Local hunters are reminded that new antler restrictions are in place for East and Southeast Texas counties.
A legal buck deer is defined as having a hardened antler protruding through the skin and at least one unbranched antler or an inside spread measurement between main beams of 13 inches or greater; or six points or more on one antler.
Affected counties include: Jefferson, Orange, Newton, Jasper, Hardin, Chambers, Liberty, Anderson, Angelina, Archer, Atascosa, Brazos, Brown, Clay, Cooke, Denton, Ellis, Falls, Freestone, Grayson, Grimes, Harris, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Limestone, Madison, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Montague, Montgomery, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Polk, Robertson, San Jacinto, Smith, Stephens, Tarrant, Trinity, Tyler, Van Zandt, Walker, Wichita, Wise, and Young.
Local hunters are concerned because many of the bucks in the southern portions of Newton and Jasper as well as in Orange and Jefferson Counties do not have a wide spread. They have thick horns and will grow tall but we are not a region with lots of wide racks on mature bucks.
And there are other concerns.
It used to be that East Texas had affordable hunting clubs but that is now a genuine rarity.
I have talked with numerous hunters who privately managed for trophy bucks by selective harvest and year-around protein feeding only to have their lease prices skyrocket once the timber companies found out what kind of bucks they were producing.
And they were not giving up the kind of bucks you see on magazine covers, just nice representatives of the region.
This will be an interesting season for local hunters who will have to make big adjustments and judgments in the field.
Outdoors
Local deer hunters face restrictions
- Outdoors
-
- Goose shooting strong on coast
-
Outdoors Video: Safely Unhook small crappie
Sam Rayburn/Toledo Bend guide Roger Bacon shows how to safely unhook an undersize crappie.
- Chester Moore column: What's up with coyote population?
-
Outdoors Video: The Common Salvinia Problem
Hunting and fishing guide Roger Bacon talks about the problem with common salvinia on East Texas lakes Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend and Dam B. - Rains hamper, help fishing
- Crab trap program enters 11th year
- Fishing myths plentiful, entertaining
-
Outdoors Video: Monster flounder eats
Watch rare footage of a giant southern flounder eating a shrimp.
- Outdoors video added weekly
- Stocking myths persist in Pineywoods
- More Outdoors Headlines






