Predator Control for Your Texas Wildlife Exemption: What Counts and How to Document It

Predator control is one of the most straightforward wildlife management practices to implement and document. Nearly every Texas property with a wildlife exemption faces pressure from predators — feral hogs that destroy habitat, coyotes that suppress deer fawn recruitment, and egg predators like raccoons and skunks that devastate ground-nesting bird populations. Active predator management directly protects the wildlife species your management plan is designed to support.

What Qualifies as Predator Control?

Predator control involves managing the populations of predatory animals that negatively impact the native wildlife species identified in your wildlife management plan. This doesn't mean eliminating all predators — many predators are native and play important ecological roles. The focus is on reducing populations of invasive or overabundant predators to levels that allow your target wildlife species to thrive.

Feral hogs are the number one predator target on most Texas properties. They are not native, have no bag limit, and cause billions of dollars in damage to Texas agriculture and wildlife habitat annually.

Predator Control Activities That Count for Your Annual Report

The following activities qualify as predator control under TPWD guidelines:

• Feral hog trapping — Setting corral traps, box traps, or drop nets to capture and remove feral hogs. Whole-sounder trapping (capturing entire family groups) is the most effective method. Document trap locations, dates checked, and hogs removed.
• Feral hog hunting — Spot-and-stalk hunting, stand hunting, or using thermal/night vision equipment to shoot feral hogs. Texas allows year-round hog hunting with no bag limit on private land.
• Coyote management — Calling and shooting, snaring, or trapping coyotes to reduce predation on deer fawns, turkey poults, and ground-nesting birds. Most effective during late winter and denning season (April-May).
• Egg predator control — Trapping raccoons, skunks, opossums, and other nest predators that destroy ground-nesting bird eggs. Particularly important for quail, turkey, and migratory bird management.
• Trail camera monitoring — Deploying trail cameras to document predator presence, activity patterns, and population trends. Camera data helps target control efforts and demonstrates ongoing monitoring to your appraiser.
• Aerial gunning — Helicopter-based feral hog or coyote removal. Highly effective but expensive — typically conducted by licensed contractors. Especially useful for large properties with dense brush.

How to Document Predator Control for Your PWD-888

Predator control is one of the easiest practices to document. Photograph every animal removed — include a wide shot showing location and a closer shot for identification. Log trap checks even when traps are empty (shows ongoing effort). Record trail camera data showing predator activity. For unsuccessful hunts, note the date, hours spent, area covered, and that no targets were observed or engaged. All effort counts, not just successful removals.

Pro tip: Log each predator control activity immediately after performing it. Trying to reconstruct a year's worth of activities from memory in March is the most common reason annual reports are incomplete or unconvincing.

Ecoregion-Specific Considerations

Feral hog pressure is severe across all Texas ecoregions but particularly damaging in the Post Oak Savannah, Pineywoods, and Gulf Prairies where hogs destroy ground-nesting bird habitat and compete with deer for mast crops. In the Edwards Plateau, coyote management is critical for maintaining white-tailed deer fawn survival rates above the 30-40% threshold needed for population stability.

How Predator Control Fits Into Your Overall Program

Remember that Texas requires at least 3 of the 7 wildlife management practices each year. Predator Control pairs well with other practices — for example, many landowners combine predator control, supplemental food, and census counts into routine ranch visits. The most efficient approach is combining multiple practices into each ranch visit and documenting all of them.

For a complete overview of all seven practices, see our Wildlife Management Practices guide.