Ok Texas Deer Hunters a question

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Deaf Smith

Deaf Smith

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What happens if you shoot a buck that is 12.489 inches inside spread?

Does a Game Warden make a judgement call or just by they book and it's to bad for you?

I mean, I don't see that many 13 inch rulers out there in the woods to judge by.

Just wondering cause I saw a HUGE buck last week, and while I think it has a 13+ inch spread, what if I'm wrong? I'll find out tomorrow as I go hunting for it but I sure hope it has a 13+ spread. It had a mighty good rack I tell you that.

Deaf
 
Dave.. neither.


Deaf Smith, as you know, was Sam Houston's chief scout. And Skeeter Skelton was sheriff of Deaf Smith County.

And that's mighty good company to have!


Deaf
 
First we need to establish that "antler restrictions" apply only to certain Texas counties and are NOT statewide, (just for the benefit of our readers).

I suppose under the "letter of the law" the deer in question would be illegal, but hopefully a Game Warden would recognize that any buck falling within 1/2"-3/4" of the required (minimum inside) spread would fulfill the "spirit of the law".

I say this....because the Official TPWD "Outdoor Annual" (containing regulations and game laws) exhibits on pg. 62 a rendering with the following text beside it:

"Ears in an alert position are approximately 13 inches apart and may be used to judge the inside spread".

This in itself... provides a bit of "built in" leeway. But ultimately....the call will be made by the Warden. Fortunately, I've not encounted a single warden in 40 yrs of hunting....that wasn't a fairly reasonable person.

Flint.
 
I dont even take a chance on any buck near that size so I aint gonna worry about getting in trouble but I do think a game warden will bust you in a heartbeat on that 13" rule.
 
The regulations say to eyeball it in relation to the ears. If they are at or past the ear tips when the ears are in their normal position, you're good.

If in doubt, take a picture instead :neener: It's cheaper than a fine...

Jan
 
I do somewhere in the range of 500 hunter ed. students each year. Last year we had two different individuals in class who had been exposed to the Game Wardens' tape measures. One was fined $500 plus $200 civil restitution over 1/2".

Another was $500 plus $300 civil restitution over 1/4 of an inch. And the ears on that one could NOT be stretched far enough to touch the inside of the antlers. We suggested the man demand a jury trial. I know not how it shook out, but the citation sounded like pure fowl feces.

As others have said, the 13" antler restriction is only in certain counties - for now anyway. Such is specified in the back (County) section of the Outdoor Annual.
 
Deaf Smith said,
I mean, I don't see that many 13 inch rulers out there in the woods to judge by.
Click to expand...

and springmom responded...
The regulations say to eyeball it in relation to the ears. If they are at or past the ear tips when the ears are in their normal position, you're good.
Click to expand...

which means Deaf Smith may not have read his regulations befoe taking his deer. A little preparation time in advance of the hunt can save you some grief after the hunt.

Does a Game Warden make a judgement call or just by they book and it's to bad for you?
Click to expand...

They don't get themselves in trouble when they play by the rules, but like others in law enforcement, they can let things slide once in a while. You certainly can't fault them for playing by the rules. The rules are stipulated up front and in advance. It is sort of like speeding, you may only be a few miles over the limit, but don't count on the cop not giving you a ticket because you weren't dramatically over the limit.
 
if it's not 13" inside spread, and you get stopped by a game warden, you're going to get a fine. I have heard numerous instances of deer with 12 1/4, 12 1/2" etc spreads receiving fines.

how is a game warden going to set a dead deer up to see what their "normal" distance between the tips of their ears are?
 
Simple. Take each ear and place between thumbs and index fingers, then stretch outward as far as possible toward antlers. Or, if already stiff, a couple of pair of pliers. But a tape measure is a whole lot easier for 'em. Particularly if they want to be horsey and get out the little blue love-letter booklet then let a judge or jury sort it out.
 
