Digital Super Combo

Texas residents can now get a digital license online. A digital license holder will not receive a printed license or tags. Sounds convenient if you have cell service but wondering what happens if no service. Any one gonna go this route.

Nope, I want a paper one. Does those come with digital tags?

Been using digital tags in other states(including wilderness states) for a lot of years. Once you “punch tag” in the app, it’s time stamped and uploads when you get data.

It’s simple and convenient.

I like the OK system for licenses and deer tags. Online/app based and e-tag within 24 hrs.

You do have to make a physical tag for transport reasons. But that is easy.

Seems the physical license with tag thing is just an ability for GW to cite someone if they are doing other stuff and the GW doesnt have enough proof to cite that, they can get the license thing cited when its done wrong.

I'm not following you.
When what is done wrong?

Tagging an animal and recording it on the back of the license seems pretty simple to me really.

I just read about it. You have to attach something durable to the deer (turkey, redfish) anyways. I'm not sure what I'd carry around with me that would be waterproof and hold up. The tags they send you seem to fit the bill so I'll just carry those.

Punch tag in the app, write down xyz info on paper and attach. Just don’t have to have a physical license any more if you don’t want too.

I have a tiny front pocket wallet. Carrying my tags,and kids tags is a pain. Add in I normally hunt a couple states a year and it’s a lot to keep up with. I’ve been using the Texas app last few years to upload mule deer harvest data to help avoid antler restrictions. It’s pretty easy to use

You could write it on tape. What I do in other states.

But I read that you also have to "hand write" information about the kill and your punch tag number and attach that note to the animal. That's more trouble than just filling out
the tag in the first place.

Same in other states. I use painters tape and sharpie. Two seconds. Takes longer to notch tags then it does to write on a piece of tape. Good news is you can do either.

I personally will do app. I already have app tags in NM and Okla for this year. I’ve been doing it I think 5 ish years now. It’s really simply IMO.

Been using the Texas App for harvest data I think 2 years

I’m with BOBO, I’ve been using digital for years and it’s much more convenient. You guys not wanting it might as well take a trial run this year because I’ll guarantee you that within the next 2 years it’ll be your only option.

I’m curious what the GW’s will scrounge up for their money maker ticket when they can’t write them for not filling out the back of the license ticket

I am not really a fan of those small tags, as of late I have filled them out, put in a snack sized zip lock, then electrical tape it to a leg or antler.

That’s a good way to do it 👍

This is what I do only with zip ties. I’ll try the digital license this year.

Yep, digital sounds like a PITA.

It’s Just a confirmation #

I don't want any part of it myself. To each his own.

So if your phone crashes, gets lost, broken etc and you’re alone hunting during the peak rut weekend, are you done hunting?

No just write info down and attached paper until you can get to a mobile device. Would be the same as out of service. Once you get to a mobile device you can confirm and get confirmation number.

I’ve checked in a friends antelope via my phone before

So a little unofficial piece of paper that can be duplicated dozens of times with different days, and no digital record with TP&W of the kill, won’t get a ticket from a game warden while you’re driving down the road all the way back to the city to get a new phone, I’m not believing that for a second.

Find a phone and phone a friend to log it for you..

Get the hard license if it’s that stress full. Like I said been doing it for 5+- years with zero issues. I can find a phone or iPad easier then a lost license.

I see citations being issued due to inherent issues with phone reliability, service availability and sites going down. I just read where a hunter must have a digital copy of their license available anytime they’re in the field. Kind of hard to do that when the phone won’t turn on. I have to get a new phone about every 3 or so years due to issues of reliability. I’ve been carrying a wallet for 43 years and it always works.

Taking a screen shot also works...

I'll stick with paper for as long as i can.

Wonder if they are capturing location services when you "punch" a tag with the digital license. For right now, the log on the back of my license stays with me until it gets thrown away at the end of the year. Seems like not too far in the future they will know exactly where you took that deer, if you "tagged" it at the feeder or at camp, etc.

Until the phone stops working on its own or gets dropped overboard or drops from the top of a stand onto a rock. A buddy accidentally closed his truck door on his. That sounds like the end of a hunt to me.

