Local hunters are reminded that new antler restrictions are in place for East and Southeast Texas counties.

    A legal buck deer is defined as having a hardened antler protruding through the skin and at least one unbranched antler or an inside spread measurement between main beams of 13 inches or greater; or six points or more on one antler.

    Affected counties include: Jefferson, Orange, Newton, Jasper, Hardin, Chambers, Liberty, Anderson, Angelina, Archer, Atascosa, Brazos, Brown, Clay, Cooke, Denton, Ellis, Falls, Freestone, Grayson, Grimes, Harris, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Limestone, Madison, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Montague, Montgomery, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Polk, Robertson, San Jacinto, Smith, Stephens, Tarrant, Trinity, Tyler, Van Zandt, Walker, Wichita, Wise, and Young.

    Local hunters are concerned because many of the bucks in the southern portions of Newton and Jasper as well as in Orange and Jefferson Counties do not have a wide spread. They have thick horns and will grow tall but we are not a region with lots of wide racks on mature bucks.

    And there are other concerns.

    It used to be that East Texas had affordable hunting clubs but that is now a genuine rarity.

    I have talked with numerous hunters who privately managed for trophy bucks by selective harvest and year-around protein feeding only to have their lease prices skyrocket once the timber companies found out what kind of bucks they were producing.

    And they were not giving up the kind of bucks you see on magazine covers, just nice representatives of the region.

    This will be an interesting season for local hunters who will have to make big adjustments and judgments in the field.