Live Oak, McMullen County, Texas · 34,000 acres
James E. Daughtrey Wildlife Management Area Hunting 2026: Species & Access
James E. Daughtrey Wildlife Management Area covers 34,000 acres near Three Rivers in Live Oak, McMullen County. South Texas brush country around Choke Canyon Reservoir, midway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi — named for State Game Warden James E. Daughtrey of Tilden, fatally injured pursuing game-law violators.
01 — What you can hunt here
| Species | Notes |
|---|---|
| White-tailed deer | Special Permit drawn hunts run November through March — archery either-sex, gun either-sex, youth gun either-sex, and gun antlerless/spike-only among the options. |
| Javelina and feral hog | Available through the same drawn-hunt system as deer. |
| Turkey | Spring season, plus a youth-only spring turkey hunt. |
| Quail, dove and rabbit | Quail and archery-deer/feral-hog/coyote hunts also run through e-post-card drawings limited to specific compartments on published dates. |
02 — Access rules specific to this WMA
- Access is by permit only — the area is closed to the general public during active hunt dates.
- General public use (non-hunting) is allowed only April 1 through Aug. 1, outside the hunting calendar entirely.
- Rabbit, duck, quail and dove hunters need an Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit; the drawn deer/javelina/turkey hunts run through TPWD's separate Special Permit drawing.
04 — Facilities
Camping: Not specified as available. No shooting range on-site.
Field office contact: 361-274-3573.
05 — Where to go next
Daughtrey runs a genuinely restrictive access calendar compared to most WMAs in this silo: the general public can only set foot on the property four months a year (April–August), with every other month reserved for permit and drawn hunts only. It's also the rare Texas WMA that mixes both systems — APH-covered small game and waterfowl alongside a separate drawn-permit system for deer, javelina and turkey — so which permit you need depends entirely on what you're hunting.
Texas hunting license costs and permits →
Verified · Texas Parks and Wildlife Department · Last verified 2026-08-09
Publisher's note. Read from TPWD, retrieved 2026-08-09. Review due 2027-08-01. WMA-specific rules and closures can change between seasons — confirm before you hunt.