You have any other data device? iPad, computer, lease mate, hunting buddy…

I bring my computer and data spot when I hunt instate or out of state and worse case I also have an Inreach to ping someone to enter it for me. If I have documentation on the deer and then hand the broken phone to GW and she/he still rights me a ticket, so be it. I just don’t see it happening, regardless why we have court and legal system

I run my phone for everything including Backcountry wilderness hunts for GPS. I just don’t have that many issues. Even then I have other data devices.

Paper for me too. I like to keep my tags. Cant keep electrons.

Packed for a hunt

Lol,

you say that I was working from back of my truck for 7 nights in Colorado. Data spot on the roof, mr buddy turned up.

Here is a stand up desk during mule deer mid day lull

BoBo, not digging at you. Which phone company are you using that has that good of service where you hunt. I got off of a lease in Cass County for safety reasons as there was NO cell phone signal there (AT&T). I had to leave the woods and drive about 5 miles to get 1 bar.
Others had different companies and sometimes could get 1 or 2 bars on the lease. Several East Texas lakes have almost no signal with AT&T and I guess I would have to print out a paper copy for the on the water checks.
Thanks in advance.

I use AT&T. The thing about the app is you don’t have to have service right then and there. There are provisions in there for what to do until you do have service.

My ranch is in Oklahoma and we have been Etags for atleast 5 years. I dont have service on the majority of the ranch. Okla has similar provisions if you don’t have service. Write info down and attach, then fill
Out the app and auto uploads when you do have service.



I may be apprehensive too if I hadnt used the New Mexico and Oklahoma ones for as long as I have. It’s not a bad thing IMO.

Before I left a solid lease, I’d invest in a garmin inReach device.

Arkansas is same way and been that way for several years. No paper tags at all for deer, just login to app and fill out info. Don't even have to mark the deer.

My guess is eventually you'll login to app, fill out info, upload pic of deer, and be done.

I played around with the app last couple years. Reporting via the app has been voluntary. The way it works with big game is you allow the app to log the exact the location of harvest via gps or after it pulls up the map with your location, you tap on the map the exact location of harvest if it is different from the location you are at while logging in the harvest. So it will record the exact location of your harvest on your lease or on the public land within a few yards and enter it into a database that could be accessed via public records. I admit a great management and enforcement tool for TPWD, but I went paper tags. Still easier and faster to just notch the tag and be done with it instead of messing with the phone.

I bought my paper tags last night.

Paper tags for me, it seems about the same amount of work, maybe less with out all the fiddling around on the device. That paper license takes up about the same amount of space in my money clip that my DL does.

Old school here, for as long as they let me. And I'll pick up a printed regulations booklet at the Walmart down the highway. I miss getting one at Texas Liquor Stores with Dad. (He didn't drink but very occasionally, but they had a great Sporting Goods area. No Academy, or BassPro, or even Walmart back then.)

NASA wanted an ink pen to write in no gravity situations. Spent millions developing it. Cosmonauts were issued pencils.

And that's why I don't want it. I have no problem putting the ranch on the back of my license, the processor copying it over, etc. because it stops there. Imagine if they started publishing this stuff or if someone asked for it under the sunshine act/rule -- people would be trying to take your lease out from under you more than they are now

ETA - Public land would be a s-show under this premise as well.

When I uploaded my mule deer it was more about zone the specific location

I went paper again this year to give them time to get all the bugs worked out. But I agree that it will probably be digital only eventually.

just bought mine... gonna try the digital and see how that works... that way I don't have to keep up with a paper license

Might have 2-3 years before it’s goes electronic. You might be able to pay extra for a paper tag by then.

Duct tape and a Sharpie seem easier than the legacy tags. Cell reception on the lease is decent but not perfect. I’ll make it work.

Retailers probably won't like the change since it doesn't bring customers into the store to make other purchases while they're there to buy a license.

I just bought my digital license. Gonna be way way more convenient than farting with a paper lic and tags.
You don't need cell service to use it. It will log your info in the app and save until you have service.

I can already see TPWD officers hearing hunters claim they forgot and left their cell phone at home. Granted, officers can verify an active license but tag compliance would appear to be another matter. Are officers going to be on the hook to confirm the harvest was later reported correctly? It also seems too easy to buy a license in the woods AFTER a kill.

