1. (a) Release of deer shall be effected by removing, for a total of at least 20 feet, those components of a pen that serve to maintain deer in a state of detention within the pen; however, no opening shall be less than 10 feet in width. Such components shall be removed for no fewer than 30 consecutive days.
2. (b) At any time that components of a pen are removed or manipulated for the purposes of releasing wild deer, all externally provided food and water (i.e., food or water that does not naturally occur at the site) shall be removed or made inaccessible to deer for no fewer than 30 days.
3. (c) All deer within a DMP pen shall be released on or before August 31 of each year.
4. (d) Except for deer authorized by the department for release elsewhere under a permit to trap, transport, and transplant game animals and game birds, all deer released from a DMP pen shall be released directly into the pasture where they were captured for the purposes of activities under this subchapter.

Source Note:The provisions of this §65.136 adopted to be effective August 20, 1998, 23 TexReg 8458; amended to be effective October 18, 2001, 26 TexReg 8187; amended to be effective August 30, 2005, 30 TexReg 5002; amended to be effective July 18, 2007, 32 TexReg 4440.