Sec. 43.201.  ARCHERY STAMP REQUIRED.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (c) or (d), no person may hunt deer, turkey, or javelina (collared peccary) during an open archery season provided by law or by the proclamations of the commission and during which season only crossbows, longbows, recurved bows, and compound bows may be used unless the person has acquired an archery hunting stamp issued to the person by the department.  The commission by rule may prescribe requirements relating to possessing a stamp required by this subchapter.  In a county that does not permit hunting with a firearm, a hunter may use a crossbow only if the hunter is a person with upper limb disabilities and has an archery hunting stamp.
(b)  The stamp shall be issued in the form and manner prescribed by the department and, except as provided by Subsection (d), must be signed on its face by the person using the stamp for the stamp to be valid for hunting purposes.
(c)  The commission by regulation may exempt a person from the stamp requirement of this section.
(d)  The commission by rule may prescribe alternate requirements for identifying the purchaser of a stamp issued in an automated manner.
(e)  A stamp issued under this subchapter is valid for hunting only during the yearly period for which the stamp is issued without regard to the date on which the stamp is acquired.  Each yearly period begins on September 1 or another date set by the commission and extends through August 31 of the next year or another date set by the commission.  The commission by rule may set the amount of a stamp fee for a stamp issued during a transition period at an amount lower than prescribed in this subchapter and provide for a stamp term for a transition period that is shorter or longer than a year.
Added by Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1203, ch. 456, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.  Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 838, Sec. 9, eff. Sept. 1, 1993;  Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 931, Sec. 24, eff. June 16, 1995;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 35, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by: 
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 99 (H.B. 968), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.