Granite Shoals hoping to reduce deer population with harvesting program

GRANITE SHOALS, Texas (KXAN) —A white tail deer population boom is causing one Hill Country town to take action.

Granite Shoals has seen its deer population increase significantly over the last few years, and now the city is introducing a program to reduce those numbers.

"The deer population is enormous out here," said Granite Shoals City Council Member Brian Edwards.

Edwards said more deer means there's the potential for more accidents, which is a danger to residents.

"You have to drive very self aware and take it slow," Edwards said.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) said the white tail deer population across the state has dipped over the years due to drought.

In 2016 there were about 5.5 million white tail deer, but recent data shows there are about 4.7 million.

While state numbers are down, Blaise Korzekwa, with TPWD's white-tailed deer program, said there are pockets where deer can see growth.

Those are areas close to water or areas where there are no predators and plenty of food.

If left unchecked the deer can cause problems, Korzekwa said.

"There is the danger of vehicle collisions," said Korzekwa. "The impact of too many white-tail could start to impact other wildlife species based off the changes in habitat."

Peter Hutnick with the Granite Shoals Wildlife Advisory Committee, is in charge of monitoring deer populations.

Data from the city shows that in 2019 there were about 950 white tail deer. However, during COVID-19, the committee stopped its harvesting program, and now those numbers are way up.

"We saw during our survey over 2,000 deer this year," Hutnick said. "That was the first time we saw over 2,000."

To help reduce the numbers the city started discussing a harvesting program this year. The program will allow qualified hunters to bow hunt in designated areas. The meat from these deer would then be donated to food pantries to feed families in need.

"This is strictly for deer population management," Edwards said.

The Wildlife advisory committee said they will have a town hall meeting in February or March to get public input about the harvesting program.

They hope to then start the program around October 2025.