The new online-only Public Hunt Drawing System replaces the previous mail-in system and will improve the way the applications are submitted, winners are selected, and permits are issued, allowing you to check your status at any time and pay application and permit fees by credit card.

Here are highlights of the new system:

• Pay with credit card on secure website.
• Check status of application at any time.
• Apply multiple times in same category.
• More time to apply; up to 11:59 p.m. CST on the deadline date.
• Permits purchased online and sent by email.
• Applications no longer accepted by mail, and the "Applications for Drawings" booklet will no longer be printed and mailed.

How it works:

• Browse hunts by category or by location.
• A printable PDF Drawn Hunts Catalog is available for download.
• Unique Customer ID number can be used as your identifier.
• Email notification will be sent to drawn applicants.

Watch this video overview of the system and learn more by reading these Frequently Asked Questions. TPWD staff members are available now to help you through the transition to online-only processing. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at hunt@tpwd.texas.gov or at (512) 389-4505, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

This convenient online system will make your hunting season more satisfying from start to finish!

Apply for hunting opportunities that are also affordable! From deer and alligator to bighorn sheep and mule deer, the Public Hunt Drawing System lets you take your pick of opportunities in more than 80 hunt areas and 30 hunt categories, including nine youth-only categories. Apply for Special Permits, the chance to hunt many game species in Texas, including exotic wildlife and quality native animals with hunts on TPWD managed lands and specially leased private properties.

These great hunt opportunities are more affordable: Nonrefundable application fees ($3 - $10 depending on the categories) and permit fees for successful applicants (ranging from $80 to $130 per person for most deer hunts). There are no application or permit fees for E-postcard Hunts, U.S. Forest Service Antlerless Deer Permits, youth ages 8-16, or for non-hunting supervising adults on youth-only hunts.

The Mule Deer and Gun Deer-Either Sex hunt categories are the most popular in that they draw the greatest number of applicants. Check out the success rates for all hunt categories in the 2013-14 statistics.

The online catalog lets you search hunting possibilities by hunt category or by location. Deadlines vary by hunt category, from Aug 7 and wrapping up in January. Successful applicants will be notified immediately through email when a hunt drawing is completed.

This is also a great chance for youngsters age 8-16 who want to hunt. Youth Only hunts allow youth to participate in 74 high-quality supervised hunts for deer, feral hogs, javelina, turkey and alligators. These hunts are youth-oriented and scheduled during off-school times.

Two other types of drawn hunts available through the Public Hunt Drawing System are:

• E-postcard Hunts – Late-breaking hunt opportunities do not require application or Special Permit fees. Winners are notified by e-mail and contacted by the hunt area to confirm hunt positions. Winners must have an Annual Public Hunting Permit.
• U.S. Forest Service Antlerless Deer Permits – A limited number of Adult and Youth Only Permits offer hunting during the general open season on Alabama Creek, Bannister, Moore Plantation, and Sam Houston National Forest WMAs.

Browse hunts and apply online now.

Looking for a place to hunt next season? When licenses for the new license year (September 1, 2014 -August 31, 2015) go on sale on August 15, purchase a $48 Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit in addition to your hunting license, and you can have walk-in hunting access to over 1 million acres of land in 200 different areas of the state, including approximately 140 special dove and small game hunting units. Set your sights on deer, dove, feral hogs, quail, squirrel, turkey, waterfowl, and other game.

Many people don’t know about this do-it-yourself part of the public hunting program. For the entire license year, permit holders can go anywhere that is open to hunt species in season. That includes all small-game leases on private lands, many wildlife management areas, U.S. Forest Service lands, and also some state parks. 

Walk-in hunting requires a little more planning and effort than drawn hunts: Look at the map booklet, figure out where you want to go and scout it. For an idea of what to expect, see the map of Public Hunting Lands from the current hunting season (September 2, 2013-August 31, 2014). You'll find clear maps with directions on how to get there, when you can go, what firearms you can use and what game you can harvest.

Youth under age 17 hunt free with a permitted adult. Permit holders are provided a Map Booklet for Public Hunting Lands listing available areas, facilities, maps, rules, and schedules.

APH Permits can be purchased for the new season beginning August 15 at TPWD law enforcement offices, at license vendors, by calling 1-800-TX-LIC-4U, or online.

1. Clean your shotgun
2. Sight your rifle 

Forget foo-foo patterns and get serious. Think hunting habitat, weather conditions, weight, room for insulating layers, range of motion, wind proof, water resistant, Velcro closures, etc. Items that reverse to hunter orange come in handy when you want to be seen. Get some tips from hunter education instructor Ty Harris in this video before you make your choices.

Although more than 50 counties in East Texas were stocked with eastern wild turkeys during the 1980s and 1990s, only 28 counties have enough of a population to be open for turkey hunting today. Habitat changes, insufficient prescribed fire, and variations in rainfall are possible reasons why the population has not flourished.

This past winter, when eastern wild turkeys from Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Kansas, South Carolina and West Virginia were released into their historic east Texas range, they were wearing GPS transmitters to tell their stories. Watch this video tale of the arriving turkeys and the biologists helping to restore their habitat.

Read more in "Return of the Turkeys" from Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. The Texas State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation is playing a significant financial role in footing the bills of this effort as part of the their “Save the Habitat, Save the Hunt” initiative.

Biologists, working closely with Hill Country landowners, have also trapped, tagged and outfitted local birds with GPS tracking devices to identify characteristics of nesting, brood-rearing, loafing and roosting sites.

All hunting accidents are preventable. All the hunting safety rules are important, but violating a few basic concepts seems to be the source of most accidents. Pay close attention to these critical areas as you hunt:

• muzzle control
• treating every firearm as if it were loaded
• knowing your target
• unloading when not ready to shoot
• not shooting from in or on a vehicle

Watch this reminder video and take these four steps to help prevent the most common hunting accidents:

1. Take a hunter education course. Hunter education has had a great impact on the safety of hunters. Learn in this video about the four ways, including an online option, that you can complete the course and get more detail online. 

2. Fire only when it is safe. Be sure of your target and always be aware of your surroundings. Dove-hunting accidents in which the victim is covered by a shooter swinging on a bird are the most common mishap.

3. Never carry a loaded firearm in or around a vehicle. Loading and unloading ammunition and gun handling before and after a hunt are critical moments for safe gun handling. Never hunt from a vehicle.

4. Wear hunter orange to be seen. Even though it may not be required when hunting on private land, hunter orange vests and caps have reduced ‘hunter judgment’ mistakes by more than 50 percent in states requiring them to be worn.