This past weekend at our deer lease in East Texas, located in both Trinity and Angelina County, one of the hunters shot the best whitetail buck ever taken during the 25 years we have hunted this East Texas property. In addition, the deer hunting has improved greatly since the implementation of the antler restriction regulations, with more and better bucks having been observed in the last 6 years (since the new rules started).
The 10 point buck my buddy shot had a nice wide rack with impressive mass throughout the antlers. While looking at the high quality bucks we’ve shot over the last couple of years, I think back to those little basket-racked bucks that were the norm when we first started deer hunting this part of East Texas. I know the antler regulations get bad-mouthed by some, but myself and the majority of deer hunters realize just how beneficial the antler restrictions have been to deer hunters in East Texas.
Our deer lease is not the only place reaping the rewards. Other hunters in the both Trinity and Angelina County are also bagging some big whitetail. In fact, the harvesting of such big deer is becoming very commonplace. My uncle bought 425 acres in Angelina County about 7 years ago and my place the bucks on his place have flourished since the new deer hunting regulations were implemented. He has more bucks and bigger bucks. We both know this would not have been possible without antler regs.
We still know people that don’t like the regs, but that is to be expected — some people don’t like anything the state or federal government has to say. But frankly, I can see no real argument against antler regulations. Yes, I think there will always be the odd cull buck that will always be narrow — no matter how old he gets — that is now off-limits. And yes, there will be some arguments that the regs are not kid friendly, but my kids have enjoyed actually seeing bucks instead of just hoping for something with antlers to walk out so we can shoot it. It’s more deer management and less just deer shooting.
I don’t know if these results are typical, but we’ve been seeing and hearing a lot of positives about the effects of antler restriction regulations on deer hunting in East Texas. In my opinion, the antler regs have been nothing but a net positive for Texas deer hunters, especially in East Texas.