Although holiday celebrations look a little different this year, Texas State Parks and the Texas Historical Commission State Historic Sites are hosting more than 50 events across the state to help bring in some holiday cheer.

An engineering firm coordinated with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) in Kingsland to conduct a diving operation to determine whether endangered or threatened mussel species were located in the Llano River near the site of a planned dredging and sand pit operation, officials said.

Ninety-one-year-old Rose Wright was able to take down these two bucks within 15 minutes of each other on the first morning of deer season on Saturday, Nov. 7. The bucks were 10 points, left, and eight points, right. It was the first time in Rose’s illustrious hunting history that she ever had killed two bucks the first morning of deer season. The ranch where she shot the deer has been in her family since 1949 and is located in southern Burnet County.

On Sunday, Nov. 1, hundreds of youngsters and their families descended on the Highland Lakes area for youth season, which showed promise for a bountiful general season. The general deer season runs from Nov. 7 through Jan. 3, 2021 in the North Zone and Jan. 17, 2021 in the South Zone. A special youth-only gun deer season is set for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and Jan. 4 through 17, 2021.

The city of Granite Shoals is placing the deer management program on a hiatus after a string of resignations from the wildlife committee. At the committee’s most recent meeting on Sept.

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the August-September 2016 issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. When it comes to dove hunting, Texas is at the top of the flight.

With the start of a new hunting season fast approaching, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is reminding hunters and anglers that current year Texas hunting and fishing licenses (except the Year-from-Purchase All-Water Package) will expire at the end of August. New licenses for the 2020-21 season are on sale now.

Special to The Highlander From June to August each year, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff place leg bands on thousands of mourning and whitewinged doves to monitor the factors that influence populations. Information from hunter-reported bands, or “recoveries”, provide estimates of harvest and survival rates, which are used with data from the Harvest Information Program, Parts Collection Survey and other harvest surveys to help manage populations and set annual hunting regulations. …