It looks like you are in Idaho, so that might be why there is some confusion.
In Washington, you can bring the head out to show antlered/antlerless OR you can bring attached proof of sex. It's right in the regs.
But if you are hunting in an area with an antler restriction, then you must bring the head out. And that would apply to units that are "Any Buck" or "Any Bull" (and again, Washington does have these hunts, they aren't described as "Antlered" unless you break it down another step in the definitions of "Any Buck."
If you shot a doe with 3 pts in an any deer unit you could bring just the udder out on the meat and be legal. If you shot it in an antlerless unit, you would be in violation of laws. If you shot it in "Any Buck" unit, you are required to bring the head or skull cap out but would not be required to have other proof of sex attached.
Essentially: If you are in a unit where you can only shoot an antlered animal or an animal with X amount of points, you must bring out the antlers attached to the head or skull cap.
If it's an antlerless tag or an any animal tag, then attached proof of sex will do.
It all seems very logical to me. The only part that is not super logical is the need for proof of sex in an any deer GMU (which is what the original question pertains to). But it still makes more sense to me to have it required there than to have a bunch of miscellaneous exceptions that would make the rules that much harder to remember. A little easier to just know in Washington you need to have some kind of proof of sex on the animal.
Idaho's regs are probably a little less logical for me when it comes to this stuff.
Here are the Washington regs pertaining to it:
3. Evidence of Animal's Sex (WAC 220-413-090):
It is illegal to possess or transport big game animals unless evidence of the animal's sex is left naturally attached to the carcass
until the carcass is processed or stored for consumption. Evidence
of sex means:
• Male - head with antlers or horns attached or penis or testes any
of which must be naturally attached to at least one quarter of the
carcass or to the largest portion of meat.
• Female - the head or udder must be naturally attached to at least
one quarter of the carcass or to the largest portion of meat.
Big game taken in antler or horn restriction areas: The head or skull
plate, with both horns or both antlers naturally attached, must accompany the carcass while in transit or in possession.
This is an interesting question. I have some logic questions now on this.
1) Are you required to bring out the head and/or antlers? I don't see anywhere that this is actually required.
2) Hunts are not buck or doe hunts, they're antlered and antlerless. What does the sex of the animal have to do with that, especially in this modern age. We've seen many antlered does show up on these threads.
3) As far as I can see, you could legally shoot an antlered 3 point doe, leave the antlers, and show back up to camp with an udder on the largest piece of meant and violated ZERO laws.
4) Evidence of sex proves nothing about adhering with the regulation. In any deer/elk zones, sex shows nothing. In antlered only areas it shows nothing... even a spike with sub-legal antlers would have the right gender, and you've still broken the law in that case. This is an outdated rule that makes zero logical sense.
I believe this one would be good for Bigtex to chime in on. If you shoot a buck and quarter him up to pack out, the way I read it is the proof of sex has to be attached to the carcass. I may be mistaken, but the head is not considered part of the carcass, so leaving the antlers attached to the head if separated from the carcass may not suffice.
Male - head with antlers or horns attached or penis or testes any
of which must be naturally attached to at least one quarter of the
carcass or to the largest portion of meat. I read this as saying any of those examples given must remain attached to a quarter and a head with antlers by itself doesn’t satisfy the requirements. The “or” in the sentence and then the “any of which” means it’s not only referring to the penis or testes, it’s saying one of those three has to remain attached to be in compliance.
I’ve never fully grasped the point of this, as I doubt a poacher will just be carrying around a fresh head with antlers to poach does and carry them out.
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