Outdoors / Licenses
Before you hunt or fish in Texas, you almost always need a license - and the licenses come in a confusing pile of packages, endorsements, stamps, and tags. This guide cuts to the chase: if you do both, one package (the Super Combo) usually covers you; the rest of the page sorts out the exceptions, the add-ons people forget, and where to buy. The prices are a snapshot - the license year resets every September 1, so we point you to the official source to confirm.
Read these first
Prices reset yearly
Texas license prices and rules reset every September 1. The figures on this page are for the 2025-2026 license year. They rarely jump much, but always confirm the current price in the official Outdoor Annual before you pay - that page is the real authority, not us.
TPWD Licenses (Outdoor Annual) ->The license year is fixed
The Texas license year runs September 1 through August 31. A regular annual license bought in July still expires August 31. Licenses go on sale August 15 for the coming year. (One exception: the resident Year-from-Purchase fishing package is good about a full year from the day you buy it.)
TPWD Purchase Requirements ->Start here
Find the row that sounds like you. It points you to the right purchase - or tells you that you don't need one.
Buy the Super Combo - $68, or $32 if you're 65+. It bundles both licenses and the five common endorsements in one purchase, so you can't forget an add-on.
See the Super Combo ->Buy a fishing package by where you fish: freshwater $30, saltwater $35, or all-water $40 (resident). Each one already includes the endorsement it needs.
Fishing licenses ->Buy a resident hunting license ($25) plus the right endorsement for what you're after (birds, archery). Forgetting the endorsement is the #1 mistake.
Hunting licenses ->You may not need a fishing license at all. Kids under 17 don't need one to fish, fishing inside a state park is free, and the first Saturday in June is Free Fishing Day. Check the exemptions first.
Who needs no license ->You likely qualify for a discounted or free license. Seniors pay far less; qualifying active-duty military and disabled veterans can get a free package.
Free & discounted ->Best value for most
For a Texas resident who both hunts and fishes, the Super Combo is the easy answer. It rolls two licenses and five endorsements into one purchase - so you don't have to think about which add-ons you need or risk forgetting one. TPWD prices it a little below buying the pieces a la carte.
The $32 Senior Super Combo is for Texas residents 65 and older.
It does NOT include the Federal Duck Stamp, which is required separately for waterfowl hunters 16 and older. If you'll hunt ducks or geese, buy that too.
Before you buy anything, check whether you even need a license. These are the common ways to fish - or, in a couple of cases, hunt - without one. Read them carefully: most of these waive the FISHING license only, not the hunting license.
Anyone under 17 can fish in Texas without a license. But this is fishing only - a child still needs a $7 Youth Hunting License to hunt (it waives the endorsement fees, except the Reptile & Amphibian one).
No fishing license is needed to fish from the bank, a pier, or a boat on water entirely inside a Texas state park. You still pay park entry. This applies to state parks only - not county or city parks.
On the first Saturday in June, anyone can fish public water statewide without a license or endorsement. (In 2026 that's June 6.) Bag and size limits still apply.
Residents born before that date are exempt from the fishing license. This is a fishing exemption only - there's no matching hunting exemption (but seniors 65+ get a deeply discounted hunting license).
The fishing-license law only covers 'public water.' A pond entirely on your own property - not dammed from or fed by a public stream - is outside the rule, so no fishing license is needed there.
No hunting license is required to hunt feral hogs on private land with the landowner's okay - resident or not. The same goes for depredating coyotes. Hunter education rules still apply.
Don't get tripped up
The forgotten add-on
Most game birds and archery-only seasons need a small endorsement ($7) on top of your license. Buying a license but skipping the endorsement is the most common way to end up illegal. The Super Combo includes them.
See the add-ons ->Digital vs. paper
If you go digital, nothing is mailed - you must tag and report deer, turkey, and oversized red drum or seatrout through the Texas Hunt & Fish app, on the spot. Don't head out assuming a paper tag will be there.
How tagging works ->The whole guide
Four reference sections, roughly in the order you'll use them: pick your base hunting or fishing license, add the endorsements you need, then learn how tags and digital licenses work. Each carries the price tables and the official TPWD link.
License types and prices, the 2025 nonresident changes, and the hunter-education rule.
Hunting licenses ->Freshwater, saltwater, and all-water packages, senior and nonresident prices, and short-term options.
Fishing licenses ->The add-ons people forget - bird and archery endorsements, the Federal Duck Stamp, and free HIP.
