About Texas Hunting Laws
The state of Texas has a long tradition of hunting and fishing, bolstered by its frontier past and by the sense of independence shared by many of its residents. Game animals in Texas include deer, quail, bighorn sheep, pheasants, turkey, pronghorn antelopes and squirrels. As with all states, Texas has specific laws dictating when and where an animal may be hunted, the number of animals that may be killed in a given time, and the types of animals that may be killed. These laws exist to protect the stock from over-hunting and to prevent unnecessary waste.
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Identification
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A hunting license is required in Texas to hunt any animal, bird, frog or turtle. The only exceptions are to prevent depredations by coyotes, wild boars and similar beasts that may be attacking pets or livestock. In addition, a trapper's license allows one to trap any fur-bearing animal without otherwise purchasing a hunter's license. Costs for licenses are much less expensive for Texas residents than for non-residents. Any hunter born on or after September 2, 1971 must complete a hunting education course and be 17 or over in order to be granted a license.
Types
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Hunting season varies by species and is dictated in part by individual counties. Counties may also place restrictions on hunting in certain specific areas, such as public roads and state or federal preserves. Generally speaking, hunting season starts in the fall and lasts until the early winter months. Alligators may be hunted in the spring, and squirrels and rabbits are always in season in many Texas counties. Specific information can be found at the Texas Parks and Wildlife home site (see Resources, below). During hunting season, shooting may only take place from a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. It is prohibited at night in order to prevent accidents.
Features
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Texas places a high value on gun ownership, and hunting is less restricted by firearms than it is in other states. Pellet guns, air guns and fully automatic weapons are not legal for use in hunting, though they may be used to hunt non-game, non-protected animals. Rimfire ammunition is prohibited in the hunting of pronghorn, bighorn and deer, and silencers are illegal for use in hunting. Convicted felons--whether sentenced in Texas or any other state--may not possess firearms for hunting. Otherwise, the type of firearm is not prohibited.
Size
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Deer hunting in Texas consists largely of white-tailed deer and mule deer. The annual bag limit statewide is five white-tailed deer (no more than three of which are bucks) and two mule deer per hunter. Deer hunting is restricted by antler size in many counties, and only deer with antlers of a certain size and protrusion may be hunted legally. (Typically, the bag limit for these counties is two bucks, only one of which may have antlers with an inside spread of 13 inches or greater.)
Other animals possess similar bag limits and restrictions, depending upon the species. Pheasant hunting has a bag limit of six cocks, while quail have a daily bag limit of 15 and a maximum possession limit of 45. Turkeys generally have a bag limit of four, though specifics vary by county. Alligators have a bag limit of one per person per year, and pronghorn, javelina and bighorn sheep are governed by specific permits that must be issued in order to hunt them (which stipulates their bag limit).
Considerations
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Texas has specific laws for declaring kills and for dressing the carcass at a base camp. The hunter must provide proof of sex for any kills--usually either the head for deer, or the leg or plumage for birds. A hunter must keep a log on the back of his license tracking the number of deer he kills, and deer and turkey must be tagged immediately until they can be properly processed. While it is legal to cook and consume parts of your kill, no deer or antelope may be cut into portions smaller than one quarter of the carcass size unless you have a proper cold storage or processing facility on-site.
Warning
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Texas hunting laws are always subject to change. All hunters must stay up-to-date in order to hunt legally.
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