Texas Hunting Leases

AUSTIN, Texas — New hunting and fishing licenses for 2008-09 will be available beginning Friday, Aug. 15, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is encouraging hunters to buy early and avoid the rush heading into the Sept. 1 dove season opener.

“If you wait until the Labor Day Weekend, you’re probably going to be standing in line to buy a license,” said Tom Newton with TPWD’s licensing section. “Savvy hunters have figured it out and are buying their licenses early.”

Sportsmen are reminded all current annual hunting and fishing licenses (except for the year-to-date fishing license) expire Aug. 31. Texas issues 2.1 million hunting and fishing licenses annually through 28 TPWD field offices, more than 65 state parks and at over 1,500 retailers across Texas.

Because dove season in the North and Central Dove Zones opens on a Monday, Newton predicts there will be a weekend rush to buy licenses. “Last year, we sold over 350,000 licenses during the four-day period around the opening weekend of dove season,” he recalled. “It takes an average of three-to-five minutes to process a license sale transaction, so it’s likely there will be delays if you wait ‘til the last minute.”

By comparison, Newton said the department averaged less than 20,000 license transactions a day during the two weeks prior to the dove season opener as opposed to five or six times that number on the days around opening weekend.

A last-minute license purchase rush is probably inevitable in some areas of the state, TPWD officials say, particularly along the I-35 corridor where many dove hunters descend. Fortunately, there are other license buying avenues available.

“Hunters who need to purchase a license at the last minute or those who don’t want to stand in line have a couple of options,” said Newton. “They can also purchase licenses online through the TPWD web site (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/) or by calling (800) 895-4248. There is a $5 convenience fee for either option and a major credit card is required.”

License sales call center hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday — Friday. The online transaction system is available 24/7.

“We sold about 4,500 licenses online and by phone during the peak sales weekend last year,” Newton said. “We’d like to steer more of the traffic to the call center and Internet during the peak volume periods.”

A license confirmation number is issued at the time of purchase for online and phone orders, and the physical license is mailed separately. Confirmation numbers will verify that a license has been purchased, which is sufficient for dove hunting, but will not allow hunters to take fish or wildlife that requires a tag.

“Some people are using the convenience options to purchase licenses for everyone in their family or hunting group,” Newton said. “It can help ensure that everybody who shows up to hunt, especially those coming in from out of state or kids coming in from college, already have a hunting license waiting for them. You can buy a license for someone else, even at the retail counter, but to avoid delays please be sure you have all their personal information.”

In addition to a hunting license, all wing shooters will need to purchase a game bird stamp. To hunt doves or teal in September, a Migratory Game Bird Stamp ($7) is required. Duck hunters also need to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp and receive HIP (Harvest Information Program) certification. HIP certification will be printed on the license at the time of sale only after the purchaser answers a few brief migratory bird questions. Lifetime license holders must also be HIP-certified and purchase the Federal Duck Stamp to hunt migratory birds. All other state stamp endorsements are included with a lifetime license

“Remember, it’s your responsibility to make sure you are properly licensed, so be sure to check your license before you leave the sales counter,” Newton said. “We do get a fair number of requests for re-issuance of licenses because the hunter forgot to get HIP certified.”

There are other mandatory endorsements to consider at the time of purchase, too. An Upland Game Bird Stamp ($7) is required to hunt all non-migratory game birds, including turkey, quail, pheasant, chachalaca and lesser prairie chicken.

Of course, anyone who purchases the Super Combo license package, the best bang for the buck, automatically gets these needed stamps.

Hunter Education Certification is also required of any hunter born on or after Sept. 2, 1971 and who is at least 17 years old. For hunters who are unable to work in a hunter education class before hunting season for whatever reason, TPWD does offer a deferral option.

The deferral option allows people 17 years of age or older a one-time only extension to complete the state’s hunter education requirements. The individual must first purchase a hunting license and then may purchase the deferral option.

Hunters using the deferral must be accompanied by someone 17 years old or older who is also licensed to hunt in Texas. The accompanying individual must have completed hunter education or be exempt from the requirements (born before Sept. 2, 1971). The extension is good for one license year, by which time the person with the deferred option needs to complete a hunter education course.

