By Macy Ledbetter, Wildlife Biologist, www.SpringCreekOutdoors.com; All Rights Reserved
San Saba County wildlife are coming to the end of 2021 in good overall shape. Other than the disastrous ice storm in mid-February, the native wildlife made it through in pretty good condition. The same cannot be said for many exotics species, however. Beyond February, the rains were favorable for the most part and well timed with overall mild summer temperatures. The brush is currently in great shape, the grass is tall and local hay producers have been busy. It is hard to believe that February was only nine months ago.
As you likely know, I spend every single day in the field starting in August looking, counting, photographing, monitoring, measuring and judging wildlife and habitat conditions throughout my travels. The entire month of September finds me in a helicopter all over central Texas primarily counting deer, turkey, quail and shooting predators, so I get to see some incredible wildlife on incredible ranches up close and personal.
The ice storm was very hard on most exotic/non-native species, particularly blackbuck antelope, axis deer, scimitar horned oryx, wildebeest and “super” exotic species such as kudu, gemsbok and sable. Such exotic species can take the cold for short periods of time and they can take wet for short periods of time, but they simply cannot take both cold and wet for long periods of time as their bodies are not designed for intense heat production and many, many succumbed to the elements, despite mankind’s best efforts to support them. Two exotic species in particular did not miss a beat and that includes fallow deer and elk. Both have longer, dense, hair and are very hardy critters and very few, if any, struggled with the February weather. On the native front, whitetail deer managed through it with only a few isolated issues. Some bucks that were pulled down from prolonged rutting activity or ultra-old deer perished but few overall middle aged or otherwise healthy deer died.
The native brush and trees are amazingly hardy. It obviously broke many tree limbs and split some trunks that will cause eventual death, but it appears the bulk of the native habitat will recover. Some mast producers such as persimmons and acacias did not produce their normal number of seeds because of the shock effect but I suspect they will bounce back in no time. The extreme weather was a very hard reminder just how animals depend on terrain and diverse habitat to survive. It also taught us the value of cedar thickets in strategic places and how important windbreaks can be. The next time you plan to do any major brush work on your ranch, keep February 2021 in your mind and plan for the next big weather event in order to help both the native and non-native species on your property.
The following are my 2021-2022 hunting season forecast for San Saba County based on my recent helicopter surveys and landowner meetings throughout the county:
Whitetail Deer: The county-wide fawn survival average this year is 60%. However, it ranges from 30-80% and that variable is grass. If you have good grass on your ranch right now, you are likely in the high end of that range but if you see more rocks than grass, you are certainly on the low end. This means if your fawn survival is low, you need to make certain you know your herd dynamics before you start shooting deer this fall. And for sure you need to harvest the correct deer this fall to ensure production will continue next summer.
Antler quality and body condition are above average this year. There is a strong cohort of four, five and six year old bucks this year and there are some very nice bucks out there. Every buck photo you see in this years’ Guide was taken in September in this county by our Spring Creek Outdoors team of wildlife biologists. We saw above average numbers of kickers, forks, splits and even a few drop tines this year and it is always fun to watch those unique animals thrive in the rolling hills and oak thickets of San Saba County.
Turkey: Turkey numbers are down this year. No doubt the freeze impacted the adult birds and some of the spring and summer rains simply came too late for a good hatch. You can help the birds more by keeping the feeders running and taking out as many predators as you can this fall.
Quail: Quail numbers are up throughout the county this year. The grass and grasshoppers are likely the reason but every ranch I flew this year showed more covies this year than in years’ past.
Rabbits: Rabbits are a “boom or bust” species, meaning when times are good, they do good and when times are hard, they don’t do as well. The February freeze was hard on both species of rabbits but the cottontails all but disappeared and now only the adult jackrabbit remain. There is a disease that hit rabbits hard the past two years in the panhandle and west Texas but no known cases n central Texas. I have been monitoring it closely so best I can tell at this point, their drop in abundance was simply weather related and nothing else. They should recover with more average rainfall and a milder winter.
Feral hogs: Speaking in general terms once again, feral hogs did suffer from the February freeze. Sounder size is down this year as sows struggled to raise their normal litter size. I conducted many feral hog aerial shoots after game surveys this year and what we observed and harvested was way down from a typical year. Continue to do your part to help the other wildlife and native grasses and shoot as many feral hogs and as often as you can this fall and winter.
Predators: Most predator species (coyote, bobcat, fox) had a very good year this year. Our surveys and aerial shoots show the numbers are up across the board. There are many coyote pups out there this year, the female appeared to raise all three or four pups this summer so do your part this fall and harvest predators when and as often as you can.
Nine months ago we were all sheltered in place or outside feeding animals and breaking ice for them. Most made it through, but not all. Some species took it much harder than others and as outdoor observers and lovers of wild things, we should be taking notes and putting it on our hard drive. Why did the animals that died die? Why didn’t more animals die? How did some simply survive while others thrived? What could I do differently to have a better outcome? What did I do wrong? What did the animals teach me that they needed most of all?
Everyone should reflect on these questions and answer them around the campfire this fall. You should make a plan, an action plan, a group decision action plan to make your property as good and prepared for the next event as it can possibly be. If you need assistance and you want answers, give us a call because we work with outdoor observers and lovers of wild things and we want to help you help yourself. Enjoy this time with friends and family, never forget those that we have lost since last year’s campfire and do your best to introduce a child to hunting this year.