Vast majority of hunters don’t use all their tags now, even though most properties need it. I don’t see it being an issue. So a few outlaws game the system, half of those will posted it on Social Media and get busted so now we are down to less then a percentage point of hunters.

Unless you have ntxtrapper’s iphone 1 that doesn’t turn on most days, the warden is just going to ask to see if you submitted it in the app also. The app will auto update when you get service. You are in IT you know this

Not sure if this was bout the lease in Cass County or not. If so that was just the final straw, it was timber company land and it got sold and they came in and cut the stream sides to 25 feet where the other company stayed 25 yards away on each side.
We also had an increasing poaching problem, with a dirt county road thru the middle of the lease.
Everyone that was on the lease got off within 4 yeas of me leaving.
If it had been as good as it was when I first got on it, I would have been looking for something like you suggested.

I think I'm on my fifth or so year of buying it online, very nice when I log in, it has the exact same super combo, HIP, waterfowl stamp, etc. all just sitting there. I then just confirm I want the exact same thing. No having to go mess with someone at a store, wait on someone to get over to computer to print it out, etc.

In a few years you will have no choice but to buy a digital license. Thats not coming from me, thats coming straight from a TP&W employee that would know this sort of thing. The people buying the digitals now are the guinea pigs in a sense. Once they get all the bugs worked out it will be all digital.

Bought Tyvek write-on pre wired tags for my digital licensing requirements. Always hated the previous tagging setup.

It’s about time digital replaced the archaic system. I spent WAY too much aggravating effort educating the desk clerk what the license types were. Glad that’s over.

Just downloaded and went through the steps to report a harvest. They specifically state that they aren’t looking for the exact location nor can you enter one. It is a general zone about half a county wide. Maybe they updated the app but this is what I see.

They need to make it automatically part of the TPW app, even if you bough a paper license. At least we could get familiar with it before it becomes the only option. I've got no cell coverage in probably half of the 75k acres I hunt.

In looking at the video on the subject. It appears you still have to fill out some form of proof to stick on the carcass with your info on it. Seems to me you may as well fill out the paper tag and be done with it if that's the case.

They changed it then. This is what I saw last year. This was a test run for a Turkey. It would not let me advance to the next screen without selecting an exact spot on the map.

And I just checked it again. It is still that way for Turkey. So for whitetail it is by management area. But if you enter a Turkey, you do have to select the exact harvest location on the map.

How is not having a paper license going to work out for duck hunters? Will you just keep the Federal Duck Stamp in your wallet and show the GW you online hunting license and then hope you can find the Duck Stamp?

I know I wasnt going crazy, sort of

Mule deer is management area also

Digital license holders are not exempt from the Federal Duck Stamp requirement. If you purchase a Federal Duck Stamp, it will be mailed to your address on file. The stamp must be signed on its face and is required to be on your person while hunting waterfowl.

Kind of defeats the purpose.

Oo, I never thought about duck stamp even in Okla because it’s always on my texas license and on my persons.

They need to change stamp to a plastic card

I think I am just going to sign the deal it comes on and carry it with me when I teal hunting next month. Well that is if it gets here in time.

Stick the duck stamp on your phone screen. Don't forget to sign it.

How do you tag a redfish?

You don’t. Just have to submit it.

This video explains it all and answers most every question brought up in this thread.

Disabled Vets still have to go into a brick/mortar location with physical proof of status to get the Combo, which is not a big deal seeing what is offered in return for the visit. I would prefer a less uber-fine-tactile method of tagging a deer in 20F weather. Maybe not as much of an issue in my 20s. Sounds like the digital version at least offers that. However, as some others have opined, I don't like the tracking abilities of the app that have been talked about. I get the deer are still Management Units, but that will change I think.

I can see a guy being checked at the dock by a TPWD officer with a nice Red telling the officer he accidentally dropped his cellphone in the bay.

Perhaps officers have the means to electronically tag a person so it can be identified later if they properly reported their harvest or catch.

Then if the guy submitted it electronically then it's in the system.

I was referring to an angler who claimed he caught the fish AFTER he dropped his phone into the drink. At that point, he's on the honor system to report it once he has internet access.

Could be wrong but I'm just seeing a lot of potential headaches for officers with these changes.

