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MANAGED LANDS DEER PROGRAM INFORMATION
2017-2018
General RequirementsThe Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) is intended to foster and support sound management and stewardship of native wildlife and wildlife habitats on private lands in Texas. Deer harvest is an important aspect of habitat management and conservation. Landowners enrolled in either the MLDP Harvest Option or Conservation Option are able to take advantage of extended season lengths and liberalized harvest opportunities.
Application and General Enrollment Information MLDP participation is completely voluntary. Once enrolled program participants must meet MLDP requirements for the year of enrollment.
Applicants seeking to enroll in either the MLDP Harvest or Conservation Option must complete an online application through Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s Land Management Assistance Application in the Texas Wildlife Information Management Services (TWIMS). The application will require the landowner to create an account and to draw a property boundary in the online system.
o Note: an email address is required for the landowner and any designated agents the landowner may assign to the account.
Deadline to withdraw from MLDP participation is September 15 of each year. The applicant must formally withdraw from MLDP through the department’s online web application in TWIMS.
o If the applicant fails to withdraw from MLDP by the deadline, no deer harvest may occur on the enrolled property except in accordance with MLDP rules during the enrollment year.
A landowner may appoint a person to act as the landowner’s authorized agent for the purposes of MLDP participation. Authorization of a designated agent will be completed through TWIMS.
Multiple landowners may combine contiguous low-fenced tracts of land to create an aggregate acreage for enrollment in the MLDP Harvest or Conservation Option.
Tag Issuance and Tagging InformationMLDP tags are issued to a program participant (either the landowner or designated agent).
o The program participant will be responsible for printing and distributing MLDP tags issued for the enrolled property (tags are no longer mailed from TPWD). A PDF document that contains the tags will be created upon acceptance of the harvest recommendation by the program participant. Program participants may access their online account and print the tags at any time after acceptance of the harvest recommendation.
o MLDP tags may be printed on any type of paper but the hunter must maintain the tag in legible condition until tagging requirements cease.
Waterproof paper, plain copy paper, card stock, colored paper, or other paper types are some options participants may use. MLDP tags should be printed on 8 ½ x 11 paper and will fit 6 tags to a page.
MLPD tags are valid only for the specific tract of land for which they were issued.
A properly executed MLDP tag meets “proof-of-sex” requirements.
There is no personal or annual bag limit for the type of deer for which MLDP tags have been issued; however, every deer killed must be tagged with an appropriate MLDP tag.
Archery stamp requirements do not apply on the enrolled property for the type of deer for which MLDP tags have been issued (i.e., antlerless, buck).
Once MLDP tags have been issued for a property, all deer harvested on the property must be tagged with the appropriate MLDP tag. Hunting license tags may not be used for deer harvested under the authority of a MLDP tag and may not be substituted in lieu of a MLDP tag.
o Deer that are not subject to the provisions of the MLDP must be tagged with a hunting license tag and the hunter must complete the license log on the back of the hunting license. County season dates, bag limits, legal means of take, and any other restrictions apply.
All deer harvested under the authority of MLDP must be immediately tagged with a MLDP tag by the person who killed the deer, unless the person who killed the deer immediately takes the carcass by the most direct route to a tagging station (location where tags are maintained on the enrolled property) where an appropriate MLDP tag shall be attached immediately.
The MLDP tag shall remain attached to the carcass until the carcass reaches its final destination.
Harvest Log Requirements
The MLDP program participant is required to maintain a daily harvest log on the tract of land for which MLDP tags have been issued.
o The daily harvest log shall be on a form provided or approved by the department.
o The log must be maintained until the last day of tag validity (MLDP season ending date which is printed on the tag).
o A hunter who kills a deer that is required to be tagged with a MLDP tag must legibly enter the required information in the daily harvest log the same day the deer is killed. A hunter should not list on their hunting license log deer harvested under the authority of a MLDP tag.
o No MLDP tag and corresponding tag number may be entered into the MLDP harvest log or be used to tag a deer more than once.
o The harvest log shall be available to any department employee upon request.
