three inches or less is legall for a doe tag. this buck was three inches so therefore it can be tagged with a doe tag. go to: mdc.mo.gov go to permits, click on any deer, and you will clearly see that is says one antlerd deer or antlerless.

***It will probably be less than 3" when you get a reply back, if the OP responds. :rolleye0011::busted:

Yup that would be a violation of game laws.im intrested in hearing what the op has to say.The three inch rule would mean two bucks were harvested on a doe tag and a either sex tag.

Haha yea....you should always fully understand the law,ignorance is never a good excuss.

No.i states a buck with LESS then three inches.thats what im reading.3 inches and beyond is considered a buck.

***That is exactly what the law reads to distinguish a buck from a doe! 3" is a buck!!! So let's say that it had a little less than a 3" spike and was legally tagged as a doe. That takes care of his one buck license that they issue IF you can shoot what is classified as a doe on it. What is the deal on shooting at what he thought was a doe that turned out to be a buck with the 6" antler. Whether that deer was legally tagged with a buck tag is at issue now if they only issue one buck tag for other than managed areas. The fact that it was killed with the intent of it being a doe with no remaining tags for a doe the way it looks like is troublesome to say the least. It appears that you can shoot from one up to as many does as you want with the proper doe tags depending on what county you're in. To clear this whole mess up the OP really needs to take a few minutes and state what county he was in and exactly what kind of tag each deer was tagged with. Hopefully, that will at least clear up whether he violated the law, as we've already said you shouldn't shoot at what you don't know for sure that you have a tag for.

Call me suspicious but I find it kind of convenient the buck in question is exactly the length of the cut off. Are you sure if someone else laid a tape to it that it would be exactly 3 inches and not 3 1/8th? Funny thing about antlers is that they are rarely completely straight and the measurement on the curved surface can vary depending on where the tape is laid. That is why major trophies close to world record status are always scored by a panel.

Now if both deer are completely legal and properly tagged, no problem. But you cannot look at your original post and come to that conclusion. I'd say you got lucky because that 3 inch spike could have very easily been 3 1/4 and then we're talking a different matter. Lesson learned. Check your target very, very carefully. 1/4 of on inch can make a big difference. Just a suggestion but if you commonly have deer at 200 yards and can look at them for 10 minutes before shooting you should invest in a good spotting scope. A 36X scope will let you see a 3 inch spike at that range. and therefore eliminate this from happening again.

Good post Flags, but IMHO at 200 yards WITH PROPER LIGHT he should be able to see that antler at 9X with a 3x9 rifle scope that is commonly used nowadays.

Flags...3inchs is not the cut off,less than 3 inches is the cut off.the op should read what top just said and think about it.

I agree he should, but the ear could easily hide a 3 inch spike so I'll cut him some slack on that if all he had was a scope. He didn't mention what he was using so it is entirely possible all he had was a 4x. I've shot a lot of game at 200 yards with nothing more than 4x. And remember he did say it was at 0645 so he didn't have proper light. At best this was probably only a little after legal shooting light and that is never the best light for picking out details at a couple hundred yards.

But with a good spotting scope, he would have seen it. Personally, I'd rather hunt without shoes than leave my optics behind. But then, that's me and my viewpoint and others don't have to agree if they don't want to.