ColeStevensAs many of you know, there has been a special antler restriction placed on whitetails in Brown County as well as some other surrounding counties. You are now able to harvest five deer and no more than two bucks all seasons combined (archery, youth, gun, and special late). The bucks that are considered legal have an inside spread greater than 13” or have at least one unbranched antler. Only one buck with a spread wider than 13” may be harvested, meaning the other has to be a spike or a deer with one unbranched antler.

I do not have a problem with the 13” spread restriction. In general, a buck with a spread less than 13” is a younger more immature deer. Trust me, I know very well that there are some deer out there with a spread less than 13” that need to be harvested due to inferior genetics, but remember TPWD is setting this restriction based on research and data collected at wildlife processing plants. And the reason that this rule is now in effect is because too many immature deer with a narrow spread were being harvested each year.

The second part of this antler restriction however completely boggles my mind! If you don’t take anything away from this article five minutes from now, please remember this: A yearling spike, IS NOT A SPIKE. He is a young buck that has plenty of room to grow and it does not cost very much to feed him. If you need meat for your freezer then shoot another doe. I am not saying that there aren’t spikes or other bucks with “at least one unbranched antler (TPWD)” out there that absolutely need to be harvested, but I am saying that 90% of the spikes you will see this year are sporting their first set of antlers.

Research at Texas A&M University will tell you that a whitetail deer does not reach full potential until 6 ½ years of age. For this reason, I very rarely harvest deer on my own ranch until they are at least 5 1/2. I understand that it is hard to manage small acreage and that passing a good buck might mean that the neighbors will harvest him, but it does not guarantee it. The certainty however is that if you harvest him, he will not grow another set of antlers for next season.

Before I call it a night, I would like to share a little tip; Always carry trail cam pictures of deer from your property with you, and whenever you run into a neighbor, show him those pictures. Tell your neighbor about your management strategy and why you are not going to harvest certain deer. Show him pictures of deer that you have passed up and how they have grown from year to year. It won’t be long before you have your own accountability group started for harvesting whitetails.

Shoot straight,

Cole Stevens

About the Author:

My name is Cole Stevens. I am a private wildlife/fisheries biologist and owner of Superior Wildlife Consulting. I am a graduate of Texas A&M University and my wife and I moved to Brownwood in April of this year. I have been an outdoor enthusiast all of my life and can honestly tell you that hunting and fishing brings out the best in me.

Cole can be reached at hcstevens@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for questions or comments or visit his website at