A friend involved with TPW advised me that the state will no longer require a license to shoot hogs. As a consequence of over population and farmers complaints concerning damage shooting hogs will now be allowed without the previous requirement of preventing damage. You must have permission on the property you are hunting and must still have a hunter safety certification but anyone including non residents may now shoot hogs.I am told an announcement will be forth coming.

I would not do it until it is put forth in writting. Hopefully they explain it well in the hunting annual

a friend of a friend stuff can be trouble.

This could be false but I thought a landowner could shoot them without a license already if they were causing degradation.

That would be great for having some out of state friends down to hunt.

What? Why would you not buy a "Hunting license" if you are hog "hunting"?

How is a Game Warden going to know if a person is hog hunting or deer hunting?

Yup....I get a supercombo every year anyway...

I agree that waiting for an official announcement is the right thing to do. As I have out of state family who have been buying the 5 day license to hunt hogs this will be appreciated by them. Wait for the announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's true and a done deal. GW have been instructed to not write for no license on private land. Here is an email from me to Stormy King and the reply:


Stormy King <Stormy.King@tpwd.texas.gov>
Sun, Feb 17, 7:22 PM
to me

No license is required to hunt feral hogs on private land, regardless of any circumstances, as long as the person has consent to hunt on the land. There is legislation pending this session that, if passed, will further clarify. Hopefully this will remove some of the confusion.



Stormy King
Texas Game Warden
Asst. Commander/Wildlife Enforcement
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

(512)284-1766 cell
(512)389-4627 office

Game warden in Jack county told us about 10 years ago not to worry about licenses. I have a group of guys from my wife’s family that come out every year to hunt them in the spring. GW told us as long as there was proof that they were causing property damage we didn’t have to have a license, enough though a few guys are out of state. He has never bothered to check us

Landowner permission.
Know your target, and what is beyond it.
Do not harm game animals.
Do not shoot from within 100' of a public road.

Go for it. I hate the basta*ds.

I have heard people say this, but never seen the actual statute for this. Do you have a link?

Hunting
How far from a public road does a hunter have to be before the hunter may shoot a firearm?
There is no set distance from a public road, provided the hunter is on private property. However, Section 42.01(a), Penal Code, provides that a person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly discharges a firearm on or across a public road.

Same way they know if you are hog hunting when you have a rifle with you during archery only deer season.

It was always a gray area to me and not 100 percent clearly expressed in the outdoor annual, so i always chose to have a license to be safe. Glad to see they may be clarifying it.

My understanding is you don't need a license if the hogs are creating damage. It's a silly law if true because IMHO, any feral hog that's breathing is damaging the earth by wasting oxygen.

I will wait until I see it written in the annual TP&W guide.

I really don’t care, as I buy a super combo every year. But, a license is $25. Are we really going to up the numbers of hunters by dropping the $25 fee?

I really do not think there will be any difference in the pigs killed. I have never heard a single guy say that he can't/wont hunt pigs because the license cost too much. When really it is one of the smallest expenses of a hunting trip.
But who knows? I am sure there are those that will by a gun, ammo, binos, night vision, a lease, a few tanks of gas, a few nights in a hotel, meals, and God knows what else so they can save $25.

People will rationalize many things. There will be "poor" people that claim a license is too costly, yet consume $25 of beer and cigarettes in a single evening.

I haven't met a single landowner that won't shoot a feral hog in his/her pasture, license or no license.

What about all those out of state guys that come to Texas just to hunt hogs... seems like they should still be required to buy a nonresident hunting liscense. Their states charge us ridiculous nonresident prices to hunt in their states... seems only fair to return the favor.

Hog hunting is being made free because hogs are such a problem and you are worrying about interstate retribution?

Would have bet my lunch money I had read the 100', in the annual for years. I just checked, and it says "It is unlawful to hunt on public roads or the right-of-way of public roads."

Maybe the 100' was dropped?

In last night's episode of Lone Star Law, TPWD Officer Zack Binge checked at guy who had shot a deer near the property line between the officer's house and the Davy Crockett National Forest. I'm 99.9% sure the officer quoted a value of 150 yards and made the hunter show him where he had fired the shot and in which direction. Thankfully for the hunter, he was beyond 150 yards from the officer's house and had not shot towards it. Zack helped him load the buck and sent him on his way.