Can't shoot this one......ug

13" rule keeps this goofy one alive. Frustrating

Gradpa at that!

Camp meat.

That buck is mature and does not need to be breeding! Frustrating rule on a deer like that!

Moral vs legal decision. Hmmmm, what to do.

I didn't see you do it.

Your screwed, every deer from now on is going to look exactly like him.

Get on the MLD3 program and you can shoot whatever bucks they give you tags for.

MLD 2 or 3. I'd just sayin!

What deer

That is the overall number one problem with the Antler Restrictions! And I'm with everyone on this, but please don't shot it. Murphey always seems to come back up in the future to bite.

Try like heck to get into the MLD 2 or 3 program.

Any chance you can send a pic to the county Wildgame biologist/ game warden and get a pass for this one??? Might be worth a shot.

I had two bucks come in a couple of years ago. Both young, but one had an obvious injury to his left front leg. He was under the 13" rule, but he could barely walk. They both jumped the fence and he basically nose dived into the ground. That is probably the worst hunting experience of my life as I had to choose between breaking the law (and all the ramifications) or letting a wounded animal continue to suffer. I let him walk but to this day I regret that decision. Never saw him again so I'm sure he suffered a fate worse than a bullet. I know people would abuse it, but I really think there needs to be an exception for obviously wounded animals.

I dunno it looks like 13" to me. How about everyone else?

We have one just like that, and now his offspring look the same as well. The papa we have has main beams that are literally within inches of touching, is a solid 8 point, and is very tall. He is the very definition of a basket buck and so are his sons. I get what the antler restrictions are meant to do, but this gene pool is doing absolutely no good.

Go MLD then take him out...

I would have shot him and then just left him lay where he fell. Give him back to nature.

No way can I see an animal suffer like that.

yes but how many bucks did it save....that needed saving?

he might have made it....I've seen deer with broken legs make it. just cause he is hurt bad does not mean they are dying

I think I'll talk to the local warden and see what happens....thanks for the suggestions

Good luck. I've heard of things like this working out from time to time.

As an old deer hunter, I have always believed they went an inch too far. Very few basket racked bucks will not make 12". Very few 18 month old bucks will be 12". The original AR program was sold as a way to protect 18 ms old bucks that made up the majority of the buck harvest at that time and this was a worthy goal. (There has been a gradual truth creep in that goal to include 2 1/2 yr bucks and some 3 1/2 yr old bucks, but I remember how it came down.) If anyone will take the time to measure the racks and mounts of mature bucks hanging proudly on walls all over Texas they will notice that many are under 13" inside spread, yet most are over 12" inside spread. Do it for fun when you have the time. Try another test...look at the results of the big buck contests in areas with poor soil and feed. Many of the winners will be just over 13" inside spread and most will be less than 15". Some of the winners were probably nervous squeezing the trigger..Just saying..

That must a regional variance. I checked all my mounts and euros for grins. I only have one buck under 16"(that one is 14 1/4") with the rest being 16"+ to just under 25" inside spreads.

That would be Wanton Waste which can be charged and cited as a state jail felony in TPWD regulations. It would be better to ask permission from a game warden than asking for forgiveness later once you end up with the cost of taking an illegal buck and also committing Wanton Waste.

I will not be the guy to shoot him and "give back to nature" nor the guy to shoot him and say nothing. I will be contacting the warden if he sticks around much longer to see if I would be allowed to take him and offer him to HFH if I can't keep the meat.

I like to read the Posts of STxranchman because he is almost always right on. And, he is right about this too. There are huge regional differences and always have been. Congratulations on your excellent trophies, Stxranchman. I have seen some of the photos of bucks in your pasture and you have beauties.
There are even regional differences within a region. For instance, his 25" buck. I am amazed that a 25" came from his area and not somewhere further west, like a good ranch in McMullen, LaSalle, Zavala, Dimmit or Webb County. When I was growing up in the age before deer management those were the areas that naturally produced big bucks.
I will always believe that 12" AR's would have done more good for the deer...AND hunters in those areas where AR's are in force. That would have protected the younger bucks and would have made it possible to take basket racks. It would have also made hunting a lot more enjoyable for hunters. No one wants to become a criminal by making an error of judgement as to antler width in the field.

Shoot it eat it and then send it on down the river

On my lease we have a few similar bucks plus a few smaller 4 points that would obviously never meet AR's in their lifetime. Makes me wounder if AR restrictions are actually increasing the population of under 13" deer. If the under 13" 3+ yr old bucks never gets shot then they have the upper hand to spread their genetics. How long before the under 13" genes takes over and the legal ones become extremely rare or extinct.