Texas · Deer · 2026–27 Edition
Texas Deer Season 2026–27: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons by method
| Method | Zones | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Archery Only | All counties with an open season | Oct 3 – Nov 6 |
| Youth-Only | North Zone; South Zone | Oct 30 – Nov 1 |
| General Season | North Zone | Nov 7 – Jan 3 |
| General Season | South Zone | Nov 7 – Jan 17 |
| Muzzleloader | See TPWD county tables (zone not printed on state page) | Jan 4 – Jan 17 |
| Youth-Only (late) | North Zone | Jan 4 – Jan 17 |
| Special Late | North Zone | Jan 4 – Jan 17 |
| Special Late | South Zone | Jan 18 – Jan 31 |
02 — Find your zone by county
South Zone: Aransas, Atascosa, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Dimmit, Duval, Frio, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kinney (south of US-90 only — the north part is North Zone), Kleberg, La Salle, Live Oak, Maverick, McMullen, Medina (south of US-90 only — the north part is North Zone), Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Uvalde (south of US-90 only — the north part is North Zone), Val Verde (southeastern portion only — the rest is North Zone), Webb, Willacy, Zapata, Zavala.
North Zone — covers the rest of Texas's whitetail counties — except El Paso and Hudspeth, which have no whitetail deer season at all (Trans-Pecos mule deer only)
03 — Bag limits
| Annual (off MLDP) | No person may exceed 5 white-tailed deer, no more than 3 of which may be bucks. Bag limits are established by county. |
|---|---|
| Antler-restriction counties | 2 legal bucks, but only 1 may have 2 branched antlers and an inside spread of 13 inches or greater. Applies in roughly 117 counties, concentrated in North/Central/East Texas. |
| Special Late | Harvest restricted to antlerless and unbranched antlered deer. |
| MLDP properties | Annual bag limit does not apply on MLDP properties. |
04 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (October 3, 2026) 07:02 — 19:48
Rule: One-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset — TPWD's definition for game animals and non-migratory game birds. Note this is NOT the migratory-bird rule: dove and waterfowl stop at sunset, deer may be hunted a further half hour. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Texas sun times for any other date.
05 — License
A Texas hunting license and deer permit are required. Costs, age rules and where to buy are on our license page below.
Texas hunting license cost & deer permits →
Where to hunt public land in Texas — WMAs by county & access rules →
06 — Scouting gear
Scouting a property before Texas's opener usually means glassing terrain and running a trail camera through the summer and early fall.
- Hunting binoculars on Amazon →
- Trail cameras on Amazon →
- Trail camera SD cards — class, capacity & format explained →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. These are category links, not a single named pick — we run no product tests of our own.
07 — FAQ
When does deer season start in Texas?
The earliest 2026–27 opener is October 3, 2026 — Archery Only, limited to All counties with an open season. Other weapons and zones start later — see the table above.
When does deer season end in Texas?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is January 31, 2027. Individual methods and zones close on their own dates.
When does bow season start for deer in Texas?
Archery Only opens October 3, 2026 (All counties with an open season). Later segments may follow — see the seasons table.
When does muzzleloader season start for deer in Texas?
Muzzleloader opens January 4, 2027 (See TPWD county tables (zone not printed on state page)). Later segments may follow — see the seasons table.
How do I know which zone my county is in, in Texas?
See the county list above — South Zone is listed by county, and north zone covers every county not named there.
How many deer can you shoot in Texas?
2026–27 bag limits: Annual (off MLDP) — No person may exceed 5 white-tailed deer, no more than 3 of which may be bucks. Bag limits are established by county. Antler-restriction counties — 2 legal bucks, but only 1 may have 2 branched antlers and an inside spread of 13 inches or greater. Applies in roughly 117 counties, concentrated in North/Central/East Texas. Special Late — Harvest restricted to antlerless and unbranched antlered deer. MLDP properties — Annual bag limit does not apply on MLDP properties. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting deer in Texas?
On opening day (October 3, 2026) legal light runs 07:02 to 19:48. The rule is: One-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset — TPWD's definition for game animals and non-migratory game birds. Note this is NOT the migratory-bird rule: dove and waterfowl stop at sunset, deer may be hunted a further half hour. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Texas sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt deer on my own land in Texas without a license?
Texas requires a license for essentially all game even on your own land — the one landowner carve-out is feral hogs, which a resident landowner (or anyone with their consent) may take without a license. Deer, turkey, and everything else still need the usual license and tags.
Verified · Texas Parks and Wildlife Department · Last verified 2026-08-16
Publisher's note. Season dates (zones North / South / Special Late) per TPWD Outdoor Annual, verified 2026-08-01. Muzzleloader zone is not printed on the source page — confirm applicability per county via the TPWD county lookup. Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) windows are set per-property on the permit and are not published on the state page — no MLDP row is included. The North/South Zone county boundaries themselves (added 2026-08-13) are not published as a table on any TPWD Outdoor Annual page — the legal source is 31 Texas Administrative Code §65.42(b) (Texas Secretary of State), read via two independent legal-text mirrors (Cornell LII and eLaws.us, identical text) after the Secretary of State's own permalink failed to render. North Zone is its own explicit enumerated list in the rule, not simply 'every county not in South Zone' — several third-party hunting sites publish a wrong South Zone list (some wrongly include North Zone antler-restriction counties like Gonzales, DeWitt, Karnes, Wilson). Cross-checked against TPWD's own public claim of '252 of 254 counties' having a whitetail season, which matches the South+North Zone county count exactly, and against the confirmed season-date formulas for each zone. Per-county antler restrictions (~117 counties, a count derived from the rule text, not an official TPWD-published number) and per-county muzzleloader/youth applicability remain behind TPWD's own county selector and are not enumerated here.