Clearly illegal or in that gray area?

Of course I could be wrong, but something that I suspect is not entirely rare in the deer hunting community is for one licensed hunter to tag another licensed hunter’s deer. While I’ve never done it myself, I have had guys say they would tag a deer if I were to get one, more as a way for them to acquire some venison. Some might say the practice is clearly illegal, while others might say if both hunters are licensed, have tags available, and the deer is legal, there is no foul. I also suspect it’s something that’s more likely near the end of the season.

What are your thoughts?

The legal way is to give him the deer. There should be a transfer document in the back of the hunting guide.

Shooter has to tag the deer.

It can also be found here

Thanks Texas Dan....
I printed out copies to keep at our ranch.

1) Common sense says it's clearly illegal. No different than a driver and passenger swapping seats on a traffic stop.

2) These are the same folks of low moral character that think lease rules don't apply to them. For example: They think it's OK for them to take extra bucks off a one buck lease as long as the other lease members don't know about it.

Shooter MUST tag the deer. Anything else is illegal.

The shooter may give you his deer using the Wildlife Resource Document referenced by Texas Dan. Under no circumstance is it legal for one shooter to tag a deer they killed with another hunter's tag.

And don't forget to fill out the harvest log on the back of your hunting license for each tag used. If a tag is missing and the harvest log is not filled out, the GW will give you a ticket. $500.

From the link below:

A tag from the hunting license of the person who killed the deer must be correctly and legibly completed (including name of property and county) and immediately attached to the animal (exception is properties with issued tags such as MLD tags).



https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/licenses/tagging-instructions/tagging-deer

Shouldn't be a "gray" area at all. Hunter purchases license to be able to hunt and take game. You don't pull the trigger you don't tag anything it's that simple.

We have had this come up on our lease since it states if family hunting with you it comes off your tag. Some people don't understand that this is your tag on the lease not your physical tag on license.

Surprises me all the legal questions on here lately. All this is in the hand book and not extremely hard to understand. Like "party limits" when bird hunting, tagging a deer you didn't shoot is illegal and not immediately tagging a deer that you shot, With YOUR tag, is also illegal. The only reason to use some else's tag would be to save your own so that you can shoot more than your limit.....That's boarder line poaching in my eyes.

I drop my deer off at the processor all the time with my tags on them. If someone wants one of my deer I just call the processor and tell him who will be picking up and paying for my meat.....simple.

Counts against your bag limit and sex of animal allowed.

No such thing as a grey area when it comes to a licensed hunter taking a deer.
The rules are the rules, and if you don't understand them a Game Warden will happily explain.

Clearly illegal under Texas statutes. Some states allow "party hunting", but they are rare and the definition is worded in their regs. Iowa is one which allows it only during firearms season.

I do not understand hunters forgetting their license, I see this several times a season, and they go hunting anyways. And then they go looking for some else's tag to put on the deer.

Seen it done for many other reason's, mostly a knucklehead that forgot their license, or someone that decided to hunt that flat out did not have a license. I do not condone this, but it happens. NEVER have I seen it done to increase a bag limit.
There too many ways to get extra deer legally with out having to borrow tags.

[quote=snake oil]The legal way is to give him the deer. There should be a transfer document in the back of the hunting guide.[/quote

I should have been more clear. The shooter has to tag the animal then he or she can give it away.

Just like speeding, it is clearly illegal, so are throwing all your birds in a pile and possibly all your fish in one ice chest. Some people do it to abuse things some don't.

Illegal but dumb law. Tags a tag. It not going to decimate the deer population. Law is the law though pretty black and white.

Strongly disagree that it's a dumb law. Season bag limits per/person are set for a reason. If they weren't, a bunch of unscrupulous people would be buying bunches of licenses and killing many more than their prescribed limit(s). If this happened on a large sale, which it would, wildlife species could end up threatened. That's why an individual is only allowed to purchase one license per year.

Some states require the recipient to have an unfilled tag if they accept a whole animal, the person of harvest still has to tag it too.

LOTS of the times I've heard of it being done it was to save a tag. Usually in one buck counties. Hunter shoots a less than desirable buck and to save his one buck tag he calls Uncle, Brother, or lease member that isn't worried about horns and wants meat to use their tag so he can keep hunting. A person hunting without a license at all and hoping someone lets them use a tag would probably be the least likely case.....

Either way that person is barley above a poacher in my eyes.

