Do You Need A Hunting License

[killerbee]

Yup

[Fishndude]

I have asked game wardens in several counties about the "depredating feral hogs". Every one of them told me to just get a license. One told me I would have to prove land ownership or my employment by the landowner as proof I was the "landowners agent'" to legally take hogs without licence. All but one said I had to leave them in the field.
All in all I say why worry about it? A license is cheap!

Yep, you might get away with it, "but you won't enjoy the ride!!"

[montecflyin]

the only way you can hunt pigs without a lic. is if its your own land or if you are a assigned lease member to the land you are hunting on.........lol believe me i know been there dont that a few years ago lol

[Txjourneyman]

Also, it was explained to me that being the " lessee" didn't mean a hunting lease. It meant resident or ag lease. And damage to a crop would have to be evident. It was explained to me the law was inacted for the benefit of peanut farmers.

[fleemo14]

i am and you have to be landowner or agent of landowner to kill without license.

[tvc184]

The laws on killing hogs tearing up your fields or coyotes attacking your cattle is not hunting. It is self defense just like defending your life or property (in some circumstances) by killing another human.

If you can kill another person in self defense then it stands to reason that you can kill an animal. I think that is all the law is for. If you find a predator killing your cattle then you can kill it. If you find a hog tearing up your fields then you can kill it.

That is likely where the idea of letting it lay comes in. If you blind up, set out bait and then kill a couple of hogs and then clean them, that sure resembles hunting and not protecting. The law might not specifically so to "let them lay" but you might be explaining your actions in front of a judge.

[sqiggy]

The annual is a summary of game laws.

So, are you saying that ALL the laws in reguards to huntin' are not in the book??? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, they just list some the laws that we need to know. Nice!!!

I have asked game wardens in several counties about the "depredating feral hogs". Every one of them told me to just get a license.
A license is cheap!

Of course they would. That's money that helps get them paid!!! Just sayin.
Also, ask a out of stater if the license is cheap!!

The laws on killing hogs tearing up your fields or coyotes attacking your cattle is not hunting.

I think that's pretty much it.
My brother raises chickens. All kinds. Even the funny weird looking ones. His wife, who does not hunt, can step out on the back porch with his 30-06, and shoot the coyotes that are killin and eatin their chickens and never have to buy a license.
My neighbor, who doesn't hunt, can go out to his hay pasture any time of the day and shoot all the hogs he wants and never has to buy a license to do it. Or he can call his nephew who lives in Ok and have him come down and shoot them, and he doesn't have to buy a license.
Now, anybody that hunts on a regular basis, are going to have a license. I have a lifetime one. So don't get yer panties all in a wad over it!!!

[Txjourneyman]

The laws on killing hogs tearing up your fields or coyotes attacking your cattle is not hunting. It is self defense just like defending your life or property (in some circumstances) by killing another human.

If you can kill another person in self defense then it stands to reason that you can kill an animal. I think that is all the law is for. If you find a predator killing your cattle then you can kill it. If you find a hog tearing up your fields then you can kill it.

That is likely where the idea of letting it lay comes in. If you blind up, set out bait and then kill a couple of hogs and then clean them, that sure resembles hunting and not protecting. The law might not specifically so to "let them lay" but you might be explaining your actions in front of a judge.

Well put.

[Horitexan]

You MUST have a hunting license to hunt ANYTHING in Texas.

Depredation is NOT hunting but the farmers around here are issued "depredation permits." I don't know if they need them for hogs but the get them for killing whitetail - ANY whitetail that sets foot in their field can be shot, 365 days a year. Animals are required to be cleaned and meat utilized.

I don't know why this topic even came up. I would have assumed that 99.9% of GS members are hunters and buy a hunting license each year. So, WHO CARES what the technical nuances of the law are? What's with looking for loopholes to try to save a few bucks that wouldn't buy the beer for a weekend hunting trip.

If you are an out-of-state hunter you can purchase a short-term (5 day - $48) small game license that is CHEAP!! A small game license makes you legal to hunt small game, hogs, predators and exotics. I think someone made reference to the high cost of non-resident licenses - that's a BS gripe but I hear it all the time from non-residents that come hunt with us. First of all, I challenge anyone to find a state cheaper to hunt (license-wise) than Texas! Compared to the license and tag and drawing fees and preference points in most states, we're rock-bottom cheap! Second, we make accommodations with the small game license that permits a lot of Texas hunting- something most other big hunting states DON'T do! I feel like people that come from another state to hunt get a pretty durn good deal with 5 whitetail tags, 4 turkey tags and mule deer tags - all for less than a single elk or mule deer tag costs in most states! Jeez! I wish these other states would return the favor and give US a deal when we patronize THEIR state!! Pretty sick of hearing how expensive the non-resident tags are in Texas, can you tell?

[Speedgoat]

You can hunt arrowheads without a license

[tgridley]

Please explain this for me. Taken right out the 2011-2012 TPWD Outdoor Annual, and I quote:
Exceptions: a hunting license is not required to hunt the following:
Coyotes, if the coyotes are attacking, about to attack, or have recently attacked livestock, domestic animals, or fowl.
Depredating feral hogs, if a landowner or landowner's agent or lessee is taking feral hogs causing depredation on the landowner's land.

And there is nothing in the regs that say you must leave them lay!!!

That's not hunting, that's defending.