(a) General. Except as otherwise provided in this division, a breeding facility may transfer breeder deer under a transfer permit that has been activated and approved by the department to:
  (1) another breeding facility as provided in subsection (b) of this section;
  (2) an approved release site as provided in subsection (c) of this section; or
  (3) a DMP facility (however, deer transferred to DMP facilities cannot be recaptured and must be released as provided in the deer management plan)
(b) Transfer From Breeding Facility to Breeding Facility.
  (1) A breeder deer may be transferred from one breeding facility to another breeding facility only if:
    (A) an ante-mortem test on rectal or tonsil tissue collected from the deer within the eight months immediately preceding the transfer has been returned with test results of "not detected"; and
    (B) the deer is at least six months of age at the time the test sample required by this subsection is collected.
  (2) An ante-mortem test result of "not detected" submitted to satisfy the requirements of §65.92(d) of this title (relating to CWD Testing) may be utilized a second time to satisfy the requirements of this subsection, provided the test sample was collected as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
  (3) A facility from which deer are transferred in violation of this subsection is automatically NMQ and any further transfers are prohibited until the permittee and the owner of the destination facility have complied with the testing requirements of the department, based on an epidemiological assessment as specified in writing.
(c) Release Sites; Release of Breeder Deer.
  (1) An approved release site consists solely of the specific tract of land to which deer are released and the acreage is designated as a release site in TWIMS. A release site owner may modify the acreage registered as the release site to recognize changes in acreage (such as the removal of cross-fencing or the purchase of adjoining land), so long as the release site owner notifies the department of such modifications prior to the acreage modification. The release site requirements set forth in this division apply to the entire acreage modified under the provisions of this paragraph.
  (2) Liberated breeder deer must have complete, unrestricted access to the entirety of the release site; provided, however, deer may be excluded from areas for safety reasons (such as airstrips) or for the purpose of protecting areas such as crops, orchards, ornamental plants, and lawns from depredation.
  (3) All release sites onto which breeder deer are liberated must be surrounded by a fence of at least seven feet in height that is capable of retaining deer at all times under reasonable and ordinary circumstances. The owner of the release site is responsible for ensuring that the fence and associated infrastructure retain deer under reasonable and ordinary circumstances.
  (4) No person may intentionally cause or allow any live deer to leave or escape from a release site onto which breeder deer have been liberated.
  (5) The owner of a release site where deer from a facility subject to the provisions of §65.99 of this title (relating to Breeding Facilities Epidemiologically Connected to Deer Infected with CWD) or deer from a CWD-positive facility have been released shall maintain a harvest log at the release site that complies with §65.93 of this title (relating to Harvest Log).
  (6) No person may transfer a breeder deer to a release facility or cause or allow a breeder deer to be transferred to a release facility unless:
    (A) an ante-mortem test on rectal or tonsil tissue collected from the deer within the eight months immediately preceding the release has been returned with test results of "not detected"; and
    (B) the deer is at least six months of age at the time the test sample required by this paragraph is collected.
    (C) An ante-mortem test result of "not detected" submitted to satisfy the requirements of §65.92(d) of this title may be utilized a second time to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph, provided the test sample was collected as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
    (D) A facility from which deer are transferred in violation of this paragraph becomes automatically NMQ and any further transfers are prohibited until the permittee and the owner of the release site have complied with the testing requirements of the department, based on an epidemiological assessment as specified in writing.
(d) Trace-out Release Site.
  (1) A release site is a trace-out release site if it has:
    (A) received deer directly or indirectly from a positive breeding facility; and
    (B) it has not been released from a hold order or quarantine related to activity described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
  (2) The landowner of a trace-out release site must:
    (A) within 60 days of notification by the department that trace-out release status has been confirmed, remove every trace deer at the release site, either by lawful hunting or as specifically authorized in writing by the department (or both), and submit post-mortem CWD samples for each deer within seven days of mortality; and
    (B) submit post-mortem CWD test results for 100 percent of all hunter-harvested deer until the department is confident that CWD is not present at the release site or as prescribed in a herd plan.
  (3) No breeder deer may be transferred to a trace-out release site unless the deer has been tagged in one ear with a button-type RFID tag approved by the department.
(e) The owner of a release site that is not in compliance with applicable provisions of this division is ineligible for enrollment or continued participation in the Managed Lands Deer Program under Subchapter A of this chapter.

Source Note: The provisions of this §65.95 adopted to be effective August 15, 2016, 41 TexReg 5726; amended to be effective October 7, 2018, 43 TexReg 6663; amended to be effective December 19, 2021, 46 TexReg 8724; amended to be effective January 18, 2024, 49 TexReg 267