General white-tailed deer season opens Saturday in Mason County. The town's calendar for the weekend is already built around it. Friday is for supply stores and a free football broadcast. Saturday's daytime event wraps up at 1 p.m., and Saturday's concert doesn't start until 7. The Chamber's big dinner comes a week later. Hunt or not, it helps to know which hours belong to whom.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department puts Mason County in the North Zone. That zone's general white-tailed deer season runs from Nov. 7, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. That's a little over eight weeks of season. Only one weekend of it gets this much planning from local businesses and venues, and it starts tomorrow.
Friday Is the Supply Day
The weekend starts a day early at Mason Feed Store, 130 Austin St. The store's Customer Appreciation Day runs Friday, Nov. 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the Mason County Chamber of Commerce calendar. The listing promises free food, giveaways, door prizes and beer.
Friday afternoon fits a feed store's opener well. Anyone heading to a lease or a family place needs corn, supplies and errands done before Saturday morning, and the party takes up that whole window. If you aren't hunting, Friday is still the most social afternoon on Austin Street this week.
Friday night moves to the square. The Punchers play Coleman away from home. The Odeon Theater at 122 Moody St. has canceled its movie that night to show the game live. Admission is free and donations are welcome. Doors open at 6 p.m., pregame starts at 6:30 and kickoff is at 7. The concession stand will be fully open.
So the night before the opener, you can watch an away game without driving to Coleman. You stay in town, a block from home for many people, and you're done at a reasonable hour.
Saturday's Calendar Stays Out of the Way
Saturday's two big events leave dawn and late afternoon open. Those are the hours when hunters are in the field.
The daytime event is in Fredonia. Fredonia Peanut Company holds Hunter Appreciation Day on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 11020 East Ranch Road 1222, per the Chamber's event listing. Wilson Sharpening Services will be set up there from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to the Chamber calendar. Bring knives that need an edge before the first deer goes on the gambrel. The event closes at 1, early enough that it never runs into the evening hunt.
The evening event is at the Odeon. Folk duo Ordinary Elephant plays Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m., and doors open at 6:15. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 cash at the door, according to the theater's performance page. That $5 difference makes buying ahead worthwhile. Two cash prices also suggest the theater expects some people to decide at the last minute. A 7 p.m. start leaves time to get back from a blind, clean up and drive in.
Here's how the opener fits together:
| When | What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 6, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Customer Appreciation Day | Mason Feed Store, 130 Austin St. | Free |
| Fri., Nov. 6, doors 6 p.m., kickoff 7 p.m. | Live broadcast, Mason at Coleman | Odeon Theater, 122 Moody St. | Free, donations welcome |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | General deer season opens, North Zone | Mason County | Per TPWD |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 8 a.m.–1 p.m. | Hunter Appreciation Day | Fredonia Peanut Company, 11020 E. RR 1222 | Not listed |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | Wilson Sharpening Services | Fredonia Peanut Company | Not listed |
| Sat., Nov. 7, doors 6:15 p.m., show 7 p.m. | Ordinary Elephant | Odeon Theater | $25 advance, $30 cash at door |
| Sat., Nov. 14, 5:30–9 p.m. | Wild Game Dinner | Fort Mason City Park Community Building, 1015 San Antonio St. | $25 dinner bracelet |
Where the Meals Come From
The hunter's clock applies to food too. Nacho's Café at 804 Fort McKavitt St. is open every day, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. It's the reliable spot for an early breakfast or a late supper this weekend, whether that's before the Fredonia event or after the Odeon lets out.
Cooper's Original Pit Bar-B-Q at 810 San Antonio St. keeps a narrower schedule. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday it's open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or until it sells out. On a weekend with this many people in town, that last part matters. Lunch is the safe bet. If you wait until after the evening hunt, the pit may already be empty.
Two blocks of the square have also changed this year. The Chamber's walking tour, updated in October 2026, says Texas Hill Country Beer Company has moved from Spring Street to 246 Ft. McKavitt. If your post-hunt routine took you to Spring Street, the new address is on Ft. McKavitt now.
A Week Later, the Season Gets Its Dinner
The opener belongs to the stores and the theater. The Chamber holds its event the following Saturday. The Wild Game Dinner is Saturday, Nov. 14, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Fort Mason City Park Community Building, 1015 San Antonio St. A week is a sensible gap. By then the season has a few days behind it, the opening-weekend rush is over and the dinner gets the whole evening.
A $25 dinner bracelet covers entry, dinner, alcohol and one chance at a door prize. The meal is a buffet of dishes made with several kinds of game meat, and the night includes a live auction of gear and prizes. The Chamber's page lists several more ways to take part:
- Gun raffle: 28 firearms, $5 per ticket. Each gun has its own numbered bucket, and buyers can choose which buckets their tickets go into. You don't have to be present to win, and winners collect their prizes at Inman's Armory in Llano.
- Special raffle: $50 per ticket or five for $200, capped at 1,000 tickets. The winner doesn't need to be present.
- Wine bracelets: New for 2026. For $50 you get unlimited red wine from Robert Clay Vineyards, sold online or at the door.
- Sponsorships: On the Chamber's sponsorship page, the Axis, Tent & Sound System, Print & Promotion, Bar co-sponsor and Photo Booth tiers were sold out. The Quail tier at $300 and the Whitetail tier at $600 were still open.
The prices tell you who the dinner is for. The $25 bracelet keeps the door cheap. The money comes from the add-ons: raffles, the auction, wine bracelets and the sponsor tiers. Most of those tiers were sold out well before the dinner, so local sponsors had committed early. The event isn't new. The Hill Country Passport covered the Chamber's Wild Game Dinner back in 2017. The wine bracelet is the one new piece this year.
The Calendar Turns to the Square
After the dinner, the hunting calendar gives way to the holiday one, and the center of town moves back to the courthouse. Light Up Our Town, A Hometown Christmas, is Saturday, Nov. 28, from 2 to 8 p.m. on Historic Mason Square at Moody and Westmoreland streets. The day includes a parade, local vendors, the Heritage Park tree lighting and a business decorating contest. The Chamber's event page calls it the first annual Christmas parade and caps vendor spaces at 35.
Several more dates follow. The Mason Community Choir's Advent Cantata is listed for Nov. 29 from 4 to 5 p.m. A Seaquist House Christmas, a free open house with refreshments, is Dec. 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. And on Dec. 12 the Odeon has Los Texmaniacs from 7 to 9 p.m., with the same $25 advance and $30 cash-at-the-door pricing as Saturday's show. Event listings can change, so check with the Chamber or the venue before you head out.
For the next nine days, though, the schedule follows deer season. The calendar runs from Friday afternoon on Austin Street, to Saturday morning in Fredonia, to Saturday night on Moody Street, to the Community Building on Nov. 14.
The same season that fills Mason's calendar every fall shapes how land here is used and valued. That's the work we do every day at CC Herber Co., Real Estate. If you're thinking about hunting acreage in Mason County, or how a ranch near town fits your plans for next season, we're glad to talk it through with you. Schedule a consultation.
