Passport to Texas

Mason Mountain WMA–location of the Big Time Texas Hunts Exotic Safari.

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This is Passport to Texas

Have you ever dreamed of hunting the kind of game only found on other continents? Then Big Time Texas Hunts Exotic Safari may be for you. Janis Johnson.

The winner of the Exotic Safari Package gets to hunt two animals, he gets to choose between a gemsbok, a scimitar-horned oryx, an axis deer or new this year a common waterbuck. You get to bring a hunting companion along and he or she also gets to harvest an animal.

Johnson oversees marketing for Big Time Texas Hunts . The safari takes place at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area.

What’s new this year, the winner will also take home a Ruger American rifle, and that’s a 300-win mag. We’re also including a Vortex Diamondback scope. So this is going to be an awesome hunt for the winner. It’s a real premium hunt, and the addition of the Ruger rifle and scope makes it even more special.

Those items courtesy of McBrides Guns of Austin. The hunt package also includes food and lodging, expert guide services by Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists, and if you harvest animals: up to two shoulder mounts to preserve the experience.

Add to that an opportunity to fish, harvest unlimited feral hogs, and to bring along a third guest as a non-hunting companion.

Deadline to enter Exotic Safari, and all Big Time Texas Hunts hunt packages is October 15; entries are $9 each on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, with a $5 administrative fee for online transactions.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

In a deer blind on a mentored hunt for adults.

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This is Passport to Texas

During fall hunting season we join with friends and family in the field. Skill and luck ensure that we bring home quality protein for the table. But not everyone has someone to teach them, which is why TPW offers mentored hunting programs.

We have lots of youth hunting programs around the state. But there just aren’t many opportunities for adults.

Until now, says Justin Dreibelbis, who oversees private lands and public hunting at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

So this is an opportunity for them to come out, take part in a hunt, learn from experienced hunters and be able to take those skills back to their friends and families so they can go hunting.

In an upcoming segment of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series we follow a group of adult-onset hunters, including first-time hunter Kristen Rodgers.

It was great; unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a deer on my side but had an amazing mentor. It was quite an experience. It was something if anybody else out there really wanted to do, I would highly recommend it. It took the scary away from hunting, and for me it kind of gave me that knowledge to make me a little more comfortable I guess.

The mentored hunt segment is on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series the week of September 8 on PBS.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Texas Hunter Education certificate. Never go hunting without it.

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This is Passport to Texas

What’s the most frequent violation Texas Game Warden encounter in the field?

That’s hunter education and it’s a preventable one.

Aaron Sims is a Texas game warden.

That’s something that’s been mandatory for a long time now.

The 70th Texas Legislature made hunter education a requirement in 1987. Hunters born on or after Sept. 2, 1971 must successfully complete the course.

“I know how to use guns. I’ve been shooting them all my life. Why do I have to go through another class?” And I’ll tell them that’s a very small portion of the hunter education class. The other part is why it’s important. Why we have these laws. Conservation, ethics; something that might not be unlawful may be unethical. We have to have respect for the animals when it comes to hunting or fishing.

The Hunter Education program strives to produce safe, responsible, knowledgeable and involved hunters.

All we want is for them to get compliant. Take the class, learn the good information and pass it along to your children. If an adult is already certified and they have a young son or daughter that wants to go through it. We always encourage them. If you would like to go sit through the class with them and learn with them and maybe they can ask you questions because its more comfortable. We definitely encourage parents to attend classes with their children

Find hunter education information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

James Montgomery practicing with his rifle before dove season.

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This is Passport to Texas

You know I grew up playing soccer and football. I missed out on Boy Scouts. Never got involved in the outdoors. Didn’t find hunting until my mid-20s or so.

Austinite James Montgomery is a business and family man…he’s also a coach and a dove hunter. We meet him the week of August 25th on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS.

Getting away from the everyday hustle and bustle of going to work. Leaving the job behind. It feels good to get away and just experience nature.

Shaun Oldenburger is upland game bird program manager for parks and wildlife.

The great thing about dove hunting is you don’t need to grow up in it. As far as having a place to go, there’s a lot of public opportunities available for dove hunting that Texas Parks and Wildlife provide. For the most part, you just need some shells and a shotgun and a hunting license. You can be good to go and have a great opportunity to get in the outdoors and get an experience and get the introduction to hunting in Texas.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Writer Pam LeBlanc happily waiting for teal.

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This is Passport to Texas

Fall hunting season kicks off on September first with dove. Teal is next with a sixteen-day season that runs from September 14th through the 29th.

Last year writer Pam LeBlanc took advantage of an invitation to go teal hunting with former TPW Executive Director, Andy Sansom. She wrote about it for the current issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

In the article, Pam admits that she is not a hunter, and never imagined she’d find herself slogging through a wetland, wearing rubber waders and shooting at teal. But she did and writes vividly about the experience.

A funny bit is about a “sticky-footed” frog that spent the night in her waders which she’d left on the porch of the Bucksnag Hunting Club in Garwood, where the hunting party stayed. She discovered the little fellow when they were in the truck, headed to into the field.

She writes: [The frog] shot out of my pants and onto the windshield, then ricocheted across the interior of the truck like a tiny, spring-loaded pogo stick, jolting me awake. That would wake me up, too.

Find Pam LeBlanc’s article about her teal hunt in the August-September issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

You’ll also find a recipe by Chef Jesse Morris for Smoked Teal in Miso Garlic Butter Sauce.

Our series receives support in part from RAM Trucks: built to serve.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife… I’m Cecilia Nasti.