31 Tex. Admin. Code § 51.80 - Mandatory Hunter Education
(a) Hunter
Education Course.
(1) The Hunter Education
Course must consist of instruction on the following subjects:
(A) the safe handling and use of firearms and
archery equipment;
(B) wildlife
conservation and management;
(C)
hunting laws and regulations of this state; and
(D) hunting safety and ethics, including
landowners' rights.
(2)
Subject to the restrictions and exceptions contained in this section, the
Hunter Education Course required by this section may be delivered via:
(A) classroom instruction not to exceed six
hours;
(B) a combination of online
instruction and skills exercise (skills exercise of not less than four nor more
than five hours in duration); or
(C) online instruction only, for persons 17
years of age or older.
(3) The Hunter Education Course required by
this section may be provided by:
(A) certified
volunteer instructors who have successfully completed the department's game
warden interview, background investigation, and an instructor training course;
or
(B) online instruction providers
approved by the department.
(4) The department may decertify instructors
for:
(A) violation of provisions of the Parks
and Wildlife Code or regulations adopted pursuant to the Code;
(B) falsification of records or documents;
or
(C) action that is detrimental
to the objective of the program.
(5) The department shall provide hunter
education opportunities in each county of the state when a substantial number
of residents request a class or at least once a year.
(6) The department shall issue a certificate
to persons who successfully complete the course. A duplicate certificate may be
obtained online at the department's website at
https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education.
(7) Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prohibit a person from providing or receiving hunter education
instruction in addition to that required by this section.
(b) Hunter Education Requirements.
(1) A person whose date of birth is after
September 1, 1971, must successfully complete a Hunter Education Course
described in subsection (a) of this section before the person may hunt with
firearms or archery equipment in Texas.
(2) A Texas Voluntary Hunter Safety Course
successfully completed prior to June 1, 1989, satisfies the mandatory hunter
education requirements of this section.
(3) A person must be at least nine years of
age to be certified.
(4) A Hunter
Education Course is successfully completed when the student:
(A) has fulfilled the instructional
requirements of subsection (a)(1) of this section;
(B) is evaluated by the instructor or
department-approved online instruction provider as acceptable in attitude,
knowledge, and skill; and
(C) has
taken an examination prescribed by the department and scored a minimum of 75
percent.
(5) The
online-only Hunter Education Course is restricted to persons 17 years of age
and older.
(6) A person who is
required to be certified must possess evidence of certification while hunting
in Texas, which may include a photograph or electronic copy of valid
certification stored on a wireless communication device.
(7) Any individual is encouraged to take the
course on a voluntary basis.
(8) A
person who is unable to pass the examination as the result of an existing
medical condition may, upon authorization from the department, be granted
certification.
(9) A person who is
exempt from the hunter education requirements under the provisions of Parks and
Wildlife Code, §
62.014(n)
is exempt from the requirements of this section.
(c) Other Non-certified Persons.
(1) Persons under 17 years of age may hunt
without certification if accompanied by a person 17 years of age or older who
is licensed to hunt in Texas in accordance with the Parks and Wildlife Code and
is in compliance with applicable hunter education requirements.
(2) A person 17 years of age or older who is
required to complete hunter education may hunt without certification if that
person is:
(A) in possession of a valid
hunting license indicating that the person has selected the "Hunter Education
Deferral" offered by the department; and
(B) is accompanied by a person 17 years of
age or older who is licensed to hunt in Texas in accordance with the Parks and
Wildlife Code and is in compliance with applicable hunter education
requirements.
(3) For the
purposes of this section, an uncertified person is considered as being
accompanied if that person is within normal voice distance.
(4) A hunter education deferral expires at
the end of the license year for which it was purchased.
(5) No person may select the hunter education
deferral more than once.
(6) A
person who has been convicted of or received deferred adjudication for not
having completed a mandatory hunter education course is prohibited from
obtaining a hunter education deferral.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.