By Dana Wright, TPWD Wildlife Biologist
Hunters pursuing mule deer this fall in the Texas Panhandle should be aware that an antler restriction has been expanded and includes Donley County.
The antler restriction regulation in 28 counties prohibits the harvest of any mule deer buck with a main beam outside spread of less than 20 inches.
The restriction originally included seven counties: Briscoe, Childress, Cottle, Floyd, Hall, Motley and Lynn counties. It now includes an additional 21 counties: Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Castro, Cochran, Dawson, Donley, Foard, Gaines, Hale, Hardeman, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock, Martin, Parmer, Randall, Swisher, Terry, and Yoakum.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department expanded the regulation with the goal of improving buck age structure and sex ratios in these counties by reducing hunting pressure on younger bucks.
The antler restriction was tested in six experimental counties starting with the 2018 hunting season. Results from the experiment showed that prior to the experiment the area had a one buck/4.7 does, at the end of the experiment surveys indicated an improvement in sex ratios to one buck/2.9 does. Of the bucks brought to the check stations during the four-year experiment, 81 percent that were 4.5 years or older met the 20” outside beam spread.
In addition, a mule deer archery-only season was established in all counties with the antler restriction. The archery-only season opens October 1 and runs through November 4, with the general firearm season occurring November 19 through December 4.
More information about the antler restriction and FAQs can be found online at https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/game_management/muledeer/faqs.phtml
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