Texas · Public Land · 2026 Edition
Texas Public Hunting Land 2026: WMAs & Access Rules
3 wildlife management areas tracked here, from 6,493 to 34,000 acres. A hunting license covers you on Texas WMA land the same as anywhere else in the state — but read the access rules below before you assume that's all you need.
01 — Wildlife management areas
| Area | County | Acres | Species |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerr Wildlife Management Area | Kerr | 6,493 | Deer, Turkey |
| Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area | Calhoun, Refugio & Victoria | 7,410 | Waterfowl |
| James E. Daughtrey Wildlife Management Area | Live Oak & McMullen | 34,000 | Deer, Javelina, Turkey, Dove, Quail, Waterfowl |
Kerr is the name people search for by itself — a 6,493-acre Hill Country research station near Hunt where TPWD has studied whitetail deer management since 1954, running at a 59% deer-hunt success rate and 39% for turkey, but reachable only through the draw, never the APH permit. Guadalupe Delta, split across four coastal units in three counties, is built for duck hunters working the freshwater-saltwater mix where the Guadalupe River meets San Antonio Bay. James E. Daughtrey, at 34,000 acres the biggest of the three by a wide margin, sits around Choke Canyon Reservoir and covers almost everything Texas hunters chase in one place — deer, javelina, turkey, dove, quail and waterfowl — though general public access runs April through August only, with the rest of the year limited to permit hunts. This list is a starting point, not TPWD's full public-hunting-lands inventory, which runs over a million acres across the state.
02 — Access rules beyond your hunting license
Texas runs public land access differently from most states here: a single $48 Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit — on top of a season hunting license — opens over a million acres statewide, WMA land plus leased state/federal tracts and cooperating private land, for deer, feral hogs, exotics, game birds, predators and furbearers, mostly without a drawing or daily fee. It also covers camping, fishing and hiking on APH land, and lets anyone 17 or younger hunt free alongside an adult APH holder. The catch: not every WMA participates. Some, like Kerr, run draw-only through the TPWD Public Hunt Drawing System with no APH access at all — check the individual area before assuming your APH permit gets you in.
03 — Where to go next
Verified · Texas Parks and Wildlife Department · Last verified 2026-08-08
Publisher's note. WMA list and access rules read from TPWD, retrieved 2026-08-08. Review due 2027-08-01. This is a starting list, not the agency's full WMA inventory — confirm current rules for a specific area before you hunt it.