Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

For the price of an inexpensive meal for two—including tip…

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…you can have access to almost a million acres of public hunting land for an entire year.

05—Public hunting is [when] you hunt on either owned or leased public properties that Texas Parks and Wildlife manages.

Vickie Fite is public hunting coordinator. A public hunting permit costs only 48 dollars, and gives users access to diverse terrains. Once you purchase the permits, Fite says you’re going to receive a book that contains hunting information with phone numbers and information on how to reach these areas.

09—I strongly recommend that you call the areas and find out what they say their forecast is going to be for this year, or what the hunters have been able to do so far this year.

Whether you hunt deer, upland game birds, or waterfowl, you’ll find these opportunities and others on public lands.

15—And, remember, with the forty-eight dollar annual public hunting permit, it offers a great opportunity for day hunts and even weekend hunts during the holidays. And once you purchase the permit, you can take kids under seventeen hunting for free – which is a great deal for families.

Maybe a Thanksgiving hunting trip is in order this year.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series visits Katy Prairie this month for a segment on youth duck hunting. Abe Moore produced the show.

And it was put on by some volunteers and some folks from the Texas Youth Hunting program and also some folks from the Katy Prairie Conservancy. And it’s basically just getting some beginners out there, and giving them a chance to go duck hunting.

We did, and you’ll hear from him in the story. And the show is on Texas Parks and Wildlife television, on all your PBS stations. And for folks who want to learn more about the Texas Youth Hunting program, you can go to www.texasyouthhunting.com.

Thanks Abe,

We receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…working to increase fishing, boating, shooting and hunting opportunities in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

It may surprise you to know that on average 11 meteor showers a year grace our night skies…and on November 17 the Leonid Meteor Shower reaches its peak.

05—The Leonid Meteor Shower is a shower that occurs every November.

Anita Cochran, the assistant director of the McDonald Observatory, explains this phenomenon.

11—It is the result debris left over from the passage of the Comet Temple Tuttle which comes past the sun and past the earth every thirty-three years.

Dust particles burning up in the earth’s atmosphere will create this year’s shower. Of course, the peak time for the shower is 3 p.m., not exactly prime viewing time; and then in the evening, a waxing Gibbous moon could create some light obstruction, too.

However, in 1833, the skies were dark and when the Leonid Meteor shower peaked, the skies rained down thousands of meteors an hour, causing some people to fear the end was near.

10—There are times when we go through, and it’s approximately every thirty three years, when we see a huge storm because we go through the peak of it. We might see hundreds of meteors per hour.

If you’re lucky, when you go out on the 17th, you’ll see a few meteors streaking through the night sky. If nothing else, you’ll get to spend some time outdoors in the still of the night…just you and the owls and coyotes.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Part of the appeal of mountain biking, is the untamed terrain, however, the rocky trails can be a little rough on your bike.

08—For a beginner, the main things to worry about is do you know how to change a flat? Because if you ride ten miles in and you’ve got to come ten miles back out, you want to have that tire or else its going to be a very long walk.

Dan Oko, author of the Texas Parks and Wildlife guide – Bike Texas, says there are three basic tools that mountain bikers want to pack when heading out for a ride, starting with an Allen Wrench.

08—They have tire levers which are designed to go underneath the tire so that you can get that inner tube out if you happen to puncture it. I would say those are the two and the third thing is to have a chain device in case you break your chain.

Oko encourages riders to take it a step further than just packing those basic tools

23—You should learn to use the tools before you have a problem on the trail because chances are trying to figure it out on the trail will be really difficult. I was up in Cedar Hills State Park, outside of Dallas a couple of years ago, and a couple of guys rode up the trail and about two minutes later – they came back out. One of the guys had broken his chain. They didn’t have a chain tool, I did. When I handed the chain tool to the fellow, he didn’t know what to do with it. I ended up fixing his chain.

According to Oko, most local bike shops are more than willing to teach riders who to make repairs. Find bike trail information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Be sure to check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife YouTube channel for videos on biking at State Parks and Historic Sites.

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This is Passport to Texas

If you’ve been in a holiday mood lately without an outlet for your good cheer, make the trip to Goliad State Park and Historic Site on December fourth and get jingly with it. That’s when everything there will be lit up, and activities will abound for those who are brimming with pre-holiday giddiness.

It has a real tradition with the mission there at Goliad—not just the historic site there, but it’s a recreational park as well. And they light up the place and they do a chorus singing traditional Christmas songs, and the director of the Beeville Chorus is coming over.

So, I think people will really enjoy—kicking off Christmas inside the old chapel. And, it’s just one of a kind with the restored Mission. And it makes for a very unique and a very special Christmas trip.

Thanks Bryan.

Find more information about this and other holiday events at state parks and historic sites when you log onto texasstateparks.org.

That’s our show for today, thank you for joining us…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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