This option is not available to those who have ever received a conviction or deferred adjudication for lack of hunter education certification. They still must take the course before going afield.

The odds of winning a Lotto Texas drawing usually exceed a million to one.  But, the odds of being drawn for one of the positions offered in special drawn hunt categories by TP&W are much better.  Last year, 44,298 applicants vied for the opportunity to hunt some of the state’s managed wildlife areas and habitat.  This year, 5,700 hunters will be selected for hunts that include white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn, javelina, alligator, exotics, feral hog and spring turkey.

In years past, the process for applying for these opportunities was somewhat antiquated.  Using a large TP&W booklet, a hunter had to flip back and forth through pages in order to determine what hunts they wanted to apply for.  After that, the process involved cutting out applications and mailing checks before the deadlines listed.  The application fee for most of drawings is $3 per adult and there may be other fees as well. 

Today, TP&W has modernized its process to take online applications and have added a nifty search feature by species and area to make it easier to apply.  In looking through the choices, I did not see the highly prized “Big Time Texas Hunts” linked here.  To access these hunting opportunities, one must go to the dedicated website and apply.  By applying online, you save 1$ off the regular application price of $10.  Not to mention the hassle of using “snail-mail”.  These hunts will be available sometime in mid-August (See the Big Time Hunts Video).

Kids are not forgotten with this program either.  There are eight free youth-only hunt categories for hunters between the ages of 8-16.  These, like all hunt positions, are randomly selected in a computer drawing from all correctly completed entries received by the specified deadline.

With the online application process, TP&W has dramatically improved its public hunting program for hunters and the many opportunities available to them.  With that, the chances of winning a “hunt of lifetime” just got a lot easier to go for.

Growing up in Texas does not mean that you frequent every part of the state on a regular basis, or even in your lifetime.  I, for one, have not really seen much of West Texas - except from the window of a commercial jet.  But even from that vantage point 30,000 feet in the air, it is amazing to see all of the pad sites with well-heads and pump-jacks dotting the landscape below.

I have not researched it, but I am sure there was some opposition to the incursion of the oil and gas industry’s equipment upon the ranch lands there.  Questions almost surely arose about the effects on the cattle industry and the degradation of the vast vistas the area is known for.  All of that must have quickly subsided when the first checks came in the mail box.  And, I am sure it will again when the next century of energy production covers this land in the form of wind turbines.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, Texas is is ranked #1 in the the USA by existing capacity and #2 for potential capacity.  This should come as no surprise since Texas has large land areas and coast lines which are perfect for the construction of wind farms.

But, like most fledgling industries, there will be growing pains and conflict.  A recently planned wind farm in the hill country was met with strong opposition.  An article online in the San Antonio Express-News reported that many residents were shocked that an energy company obtained leases to build here with very little oversight from governmental agencies.  The group later found out that there is little or no state or federal oversight governing wind farms.  And many observe that you don’t even need wind to make them profitable due to the tax breaks and write-offs earned just by building them.

Hunters are not immune either.  There is concern that the income from wind farms will provide more incentives to land owners than the dollars earned from hunting leases.  This, in turn, will limit access.  Some wind energy contracts signed by land owners limit the use of hunting with rifles and hunters are beginning to loose their leases.  Although no one is successfully arguing that these 100 meter monstrosities will harm wild game populations, hunters have reason to be concerned.  In the meantime, the US Fish & Wildlife Service has also issued a press release naming 22 individuals to serve on an advisory committee who will advise on measures to avoid or minimize the impacts to wildlife and their habitats from land-based wind energy facilities.

On the other hand, industry officials say that they are not anti-hunting and that most leases have full hunting privileges.  And, for land owners who have low incomes from their land operations, this is a way to increase income and hopefully retain larger ranches within the family by not having to sell. 

As the energy capital of the world, Texas will need to be a leader in taking the world’s demand for energy in a different direction.  Open ranges and the wind that blows over them are two things we have plenty of and are arguably endless resources as compared to fossil fuels.  Hopefully, the two learning to live together will fight off the biggest threat to hunting in general - population growth and urban encroachment.