. 

F EXAS 

Honorable John W. Berry 

County Attorney 

Karnes County 

Karnes Citv. Texas 78118 

Opinion No. M- 770 

Re: Right to possession 

of a deer killed UDon land of anotherwithout his consent. 

Dear Mr. Berry : 

YOU have requested our opinion on the following matter: 

"X , a trespasser, kills a deer on A's land without 

A's consent. However, X kills the deer within legal 

hours, has a hunting license, tags the deer with his 

own tag, all other details concerning the hunt are 

within the law, except the fact that X has no permission to hunt on A'S land. X pays a fine for trespassing, but claims that he is entitled to keep the 

deer. A, the landowner, claims the deer belongs to 

him since it was killed on his property. 2, the 

game warden, contends that the deer belongs to the 

State (to be given to a charitable organization). 

TO WHOM DOES THE DEER BELONG, X, A, OR 21" 

you further advise us that this is not a hypothetical question 

in that you have been confronted with this question several 

times, and that your designation of parties is to protect the 

identities of persons concerned. 

"The ownership of wild game, so far as it is capable of 

ownership, is in the State for the benefit of all its people 

in common, and it is within the police power of the State 

Legislature, subject to constitutional restrictions to make 

such general or special laws as may be reasonably necessary for 

the protection of public rights in such game, and within such 

power is the right to regulate the method of taking or hunting 

game in the state." Dobie v. State, 48 S.W.2d 289 (Tex. Crim., 

1932). 

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Honorable John W. Berry, Page 2 (M-770) 

Ownership of all such animals is declared by statute to 

be in the State of Texas, as follows: 

"All wild animals, wild birds, and wild fowl within 

the borders of this State are hereby declared to be 

the property of the people of this State." Article 

871a, Vernon's Penal Code. 

You state that it is the contention of the game warden that 

the deer in question belongs to the State and that it should be 

given to a charitable organization. The statutes provide certain methods,,means and conditions under which wild game may be 

taken and the State thereby divested of its ownership therein. 

The statutes also provide for the disposition of game taken in 

violation thereof. Therefore, to determine the person entitled 

to the possession of the deer in question we must look to such 

statutes to see if the disposition thereof is specifically provided for. 

Article 897, Vernon's Penal Code, provides, in part as 

follows: 

"All wild birds, wild fowl, or wild game animals or 

parts thereof, which have been killed, taken in any 

way, shipped, held in storage, or found in a public 

eating place, contrar rovisions of this 

widows and orphans." (Emphasis-added). - 

The reference to "this chapter" is to Chapter 6 of Title 13 

of the Penal Code of the State of Texas, 1925. Such chapter 

covers Articles 871 through 978n-2 of Vernon's Penal Code. 

Karnes County is under the "Vniform Wildlife Regulatory 

Act". (Article 978j-1, Sec. 1, Vernon's Penal Code). Section 

2 of this Act specifically provides, in part, as follows: 

. . . it shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, 

take, kill or possess or attempt to hunt, take or 

kill any game bird or game animal in any county or 

in any portion of any county at any time, . . D unless the owner of the land or the water, or his 

duly authorized agent shall give consent thereto." 

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Honorable John W. Berry, Page 3 (M-770) 

Your stated facts show that the owner of the land had not 

given his consent to the killing of this deer on his property; 

therefore, the killing of the deer was in violation of Article 

9783-l. The deer having been killed in violation of Article 

978j-1 was, therefore, killed contrary to the provisions of 

"this chapter," as referred to in Article 897 and should be 

disposed of in accordance with the provisions of said Article 

897, to wit, '1. . . by donating same to charitable institutions, 

hospitals, or needy widows and orphans." 

SUMMARY 

Deer killed on land of another without consent 

of landowner or his agent in a county under Uniform 

Wildlife Regulatory Act should be released to game 

warden for charitable purposes in accordance with 

provisions of Article 897, VeAnon's Penal Code. 

tfully submitted, 

Prepared by Harold G. Kennedy 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Roger Tyler 

Roland Allen 

Malcom Quick 

Jack Sparks 

MEADE F. GRIFFIN 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOIA WHITE 

First Assistant 

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