Updated on September 8, 2026. Confirm every fee, draw deadline, and hunter-education rule on the TPWD license sales page before you put a card in the reader. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident white-tailed and mule deer hunters in Texas. Axis is an exotic product. |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | Official TPWD license page or the Texas License Connection cart (txfgsales.com). |
| Hunter education | Required to hunt unsupervised if born on or after September 2, 1971, including nonresidents. Min age 9. In-person is the fifteen-dollar class. Ages 17+ can go online or buy a one-time deferral and hunt accompanied. Carry proof. Not required to buy the license. |
| What you actually buy | A hunting license with deer tags printed on it. Residents: hunting license or Super Combo. Nonresidents after a native deer: General Hunting License only. Archery endorsement for archery-only season or Collin, Dallas, Grayson, or Rockwall counties. |
| OTC vs draw | The license is OTC. The draw is public-land quality (TPWD special hunts, e-Postcard, some USFS deer permits). The nonresident 5-day small-game/exotic license is not valid for native deer, including MLDP tags. |
| License year | On sale August 15. Valid from purchase through August 31 of the following year. |
| Antlerless / bonus | White-tailed tags 6–7 antlerless-only; tags 8–10 buck or antlerless. County bag still wins. MLDP tags replace license tags on enrolled private land. |
| WMA / public extras | Annual Public Hunting (APH) permit for hunters 17+ on TPWD walk-in lands. Drawn special permits for many park and WMA deer hunts. USFS deer permits require a current APH to apply. |
| Youth / apprentice | Youth Hunting License for anyone under 17 at purchase — resident or nonresident. Deferral is the adult first-timer path: once, this license year, accompanied. |
| Where to hunt next | Texas deer hunting guide · hunting national forest land · overlooked public land |
Buy the tag before you book the ranch motel
I have watched people fly into San Antonio with an Oklahoma license in the console because they “already bought a deer tag at home.” Texas does not care. You need a Texas hunting license — the right class — before you hang a white-tailed deer or a mule deer on Texas dirt, lease or public. The five-day nonresident small-game paper that looks cheap at the counter is legal for exotics and javelina. It is not legal for a native deer, including a deer killed on a Managed Lands Deer Program tag.
The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. This page is only Texas’s cart. Seasons, baiting, and the public-land list live on the Texas hunting guide. Neighbor carts if you are splitting a trip: Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico.
Step 1: Hunter education
If you were born on or after September 2, 1971, TPWD wants a hunter-education certificate before you hunt unsupervised, including nonresidents. Read the current wording on the Outdoor Annual hunter education page. Minimum age to certify is 9. In-person is the fifteen-dollar class. Ages 17 and older can take an online course (price varies) or buy a one-time hunter-education deferral that lasts only until August 31 of that license year, and still hunt accompanied — within normal voice control of a licensed hunter who is at least 17 and either certified or born before that cutoff. Certification is not required to purchase the license. Proof is required on your person while hunting. Texas honors the usual out-of-state cards. Active-duty, honorably discharged veterans, qualifying Texas Guard, and certain peace officers are exempt from the course — that is a Texas exemption, not a card you take to Oklahoma. Bowhunter education is a separate card required on Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge; it does not replace hunter education. Course options: TPWD hunter education.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not “I have a lease in Uvalde.” TPWD wants more than six months of continuous Texas domicile immediately before you buy, or you are Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, or a U.S. Armed Forces member (or dependent) on active duty. The tests are on the purchase-requirements page. Hold a resident license from another state and you do not qualify here.
A nonresident who wants a white-tailed deer or a mule deer buys the General Hunting License. That is the three-hundred-dollar class on the current Outdoor Annual — confirm the number on the hunting licenses table the week you pay. It is the only nonresident license that covers native deer, including MLDP tags. The five-day special is the trap. Youth under 17, even from out of state, buy the Youth Hunting License and are treated as residents for that product. Out-of-state trip planning: planning an out-of-state deer hunt.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Think in layers. Texas prints the deer tags on the hunting license.
- Hunting license. Residents: Resident Hunting License, or Super Combo. Nonresidents after a native deer: General Hunting License. Youth under 17: Youth Hunting License.
- The tags on that license. White-tailed tags 6 and 7 are antlerless only. Tags 8, 9, and 10 are buck or antlerless — use one on a doe and you do not get a buck later. Mule deer uses tags 1 and 14; those are not a substitute for an antlerless mule deer permit when a county requires one.
- Archery endorsement for archery-only season, and for deer at any time in Collin, Dallas, Grayson, or Rockwall counties. Super Combo already includes it. Youth under 17 are exempt.
- Annual Public Hunting permit if you are 17 or older on TPWD walk-in lands. Drawn special-permit hunts and USFS deer-permit applications are separate; USFS deer permits want a current APH.
- MLDP tags only on the enrolled ranch, issued to the landowner. You still hold a hunting license.
The Super Combo is the resident hunt-and-fish bundle: hunting, fishing, archery, freshwater, saltwater, upland bird, and migratory bird. Senior Super Combo starts at 65. Disabled-veteran Super Combo (50% VA rating or loss of use of a foot or leg) is free for residents and nonresidents who qualify. Texas resident active-duty Super Combo is free. Confirm contents on the combo packages page. Digital licenses are online-only. If you pick paper, the tags come in the mail and those are the tags you notch.
