Passport to Texas

Bass Angling at Choke Canyon

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Hunting and fishing are deeply rooted traditions for Gabe Kulhanek of El Campo.

04—It’s just as stress relief to go hunting and fishing and get away from everything.

The outdoors has been a lifelong pursuit for him, and something he shared early on with his son.

11—He started hunting when he was probably four and a half years old. He shot his first deer at five years old with his own rifle. I never shot anything for him. He’s always killed his own deer whenever he hunted.

This past June Texas Parks and Wildlife drew Gabe’s name as the winner of a Lifetime Super Combo License, giving him the right to hunt and fish in Texas without ever having to buy another state license or state stamps. Instead of keeping, it, he transferred it to his son – now 17 – as his legacy.

05—It would benefit him more than anything, and it’s something he can have and cherish the rest of his life.

Entries for the Lifetime License Drawing are five dollars each and available online or at retailers. Enter as many times as you like; fees go toward conservation in Texas. The next drawing is December 30, 2014.

04—It’s a good opportunity. I never dreamed I would win it – it was the first time I entered.

Is luck on your side? Find more information on the Lifetime License Drawing on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Enter to win a Lifetime License

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This is Passport to Texas

Tim Brockway is an avid fisherman.

02—I fish about four days a week.

This competitive bass angler from Kaufman says he’d always buy an annual super combo license for hunting and fishing.

02—Because I think the money goes to a good cause.

The cause: conservation and habitat management in Texas. In 2010, Tim – a retired firefighter – spent five dollars online to enter Texas Parks and Wildlife’s twice-a-year Lifetime License drawing…and won.

25—I told the guys up at the fire station: Hey, I bought a five dollar chance to win a lifetime license. And I get a call a few months later – and I would have bet anything one of the guys got their wives to call and mess with me – and I actually didn’t believe them. I got off the phone and I called our local game warden that I know real well. He said: ‘Give me the phone number they called you from and the person’s name and I’ll check on it.’ Whenever I gave him the phone number and name, he said: ‘Congratulations; I know the person and I know the number.’

The win allows Tim to hunt and fish in Texas without buying another state license. Fees from every five dollar entry go toward conservation in Texas, which improves hunting, fishing and the outdoors for all.

09—I know your entries went up by about 30 right after I won mine from people at the fire station. I said: Come on guys; it’s five bucks. You spend that much on a hamburger. It’s well worth the chance.

The next drawing is December 30, 2014. Entries are online or at license retailers.

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

Hank Shaw and Holly Heyser at McKinney Falls State Park

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Hank Shaw knows where his food comes from because he forages, hunts and fishes for the majority of it—skills he learned from his mother growing up on the east coast.

13— It’s always been part of our lives. Digging clams in the Atlantic, picking berries, and all that kind of stuff. It’s an awareness that there’s food all around us. I’ve always had it. And that’s really helped spur a lifelong passion.

The Sacramento, California resident records his passion for wild food on his popular blog Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook. He says the deepest level of food satisfaction one can achieve is only possible when it’s wild sourced.

18— Think about it: on a very basic level, anybody who’s ever fished, you catch a fish and then you eat it in a frying pan on a camping trip. It tastes so much better than one that you buy at a store. And it is that satisfaction of having worked for your food. It’s difficult to explain if you’ve never done it, but once you do it, it become addicting and you never want to stop.

Hank Shaw cooks and eats everything he forages, hunts and fishes, and shares the experience and what he’s learned on his blog.

09—I want to do justice to the things that I bring home. And I want to help people who are also hunting and fishing and foraging to cook their food better—give them new ideas.

Sign up for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunt Texas e-newsletter on the website, and learn about hunting for and preparing wild game.

That’s our show for today. .. Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Stargazing

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When it comes to dark skies, Texas is in good standing

Texas Parks & Wildlife has partnered with the McDonald Observatory, the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) and local astronomy groups to promote stargazing in our state parks.

Parks offer opportunities to get an eyeful of these sparkling celestial bodies while enjoying a great night outdoors – either on your own or during a planned event with other visitors and campers.

Some stargazing events coming up this month and next include: An evening of Stargazing at Lake Ray Roberts State Park Oct 25; staff from the University of North Texas Astronomy Department will give a brief talk about constellations, mythology and more! You’ll also learn the basics of stargazing through binoculars.

On November first it’s a North Texas Star party at Lake Mineral Wells SP. Learn about astronomy and view the night sky through a wide variety of telescopes.

On November 22, it’s star party time at Big Bend Ranch State Park, with some of the darkest of Dark Skies. Tour the night skies way out west, and stay over to experience and enjoy this remote and magnificently scenic park to its fullest.

Find complete details for all these events on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is a Dark Sky Park

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The night sky once offered an stunning display of twinkling stars and planets. These marvels still exist, but today light pollution masks their brilliance.

04—Often what we see that in is the form of what we call skyglow.

Residents in urban areas know it best as a haze of light that hangs over their cities. John Barentine is with the International Dark Sky Association.

12—Our mission as the International Dark Sky Association is to preserve and protect that nighttime environment and heritage that we have of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting.

Awareness and simple fixes can help take back the night.

16—Some of the things that we try to do, is to get people to look at the quality of the lighting that they’re using…to think about [whether] the amount of light that’s being put on the ground sensible for the task at hand…and are all the lights fully shielded so we’re not always blasting light [up into the night sky] from the ground.

Want to experience a dark sky? Some Texas State Parks have the darkest skies around.

27—Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in the Hill Country, and Copper Breaks State Park in North Texas. We have a very active chapter of our organization in Texas. I would say that the reason that this has all come about, is that Texas being largely rural, and having this tradition where — the stars at night are big and bright – that a lot of people consider the dark night sky to be part of the cultural history of the state, and find it worth preserving.

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