Deer hunting rules in Newton County

Out in the Newton County pines you can put four deer in the freezer for the season, but no more than two of them bucks and no more than two antlerless. The antler rule is the one folks tend to mess up: of your two bucks, only one is allowed an inside spread of 13 inches or wider. A buck is legal here if it has at least one unbranched antler or that 13-inch inside spread.

Antlerless deer have a wrinkle of their own. Through November you can fill a regular license tag, but not on National Forest Service ground, where that timber is off-limits for antlerless during that stretch. Come December 1 through January 4, an antlerless deer needs a Managed Lands Deer Program tag, and only on properties enrolled in the program. These dates and limits get reset year to year, so the current Outdoor Annual is the version that counts when you're loading the truck.