GobblerTX

New here, not sure if this has been discussed yet or not, but would like to get opinions on the topic...

If you are not aware, the Texas Parks and Wildlife had used 13 counties in experimenting with a new law that would not allow hunters to take a non-spike buck unless he had an inside spread of over 13 inches... You could take one spike (or one buck with one unbranched beam) and one buck with a 13 or over inside spread...

You're supposed to judge this by the spread compared to the deer's ears in the alert position, which should be around 13 inches...

The experiment satisfied the TPW and they went ahead and added more counties in that general area to the list of counties that would have to follow these guidelines...

Now, I honestly believe that this is a good thing overall... But what about those bucks you wanna cull? I know people in the area who still cull a buck to whipe out the genes instead of taking their spike and minus the law breakage, I can't really blame them...

So, what do you non-fair-chasers who do not have the luxery of hunting 10k acre public-land and are involved in game-management think about this...

Just sturring up some convo...

nice forum by the way...

Lanse couche couche

Are the Game Wardens going to cut any slack to the people who are a bit off in estimating the spread before dropping their deer? I can see this as a real issue considering the Fish-n-Game folks are already doing a good job of using the Constitution as bum fodder.

deernutz

I not a gene scientist or anything, but think about it. Most spikes you see are what a 1 1/2 yrs old. There has to be a lot of spikes that don't get shot each yr. So they must lose the spikes and grow branched horns. Granted they might not be booners. Just a thought.

GobblerTX

I'm pretty sure if it's close enough the warden will let you off, that would only be right...

As for the other reply, I'm guessing you are saying that if you can't take a 13-under, why take a spike?

Good question, but I guess I have a good answer... meat and the young ones...

North Texan

My area has been in need of change for some time. As a one buck county,hunters were leftwith the option of either taking a trophy or taking a management deer. With the deer population skyrocketing, the regulations had become a little outdated. Annual harvests don't even appear to make a dent in the overall population. With that population increase, I have noticed more and more spikes. I seldom saw a spike in the 80's, and still infrequently until the late 90's. This year, I have seen more spikes than any year previous. To me, that indicates a problem with herd management, and the need for change to correct the problem. Most hunters are interested in herd management, but the one-buck regulationsalmost punishhunters for management.

Texas Parks and Wildlife does a very good job managing our wildlife and fisheries resource, and we are fortunate to live in a state that recognizes the true value of those resources. I'm glad to see they are always looking for ways to improve and better manage our resources.

GobblerTX

Yes, it was all one-buck down here as well until this year...

No names, no places, but in reference to people culling, there was a 7-point with aless than 10-inch spread taken in one of the counties... Big bodied deer, used two systems for aging and they were both around the 3 1/2 year old mark... the rack may have had 7 points, but it was really short and really small...

Interesting rack though, had a kicker coming out of the back (not a lot of kickers around this area for some reason or another)and a weird flattened out look on the tip of one of the main beams... I've seen 'em flat, but not like this...

What's interesting is that a deer taken not 5 miles from this place last year had 3 main beams, one without any branches wrapping around the outside of the other... the other two beams presented a perfect looking 10 scoring around a 135-140... still waiting to see the pictures...

timbercruiser

I don't like to see states get into the trophy management business. If a club or individual has acerage that they want to voluntarily manage for trophy animals, then great for them. No problem. The problem I have is the young or novice hunter that goes out on private or public land and they are restricted to a management idea. Lots of areas have too many deer anyway.

Kanga

Well I guess it is a step in the right direction.

But they should also open up the anterless tags and season.

Some of the country I have hunted both private and public the buck to doe ratio is way out of whack.
In most cases you can only take a doe during archery season or on Thanksgiving weekend for the rifle boys.

If they really wanted to make an impression on the herds then we should be allowed to take out more doe'sso the better bucks will be the ones doing the breeding and not inferior bucks.

TX_Hoghunter

I am not looking at the numbers currently but did read up on this a couple of months ago. Now that the restrictions have been in place for a few years the harvest numbers for buck are about the same The only difference is that folks are now shooting 3 1/2 year old bucks instead of 1 1/2 year old bucks. The restrictions protected most 1 1/2 and most 2 1/2 year old deer but almost all of the 3 1/2 year old bucks qualified. I may change my mind later but right now I think it is a good thing.

-john

JagMagMan

In our local newspaper's outdoor section last week, there was an article about asix year study, of three Louisiana parishes. (3 years average harvest, compared to 3 years priorof statistics)
Without getting into the specific numbers, yearling buck harvest was cut more than half.
2 1/2 yr. old harvest was also down.
3 1/2 yr. old harvest was almost unchanged.
And, 4 1/2 yr.old harvest more than doubled.
For the three years of the study, over-all buck harvest was down about 20%, and no doe numbers were mentioned. The study's conclusion was that the average body, and antler sizes did NOT significantly increase, and recommended that taking more does would be the best option for managing bigger deer!
I have to agree with them 100%!
I Think that some of Texas' experimental antler restrictions are good, and I hope that they get over to our East Texas counties one day!
But, we also need some changes in the buck/doe harvest! Currently, most East Tex counties have a two buck, two doe limit. With most counties having a much shorter doe season, than buck seasons! The problem is that many land owners, and lease managers, still have the "cattle ranch philosophy," when it comes to deer management! (one bull, and two dozen cows!) I would hate to give up a buck tag, but something will have to give people an incentive to take less bucks, and more does!
The best management plan might include antler restrictions, but will have to include taking more does!