Sports

Wortham couldn’t stage a thirdset comeback in a 3-0 Area championship loss to Valley Mills on Friday night, Nov. 4.

Texas’ general season for white-tailed deer opened statewide on Nov. 5. You can’t legally shoot a deer until 30 minutes before sunrise, but most Texas hunters were probably in the woods long before darkness gave way to that first dim light of dawn. Some hunters may not have slept a wink on the eve of the season opener. Many were likely way too excited in anticipation of what they may or may not see. Opening morning of deer season is to Texas hunters what Game 1 of the World Series is to baseball buffs, only there are no loud crowds or bustling stadiums involved. Just the lonesome sounds of mouthy coyotes up to no good, cat squirrels hustling grub, and hopefully, a big ol’ buck trying to slip by in the brush without getting noticed. It’s a hallowed event played out in nature’s chapel, peaceful settings like river bottom brush blinds in eastern Texas or tall tower stands overlooking a scenic, Hill Country bluff or South Texas sendero. Regardless of where you hunt, there is no such thing as a bad deer season in Texas. The state maintains the most robust deer population of any state in the nation, about 5.4 million animals, according the latest estimate from Texas Parks Wildlife Department white-tailed deer program leader Alan Cain. Not surprisingly, we also have plenty of deer hunters around here who routinely kill more deer annually than many states have. Last year, roughly 756,000 Texas hunters shot nearly 830,000 whitetails resulting in an impressive statewide success rate of 62 percent. Among them were about 448,000 bucks and 380,000 does. The deer rich Edwards Plateau accounted for most of the harvest (253,000), followed by the South Texas Plains (134,000), Cross Timbers and Prairies (112,000), Rolling Plains (90,000) Post Oak (88,000) and the Pineywoods (87,000). That’s mucho venison. Interestingly, Cain says he won’t be surprised if the harvest climbs higher this year. That’s because native forage is lacking in some areas due a lingering drought that has parched the landscape and hampered production.

Running to the playoffs