Texas hunting license

How much is a Texas hunting license?

A resident Texas hunting license costs $25, and the nonresident general license costs $315, as listed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for the current license year. That single resident license lets you hunt any legal bird or animal in the state, and your deer and turkey tags are printed right on it, so there is no separate deer permit to buy.

What does cost extra are endorsements. Bowhunters add an archery endorsement, and bird hunters add the upland game bird or migratory game bird endorsement. If you hunt and fish, a package often works out cheaper: the Super Combo bundles a resident hunting license, a fishing license and five state endorsements for $68.

The table below lays out the main resident, nonresident, youth, senior and lifetime prices. Online orders carry a $5 administrative fee. TPWD's hunting license page has the full list, including trapper licenses and licenses for landowners who lease out hunting rights.

Do you need hunter education for a Texas hunting license?

Yes, if you were born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, you must pass a hunter education course or hunt under one of the accompaniment options. That rule covers out-of-state hunters too. Anyone born before that date is exempt. You can buy a license before you take the course, but you must carry proof of certification or deferral while hunting, on paper or electronically in the Texas Outdoor Annual app.

What you need depends on age. Hunters under 9 can hunt only when accompanied. From 9 through 16, you either pass the course or hunt accompanied. At 17 and older, you pass the course, or you buy a deferral and hunt accompanied. In Texas, accompanied means within normal voice control of someone at least 17 who holds a Texas license and has passed hunter education or is exempt.

The minimum age to certify is 9, and certification costs $15. Adults 17 and older can finish the course entirely online. Younger students choose a classroom course or a free internet course followed by a field course of at least 4 hours, with live-fire or simulated shooting and a skills trail. Find classes on TPWD's hunter education page.

Not ready for the class this season? The Hunter Education Deferral costs $10 and lets someone 17 or older put off certification until the end of the current license year, as long as they hunt accompanied. You can get a deferral only once, and anyone convicted of breaking the hunter-ed rule cannot use it.

Where can you buy a hunting license in Texas?

You can buy a hunting license in Texas online at Texas License Connection (txfgsales.com), in person at roughly 1,700 retail locations, or at TPWD offices and Texas State Parks. Retailers include sporting goods stores, gun shops and big department and discount stores. A $5 administrative fee applies to online orders.

Decide on paper or digital before you check out. Paper licenses are sold both online and in stores, while fully digital licenses are only sold online. Digital tags are executed in the Texas Hunt and Fish app, and only digital license holders can use that option. For questions, TPWD's license line is (800) 792-1112 or (512) 389-4800.

1. Pass hunter education if you were born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, or plan to buy the one-time $10 deferral (17 and older) and hunt accompanied.
2. Pick your license: the $25 resident license, a Super Combo or Combo package, the $7 youth or senior license, or the $315 nonresident general license.
3. Buy online at TPWD license sales, at a retailer or at a TPWD office, and add any endorsements you need.
4. Carry your license and hunter-ed proof while hunting, and fill out your deer tag and harvest log as soon as you take a deer.

Buy a Texas hunting license on the official site

How do deer and turkey tags work in Texas?

Deer and turkey tags come with your license in Texas, so you do not apply for them or pay extra. When you take a deer, cut out the month and day on the right type of tag (a buck tag for a buck, an antlerless tag for a doe), fill in the property name and county, and attach it before you field dress or move the deer.

White-tailed deer taken on a license tag also go on the harvest log printed on the back of your license, completed in ink. The log is not required for mule deer, for deer taken under Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) tags, on TPWD drawn public hunts or on Big Time Texas Hunts.

Some counties add mandatory harvest reporting. There, white-tailed deer tagged with a standard license tag must be reported within 24 hours through the Texas Hunt and Fish app or online. If you hold a digital license, executing the digital tag counts as your report. TPWD's after-the-harvest rules list the counties and the transport rules.

Do kids need a hunting license in Texas?

Yes. Texas has no age exemption, so even young children need a license, but it is cheap: the Youth Hunting License is $7 for anyone under 17 on the date of purchase, resident or not. Youth hunters are exempt from the state endorsement requirements, except the reptile and amphibian endorsement.

Because a nonresident child can use the same $7 youth license, a family trip to Texas costs far less for kids than for adults. Hunter education still applies to anyone born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, which means every young hunter: under 9 they must be accompanied, and from 9 through 16 they either pass the course or hunt with a qualified adult within voice control.

How much is a nonresident Texas hunting license?

A nonresident general license in Texas costs $315, and it is the only license that lets a nonresident hunt white-tailed deer, mule deer (including MLDP tags), pronghorn or bighorn sheep. Endorsement rules still apply on top of it, the same as for residents.

If you are coming for birds, hogs or exotics instead of deer, look at the Non-resident Special 5-Day Small Game/Exotic license at $48. It is good for any five days in a row, with the dates printed on the license, and covers exotic animals, game birds except wild turkey, squirrel, javelina, furbearers and nongame animals. It is not valid for deer, alligator, pronghorn or bighorn sheep.

Visitors follow the same hunter education rule as Texans: the Sept. 2, 1971 cutoff applies to out-of-state hunters too. Hunting along the Red River or the Sabine? Compare the Oklahoma hunting license and Louisiana hunting license guides before you cross the line.

Other Texas license rules to know

These rules trip up new hunters and visitors most often. TPWD's Outdoor Annual has the full regulations, and you can compare states in our hunting license by state guide.

• License year: every license runs from the day you buy it until August 31. Next season's licenses go on sale August 15, so a license bought in July lasts only a few weeks.
• Hunter orange: required only on public hunting lands (state lands, national forests and grasslands) during daylight hours when firearm hunting is open. Wear at least 400 square inches, including orange headgear and at least 144 square inches on both chest and back. Turkey, migratory bird, alligator and desert bighorn hunters are exempt. See TPWD's blaze orange rules.
• Landowners: TPWD's license rules list no general landowner exemption, and a license is required of any person, of any age, with only narrow exceptions such as feral hogs on private property with landowner permission. Landowners who lease hunting rights need a hunting lease license ($79 to $252 by acreage).
• Seniors: residents 65 and older can buy the Senior Resident Hunting License for $7, or the Senior Super Combo for $32.
• Veterans and military: qualifying disabled veterans (50% or higher rating, or loss of use of a foot or leg) get the Super Combo free, residents and nonresidents alike, at a license retailer. Texas residents on active duty have their own license packages.
• Lifetime licenses: Texas residents can buy a lifetime hunting license for $1,000 or a lifetime hunting and fishing combination for $1,800, applied for at a TPWD law enforcement office or Austin headquarters.