If you've hunted around New Ulm since 2019, you know the doe season was four days long. It opened on Thanksgiving Day and closed that Sunday, and you fit it in around family and the turkey. Why did Austin County get such a short window when most of Texas lets hunters take does for the whole general season?
The answer explains this year's change. The short window was there to protect the herd on land like ours, which is divided into a lot of small tracts, and the state now says it protected the herd too well. For the 2026-27 season, Austin County's firearm doe window runs from Saturday, Nov. 14 through Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026. That's sixteen days instead of four. Opening day is a little over three weeks away.
The four-day window was built for small tracts
Doe days are not a statewide rule. In most of Texas, does can be taken with a firearm for the whole general season. When the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission met on March 26, 2026, staff reported that 89 counties had some form of restricted doe days. Austin County and 20 neighbors were the only counties in the state with just four. Most of those 21 counties sit in the Post Oak Savannah. The list includes Colorado, Fayette, Washington, Waller and Lee counties, so the change covers most of the country around New Ulm and Bellville.
TPWD gave its reason for restricting doe harvest in the adopted rule published in the Texas Register on June 26, 2026. In deer management units with "fragmented habitat, high hunting pressure, and large numbers of small acreage properties," the department limits firearm doe harvest to protect "the reproductive potential of the population."
That describes the country off FM 109 and FM 1457 well. A 40-acre place with a stand on the fence line borders another 40-acre place with its own stand. When many hunters on many small properties are all looking at the same deer, a full-season doe harvest could thin the breeding herd faster than it recovers. A short window kept that from happening.
According to the Fayette County Record, TPWD started the four-day structure in 2019, and deer numbers and the doe-to-buck ratio have risen over the long term.
What TPWD's own surveys showed
The four-day rule worked, and the herd grew. At the March 2026 commission meeting, TPWD staff gave the numbers that led to the change.
"Based on the department's deer surveys, these deer management units have seen an increase in deer density as well as a skewed sex ratio of four does per buck."
That comes from the commission meeting transcript, which covers Deer Management Units 11 and 12. Staff also said that "hunters, landowners, and farmers in these counties" had raised concerns about the growing deer population and had asked for more doe days.
The adopted rule adds a number that explains the ratio. In the affected units, antlerless deer made up less than half of the total harvest. TPWD called the resulting sex ratio "undesirable" and said the expansion is meant to address "increasing deer densities and habitat degradation."
Put those findings together and you get the reason for the change. When hunters take mostly bucks over a four-day doe season, the herd ends up heavy on does. Those does keep having fawns, and the density climbs on land that is already split into small pieces. On a small place, habitat degradation means browse lines in the oak mottes and fewer forbs coming back in spring, and you see it from the porch.
Before voting, the state checked with local hunters and landowners. Staff held public scoping meetings in all 21 counties, and over 75 percent of the attendees who took the survey supported the proposal. The commission approved the change, and TPWD announced it in an April 1, 2026 release.
What stayed the same
The longer window does not mean more does per hunter. Hunters in these 21 counties can still take two antlerless deer a year, counting the doe window plus archery, youth-only and muzzleloader seasons, and the mandatory harvest reporting stays in place. The overall limit on the TPWD Austin County page is four deer for all seasons combined, with no more than two bucks and no more than two antlerless.
The real change is timing. A hunter used to have four days at Thanksgiving to fill a doe tag. Now there are two extra full weekends before the holiday. Staff also noted that depending on where Thanksgiving falls, some years will run as long as 23 days.
The buck rules in Austin County haven't changed. A legal buck has at least one unbranched antler or an inside spread of 13 inches or more. Of a hunter's two bucks, only one can be 13 inches or wider.
This fall's Austin County deer calendar
Here is the season in order, from TPWD's Outdoor Annual page for Austin County:
- Archery only runs Oct. 3 through Nov. 6, 2026, and it's open now.
- The early youth-only season runs Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, 2026.
- The general season opens Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, and closes Jan. 3, 2027.
- Doe days run Nov. 14 through Nov. 29, 2026. Hunters can take antlerless deer with hunting license tags.
- The late youth-only and muzzleloader seasons both run Jan. 4 through Jan. 17, 2027.
Two notes apply to these dates. First, if TPWD has issued MLDP antlerless tags for a property, antlerless deer there can be taken only with MLDP tags, and the landowner or designated agent provides them. Second, any antlerless deer taken during archery, youth-only, muzzleloader or the doe days must be reported within 24 hours through the Texas Hunt & Fish app or online.
Licensing changed this year too. TPWD's Sept. 4 roundup of what's new says new identity verification rules apply to license purchases. It also says hunters who buy a digital license online won't get printed tags. They use digital tags in the Texas Hunt & Fish app and need to carry the license on their phone in the field. If you buy the digital license, make sure the app works before you head to the stand on Nov. 14.
The same release asks hunters to watch for New World screwworm. It asks them to report animals with suspicious wounds and to check harvested deer for larvae. The Texas Animal Health Commission keeps an interactive NWS zone map, and the state's information is at screwworm.texas.gov.
More does taken means more deer to process
When doe harvest is spread over 16 days, more deer come in to the local meat markets well before Thanksgiving week. That changes when you'll want to call ahead.
In New Ulm, Eckermann's Meat Market at 2543 FM 1457 handles deer from skinning to finished product. Its posted services include skinning, skinning for a shoulder mount, deboning and custom processing. The rate card on its website lists $60 to skin a deer and $50 to debone one, and it's marked "prices subject to change," so call for this season's prices. Eckermann's also sets a 20-pound minimum for each type of sausage. If you want both dry sausage and summer sausage from one doe, plan for that minimum. The shop asks hunters to keep deer "clean and cold" until drop-off, and you can reach it at (979) 836-8858.
Toward Bellville, Prasek's runs seasonal wild-game processing at its Sealy location. Check its hours and intake requirements before you load the truck.
If your freezer is already full, you can donate a doe. Through Hunters for the Hungry, Feeding Texas accepts legally tagged, field-dressed deer at participating processors. The closest participant on the program's registered-processor list is Willie Joe's Processing at 2218 Krischke Road in Schulenburg, phone 979-561-8272. It's listed as a Central Texas Food Bank partner. Call before you drive down, because the list shows which processors have registered, not who is open on a given day. Willie Joe's also processes deer and other wild game for hunters keeping the meat, including sausage and jerky.
To restock a feeder or replace gear before the opener, Linseisen's Feed at 551 West Main in Bellville carries deer feed, wildlife products and hunting gear. It's open weekdays and Saturdays.
What the change means for small places
The adopted rule describes a herd that has outgrown its range on fragmented, small-acreage land. Hunters weren't taking enough does to keep the numbers in check, and the state lengthened the doe season so the harvest can catch up. On a 30- or 60-acre place near New Ulm, the doe tags in your family now have two more weekends to work with, and those weekends fall before the Thanksgiving traffic.
This post is general information, not legal advice. Hunting rules, tags and reporting requirements belong to TPWD, so check the current Outdoor Annual or call the department before you hunt.
How many deer your place can carry matters when you buy land, when you sell it, and when you keep up its wildlife plan. If you have questions about the brush, browse and wildlife side of acreage around New Ulm, Bill Johnson Real Estate has been walking these tracts with landowners since 1970. Talk to a local land expert today.