You may feel like that will happen and it may In very isolated instances but several facts/numbers disagree from a large scale stand point, especially from a private property state.

First-99.99999% of ranches enrolled in MLD report of needing way more deer being taken then currently is and/or hunter tag allocation , that generally holds true to majority of Texas out side isolated ETX and WTX pockets

Second -average deer killed per “Deer” specific hunter is actually only 1.1 per TPWD studies...

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_0718b.pdf

The "Game Warden Field Notes" section of the TP&W site is full of citations for hunting of another's license.

Two people shoot at a deer at the same time. The deer is killed. By whom who knows. One of them puts a tag on the deer. Maybe it wasn't his shot that killed the deer. It turns out it was the other persons shot that killed it. So now the first person that tagged it has broken the law? Should they both put a tag on it to be safe or is that illegal also?

What the heck? Some of you have way too much drama or time on your hands to think of stuff. Didn't know you were in east Texas. Hopefully you haven't dealt with that. Have you?

No to neither the time or drama. A deer is dead and has a tag on it. Who gives a rats rear end who killed it. And like always this is just my opinion. And no I am not in East Texas.

In this case, the hunters should do rock, paper, scissors to determine who tags it!!

I have been on numerous deer leases. This issue has never came up. There is nothing "gray" about it. If a lease member did not understand the rules, I would be happy to explain them, and have done so. However, if a member intentionally did not follow the game laws, they would get the boot.

Didn’t know that.

Sharing tags seems akin to using permits when you think about it. Or do those of you on the LAMPS program assign tags to specific hunters and allow them to go unused when the hunter fails to take a permitted animal?

If license sales continue to decline as they have at the national level, party hunting could become an incentive to address it.

First two posts summed it up nicely...

When I was in my teens bowhunting mule deer in Colorado we would have maybe 20 guys in our camp. The warden would come around and offer us a "camp tag" to use. It was an extra tag for either sex muley and could be shot by anyone in camp. Those days are looong gone.

A group of you are dove hunting. A few are better shots than some. It is getting close to sunset. There are 5 of you and say the limit is 10 per person. You have all the doves on the tailgate and there are only 40. You going to tell me the good shooters are going to leave it at that? And how does each know which are the doves he shot? I have had hunters that have crippled a deer. The deer is still alive. I have dispatched the deer. So now I was supposed to tag the deer? If a warden comes into camp and wants to give polygraphs to all the hunters to make sure each deer has the proper tag of each hunter they have way to much time on their hands.

Although illegal, I have seen several cases where hunters and landowners acted as if it were common practice. I have seen a landowner purchase a license so his hunters would not have to use one of their tags to provide him with venison for the winter, and where a hunter offered to tag a lesser buck taken by someone more interested in antlers. In every case, the focus was on someone who purchased a license wanting meat for their own consumption.

While I would never condone an illegal practice, I can understand why it may be far more common that many believe and why I thought the topic warranted discussion.

I think you are right, but I agree with most here that there’s nothing gray about it.

There used to be an outfitter here that was a true Champion in tags bartering

READ THE REGS....A

Admit you did that to the game warden and see what happen, I'l give you a hint, you'll get a ticket.

Not relevant to Texas but it is legal in my part of the world and not just for rifle - all methods. Only requirements are the other hunter must be within 3 miles at the time of the kill, all parties must be licensed, communication between hunters must be possible at all times, and the tag must be applied as soon as is reasonably possible and before the animal is transported. Not just deer either we can do the same for elk, bear, and moose as well.

With the technology that we have available today, hunters can constantly in touch with one another quite easily.

Should there become talk of implementing these same guidelines in Texas, I’m sure there will be those who will fight it because they believe it could increase the chances of someone killing “their” deer.

Party limits are illegal, so I don't see why there would be a discussion. Shoot YOUR limit. Easy to know what bird is mine, because I pick them up as I shoot them and put them in my bag. The only issue we've ever had is two shooters on one bird, who shot it? Not a big deal someone just claims it and puts it in their bag, counts towards their limit.

There's really no grey area at all. Whoever dispatches the animal claims it and tags it or counts it towards their limit.

Clearly illegal. It's not something I'm gonna try to change anyone's mind about. I wouldn't hunt with them either.

Clearly illegal, no gray area. Just another method of circumventing the bag limits to enable someone to take more than their share. No different than shooting an extra buck and not tagging it.