically-based communities or Resource Management Units (RMUs).

The department has identified 33 unique RMUs across the state having similar soils, vegetation types and land use practices they believe will more accurately capture deer population dynamics. The intent is to develop deer season bag limit frameworks based on these units, although implementation will still track county boundaries to avoid confusion among hunters.

In a briefing of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission’s Regulations Committee, TPWD unveiled an extensive suite of potential regulation changes in deer harvest throughout much of the state. The department will be gathering public input on the possible proposals during the next couple of months and present to the commission in January a comprehensive set of proposals.

Those proposals will then go back out for official comment during a series of public hearings around the state next spring. A final decision will be made by the commission at its March 25-26, 2009, public meeting.

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