Tagging question...???

[Deek]

Where we hunt near Brownwood, we always have to quarter our deer for the trip home. My friends and I are having quite the ongoing battle as to where the tag should be attached. We have always wired the tag to the antlers of an unskinned head of a buck deer and attached via wire punched through the ear of an unskinned doe head that travels with the cooler to provide proof of sex. The outdoor annual states per the following that the tag must be attached to the carcass when the animal is quartered and on ice...

Where to Attach Tag to Deer or Turkey

The hunting license tag may be attached anywhere on a deer or turkey so that it is not damaged, defaced, or lost in transporting or handling. For deer and turkey, the appropriate tag or applicable permit must remain attached to the deer or turkey until the deer or turkey reaches its final destination and is finally processed. If the animal is a deer and the head is severed from the carcass (body), then the appropriate tag and any applicable permits must remain attached to the carcass. See proof of sex in the section below on Processing Carcass in Camp. If the head does not accompany the carcass, then the head must be accompanied by a Wildlife Resource Document (WRD).

It then states that the carcass is defined as...

A quartered carcass is:

Not more than 2 forequarters, leg portion (down to the knee) attached to the shoulder blade;
2 hindquarters (leg bones down to the hock must remain attached); and
2 backstraps/trimmings from neck and rib cage (the boned-out neck and rib cage may be discarded).

So, taken literally, this means that the tag is to be attached somehow to the meat in the cooler??

[Dajcentex]

leave the tag on the head. as long as there are no more the the 4 quarters per head your oK is the way I understand it.

[Dc78]

We do the same thing quarter out and put on ice. I lay the tag on top of the meat and ice in cooler. And have the head of what ever is cooler in truck with me.

[Stolle]

By the book you would have to have attached to the Meat. I'm guessing if the Warden wanted to be pain he could give you a ticket for not tagging it correctly. I too place the tag on the anlters or ear of doe.

[Joey~AP]

Ive always attached my doe tag to a leg and buck tag to the horn.

As long as they are in the vehile with the meat, there shouldnt be a problem.

Maybe Bobster can give us the skinny!

[Shadow]

Well for starters you MUST tag the deer as soon as it is recovered. This would lead me to believe attaching the head is the best spot since legs can be cut off etc.., unless you plan on relocating the tag later. I attach it to the ear on does and antler on bucks, then again my heads always go with the meat. IMHO proof of sex has best been done with the head.

[BIG D]

I have always attached the tag to the head as well and have been checked by wardens a couple times while at camp where the head and tag are in a tree and the meat is in a cooler. No problems so far.

[Brad]

Joey attaching it to the leg sounds dangerous like you could get fined. Do you keep the doe head also? I'm assuming youre quartering the animal..so if you aren't, disreguard my statement.

[Joey~AP]

Joey attaching it to the leg sounds dangerous like you could get fined. Do you keep the doe head also? I'm assuming youre quartering the animal..so if you aren't, disreguard my statement.

I "was" trashin the girls head.....but mite rethink my methods as this thread plays out.

Ive never had a problem....distinguishing a doe's leg from a buck's.


Yall hurry! Im headed for the deer woods in less than an hour!

[Snakelover]

Well, I'll be darn. Right there it is in black and white. Clearly, I've been doing it wrong all this time by attaching the tag to the head. What's more, I will probably continue to do it wrong. I'm stubborn like that!

[holdem]

It's gotta be tied to your meat AP !

[Texanhunter]

I quit saving the head, and just kept and tagged a foot. No problems so far

[Snakelover]

I quit saving the head, and just kept and tagged a foot. No problems so far

Now, I'm pretty sure THAT will get you in trouble if you're ever checked. It clearly says on page 63 that the only acceptable proof of sex for a deer is the head.

[Swooshski]

I was once told by a GW that keeping the head was not necessary any longer(for does). Tag the leg (do not sever the lower portion), be sure to keep tag protected from water damage that could ruin the signature (put in small zip loc type of bag) and if possible put only a single deer in each ice chest for easier identification. But I still keep the head until I get home just in case I run into a GW that has other ideas.

[Higee]

I was told many moons ago that you want to avoid having the scent glands in contact with a knife that will come in contact with meat.

If you tag to the leg and don't sever the meat from the leg wouldn't you be contaminating the meat with the scent glands?