Amarillo and surrounding area counties- Amarillo district Game Wardens will be dedicating extra patrol hours and state assets to the Mule Deer season which occurs in panhandle counties and runs this year from November 17th -December 2nd in the Northern Panhandle Counties and November 17th- 25th in Southern Panhandle Counties.  Please refer to Texas Parks and Wildlife Website or your outdoor annual for seasonal dates within the county you plan on hunting.  With the new season comes specific county antler restrictions and mandatory CWD sampling and carcass movement restriction zone.  Please refer to outdoor annual pages 62-67 for specifics on CWD and mule deer antler restrictions.

Texas mule deer attract hunters from across the state and into the plains to have a chance at harvesting a buck. The 9-day general season is open to hunters with a valid Texas hunting license and permission to hunt on property.  Legal harvesting methods include the use of permitted firearms, or archery equipment. The bag limit is one buck per legal hunter.  This does NOT allow the taking of a mule deer doe unless a special MLD permit is obtained.  MLD doe permits are not available through general license sales.  

Amarillo district public information officer Shane Lewis says this is one of our busiest times of the season, and as such we have requested additional state assets. “With the addition of Lynn County to the nine-day season, and New Mexico running a near concurrent mule deer season, it is essential we bring in wardens from across the state to assist our districts. They will work directly with local wardens and county law enforcement to deter illegal hunting activities.” Lewis also acknowledges that even with the additional assistance, illegal hunting may occur outside the presence of the wardens. Lewis is asking the public to be extra vigilant in the coming weeks.  Lewis also says this is a team effort and we give a big THANK YOU to the people who make those calls about suspicious or illegal hunting activities.

Among the general violations, wardens will be enforcing a new minimum antler restriction width in certain panhandle counties.  Briscoe, Childress, Cottle, Floyd, Hall, and Motley counties will have the new restrictions in effect. A legal buck deer is defined as a buck with an outside spread 20 inches or greater. Any buck for which the outside spread of the main beams is less than 20 inches is NOT legal to harvest. Any buck with at least one unbranched antler (e.g., spike) is NOT legal to harvest, unless the outside spread of the main beams is at least 20 inches in width.

Wardens will have the Texas Parks and Wildlife air asset to spot potential suspects from the air.  The eyes in the sky is a must for the wide open rural geographic area. The pilot and spotter will be able to fly over the vast terrain and call out specific coordinates of suspected illegal hunting activity.  This airplane will fly both during the day and night.  It will allow the wardens to respond in effort to investigate such activities.  Additionally, Texas game wardens will be coordinating with New Mexico Department of Game and Fish who will also be conducting a saturation patrol. 

The increased enforcement marks the fifth year in a row that game wardens from other parts of Texas are being called in to assist. The potential violations range from improperly tagged deer, to more serious violations such as hunting deer at night, and hunting on property without landowner consent.  Hunting deer without consent carries a punishment of a state jail felony and potential loss of hunting and fishing privileges in Texas and other US states.  Area wide landowners and citizens are encouraged to report any and all game violations that occur. The public can access their local game warden’s contact information online, or they can anonymously report to Operation Game Thief hotline by calling 1-800-792-4263 (GAME).