Harvest Option (HO)(White-tailed Deer Only)
The Harvest Option is an automated, ‘do-it-yourself’ option for MLDP participation that provides landowners with a deer harvest recommendation, tag issuance, and general guidance about wildlife and wildlife habitat management. Participation in the Harvest Option does not require habitat management practices, deer population data, or the participant to receive technical assistance from a TPWD wildlife biologist. This option provides enhanced harvest opportunities through longer seasons and enhanced bag limits with minimal involvement from TPWD. Harvest Option participants may still request technical guidance from a TPWD biologist through our technical guidance program, but the MLDP deer harvest recommendations and tag issuance are calculated automatically on a one-time basis through TPWD’s online Land Management Assistance Application in TWIMS and cannot be revised.
Participation Requirements:Deadline to complete the online application for enrollment in the Harvest Option is September 1 of each year.
The MLDP participant must report the number of bucks and does harvested by April 1 of each year. Failure to report harvest numbers by the deadline will result in MLDP tags not being issued for the succeeding season.
Aggregate Acreage PropertiesMultiple landowners may combine contiguous tracts of low-fenced properties to create an aggregate acreage for program enrollment.
All landowners in the aggregate acreage will be required to create an online account in TWIMS, provide a map of their property boundaries, and acknowledge consent for their properties to be part of the aggregate acreage.
Program participants must designate a single participant as a point of contact for the aggregate acreage.
MLDP tags issued to the aggregate acreage may be used on any tract of land within the aggregate acreage.
Tag Issuance:
Prior to enrollment, a landowner will be able to preview the tag issuance for that property and decide whether to proceed with enrollment.
Tags may only be issued for white-tailed deer under the Harvest Option. Mule deer tag issuance is not available under this option.
Program participants may choose a harvest recommendation and MLDP tag issuance for:
o only buck deer,
o only antlerless deer, or
o buck and antlerless deer.
If MLDP buck tags are issued, the department will specify harvest recommendations for:
o tags to be used on any buck, and
o tags to be used only on bucks with at least one unbranched antler.
An equivalent number of MLDP tags will be issued for the number of bucks and/or antlerless deer released (deer obtained from a permitted deer breeder) on the property during the year prior to the current MLDP season. Properties with a department-assigned release site identification number must record that number via the online TWIMS account in order to receive the additional tag issuance.
Tag issuance is automated in the Harvest Option and TPWD staff cannot adjust or customize individual harvest recommendations for a property.
Season DatesAntlerless Deero September 30, 2017 through February 28, 2018.
May be taken by any lawful means, including modern firearms.
Buck Deero September 30, 2017 through November 3, 2017.
Bucks with at least one unbranched antler may be taken with any lawful means, including modern firearms.
Any other buck may be taken only with lawful archery equipment.
o November 4, 2017 through February 28, 2018.
Any buck deer may be taken by any lawful means, including modern firearms.
CONSERVATION OPTION (CO)The Conservation Option offers program participants the opportunity to work with a TPWD biologist to receive customized, ranch-specific habitat and deer harvest recommendations and MLDP tag issuance for white-tailed deer and/or mule deer. This option does require the reporting of certain types of deer data as well as completion of specific habitat management practices each year in order to participate and remain in the program.
Enrollment and Participation Requirements:
Deadline to request participation in the Conservation Option is June 15.
o Applications received after that date will not be enrolled in the Conservation Option for that hunting season, but the applicant may choose to enroll in the Harvest Option.
Entry into the Conservation Option requires a department-approved wildlife management plan (WMP) that includes:
o Deer population data for the two years immediately preceding the application.
o The number of bucks and does harvested during the two years immediately preceding the application.
o Documentation of two department-approved habitat management practices conducted during the two years immediately preceding the application on the tract of land to be enrolled in the Conservation Option.
Consult with a TPWD biologist for more information on applicable habitat management practices.
o A WMP may be prepared by TPWD biologist, landowner, or landowner’s designated agent. A WMP prepared by a landowner or an agent must be in a format approved by TPWD and submitted to the cooperating TPWD biologist for approval. MLDP tags will not be issued unless the WMP has been approved by TPWD.
o The participant must agree to allow site visits at the request of the department to assess habitat management practices and provide guidance and recommendations on habitat and wildlife management.
To be eligible for continued program participation in the Conservation Option, a program participant is required to:
o Provide current year’s deer population data.
