| (a) For all wildlife resources taken for personal consumption
and for which there is a possession limit, the possession limit shall
not apply after the wildlife resource has reached the possessor's
permanent residence and is finally processed.
(b) Under authority of Parks and Wildlife Code, §42.0177,
the tagging requirements of Parks and Wildlife Code, §42.018,
are modified as follows.
(1) At a final destination other than a cold storage
or processing facility required to maintain a cold storage record
book under the provisions of Parks and Wildlife Code, §62.029,
tagging requirements for a carcass cease when the forequarters, hindquarters,
and back straps have been completely severed from the carcass.
(2) At a cold storage or processing facility required
to maintain a cold storage record book under the provisions of Parks
and Wildlife Code, §62.029, tagging requirements for a carcass
cease when:
(A) the forequarters, hindquarters, and back straps
have been completely severed from the carcass; and
(B) the information required under Parks and Wildlife
Code, §62.029, has been entered into the cold storage record
book that the cold storage or processing facility is required to maintain.
(3) The provisions of this subsection do not modify
or eliminate any requirement of this subchapter or the Parks and Wildlife
Code applicable to a carcass before it is at a final destination.
(c) A person who lawfully takes a deer is exempt from
the tagging requirements of Parks and Wildlife Code, §42.018
if the deer is taken:
(1) under the provisions of §65.29 of this title
(relating to Managed Lands Deer (MLD) Programs);
(2) under an antlerless mule deer permit issued under §65.32
of this title (relating to Antlerless Mule Deer Permits);
(3) by special permit under the provisions of Subchapter
H of this chapter (relating to Public Lands Proclamation);
(4) on department-leased lands under the provisions
of Parks and Wildlife Code, §11.0271; or
(5) by special antlerless permit issued by the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) for use on USFS lands that are part of the department's
public hunting program.
(d) A person who kills a bird or animal under circumstances
that require the bird or animal to be tagged with a tag from the person's
hunting license shall immediately attach a properly executed tag to
the bird or animal.
(e) Proof of sex for deer and antelope must remain
with the carcass until tagging requirements cease.
(1) Proof of sex for deer consists of:
(A) buck: the head, with antlers still attached; and
(B) antlerless: the head.
(2) Proof of sex for antelope consists of the unskinned
head.
(f) During a season in which the bag composition for
turkey is restricted to gobblers only or gobblers and bearded hens,
proof of sex must remain with a harvested turkey (attached or detached
from the bird) until it reaches either the possessor's permanent residence
or a cold storage/processing facility and is finally processed. Proof
of sex for turkey is as follows:
(1) gobbler (male turkey):
(A) one leg, including the spur; or
(B) a patch of skin with breast feathers and beard
attached.
(2) bearded hen (female turkey): a patch of skin with
breast feathers and beard attached.
(g) Proof of sex for pheasant consists of: one leg,
including the spur, attached to the bird or the entire plumage attached
to the bird.
(h) No additional proof of sex is required for a deer
that is lawfully tagged in accordance with:
(1) the provisions of §65.29 of this title;
(2) the provisions of §65.32 of this title; or
(3) on department-leased lands under the provisions
of Parks and Wildlife Code, §11.0271.
(i) In lieu of proof of sex, the person who killed
the wildlife resource may:
(1) obtain a receipt from a taxidermist or a signed
statement from the landowner, containing the following information:
(A) the name of person who killed the wildlife resource;
(B) the date the wildlife resource was killed;
(C) one of the following, as applicable:
(i) whether the deer was antlered or antlerless;
(ii) the sex of the antelope;
(iii) the sex of the turkey and whether a beard was
attached; or
(iv) the sex of the pheasant; or
(2) if the deer is to be tested by the department for
chronic wasting disease, obtain a department-issued receipt (PWD 905).
(j) A person may give, leave, receive, or possess any
species of legally taken wildlife resource, or a part of the resource,
that is required to have a tag or permit attached or is protected
by a bag or possession limit, if the wildlife resource is accompanied
by a wildlife resource document from the person who killed or caught
the wildlife resource. A wildlife resource may be possessed without
a WRD by the person who took the wildlife resource, provided the person
is in compliance with all other applicable provisions of this subchapter
and the Parks and Wildlife Code.
(1) For deer and antelope, a properly executed wildlife
resource document shall accompany the carcass or part of a carcass
until tagging requirements cease.
(2) For turkey, a properly executed wildlife resource
document shall accompany the wildlife resource until it reaches the
possessor's permanent residence or a cold storage/processing facility
and is finally processed.
(3) For all other wildlife resources, a properly executed
wildlife resource document shall accompany the wildlife resource until
it reaches the possessor's permanent residence and is finally processed.
(4) The wildlife resource document must contain the
following information:
(A) the name, signature, address, and hunting license
number, as required, of the person who killed or caught the wildlife
resource;
(B) the name of the person receiving the wildlife resource;
(C) a description of the wildlife resource (number
and type of species or parts);
(D) the date the wildlife resource was killed or caught;
and
(E) the location where the wildlife resource was killed
or caught (name of ranch; area; county).
(5) A taxidermist who accepts a deer or turkey shall
retain the wildlife resource document or tag accompanying each deer
or turkey for a period of two years following the return of the resource
to the owner or the sale of the resource under the provisions of Parks
and Wildlife Code, §62.023.
(k) It is a defense to prosecution if the person receiving
the wildlife resource does not exceed any possession limit or possesses
a wildlife resource or a part of a wildlife resource that is required
to be tagged if the wildlife resource or part of the wildlife resource
is tagged.
(l) The identification requirements for desert bighorn
sheep skulls are as follows.
(1) No person may possess the skull of a desert bighorn
ram in this state unless:
(A) one horn has been marked with a department identification
plug by a department representative; or
(B) the person also possesses evidence of lawful take
in the state or country where the ram was killed.
(2) A person may possess the skull and horns of a desert
bighorn ram found dead in the wild, provided:
(A) the person did not cause or participate in the
death of the ram; and
(B) the person notifies a department biologist or game
warden within 48 hours of discovering the dead ram and arranges for
marking with a department identification plug by a department representative.
(3) Individual horns may be possessed without any identification
or documentation.
(4) This subsection does not apply to skulls possessed
prior to July 11, 2004.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §65.10 adopted to be effective September 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 5303; amended to be effective August 20, 1998, 23 TexReg 8450; amended to be effective July 26, 2001, 26 TexReg 5422; amended to be effective June 3, 2002, 27 TexReg 4712; amended to be effective July 10, 2003, 28 TexReg 5206; amended to be effective July 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 6341; amended to be effective July 10, 2005, 30 TexReg 3997; amended to be effective July 18, 2007, 32 TexReg 4421; amended to be effective August 31, 2008, 33 TexReg 6930; amended to be effective August 10, 2009, 34 TexReg 5404; amended to be effective June27, 2010, 35 TexReg 5575; amended to be effective July 15, 2014, 39 TexReg 5417; amended to be effective September 1, 2016, 41 TexReg 6052; amended to be effective July 9, 2017, 42 TexReg 3397; amended to be effective September 1, 2019, 44 TexReg 4050 |
