<<Prev Rule

Texas Administrative Code

Next Rule>>
TITLE 31NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
PART 2TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT
CHAPTER 65WILDLIFE
SUBCHAPTER HPUBLIC HUNTING PROCLAMATION
RULE §65.191Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. All other words and terms shall have the meanings assigned in §65.3 of this title (relating to Statewide Hunting and Fishing Proclamation).

  (1) Adult--A person 17 years of age or older.

  (2) Airboat--A boat propelled mechanically by movement of air, including, but not limited to a fan, propeller, or jet.

  (3) All terrain vehicle (ATV)--Any vehicle meeting the definition of an ATV under Transportation Code, §663.001.

  (4) Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit--A permit, valid from issuance date through the following August 31, which allows entry to designated public hunting lands at designated times and the taking of wildlife resources as designated.

  (5) Application fee--A non-refundable fee that may be required to accompany and validate an individual's application for a special permit.

  (6) Authorized supervising adult--A parent, legal guardian, or individual at least 18 years of age who assumes liability responsibility for a youth.

  (7) Blind--Any structure assembled of man-made or natural materials for the purpose or having the effect of promoting concealment or increasing the field of vision of a person.

  (8) Buckshot--Lead pellets ranging in size from .24-inch to .36-inch in diameter normally loaded in a shotgun (includes, but is not limited to 0 and 00 buckshot).

  (9) Camping--The use of public hunting lands for overnight accommodation, which includes sleeping, the storage of unattended personal possessions, or the use of a motor vehicle as a lodging.

  (10) Competitive hunting dog event (field trial)--A department-sanctioned contest in which the skills of hunting dogs are tested.

  (11) Concurrent hunt--A hunt that maintains the same permit requirements, hunt dates, means and methods, or shooting hours or combinations thereof for more than one species of animal, as designated and subject to any special provisions.

  (12) Consumptive user--A person who takes or attempts to take wildlife resources.

  (13) Designated campsite--A designated area where camping and camping activities are authorized.

  (14) Designated days--Specific days within an established season or period of time as designated by the executive director.

  (15) Designated road--A constructed roadway indicated as being open to the public by either signs posted to that effect or by current maps and leaflets distributed at the area. Roads closed to the public may additionally be identified by on-site signing, barricades at entrances, or informational literature made available to the public. Designated roads do not include county or state roads or highways.

  (16) Designated target practice area--An area designated by on-site signing or by order of the executive director within which the discharge of firearms for target practice is authorized.

  (17) Designated units of the state park system--Specific units of the state park system approved by the commission for application of provisions of this subchapter.

  (18) Disabled person--A person who possesses a placard, license plate, or other documentation issued to that person by the State of Texas under the provisions of Transportation Code, Chapter 681.

  (19) General Season--A specified time period, or designated days within a specified time period, during which more than one means or methods (as designated) may be used to take designated species.

  (20) Headwear--Garment or item of apparel worn on or about the head.

  (21) Immediate supervision--Control of a youth by an authorized supervising adult issuing verbal instructions in a normal voice level.

  (22) Lands within a desert bighorn sheep cooperative--An aggregation of lands for which the concerned landowners and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have agreed to coordinate efforts to restore, manage, and harvest desert bighorn sheep.

  (23) Limited Public Use (LPU) Permit--A permit, valid from issuance date through the following August 31, which allows access to designated wildlife management areas and public hunting lands at the same times that access is provided by an APH permit.

  (24) Limited use zone--An area designated by order of the executive director and/or by boundary signs on the area, within which public use is prohibited or restricted to specified activities.

  (25) Loaded firearm--A firearm containing:

    (A) a live round of ammunition within the chamber and/or the magazine; or

    (B) a round in the muzzle and a propellant charge or propellant cartridge in the breech; or

    (C) if the firearm is a muzzleloader, a cap on the nipple, a priming charge in the pan, or a primer charge in the primer well.

