Hunters pursuing mule deer this fall in the Texas Panhandle should be aware that an antler restriction has been expanded from the original 7 counties of Briscoe, Childress, Cottle, Floyd, Hall, Motley and Lynn counties to an additional 21 counties that will include: Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Castro, Cochran, Dawson, Donley, Foard, Gaines, Hale, Hardeman, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock, Martin, Parmer, Randall, Swisher, Terry, and Yoakum. The antler restriction regulation in 28 counties prohibits the harvest of any mule deer buck with a main beam outside spread of less than 20 inches.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department expanded the regulation with the goal of improving buck age structure and sex ratios in these counties by reducing hunting pressure on younger bucks. The antler restriction was tested in 6 experimental counties starting with the 2018 hunting season. Results from the experiment showed that prior to the experiment the area had a 1 buck/ 4.7 does, at the end of the experiment surveys indicated an improvement in sex ratios to 1 buck/ 2.9 does. Of the bucks brought to the check stations during the 4year experiment, 81% that were 4.5 years or older met the 20” outside beam spread. There were also some 3.5 year old and younger deer that met the antler restriction, but 81% of the 3.5 or younger bucks did not meet the minimum antler requirement, indicating we were able to shift the harvest to older 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.
In addition, a mule deer archery- only season was established in all counties with the antler restriction. The archery-only season opens October 1 and runs through November 4, with the general firearm season occurring November 19 through December 4. More information about the antler restriction and FAQs can be found online at https://tpwd.texas.gov/ huntwild/wild/ game_management/muledeer/ faqs.phtml 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 eartip 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 eartip 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.