The use of silencers for hunting is not allowed in Texas.
I know a surprising number of people who have NFA licensed silencers. They are quite popular. Here is an interesting bit from Field and Stream, June 1909
THE invention of the Maxim silencer for firearms marked a new era in the manufacture of such weapons, and while many cautious critics were appalled at the idea of a firearm which could send its missile for 100 yards or half a mile with comparatively no sound from the discharge, the history of the months which have elapsed since the production of this device shows no instances of its use by midnight assassins or other law breakers. It has also been claimed that the use of the silencer would enable a more speedy destruction of our already fast disappearing game; but, aside from the employment of the silencer in hunting, it has a value which none can dispute, for it certainly will permit target practice with small caliber rifles where with the ordinary unequipped firearm such practice would be impossible. Under present conditions any flat dweller in the crowded cities may have his own rifle range and practice to an unlimited extent without disturbing his neighbors. The invention of smokeless powder has done away with one objection to indoor rifle practice, and now we have the feature of noise eliminated. Here, at least, the Maxim silencer has a use and a value which cannot be over-rated. Sales of this device were at first hindered to some extent by the fact that the barrel of the rifle must be threaded to receive the silencer which in many cases would have necessitated sending the rifle to the factory or some distant machinist. The Maxim coupling, here illustrated, has since been devised, applicable to the .22 caliber silencer and the attachment to practically any standard .22 rifle may be made by any one in five minutes. The coupling screws into the silencer, and slips over the muzzle of the arm, requiring in any case only the introduction of cylindrical metal bushing to secure a driving fit. Descriptive circular may be had of the Maxim Silent Firearms Co., 38 Park Row, New York.