Sec. 62.0065.  HUNTING DEER WITH DOGS.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a person may not recklessly use a dog to hunt or pursue a deer in this state.
(b)  Subject to Subsection (a), the commission by rule may prescribe the type of firearm that may be possessed during an open deer season by a person who is in actual or constructive possession of a dog while in the field on another person's land or property in Angelina, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, or Walker County.
(c)  It is not a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) or to prosecution for violation of a rule adopted under Subsection (b) that the defendant was not the owner or in immediate possession of the dog or that the offense or violation was committed without the effective consent of the dog's owner.
(d)  The commission by rule may authorize the use of dogs to trail wounded deer.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 989 (H.B. 1959), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.