Note: To every one about button bucks.

[DRT]

That may have happened to your friend but I've seen it go the other way twice. The warden didn't even blink about the antlerless tag. That said, look close and you can tell.

[Texbow]

Well for some reason I have always referred to a baby buck that barely had anything protruding thru the skin a button buck cause his horns looked liked buttons, which are hard.

A nubbin buck IMO, was one that had nothing protruding thru the skin, and had skin covering what little they had, like a nubb! Make sense?

perfect sense to me. Agree.

[Russ]

But Texas law is pretty specific in the handbook. "hardened horn protruding thru skin"
I'm a little shocked that this has to be explained, but I guess with new hunters it needed to be clarified.

I agree, but its been argued a few times around me and for newbies its good for them to know.

Heck I seen a post on here bout a guy wanting to know how to light his wood grill! Lol I would think any grown man would know that as well. Lol

[Tubby]

Y'all keep in mind "hardened antler protruding thru the skin" is the key here.

If there are nubs under the skin, not broken thru but still protruding... it can be tagged as "ANTLERLESS".

A "buck deer" is a deer with a hardened antler protruding through the skin. A "spike buck deer" is a BUCK with no antler having more than one point. ALL OTHER DEER ARE ANTLERLESS DEER. A spike buck must be tagged with a buck deer tag from the hunter's hunting license or applicable permit.

[acearrow]

What about a buck that has dropped his antlers prematurely? A couple of years ago, my wife shot what she thought was a buck(yes, she was new to hunting) with her rifle. When I got there and tracked it down, I found that it was a buck that had just dropped its antlers. To tell you the truth, I can't remember how I tagged it, although, I think I used her antlered tag just to be safe.
protruding, good point.