2025 · Regular session · Senate bill
SB1245
SB1245 adds aoudad sheep to the animals that a qualified landowner or landowner’s agent may contract to hunt—or observe being hunted—from a helicopter under the existing aerial-management permit system.
Official caption: Relating to the taking of aoudad sheep by using a helicopter.
Official report lists Senate author(s): Blanco. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- SB1245 adds aoudad sheep to the animals that a qualified landowner or landowner’s agent may contract to hunt—or observe being hunted—from a helicopter under the existing aerial-management permit system.
- This is not an unrestricted permission to shoot from any aircraft on any land.
What does it do?
SB1245 adds aoudad sheep to the animals that a qualified landowner or landowner’s agent may contract to hunt—or observe being hunted—from a helicopter under the existing aerial-management permit system. The amended provision covers depredating feral hogs, coyotes and aoudad sheep. Qualification remains determined by Parks and Wildlife Commission rules, and the activity requires a permit under the existing subchapter. Signed May 27, 2025, the law took effect September 1, 2025; it directs the commission to adopt or amend implementing rules as soon as practicable afterward. Final law; Official history.
This is not an unrestricted permission to shoot from any aircraft on any land. Existing law authorizes aerial management of wildlife and exotic animals, already classifies aoudad as exotic animals, and requires findings that the activity is needed for the listed protective purposes and will not harm indigenous species. The permit holder must submit landowner authorization identifying the land and the kind and number of animals to be managed. SB1245 expands the specific contracted hunter/observer provision; it does not create the entire aerial-management program. Existing permit authority; Animal definitions; Permit findings; Landowner authorization; Prior hunter/observer provision.
What changed along the way?
The introduced bill added aoudad without a Pecos River boundary. The Senate committee substitute limited the new aoudad provision to animals west of the Pecos River; that limitation remained in the Senate-passed and House committee texts. The substitute also moved the permit requirement to the beginning of the provision and organized the animal list. Introduced bill; Senate substitute; All text versions.
The index lists one amendment: Eddie Morales’s House second-reading amendment, adopted May 6, which struck “west of the Pecos River.” The Senate concurred, and the enrolled law contains no such boundary. Removing it does not remove permit or landowner requirements: the existing subchapter applies statewide, while commission rules may limit a permit’s time and place. Amendment index; Adopted amendment; Final law; Statewide applicability; Regulatory authority.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Qualifying landowners and their agents gain another contracted option for managing depredating aoudad; helicopter operators may provide that service under the permit framework. The act does not pay for flights, guarantee a reduction in animal damage, or establish that any particular person or property qualifies. It preserves oversight rather than replacing permits with an ordinary hunting invitation. Final law; Required permit findings; Land authorization.
The May 8 fiscal note for the House-passed version anticipates no significant state fiscal impact, assuming existing resources can absorb costs, and no local-government fiscal impact. The March 27 introduced and March 31 substitute notes reached the same general conclusions. These estimates do not measure private helicopter-service costs or individual landowner savings; the act makes no appropriation. Final-stage fiscal note; Introduced fiscal note; Substitute fiscal note.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
