Granite Shoals to hold deer harvesting town hall
The city of Granite Shoals is implementing a white-tailed deer harvesting program in the fall of 2025 to reduce the population. A town hall on March 29 will go over the harvesting plan with residents. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The city of Granite Shoals is hosting a town hall Saturday, March 29, to inform residents about its deer harvesting program, which will start this fall during the 2025-26 white-tailed deer hunting season. The city has been collecting data on its over-abundant deer population for more than two years to help form the harvesting program and reduce the animal’s numbers.
The town hall is from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Granite Shoals Fire Station, 8410 RR 1431 West. A mock harvest site will be set up so visitors can see how the process will work. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist Erin Wehland and city officials will be present to answer questions and hear concerns.
“There appears to be a severe overpopulation of deer,” Granite Shoals Wildlife Advisory Committee Chairman Peter Hutnick told DailyTrib.com.
According to Hutnick, the TPWD recommended the city harvest over 700 deer based on survey results obtained in 2024. More surveys will be held this summer before a hard number is determined prior to the coming hunting season.
The harvesting program would consist of volunteer bowhunters setting up at predetermined sites across the city and shooting deer throughout the 2025-26 season, which will likely run from September 2025 through January 2026. The harvesters will collect the meat themselves or pass it on to the Wildlife Advisory Committee, which will distribute the meat to the community as needed.
Harvesters are needed for the program. They must be 18 years or older and qualify through an archery/hunting test. Get information on joining at the town hall or by emailing the city at citysecretary@graniteshoals.org.
Hutnick explained that the advisory committee had put together a plan for a harvesting program in response to residents’ concerns about the numerous deer in the city destroying landscaping and causing a general nuisance. He acknowledged that some residents are concerned about the program because they enjoy having the deer in their yards.
“The vast majority of the members of the Wildlife Advisory Committee are not bowhunters,” he said. “This is not a self-serving thing; it is out of concern over the overpopulation of deer in Granite Shoals.”
City Secretary Dawn Wright also spoke on the issue, saying she often receives complaints about the abundant deer.
“Yes, I receive emails, I get phone calls, and honestly, it’s hard because I have to say there is nothing I can do,” she said. “It’s a concern.”
Typically, deer can only be hunted or killed within the constraints of TPWD regulations, but the department has worked extensively with Granite Shoals to make an exception to tackle the city’s large deer population.
The Wildlife Advisory Committee previously had a deer harvesting program in place in 2015, but the committee and the program died off in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was revitalized in 2023 to readdress the ongoing deer problem.