TPW Commission Approves 2024-25 Statewide Hunting, Migratory Game Bird Regulations

TPW Commission Approves 2024-25 Statewide Hunting, Migratory Game Bird Regulations

April 16, 2024

Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030

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AUSTIN - The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission have approved hunting regulations for the 2024-25 season with the following modifications and clarifications to 2024-25 Statewide Hunting and Migratory Game Bird proclamations:

• Eliminate the Light Goose Conservation Order from both eastern and western zones due to continuous declines of wintering light geese in Texas.
• Extend the regular goose season for light geese by 19 days in the Eastern Zone to provide more hunting opportunity during the regular season.
• Reduce the daily bag limit of light geese in both eastern and western zones from 10 to five.
• Standardize possession limit for light geese to three times the daily bag limit for regulatory consistency.
• Change greater white-fronted goose daily bag limit restrictions from two in the aggregate to a simplified dark goose daily bag limit of five in the western zone.
• Change the Special White-winged Dove Days season structure due to calendar progression.
• Change the season structure of the second segment for dove in the north zone to allow later dove hunting during the holiday season.
• Require statewide mandatory harvest reporting for all wild turkeys during all seasons and counties to improve harvest data for their management.
• Close the spring-only hunting season for wild turkeys south of Highway 82 in Fannin, Lamar, Red River and Bowie counties due to ongoing wild turkey restoration by TPWD, NWTF and landowners.
• Close all wild turkey hunting seasons in Bell and Williamson counties east of Interstate 35 (I-35) and in all of Milam County to allow the restocking of wild turkeys for population restoration by TPWD and landowners.
• Remove references to Rio Grande and Eastern wild turkey subspecies in regulations and replace with "wild turkey" to simplify county regulations.
• Reduce the wild turkey hunting season length and annual bag limit in Brewster, Jeff Davis, Pecos and Terrell Counties west of the Pecos River; Comal, Hays, Hill, McLennan, and Travis Counties east of I-35, and Guadalupe County north of I-10 to a spring-only season from April 1-30 and a one gobbler (male turkey) annual bag limit to be more proportionate with wild turkey populations.
• Change desert bighorn sheep hunting season from Sept. 1 - July 31 to Nov. 15 - Sept. 30 to allow for safer flying conditions during TPWD aerial surveys.
• For properties enrolled in the Harvest Option of the Managed Lands Deer Program, allow youth to harvest bucks with a firearm for the same days that correspond to the early youth-only season for county regulations.
• Expand doe days in 43 counties in the Post Oak Savannah and Pineywoods ecoregions to better manage white-tailed deer populations.
• Expand youth-only seasons in the fall to include Friday for white-tailed deer, squirrels and wild turkeys to allow greater hunting opportunity for youth.

Hunters hitting the field in the upcoming season should make note of these changes and follow all regulations set for species, tagging, bag limits, counties, season dates, means and methods. Hunters can check the Outdoor Annual for complete and updated regulations for the 2024-25 season beginning May 13 on the TPWD website. Information currently in the Outdoor Annual reflects last season's information.