Presenter: Jerry Cooke

Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Action
Petition for Rulemaking
April 2001

I. Discussion: The department has received a petition for rulemaking. The petitioner requests that persons hunting white-tailed deer by means of lawful archery equipment during the General Open Season be allowed to harvest deer subject to the provisions of the Archery-Only Open Season, which currently allows either-sex hunting. The petitioner states that this would allow persons hunting by means of lawful archery equipment during the General Open Season to harvest antlerless deer in East Texas, where current regulations either limit or prohibit the harvest of antlerless deer during the General Open Season. The petitioners states that the additional harvest would not exert a negative effect on the resource.

Responsibility for establishing seasons, bag limits, and means and methods for taking wildlife resources is delegated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission under Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 61.

II. Recommendation: Staff recommends denial of the petition on the basis that current regulations concerning bag limits are applicable to all hunters equally, regardless of means or methods. Staff concurs with the petitioner's assertion that additional harvest by means of archery would result in negligible impact on populations; however, staff also believes that the provision of separable special bag limits contingent upon means and methods is inconsistent with the provisions of the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1983 (Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 61), which states that the purpose of the Chapter is to insure reasonable and equitable enjoyment of the privileges of ownership and pursuit of wildlife resources.

Attachments – 2

1. Exhibit A – Petition for Rulemaking (Available upon request)
2. Exhibit B - Fiscal Note (Available upon request)


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