The add-ons ->Deer and turkey tags, harvest reporting, and the digital-vs-paper catch that trips people up.
Tags & digital ->Seniors, military, veterans, and anyone planning decades of hunting and fishing should look here before paying full price.
Texas residents 65+ get steep discounts: a $7 hunting license, fishing packages from $12, and the $32 Senior Super Combo.
Qualifying Texas-resident active-duty members get a FREE Super Combo, all-water fishing package, or hunting package. You qualify with either a Texas home of record or a Texas duty station - not both - and you must buy in person.
Veterans with a 50%+ service-connected disability, or loss of use of a foot or leg, get a FREE Super Combo - residents AND nonresidents. Bring VA proof and buy in person.
A one-time purchase that never expires: Lifetime Hunting $1,000, Lifetime Fishing $1,000, or Lifetime Combo $1,800. Apply at a TPWD law enforcement office or the Austin headquarters.
Through TPWD's official license sales portal, any time. A $5 administrative fee applies online.
Call (800) 895-4248, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Central. The same $5 admin fee applies.
At roughly 1,700-1,800 retailers statewide - sporting-goods stores, many Walmarts and grocery stores, bait shops, and county offices. No admin fee in person.
The Outdoor Annual app gives you all the regulations offline. The Texas Hunt & Fish app handles digital licenses, tagging, and harvest reporting. Both are free.
Tip: Buy from the official TPWD portal or a licensed retailer - never a third-party site that adds its own markup. Licenses go on sale August 15 for the coming license year.
The terms that make the rules confusing.
September 1 through August 31 - the window a regular annual license is good for, no matter when you buy it.
A license bought in July still expires August 31.
A small add-on bought on top of your base license for specific game or water.
You need the $7 bird endorsement to hunt dove.
TPWD's all-in-one package: both licenses plus the five common endorsements.
$68 resident, $32 for seniors.
A license bundled with the endorsement(s) it needs - how fishing licenses are sold.
The all-water package covers fresh and salt.
A marker you attach to certain animals (deer, turkey, oversized red drum/seatrout) the moment you take them.
Digital licenses tag through the app.
A free, mandatory checkbox for migratory-bird hunters, done when you buy your license.
No fee, but required for dove and duck.
A federal stamp required for waterfowl hunters 16+, separate from the state endorsement.
$25, and not in the Super Combo.
An endorsement is the permission to pursue something; a tag is what you physically attach to what you take.
Saltwater endorsement = the right to fish salt; the red drum tag = how you keep a big one.
Quirks worth knowing
Quick answers
The resident Super Combo ($68, or $32 at 65+). It bundles both licenses and the five common endorsements - so you won't forget an add-on - and TPWD prices it a little below buying the pieces separately. Add a Federal Duck Stamp if you'll hunt waterfowl.
To fish, no - anyone under 17 fishes free. To hunt, yes: they need a $7 Youth Hunting License (which also waives the endorsement fees, except Reptile & Amphibian).
A regular annual license expires August 31, no matter when you bought it. Licenses go on sale August 15 for the new year. The resident Year-from-Purchase fishing package is the exception - it lasts about a full year from purchase.
Probably a missing endorsement. Birds (dove, ducks, turkey, quail) and archery-only seasons each need a $7 endorsement on top of the license. The Super Combo includes them; a plain license doesn't.
Paper comes in the mail with physical tags you fill out at the kill. Digital lives on your phone and you tag through the Texas Hunt & Fish app. A digital-only license has no paper tags, so you must use the app to tag deer, turkey, and oversized red drum or spotted seatrout.
Fishing, mostly yes (just higher prices). Hunting changed in 2025: nonresidents now choose the $315 General license (the only one good for deer or turkey) or the $48 5-Day Special for small game and exotics.
Online or by phone (a $5 fee applies) through TPWD's official portal, or in person at about 1,700-1,800 retailers with no fee. Avoid third-party sites that mark up the price.
No. They're for the 2025-2026 license year and reset every September 1. They rarely change much, but confirm the current price in the Outdoor Annual before you buy.
Official sources
Every price, package, and rule here comes from Texas Parks & Wildlife - except the Federal Duck Stamp, which is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Prices reset every September 1; the Outdoor Annual is the live, official figure.
Caution: Prices and license types change every license year. The official TPWD Outdoor Annual is the final word - confirm the current price before you buy.
