Compliance & Transparency
The paperwork matters as much as the pedigree.
A deer you have paid for is worth nothing to you if it cannot legally be released on your place. Before you can take delivery of a single animal, both you and the facility you are buying from have to be in compliance. Here is how the rules actually work in Texas, and what to ask any breeder — us included — before you send a deposit.
Why this page matters to you
Whitetail breeding in Texas is regulated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Breeder permits, reporting, movement qualification and release site registration all run through TPWD’s TWIMS Deer Breeder system. The rules were substantially rewritten in 2025 and they continue to move — including the wind-down of the old herd certification program that a number of breeder websites still advertise.
The practical translation: a deer you’ve paid for is worth nothing to you if it can’t legally be released on your property. Buying from a facility that stays clean on testing and paperwork isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s the difference between deer on your pasture and deer stuck in a pen.
Movement Qualified status
A breeding facility must hold Movement Qualified (MQ) status before breeder deer can be moved to another facility or to a release site. MQ depends on two things: satisfying CWD testing requirements, and staying administratively compliant with deer breeder permit rules and reporting. Fall behind on either one and movement stops.
Live testing before transfer
Current Texas rules require ante-mortem — live — CWD testing on breeder deer before they move to another facility or a release site. Identification tags also can’t simply be removed. Every animal that leaves here leaves with its paperwork and its ID intact.
What your release site owes
Compliance does not stop at delivery. Your registered release site carries obligations of its own — post-release CWD testing appropriate to how your site is classified, and a harvest log you are required to keep. Ask us and we will walk you through what your particular site will owe before you buy a single deer.
Ask us, and ask everybody else
We don’t publish our permit numbers and standing on a public page, and neither should anyone else — but we will put our current TWIMS standing in writing for you before you send a deposit. Ask for it. If a breeder hesitates at that request, you have learned something useful about who you are dealing with.
And if a breeder is still selling you on a herd certification status, ask what their current TPWD standing is instead. That is the one that determines whether your deer can actually be moved.
CWD and breeder movement rules change from season to season. Confirm the current requirements for your own release site directly with TPWD at tpwd.texas.gov. Nothing on this page is legal advice or a substitute for the current regulations.
Crown Point Whitetails 