Are Texas deer small?

[s1rGr1nG0]

A couple months back, when I first started looking into buying a bow, I had been exchanging emails with a guy who had a bow I was interested in.
He said he was not from Texas, (I forget where he was from but I think it was in the Mid-West).
Anyway, he said he was selling the bow because the deer in Texas are just so small that he didn't think it was really worth the effort to hunt.
Now, I'm a native Texan, Born and raised in the Houston area. I know that down in South Texas there are some really big deer but, overall, are our deer small?
Makes no difference to me though because I plan on hunting them regardless!

[lameduck]

We have a good mix.

[BuckRage]

Compared to northern deer? There is a big difference in size. Further north you go the bigger they get.

[HoustonHunter]

I do believe the body size of our deer are smaller than some states, especially the midwest, due primarily to more agriculture/crops available to the animals as well as harsher winters. Deer have to bulk up much more up north than they do here which also makes them much larger. We also have harsher summers than they do with less precipitation and higher temperatures which takes a toll on the available water and forage for the animals.

As far as growing up and hunting ETX, we have great deer. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

[rladner]

yes. Midwest deer are much bigger. Generally speaking of course

[Ender]

Yes northern whitetails are a good bit bigger

[deadeye]

from what I've seen/been told south texas deer have smaller body sizes then most other states. Thats a big generalization and i'm sure there are a lot of exceptions.
For comparison a good mature buck in Oklahoma runs between 140-175lbs, does usually 80-100lbs

[krtnorris]

These deer here are smaller. I have shot button bucks in Ohio bigger than a Texas doe.

[doppelganger]

sounds like he was a horn hunter or bragging rights hunter...it's about the hunt, not the wall

[Mexico]

We shot one this weekend that was 239 lbs.

[lameduck]

from what I've seen/been told south texas deer have smaller body sizes then most other states. Thats a big generalization and i'm sure there are a lot of exceptions.
For comparison a good mature buck in Oklahoma runs between 140-175lbs, does usually 80-100lbs

Some one told you wrong. A good mature south texas buck runs 175-240 plus

[Drycreek3189]

Deer body size grows larger from South to North because of relative temperatures. They range from the tiny Keyes deer of Florida to the 300+ lb. Deer of Canada.

[TacticalCowboy]

Yes. They're small.

[catslayer]

As a general rule in biology, the colder the climate the larger the animals. Surface area to volume ratio allows bigger animals to hold heat better and survive better. Polar bear is great example... sperm whale is another good example, giant squid...

any way, yes the BODY SIZE of deer further north are generally larger. The availability row crops for them to munch on doesn't hurt either.

As for ANTLERS... bs, Texas is a WORLD LEADER in deer hunting. The bone put on the heads of Texas deer is as big as anywhere. In fact I think TV shows like to hunt Texas cause the smaller body size make a smaller deer look bigger on tv. a 140 inch hill country deer like WIDE compared to a 300 pound 140 from Nebraska...

turn on your tv to a hunting channel. 50/50 shot they are hunting texas in that show and 80/20 if they aren't they will in at least one of the next 2... that says a lot.

[Chrisj81]

I will get a little technical here.......Not just nutrients,vegetation, water intake, food sources play a role in the size of the deer. While those all help with reacvhing their full "genetic" potential. There are other factors which also plays a role in different regions having different sized whitetail, there are nearly 40 different subspecies of whitetail which affects their size, genetics, facial/head size and width, etc etc!! 16 of those subspecies are in the us. 2 of those are the primary subspecies located in Texas. While certain areas of the US are restocked with deer from other states even Texas, those are the two primary ones. So that's why deer are different sizes in different areas!!
(O.v. texanus, O.v. macrourus)!!!