In the situation above, I would imagine that the warden would have a device to enter the info and punch the tag or hand you the device and let you do it

It looks like if you have no cell service, you still are supposed to enter it into the app on your phone rather than wait for cell service. You just will not have the confirmation number provided yet, but you would still enter it to the app and put your paper tag on the game. You would still be able to show a GW on your phone where you have entered it into the app on your phone. If before a harvest you drop or destroy your phone and don't have access to another phone it might be looked at no different than if you lost your wallet with your license and bagged game that is required to be tagged. If you lose your paper license, you can't continue hunting for fishing, make a harvest, and tag your deer or oversize drum until you replace those tags. If you drop your phone in the water and later catch an oversize drum saying your going to just electronically enter it into the app when you get home, I could see you getting a ticket if checked. If you could just lie to the GW that you lost your phone, or allowed to wait until you get home to enter it into the app, or able to just wait until a GW checks you so they can enter if for you, it would be the perfect poacher's tool. Everyone could just hunt without a phone, tag animals with fake handwritten tags, and take game every day until the first time they are checked by a GW. Try telling them you did not tag your oversize drum because you lost your paper license with your wallet, planned on tagging it in the walmart parking lot after obtaining replacement tags and see what happens. I don't think "I lost my phone" is going to fly.

Touching a game warden's "device". This reminds me of an old aggie (Maggie) joke about a breathalyzer.

I’m still predicting tickets will be issued due to all this electronic crap.

I agree that’s it’s not going to fly. I could see a ticket as well, but all im saying if you get checked with no tag Im guessing whatever happens with the gw, when the encounter is over your animal would probably be properly tagged. Paper or electronic tags people are always going to try to beat the system

Just like every other application, the rocket surgeon designers would actually have to develop programs which usins ignorant Ricky Bobbys in the field can actually effectively utilize. I have seen them have problems delivering this.

I’m sure the software will take a double digit IQ to run

I prefer the simple paper tags. My phone blows up most every day. I go hunting to get away from the phone.

X2
If I live long enough to retire I’m going back to landline only. I miss leaving town and not talking to anyone until I returned.

Interesting!

Got my paper license today. I'll go to digital when they make me

This should answer some questions and assumptions. Taken from the Texas Register.

To read the entire explanation and the actual rule instead of just the summary from the outdoor annual see page 12 starting with SUBCHAPTER A. STATEWIDE HUNTING
PROCLAMATION. https://www.sos.texas.gov/texreg/pdf/backview/0114/0114adop.pdf

By requiring the confirmation number of the
harvest report to be attached to a carcass, the rule allows game
wardens to efficiently check harvested deer or turkey for tags.
In instances in which a game warden encounters deer or turkey
harvested under a digital license or tag, the warden will either
check the hunter's smartphone, computer, tablet, or other device
to verify that the required harvest report has been submitted,
or query the license system to verify that the hunter, the deer or
turkey, and the location of harvest have been reported. Additionally,
the rule prescribes the requirements for situations in which
data connectivity prevents the required harvest report from being
uploaded (i.e., preventing a confirmation number from being
obtained). Specifically, a person who harvests a deer or turkey
and reports via the electronic application as required but cannot
receive a confirmation number because of data connectivity issue
is required to complete a hunter's document and attach it to
the carcass of the deer or turkey until reaching data connectivity
and obtaining a confirmation number. The hunter's document
contains the same information required to be reported via the
electronic application, and is replaced with documentation of the
confirmation number once the confirmation number is received.
Finally, the amendment requires persons hunting deer or turkey
under a digital license or tag to be in possession of an appropriate
electronic device while hunting. It is or should be intuitively
obvious that compliance with the requirement for digital tagging
immediately upon harvest cannot take place in the absence of
a functioning smartphone, computer, or other device capable of
being used to satisfy reporting requirements; thus, the rule requires
that the capability for compliance be present. The department
acknowledges that situations may arise in which electronic devices
are damaged, lost, or lose power and notes that
Parks and Wildlife Code, §42.004, provides for the dismissal of
charges for persons charged with hunting license violations if the
person is able to produce for the court or the prosecuting attorney
the proper hunting license issued to the person and valid
at the time of the offense.