I Agree, We need a new easy way of telling if the buck is legal and has  hit maturity.

You have to start somewhere.  The county in which I live has the 13 inch rule.  The size of bucks harvested in this county have improved over the last 2 years.  I favor the 13 inch rule, & I do agree that it is difficult to judge sometimes.  I just know that everyone now has a better chance at larger, more mature bucks, so I think that the rule is more of a positive than negative.

What if he's 6.5 yrs old with a 12 inch spread?  He's not going to be wider next year and he's eating the same amount of resources as a buck that's 2.5 with a 15 inch spread.  Why should I not be able to take the 6.5yr old?

The best way i have found to judge them is if the spread extends out passed their ears. other than that, it just has to be obvious

a game warden will take the center line of the skull to the remaining side and x 2 to come up with a spread.

im not sure how the state came up with this. every biologist i talk to agrees that if you shot everything except the deer with a fork to 13 inches eventualy you will have nothing but deer with fork to 13 inch genetics left in your pasture reguardless of thier age!   so it dont make since. would a game warden please explain to me the reasoning behind this and the long term effect!..val

Instead of the 13" rule Texas decided on I would have like to have seen them adopt the rule Pennsylvania adopted in 2003. Up there in counties with poor nutrients and genetics they instituted a 3 points on one antler rule. For counties with a good food base and genetics the rule is 4 points to one antler. This is an easier situation to follow you can look a buck over pretty good with binoculars then decide if you want to take him or let him walk. If you don't think it's not working for them go to the Huntingpa.com website and look at the Hunter Success  or the General Hunting or Big Game Hunting Forumsfor the photos of animals harvested.  The point rule has worked.

The way I feel is there are Hunters and there are killers. Hunters take time to learn the rules and respect them even if they may not agree with them, and killers try to shoot everything they can and try to bend and stretch the rules in the process. I agree that some rules do not always make alot of sense. there are many cull bucks that cannot or dont reach the 13 inch rule , BECAUSE THEY ARE CULLS, and there are many deer shot every year that are well over the 13 inch rule that are only 2 years old and have not come close to there full potential. a hunter will recognize the difference and let a 2 year old 17 inch wide 8 pt live to reach its potential and pass its genetics, but a killer will just shoot it and take his rack. I belive the rules are in place to control the killers.

i am aganist 13 in rule-i have seen deer so old with no teEch-racks were under 13 in -some big spikes--i would like to meet the man that measure 13 in spread in east Texas woods --this is making outlaws out of good hunters-because you think it is 13 in & find out later it was only 12.9 inchs-good hunterS WIll not let meat lay.this is all about $--- 

There are lots of ways you can look at it?? I like to hunt because I like to eat the meat. I also like to kill one that has a good rack. If I didnt like the meat I wouldnt even hunt. That is just me. Some people likes to hunt for a trophy and give the meat to someone that likes it, that is fine too. I know hunters that hunt for meat that will not shoot a doe? They feel they are hurting the deer herd? That is fine too. I have killed both ways. You never are going to make everyone happy!! I wish we could on this matter, it cost lots of money to hunt, for now this is all we have in place and it looks like it will be in place for awhile. I hope all of us hunters can get togeather and do what is best for the sport. God Bless everyone and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Horns ain't no more than draggin handles to me!Had to let a couple walk,but I still bagged two mature bucks this year in Texas. I like Arkansas 3 point rule better.But I have to say this, I took bigger bucks In texas than I did in AR.Consider this, if you take the breeder bucks to early its the poop heads that get to breed the late does.Now that I'm thinking about it I'll just hunt trophy deer in Texas and i'll shoot my dinks in AR.

I agree with ecthunter that Texas installed a rule like this to make money!!! If they didn't think they could sell the licenses they wouldnt have gone up on all of them this year like they did. If you notice the counties that have the 13" rule are mostly in East & North Texas(east of 35/north of 20)where the deer arent as abundant as in the south. They have made truck loads of money selling non-resident licenses for years to people that have mainly hunted south Texas. If the whole state is producing "trophy" deer consistently enough then that opens up a greater oppurtuntiy for non-residents and residents alike to take a "trophy" deer  from anywhere in the state. And at over $300 a pop(non-resident) they are making  money hand over fist!!   It will make it harder than it already is for the average joe to even think about being able to afford getting on a lease. All of these so called deer zoo, high fence "hunting ranches" around have helped push the prices sky high also. I don't really blame them though..... If I had the land to cage up deer and sell hunts to folks who don't think twice about spending thousands of dollars to kill and hang a "trophy" on their office wall, then I would be more than willing to let them throw their money at me!!!  I have much respect for the few non-resident hunters that come to Texas and hunt public land. they earn the "trophies" they take back home with them.  

Don't get me wrong I like the results I am seeing in the woods since the rule was put on the books in the counties I hunt. I have harvested bigger bodied, mature bucks since. But I don't have a single deer head hanging on my walls because all of my deer are "trophies" and they wouldnt all fit!! I love the time spent hunting with my family and friends and those memories of each hunt are my "trophies". I do not buy meat from the store and that is the main reason I hunt, for me and my family to enjoy the natural, lean, wholesome meat from wild game. That said....... I sure don't mind if they have "draggin handles" to help you get them out of the woods!!!