Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Dove season ushers in the fall hunting season. The question is: will you be ready?

Those hunters need to be thinking about some primary things that deal with safety.

Terry Erwin oversees Hunter Education programs at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

They need to make sure they have their hunter education class completed; they need to make sure those firearms are in good, operable condition; and one of the most important things is to get out there in the field and practice.

And Erwin says dove and quail hunters would do well to get in some practice with sporting clays, because nothing is more frustrating to a hunter than to spend a day in the field with only missed shots to show for it.

Sporting clays typically simulates the shooting scenarios that you’ll find in the dove field, or out in the quail fields. So, take advantage of this time and get out there an practice.

Erwin also offers some sobering advice to hunters.

And don’t forget. It’s really hot out there this time of the year. Keep hydrated. Keep the liquids flowing. But remember, don’t drink that alcohol.

That’s our show for today…supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program. Working to increase fishing and hunting in Texas.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

For whatever reason, it seems that…

We spend way too much time indoors.

Walt Dabney, Director of Texas State parks, says visiting a park not only gets kids and adults outside, it gets them in shape.

The other thing about being outside is while some people don’t like structured exercise, when you’re outside in a park—hiking or just doing things—you’re physically active. And it’s very positive for you from a health standpoint.

And with fuel prices continuing to climb, state parks are healthy for your body and your bank account.

We’ve got kayak and canoe rentals. You can bring a bike. You can do all kinds of things unless you’re just looking for a way to burn more gas. And I’ll tell you that the way gas prices are going today, parks are going to be even more attractive. You know, there’s probably one fairly close to where anybody hearing me lives.

Which means a healthy outdoor experience is closer than you think. We have information on state parks, the annual state parks pass and the state park guide at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…remember: life’s better outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Are you in need of a hunting forecast, or a place to experience nature at its most wild? Then look no further than the September issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. Managing Editor, Louie Bond.

In September, we always have our big hunting forecast. It’s much more than the dates and the permits required. We actually have lot’s of biologists who contribute to the interview, and tell us about how, perhaps, rain has affected the particular season and other environmental factors—just to tell us how’s it looking this year for quail and javelinas and things like that. So, it’s a really thorough, up-to-date look at what the hunting season is going to look like.

Another thing we have in the September issue—we featured Big Bend in our August issue—and if Big Bend is a little too populated for you, you can head out that way and go to Black Gap WMA. And it’s the biggest one in the state, and it’s really for roughing it, but it’s just huge and there’s so many things you can do out there, and the hunting is great out there, they’ve reintroduced the big horn sheep…but there’s also a lot of recreational opportunities for people who aren’t afraid to rough it. So, check out our September issue and find new ways to get outdoors.

The September issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

That’s our show for today…we receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program… providing funding for the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas …For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and Wildlife

We all come somewhere, and Chris Holmes, who oversees the Texas Outdoor Family in State Parks program, comes from England. From the time he was a boy, Chris had a passion for the outdoors. It made sense that when he became an adult, he would seek a career that kept him close to nature. He has followed that career to several continents and two hemispheres. This is his outdoor story.

I was a park ranger once in Australia. And we had some monitor lizards that were fairly aggressive—similar to the raccoons here in Texas—they would go after food. And it was always very funny to watch these monitor lizards slinking up towards tents, and smelling the food. These lizards were about five to six feet long.

So, having a monitor lizard stick their head through the tent—a lot of people are not used to seeing that. So that was a lot of fun. And sometimes, maybe we had some mischievous young adults that have kept us awake at nighttime, so we may have encouraged the lizards to go see them in the morning.

Monitor lizards are like raccoons. I don’t think so. Thanks, Chris.

If you have a fond memory of time you’ve spent in the Texas outdoors…tell us. Go to passportotexas.org and click the Outdoor Stories link. If we use your story, we’ll send you a Life’s Better Outside t-shirt. What are you waiting for?

That’s our show…for today. Remember: Life’s Better Outside… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Texas Outdoor Family weekend workshops help families learn skills to enhance future outdoor excursions.

We really wanted to do something for our community that was different as far as getting people outdoors.

Deirdre Flores, recreation program coordinator for the city of Kyle, www.cityofkyle.com, says hosting a workshop benefits participating families and cities.

This is a great program for any city to host if they’re looking to get into outdoor programming. It also brings other families to your community, so you get people into your community that may not have ever come otherwise. I would recommend it to anybody.

Not only is Parks and Wildlife staff on hand to facilitate the workshop, cities can tap into other local resources, like nearby colleges.

I’m actually an alum of Texas State Recreation program, www.txstate.edu, so we’ve partnered with their recreation programming class. And the students—they are having a blast. And I think they’ve done a great job. Having Texas State as a partner—you can’t get any better.

The program was so successful in Kyle, Flores says they plan to offer it again.

We want to do it twice a year, so we’re looking to do it in the fall and the spring. We really enjoyed this program, and we’d like to continue to bring it to our citizens.

That’s our show for today, with support from Toyota. To learn about upcoming Texas Outdoor Family workshops at local parks and state parks, visit lifesbetteroutside.org. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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