Granite Shoals’ Wildlife Advisory Committee is calling the deer management season just ended “outstanding,” citing program efficiency, community benefit and, of course, wildlife management.
In a report finished last week, the committee noted as key areas: 267 deer harvested (222 does, 45 bucks); 99 percent tag utilization (267 of 270 Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. (TPWD) tags); 190 deer donated (71percent donation rate); 3,500 pounds of processed venison distributed; and 21 unrecovered deer (7.4 percent loss rate).
The committee counted 50 active harvesters of whom 37 harvested at least one deer. The top seven harvesters removed 169 deer (63 percent of total), figures show.
In all, 3,900 volunteer hours were donated over the season, which ran from Sept. 7 to Feb. 5 with time out during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The committee figured all told, Granite Shoals benefited to the tune of $170,700 once the value of donated venison and volunteer hours were included.
The committee’s report uses $13 per hour as an average volunteer “wage” and given 1,500 committee volunteer hours and 2,400 archer hours, the time benefit totals $128,700. With venison priced at $12 per pound, $42,000 worth of meat was handed out.
Donated venison was processed by Hudson’s Meat Market in Marble Falls and returned to Granite Shoals for distribution. The committee noted that return was slow because Hudson’s was making little or no profit from the processing. The city will look for a better deal in future processing, the report noted.
Of the 21 unrecovered deer, six later were found but the meat was unusable by that time.
The report calls the loss rate very low, noting that some programs have run as high as 20 percent loss.
“We made some mistakes but we corrected those and we’re ready to go next year,” committee chairman Mark Henshaw told Highlander.
The program operated in partnership with TPWD using archeryonly methods at ten approved harvest locations. The stands were selected based on population density, safety, and habitat characteristics. Two locations were relocated during the season due to resident concern.
