The Texas whitetail deer herd is one of intrigue and varied success. Let’s look at the chronological history of the whitetail deer in North America, Texas and more specifically San Saba County.Whitetail deer populations historically went through three distinct stages since records have been kept. The first stage, from 1500 to 1800, was characterized by massive harvest primarily by Native American Indians. They used everything on the deer except the squeal for food, shelter, clothing, tools and weapons. They hunted deer year around and “as needed” with no regard to which sex or what size or age was harvested. Early expeditions into Texas led by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1535 reported whitetail deer venison and hides were used extensively by the local Indians he encountered. U. S. Army Captain Randolph Marcy, in 1859, prepared a travelogue of the Southwest for the benefit of prospective pioneers, which he wrote, “In passing through Texas in 1846, thousands of deer were met daily. As astonishing as it may appear, it was no uncommon spectacle to see from one to two hundred in a single herd; the prairie literally alive with them.” Native American Indians lived on deer more than buffalo in much of Texas rangelands according to recent archeological site research. Deer inhabited almost all areas of Texas while buffalo were more confined to open grassland areas. Deer were easier to kill individually compared to a buffalo and deer tended to hang closer to water sources, unlike the buffalo herds.The second stage, from 1800 to 1865, saw a regrowth in deer numbers. Settlement invaded the continental interior, and nearly all Indian influence on the landscape within whitetail range was terminated. The Indians were much more effective at keeping the deer population low with their use of large-scale fire drives, overharvest of female deer year around, and hunting with dogs. As the settlers moved in, they were initially much more concerned with removing the Indians and building homes and farming than hunting deer, therefore the deer numbers increases sharply and quickly.The third stage, from 1865 to 1900 was the market hunting exploitation era. This short time period represents the greatest hunting pressure on all wildlife species ever recorded. The constantly expanding settler population took advantage of the abundant wildlife resources with little or no regard to management not only for substance hunting, but also for hide, meat, leather, and apparel use. Many wildlife populations, particularly deer, were almost decimated. In what is now present day Waco, almost 75,000 deer hides were exported from Texas in a nine year period. In 1881, the first Texas game law was implemented and it restricted the harvest of deer to only seven months of the year. With no game wardens or enforcement in place, the law did very little to curb the declining trend. In 1903, the deer bag limit was established at six buck deer only per season and outlawed the selling of game animal meat and skins. In 1907, the bag limit was cut to three buck deer per season and reduced deer season to only two months (November and December). In 1909, the first hunting licenses were sold and 5,000 were purchased. In 1915, a new law banned the use of deer calls “to call in or gather the attention of deer”. In 1919, six game wardens were hired to patrol the hunting endeavors of the entire state. In 1925, a new law banned the use of dogs and artificial light to take deer. In 1937, the Pittman-Robertson Act was enacted so that hunting-generated tax monies were spent directly on wildlife management and research projects. Deer numbers and distribution sharply increased in the 1930’s and 40’s due to protection from illegal and commercial exploitation, exclusion of fire, invasion of woody plant species into grasslands, deer restocking efforts and interest and cooperation by hunters, landowners and the general public. In 1954, the first wildlife studies began in order to better understand and manage the wildlife resources of Texas and wildlife biologists and management was born in earnest. Through the seven year drought of the early to mid 1950’s, the deer herd suffered a sharp decline. In 1952, four bucks and thirteen does were trapped in Aransas County and relocated to San Saba County by TPWD in order to help restock the decimated herd. In 1953, sixteen bucks and nineteen does were trapped and reintroduced into the County and in 1958, six bucks and four does were reintroduced by TPWD for the final state-funded restocking of deer into San Saba County. By the early 1960’s, due in part to the eradication of the screwworm in 1964 and end of the drought, the Texas deer population exploded again and was at the highest level ever in its history. Some localized areas were experiencing die-offs from overstocking by a combination of wild deer and domestic cattle, sheep and goats.By the mid 1960’s, biologists had learned about stocking rates of both wild and domestic animals but public acceptance was lagging. Continued overgrazing and overstocking of rangelands resulted in invasive brush encroachment, increased land fragmentation and widespread habitat loss. In 1953, the first antlerless deer harvest was legal in Mason, Gillespie and Kerr Counties, but again, public acceptance and approval was lagging. San Saba County’s antlerless harvest came several years later and it took many more years for it to become publicly or “politically” accept