  (26) Mentored Hunting Permit--A permit authorizing access to public hunting lands for the purpose of attending a department-sponsored workshop, including participation in a designated hunting opportunity subsequent to the workshop.

  (27) Motorboat--Any vessel being propelled by machinery, but does not include a boat being propelled solely by paddle, pole, oar, or wind.

  (28) Motor vehicle--As defined by Transportation Code, Chapter 541.

  (29) Off-road vehicle--An ATV, a utility vehicle, a vehicle that may not lawfully be operated on a public roadway, or any vehicle that is manufactured or adapted for off-road use.

  (30) On-site registration--The requirement for public users to register at designated places upon entry to and exit from specified public hunting lands, but does not constitute a permit.

  (31) Permit--Documentation authorizing specified access and public use privileges on public hunting lands.

  (32) Predatory animals--Coyotes and bobcats.

  (33) Loyalty point system--A method of special permit distribution in which the probability of selection is progressively enhanced by prior unsuccessful applications within a given hunt category by individuals or groups.

  (34) Public hunting area--A portion of public hunting lands designated as being open to the activity of hunting, and may include all or only a portion of a certain unit of public hunting land.

  (35) Public hunting compartment--A defined portion of a public hunting area to which hunters are assigned and authorized to perform public hunting activity.

  (36) Public hunting lands (PHL)--Lands identified in §65.190 of this title (relating to Application) or by order of the executive director on which provisions of this subchapter apply.

  (37) Recreational use--Any use or activity other than hunting or fishing.

  (38) Regular Permit--A permit issued on a first-come-first-served basis, on-site, at the time of the hunt that allows the taking of designated species of wildlife on the issuing area.

  (39) Restricted area--All or portions of public hunting lands identified by boundary signs as being closed to public entry or use.

  (40) Sanctuary--All or a portion of public hunting lands identified by boundary sign as being closed to the hunting of specified wildlife resources.

  (41) Slug--A metallic object designed for being fired as a single projectile by discharge of a shotgun.

  (42) Special Access Permit-- A department-issued permit that allows access to a non-hunting person on public lands during authorized activities.

  (43) Special Permit--A permit, issued pursuant to a selection procedure, which allows the taking of designated species of wildlife.

  (44) Special package hunt--A public hunt conducted for promotional or fund raising purposes and offering the selected applicant(s) a high quality experience with enhanced provisions for food, lodging, transportation, and guide services.

  (45) Tagging fee--A fee which may be assessed in addition to the special permit fee for the harvest of alligators for commercial sale or prior to the attempted harvest of desert bighorn sheep or designated exotic mammals.

  (46) Wildlife management area (WMA)--A unit of public hunting lands which is intensively managed for the conservation, enhancement, and public use of wildlife resources and supporting habitats.

  (47) Wildlife resources--Game animals, game birds, furbearing animals, alligators, marine mammals, frogs, fish, crayfish, other aquatic life, exotic animals, predatory animals, rabbits and hares, and other wild fauna.

  (48) Wounded exotic mammal--An exotic mammal leaving a blood trail.

  (49) Youth--A person less than 17 years of age.


Source Note: The provisions of this §65.191 adopted to be effective September 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 5316; amended to be effective July 13, 2000, 25 TexReg 6545; amended to be effective July 11, 2002, 27 TexReg 6038; amended to be effective January 3, 2005, 29 TexReg 12233; amended to be effective June 7, 2005, 30 TexReg 3256; amended to be effective July 18, 2007, 32 TexReg 4442; amended to be effective July 28, 2008, 33 TexReg 5981; amended to be effective August 11, 2011, 36 TexReg 4980; amended to be effective July 22, 2013, 38 TexReg 4636; amended to be effective July 17, 2017, 42 TexReg 3542; amended to be effective July 29, 2021, 46 TexReg 4460

Link to Texas Secretary of State Home Page | link to Texas Register home page | link to Texas Administrative Code home page | link to Open Meetings home page