Hunting

Don’t Forget Special Mule Deer Regs

Hunters pursuing mule deer this fall in Briscoe, Childress, Cottle, Floyd, Hall, and Motley counties are reminded to comply with antler restriction regulation that prohibits harvest of any mule deer buck with a main beam outside spread of less than 20 inches. The regulations were put in place last year.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is implementing the new experimental regulation with the goal of improving buck age structure and sex ratios in these counties by reducing excessive hunting pressure on younger bucks. A similar antler restriction for white-tailed deer has been in place for a number of years in other parts of the state, and has successfully shifted the age class structure toward older bucks.

To protect young bucks, TPWD has set the minimum legal outside spread of the main beams at 20 inches based upon many years of harvest data. In other words, any buck having main beams with an outside spread smaller than 20 inches is NOT legal to harvest.  Additionally, any buck with at least one unbranched antler (e.g., spike) is NOT legal to harvest, unless the outside spread of the main beams is 20 inches or more in width.  Based upon data collected by TPWD, the average ear-tip to ear-tip spread of 2 ½ to 8 ½+ year old mule deer bucks with ears in the alert position is about 21 inches. This information on ear-tip to ear-tip measurement can be a useful guide to mule deer hunters attempting to field-judge mule deer bucks with at least a 20-inch main beam outside spread.

Mule Deer Buck Antler Restrictions Guide

Legal vs. Not Legal 

The experimental antler restriction will be conducted for four hunting seasons. TPWD wildlife officials will collect age and antler measurements at voluntary hunter-harvest check stations to assess the effects of the regulation on buck age structure. Annual aerial surveys will be used to document sex ratios. Based on findings after four years, TPWD will either propose to extend the regulation, modify the antler restriction, or permanently terminate.

To gather the most harvest data possible, TPWD will offer incentives to hunters who check their harvest.  Hunters who bring their harvest to a check station will be entered in drawings for items such as rifles, lifetime hunting licenses, and gift cards donated by Dallas Safari Club, the Texas Panhandle Chapter of the Dallas Safari Club, the Mule Deer Foundation, and Houston Safari Club.  These data are essential to effectively evaluate the success of the experimental antler restriction.

More information regarding mule deer seasons, the experimental antler restriction, check station locations, dates and hours of operation, check station incentives, and drawing results is available online.

Source: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

TFG Editorial

Recent Posts

Three Things that Make Your Fishing Life Easier

Fishing is a hands-on activity for sure, and many of us don't necessarily want to…

20 hours ago

Lake Amistad “Infested” With Zebra Mussels

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has designated the International Amistad Reservoir in the…

2 days ago

Wildlife Crossing Project Move Forward For Sake of Bighorns

The Nebraska Department of Transportation and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) have secured…

2 days ago

Confirmation Made In Fatal Mountain Lion Attack

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has confirmed that the mountain lion euthanized…

2 days ago

Texas Youth Wins Austin Stevens Young Adventurer Award

Higher Calling Wildlife®, the youth conservation outreach founded by wildlife journalist and conservationist Chester Moore…

3 days ago

Texas State Parks Offer Eclipse Viewing Opportunity

Less than a month remains until the highly anticipated total eclipse adorns Texas skies. On…

3 days ago