^ Agreed.
I have seen year and a half year old bucks sporting their first year rack that was 12 inches in south Texas,but NEVER a yearling.
 
Then staying on that subject I can say that since some counties went to this type of antler restrictions I know that my brother who has a lease in east Texas and all the guys that hunt on it are very nervous about shooting an antlered buck unless it is very obvious it exceeds the 13 inch rule.
Same with a friend that owns a small ranch in Colorodo county.
This will be a net plus for the deer herd in the years to come I do believe and I would not be surprised to see this start up in more counties as time goes by.
 
TPWD puts out a 10 1/2 minute DVD entitled "White-tail Deer Antler Restriction Regulations". For those who hunt in an antler restriction county, I strongly suggest obtaining a copy (prior to hunting) or at least seeing it in a hunter education class to be able to say "Your honor, and ladies and gentlement of the jury, this is what I knew."

In the video, while showing a graphic on the screen similar to what is on page 62 of the Outdoor Annual, the narrator says "In essence, all buck deer are carrying a measuring stick on their head" and "hunters can utilize this as a guide". (To some of us, that first statement is accurate as saying that every male in this section of the forum wears a size 7 1/4" hat!)

The video does of course explain the need to use "a spotting scope, binoculars, or at the very least, a good rifle scope" to judge the dimension - and only while the deer is looking at you with the ears in the alert position. If someone did that (and had seen the video in advance), I would not want to be the game warden explaining to a jury why a citation was written over 1/4" or 1/2" when the eartips could not be stretched far enough to reach the antlers.
 
I would hope a person would pass up a buck with a 13'' spread anyways! For one its not a very big deer and you should pass it up so maybe next year you can shoot a nice buck. I kinda like that texas will not let you shoot little bucks thats a great idea, managing for trophies not opportunity. Those little deer some people post on here make me sick, knowing that in a few new years that thing would have grew up to be big. Moral of the story dont shoot as we call "scrub" bucks. better to go home empty handed in my opinion.
 
srkavanagh6621, I hate to tell ya, but there are some areas in Texas where that's a fair-sized rack. I've seen the same thing in the Florida panhandle, and a fair number of Internet pictures of similar sized deer.
 
The ears are a good guide, but some deer are just larger than others. I wouldn't shoot one in a restricted county unless I was absolutely sure (14" plus); I can't see them letting you go with 12.5".

The antler restrictions are terrible for the herd if you ask me. It also allows harvesting yearling spikes. I'm in central Texas and harvested a 2 year old cull with no brow tines last year, wouldn't have been legal in an antler restricted county...but it is a horrible genetic defect. I've also harvested a 140" deer that was in decline, lost over 20 inches from the previous year....he had an 11" inside spread. He was so old he looked young...till he walked.
 
There are always going to be a few deer that slip through and have a narrow rack at full maturity, but as a whole this should limit a lot of the first year deer being killed off and bring a bit of balance to places that have been shot out.
 
I would add that there are plenty of nice-sized does available that make perfectly good table fare, and current TX statewide regs will allow you to take up to a total of 5 of them, provided you don't use 2 (or 3 depending on county) of your tags on bucks. I've taken a couple nice does this season, the only buck I scoped with a rack that I knew to meet the 13" requirement I couldn't get a decent shot at him so I let him pass. My county has the antler restrictions in place and it's probably a good thing with regards to allowing some of the nicer animals to mature for a season or two, but like I said, if you love the venison then there's no reason, given the bag limits, to pass up on those does!
 
Good point. I never understand people who shoot these little bucks because they "don't care about the horns", but refuse to shoot a doe.
 
Every deer I'd consider "huge" would have no problems meeting the 13 inch rule, but then again, I live in SOuth Dakota not in Texas. In the post "last minute deer" you can see a deer I took Sunday night....A good, respectable buck I'm proud of, but nothing I'd ever come close to calling "HUGE"....and it was 16.5 wide.....20 in. plus whitetails aren't unheard of around here, as I know of several shot this season alone.....
 
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