Is it illegal to take a buck with a tag in its ear, had one show up on camera this last weekend.

Im not sure, but if he is really big, it IS legal to take a buck with a hole in its ear!

It is legal. In Texas deer belong to the state, so if he/she escaped a HF place, then he/she is fair game.

Legal and ethical

Depends on if you are in an AR county.

Why not let him breed with you doe and get the genetics going on your place. Then in a few years you are rewarded mulitple times over. Just a thought.

Nice looking buck. I might let that one go another year hoping it will breed with some of your does. And it will be a very nice on in a year or two. That buck is 3 1/2 years old at the most in my opinion.

I was thinking the same thing, just had someone tell me that we couldn't shoot it so I was just checking.

Yup - I'd let him spread his genes, and then in 2-3 years, take him. Curious to see what he will be in future years.

One bucks genes won't make much difference - if you like him take him

Yep, virtually zero effect.

That said, if you think he'll stick around, may be worth it to see what he becomes.

That's not the type of buck I'd want breeding my does. Nothing at all special about that deer. He's perfectly legal to kill with the ear tag. He may be a bit better in a year or two but I can't see that deer ever reaching 140.

He may be more than 3.5 years. He looks a little thin in pic. He looks to be just a 8 point also. He should be better than that coming from a breeder facility unless not very good genetics. This is just what it looks like.

I wouldn't shoot him, prolly someone's pet. No other reason to put a tag on that deer...

Young deer, the long G2's are cool.

Maybe he is just an avant-garde deer...don't see anything in the regs that prevent you from taking a hipster buck...

Sounds like target practice.

Sausage.
Nice buck, but I've no idea about the deer you have other than him. Who knows about a tag? About 10 years ago I shot a doe that had a tag and there wasn't a high fence for miles. I called the Game Warden, he told me to keep the tag and he would come get it later. Never did find out where the doe came from. But she made some excellent sausage.!

The tag was probably left in this deers ear when he was released on a ranch from a breeding facility. This way they could tell what animals are new genes add to herd. If deer is ever taken there should be a tattoo in the animals ear. If not then someone didn't follow the rules. That number can be checked out by the GW to tell you what facility the deer came from.

I'd let him walk he doesn't look very old to me