Hey Guys, I'm a fairly new deer hunter this season as I took a long break while raising two boys that were not interested in firearms and hunting... Yea bummer!. So my simple question is how do you estimate or figure out a legal buck with the 13" spread requirement as I don't think many of them are gonna hang around while you whip out your trusty ruler right?! Any general rules of thumb or do you use another body part for reference? Is this something a GW would measure after harvest? I'm hunting public land this year so there are check-in stations on some properties that you have to deal with. Thanks in advance for any insight.

I require a mug shot of all my deer so I can determine in advance if they are legal of not. So, you check this one out and decide if legal or not. "Rustler's" information above is spot on. A quick reference on the 13" spread is if you have to stop and ask yourself, is that legal, then most likely it is not.

They say the average buck in texas has a 13" spread between the tips of its ears when in the alert position. The INSIDE spread of thr bucks main beams have to be wider than 13". On many mature deer the spread between the ears can be greater than 13". At our place i have pieces of 3/4" pvc cut 14" long, screwed to trees in different spots to use as a reference.

That sounds like a lot of work to know if a deer is 13" wide. It's not rocket science.

Yep, if he looks to close to where you have to think about it..then I would pass.

I've been hunting in a antler restriction county for several years and my best advise to you is if you can get a straight on look at you with alert ear position the antlers need to be outside the ear tips.
If it's too close or you can't get that straight on look in order to see the ear tips in relation to the antlers....LET THE DEER WALK!
It' not worth the chance should you be caught with an illegal deer. Game Wardens aren't in the habit of issuing warnings!

I took a 13 inch piece of duct tape and taped it to the feeder where I could see it. But honestly, the ears are an easier judge.

I realize some areas are challlenged, but if you're hunting deer that are close to 13" I feel chagrined.

Thanks for all the good info guys and Mr. T I would say that stud selfie is not quite there yet as you look at the main beams...

I agree with the others that if its too close to call, don't shoot. Our answer to it was to go on the MLDP program for the land we own and that pretty much fixed that concern.

I hunt deep south texas and shot a mature typical 12 pt that measures an inside spread of 13-1/8th

I know it has been discussed before but has anyone knocked down a buck with horns outside the ears that didn't measure to 13 in? Anyone had a GW encounter them with that deer?