From what I understand you can shoot pen raised birds year round, but do you need any special permit to raise your own birds to hunt. Im not looking to sell any hunts but just want to buy and release birds for my dog to train.

I figured you might need something for the game warden if I get stopped with 10 dead birds in june

You need to get a Private Hunting Area license from TPW. I had one for a few years.

You also need to get the Game Bird Breeders License

what if you buy some, and then release them on public land and shoot them? Any licensing for that, above and beyond the normal APH permit with TPWD? I'm in the same situation, looking at training a youngen....

I think you can shoot them during season.

The difference between hunting pen raised and wild birds is knowing.

Pen Raised Birds is an easter egg hunt, you know how many there are and you try to find them all. It is more fun if someone else puts the birds out and you do not know where they are. This way your dog and you are truly using skill to find the birds. I like to hunt game preserves on Monday. Can not tell you how many pick up birds you get if you have a good dog. I think this year I have had over 300 pick up birds. Last year I had over a 2000. (About 1/4 the hunting this year versus last...)

Hunting wilds birds is a crap shoot, you really have no idea what you will find and how well your dog is doing. You may know where the birds are or are suppose to be but have no idea of how many. You also have no idea of how many birds your dog found versus walked by. I hunt mostly preserves because I like putting on a good show and lets face it Central Texas is not bird friendly. When I hunted Kansas and Colorado this year my little dog destroyed the "Professional Wild Bird Dogs" because a quail smells like a quail and a pheasant smells like a pheasant and like anything more practice more success. My buddies dogs (Guide Dogs) maybe point 400-500 pheasants a year, most more like 50. My little dog may point 50 or more pheasants in a day on a preserve.

If this were South Dakota or a northern state with lots of open hunting land my answer would be very different. Also if you travel to hunt in the northern states my answer would be different. In Texas you either have to have your own land and work hard to maintain it or you hunt preserves. Just my opinion...

Someone didn't read the question.

Buying them is much easier but if you want to buy a lot at one time youll need a good DRY and CLEAN flypen with a well thought out catch run. clean water, fresh feed etc. They are very touchy birds and if it gets to wet or filthy one can get sick and ruin most of the pen. You will need bands to record and identify your birds. this is how its able to be done during season. A good native field will be needed also hay pasture sucks and there is an art to putting them out without them taking off when released.

Now this im not sure of id talk with a Warden

You can do it in public with no licensing but it must be in season and within bag limits.

We spoke with our warden about this last year. He said that the birds have to all be banded, we had to have a letter from the raiser, and we had to notify him when we were doing the hunt. And pray that we don't accidentally shoot a wild bird.
Definitely call your warden. They all seem to make up their rules.

You must be talking about out of season.

Yes, it was just after quail season

Texas Pen Raised Bird Hunting Rules

That link is what you need to know...

Thanks for the link

Really still can't understand why they would allow releasing any pen raised bird into a wild habitat.. Seems like a good way to send a disease through an area

Remember when I wrote what I wrote?

See TPWD website. Biggest thing is it's can be pretty hot in June. Watch your dogs

I trained in August, but had my dogs under control at all times. We've had NSTRA trials in June and August, but had water barrels in the field.

I just run my dogs at day break. Make sure water is close by, and keep it short.

thanks for the info. My pup was just born so I'm just trying to get all the info needed to start training when its old enough. Really need birds around to spark it's interest

For training, pigeons are easier and fly better IMO. Then just buy quail as needed to use during quail season if you want.

Bingo.

They are tougher too. Pen Raised birds seem to turn tits up if you breathe on them wrong.

Warden told me you can't release birds on public land even if they are banded. You must have a private hunting area license if your are releasing in a large area birds must be banded with the license #. When I was releasing birds around the house (60 acres) the warden told me he wasn't going to worry as long as I could show provenance ( I had to be able to show I raised or bought the birds.)
Essentially, the wardens don't worry a whole lot about covey house birds but do get concerned if you appear to be hunting rather than training. You can use coturnix and pigeon out a launcher, they aren't considered game. All pen raised birds tame up ( turn into chickens) pretty fast. It is sometimes difficult to find good fliers. Pen raised birds fly half as fast as wild birds at best. I've seen young dogs catch them in flight on the rise--not a good thing.