Broken main beam legal?

I don't think he is but thought I would ask the forum. Big bodied deer with half his rack broke off. About 4 inches of main beam left sticking up. Would that now be considered an unbranded antler? I don't think so,just looking for your opinion. Thanks

Unbranched.

I dont think so. But I don't know. Seems like all you'd have to do is smash one side with a hammer if that was the case.

Not legal!

IF you are in a A/R county and are concerned about the un-branched antler qualification, you should be good to go. There are NO caveats in the TPWD handbook concerning why/how the one antler is un-branched. Only that it IS or ISN'T. Now...that speaks to the letter of the law. A Game Warden might have questions for you about whether the animals antler was in that shape at the time you shot it or not, but he'd be hard pressed to prove otherwise.

Hopefully folks are honest enough NOT to be breaking off antler 'points' and only you can decide ethically if you would be violating the 'spirit' of the law by taking a buck that likely 'had' a branched antler at some point. But from a strict reading of the handbook, it IS a buck with an un-branched (an antler/point being a hardened protrusion from the pedicle being 1" or greater in length).

It's pretty easy to tell if it's a fresh break. i guess you could get really unlucky and shoot the deer the day after he broke it off, but I've shot several bucks with broken points or antlers and they always look like they've been that way for days. If you intentionally broke an antler, that would be pretty obvious IMO. My 2 cents.

Not sure where those saying its not legal got their info. It is legal according to the regs.

Excellent point...and the situation might (probably would) invite questions from a Game Warden, but there is no question regarding the deer being legal (if it has not been altered by the hunter).

I took a buck several years back that had broke one side off with just a few inches on one side. All that was left was the stub, no brow tine, no branch. The hunt area I was at required all deer to be taken to the check station to be registered/inspected. The game warden did in fact ask a few questions but I answered them honestly and was on my way. He did look at the break closely.

Had this conversation with my GW a couple of years ago about this in an AR county. He told me if it's broke and no other antler it is legal. He told me he could tell if it was a fresh brake by a hunter.

This big 4 point came out chasing a doe. A big 10 point turned him into a 3 point. Either way he was an older management deer from Webb county. I think he would be legal anywhere though. I used his broken side to make a fillet knife handle.

nice buck and knife.

If it is an AR county I would think that if a GW was worried about the width all he would have to do is measure from the center of the skull to the unbroken one. If it is less than 6.5 " then you might be concerned.

Thanks

Agree that he would able to recognize a recent/break....but he would have no way of knowing how it happened. Most GW's are not psychic after all.

I've got pics of several 'busted up' bucks...missing tines that happened just recently. I'd challenge any Game Warden to tell me just how fresh they were and if it happened by fighting or if the hunter that took the buck did it. Short of finding 'saw marks' any Warden making that claim is trying to put some scare factor in you.

Hopefully folks are honest enough not to be deceptive about the animals they take.

Legal

It seems to me that most state deer management types are concerned about too few deer killed rather than too many.

What is the penalty for shooting a 12 7/8" buck?

Same as a 12-15/16ths

This.

Or 6".

You bet especially in Anderson county! They will make it against the law if it isn't already.

Unbranched, a GW may even cite you, but in court you would win.

Last year I saw a yearling fork horn brought to a processor that one side had been obviously sawed off. Wonder if anything ever happened about it?