Note: Additional tag issuance may be authorized on the enrolled property, provided the program participant furnishes survey or other population data that in the opinion of the department justifies additional harvest.
o Report the number of buck and antlerless deer harvested.
o Implement three (3) department-approved habitat management practices each year for each enrolled tract of land as specified in the wildlife management plan.
Deer harvest may count as a habitat management practice provided an appropriate level of harvest is achieved each year.
Supplemental feeding (including non-native food plots and pelleted feed) is NOT considered to be a habitat management practice. Check with your local TPWD biologist for information about acceptable habitat management practices.
o MLDP participants will automatically be enrolled in MLDP for the next season once all required data are entered into TWIMS by April 1. Participants will need to opt out of MLDP if they do not plan to participate in the upcoming MLDP season.
A MLDP participant must annually report the number of bucks and does harvested as well as the minimum of three (3) habitat management practices (as specified in the WMP) conducted on each tract of land enrolled in the Conservation Option. The report deadline is April 1 of each year.
o Failure to report required data by the deadline will result in removal from the Conservation Option.
Wildlife Management Associations (WMA) and Cooperatives
The department may enroll a wildlife management association (WMA) or cooperative in the Conservation Option.
A single WMP that addresses all tracts of land within the WMA or cooperative that will be enrolled in the Conservation Option and receive MLDP tag issuance must be submitted to and approved by a TPWD biologist.
A WMA or cooperative may choose to receive MLDP tag issuance for:
o Only antlerless deer.
If only antlerless deer tag issuance is chosen, buck deer may be harvested on enrolled properties but are subject to county bag limits, restrictions, season dates, and must be tagged with a hunting license tag.
o Both buck and antlerless deer.
MLDP tags will be issued to the landowner or landowner’s agent of each individual property enrolled under the WMA or cooperative.
All program participants of the WMA / cooperative are required to report (via TWIMS) the number of bucks and does harvested as well as the habitat management practices conducted on each property.
The WMA or cooperative must collectively complete a total of 3 habitat management practices as specified in the WMP.
Aggregate Acreage PropertiesMultiple landowners may combine contiguous tracts of low-fenced properties to create an aggregate acreage for enrollment in this option.
All landowners in the aggregate acreage are required to create an account in TWIMS, provide a map of property boundaries, and acknowledge consent for their properties to be included as part of the aggregate acreage.
A single WMP that address all tracts of land in the aggregate acreage is required.
Program participants must designate a single participant as a point of contact for the aggregate acreage.
MLDP tags issued to the aggregate acreage may be used on any tract of land within the aggregate acreage.
Season Dates and Tag IssuanceWhite-tailed Deer
o September 30, 2017 through February 28, 2018.
Antlerless and buck deer may be taken by any lawful means, including modern firearms.
Mule Deer
o September 30, 2017 through November 3, 2017.
Antlerless and buck deer may be taken only by lawful archery equipment.
o November 4, 2017 through January 28, 2018.
Antlerless and buck deer may be taken by any lawful means, including modern firearms.
Refusal of Enrollment or Removal from MLD Program The department may refuse or terminate enrollment in the MLDP for any applicant or program participant who:
o fails to comply with reporting requirements,
o exceeds the harvest recommendation,
o fails to implement three (3) habitat management practices specified in the WMP, or
o submits falsified data to the department.
The department may prohibit any person from participating in the MLD Program if the person has a final conviction or has been assessed an administrative penalty for a violation of:
o Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter C, E, L, R, or R-1 (relating to permits authorizing the possession of live animals);
o a provision of Parks and Wildlife Code not addressed in the previous bullet that is punishable as a Parks and Wildlife Code:
Class A or B misdemeanor;
State jail felony;
Felony;
o Parks & Wildlife Code 63.002; or
o The Lacey Act.
The department may also refuse enrollment or participation to any person that is acting on behalf of or as a surrogate for another person prohibited from participation in MLDP.
For Additional Information
For additional information on Wildlife Management Plans and/or the Managed Lands Deer Program, please contact the nearest TPWD Wildlife Biologist or Technician through the following web page:
www.tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/land/technical_guidance/biologists/
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