Step 4: When it goes on sale
August 15. Buy then and you are covered through August 31 of the next year. Wait until the Friday before the general opener and you can still get a resident or nonresident hunting license in a normal year. The part that disappears is a drawn public-land slot. Drawn-hunt applications run on the 1st and 15th of each month from August into November. Youth-only categories are free to apply. Catalog: drawn hunts. For 2026–27, TPWD listed the USFS deer-permit deadline as September 15, 2026 — confirm before you use last year’s screenshot.
How you carry it, tag it, and report it
Paper license: notch month and day on the correct tag, fill in property name and county, attach it before you field-dress or move the deer, and complete the harvest log in ink on the back of the license. Digital license: execute the tag in the Texas Hunt & Fish app immediately, then attach a handwritten durable tag with the confirmation number. Official how-to: tagging deer and digital tagging. Field mechanics: how to tag a deer.
Mandatory harvest reporting for white-tailed deer is not statewide. Bucks and antlerless in Collin, Dallas, Grayson, and Rockwall; antlerless only on a south-central list on the tagging page. Report within 24 hours in the app. The license log is not required for mule deer, or for deer killed on an MLDP tag, a TPWD special drawn public-hunt permit, or a Big Time Texas Hunt. CWD carcass-disposal rules apply statewide once you haul a deer off the property: statewide carcass disposal. Symptoms: CWD in deer.
Public land is a second ticket
The hunting license gets you legal. The Annual Public Hunting permit gets you onto TPWD walk-in land — more than a million acres of WMAs, some state parks, and leased dove fields. For 2026–27 the APH is the forty-eight-dollar class. Youth under 17 hunt those acres free with a permitted adult, but they still need their own Texas hunting license. Maps: Annual Public Hunting / walk-in hunts. Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Angelina, and Sabine are Forest Service, not a TPWD WMA. Same Texas hunting license. Many of the better public deer days on those units still run through the drawn-hunt system or a USFS deer permit, which wants the APH in the applicant’s pocket. Forest Service how-to: hunting national forest land and the public land deer hunting hub. Lease-versus-public math: public land vs lease. Stand safety: tree stand safety.
MLDP is the landowner’s program, not a second license for you
Most of the deer on a South Texas Instagram live behind a gate on the Managed Lands Deer Program. The ranch enrolls. TPWD issues MLDP tags to the landowner. You still buy the hunting license, tag that deer with the MLDP tag — not a tag off your license — and log it on the ranch’s daily harvest log. Once a property has MLDP tags for a deer type, those are the only legal tags for that type on that tract. Official rules: MLDP information. Season windows belong on the state hunting guide.
Youth and first-timers
Anyone under 17 who is actually hunting needs the Youth Hunting License. Spectators do not. Youth-only white-tailed weekends are for licensed hunters 16 and under — confirm dates on TPWD. An adult without hunter ed uses the one-time deferral and hunts at the mentor’s elbow, or finishes the course before going alone. First season: deer hunting for beginners.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Buying the nonresident 5-day small-game/exotic license and hanging a whitetail on it.
- An Oklahoma or Louisiana license on Sam Houston because “it’s the same pine hills.”
- No APH on a WMA walk-in because “I already paid for a hunting license.”
- Using license tag 8 on a doe in October, then wondering why you cannot tag a buck in November.
- No hunter-ed card, born 1971 or later, hunting alone.
- A mule tag on a whitetail, or a license tag on an MLDP deer.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Texas deer hunting guide for North/South zone dates, mule deer in the Panhandle and Trans-Pecos, baiting, and the public-land list. The animal is a white-tailed deer in most of the state; west Texas adds mule deer — ID on mule deer vs whitetail before you notch the wrong tag. Axis on a Hill Country lease is an exotic: axis vs whitetail. Neighbor states: Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas. Overlooked woods: where to hunt. If the season ends on the highway, what to do if you hit a deer. Sibling how-to: Michigan deer license. Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a Texas deer license over the counter? Yes. The General Hunting License is OTC. Confirm the current price band on the TPWD hunting licenses page the week you purchase. Public drawn hunts are the part that is not sitting on the shelf.
Do I need hunter education? If you were born on or after September 2, 1971, yes, unless you are under the accompanied rule that day, you hold a valid one-time deferral (17+), or you qualify for a military/peace-officer exemption. Proof is required while hunting, not at the register.
Does an Oklahoma license work in Texas? No.
Do I need a separate license for Sam Houston National Forest? No. You need a valid Texas hunting license. If you are 17 or older on TPWD public hunting lands you also need the APH. Many of the better Forest Service deer days still want a drawn or USFS deer permit on top.
Where do I report a deer? Tag it before you move it. In the mandatory counties, report within 24 hours in the Texas Hunt & Fish app. Digital tagging in those counties is the report. Everywhere else, the license log or the digital tag record is the paperwork unless you are on MLDP or a special drawn hunt.