Officials at Garner State Park, a treasured Hill Country destination, are looking to stronger control measures for the estimated 200 exotic axis deer that inhabit the park. Scheduled public hunts have been insufficient to remove adequate numbers of the invasive species.
More than 100 permitted public hunters annually averaged just 43 axis deer harvested during the last five years. Officials plan to further reduce axis numbers through controlled harvest. The tactic proved efficient during a pilot harvest last season, removing 56 axis over the course of a few days.
Although common to Texas, axis are not indigenous to the state and compete directly with native wildlife for resources by displacing native species and damaging associated habitats.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department initiated the two-year pilot controlled harvest project last year to evaluate contract harvests as an additional method of invasive animal control at Garner and South Llano River state parks. For the pilot project, TPWD entered a services contract with a private company to remove exotic animals in exchange for the harvested meat at no cost to the state.
"Managing axis deer populations is consistent with our mission and is critical for maintaining healthy habitats that support native wildlife diversity," said Greg Creacy, regional natural resources coordinator for Texas State Parks.
TPWD has worked to maximize use of public hunting as a wildlife management tool, while balancing the needs of thousands of park user groups who visit the park each month. Hunting activities are limited to those times of the year when visitation is at its lowest, typically week days during the winter months.
"Many years of conducting public hunts have shown us public hunting, alone, is insufficient for controlling invasive deer populations," Creacy explained. "While we are still evaluating the effectiveness of this new contract harvest initiative, it is likely that both public hunting and contract harvests will have to be sustained to reduce axis deer numbers. The contract harvests compliment the public hunts, and we are definitely not planning to exchange public hunting opportunity for contract animal harvests or reduce public hunt initiatives."