Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you have the family—we have the fun.

They’ve got the canoes, they got the fishing equipment, and it makes it possible to really come out and enjoy your weekend and not feel like you went through more trouble than it was worth.

Janice Radka and her family recently attended a Texas Outdoor Family weekend workshop at Palmetto State Park.

It’s good for him, for my son, to learn how to take care of himself. He’s not big enough to set up a tent, but he knows how to set up a tent. I was unzipping the tent just like when they were showing us what to do. We never had put the stakes in before we put the…the tent up, the tent poles through the sleeves. And we always used the rain cover, but I didn’t know all the technical stuff, so that was new information. [somebody needs to get in the middle, I’ll get in the middle.] You gotta have a place to sleep and you gotta have food to eat, and it takes a little bit more trouble than it does at home. So everybody’s gotta kinda pitch in and get it done. It’s pretty easy when you have a couple people with you.

The Texas Outdoor Family Workshop welcomes those with or without camping experience. Registration is $55 and includes just about everything you need for an overnight camping adventure.

That’s our show for today… we had research and writing help from Sarah Loden…and received support from Toyota. To learn about upcoming Texas Outdoor Family workshops visit lifesbetteroutside.org.

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

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

Warren Blesh is president of the Simms Creek Wildlife Management Association, in Mills and Lampasas counties.

We’re really 75 landowners that have come together in cooperation with Texas Parks and Wildlife. We work with the recommendations from the biologist to manage the deer herd for our ranches—and what we’ll harvest each year.

The landowners have adjoining properties, and Blesh says since the association began seven year ago, they’ve seen improvement in their collective deer herd.

The ages are getting a lot better. When we started the association the average age of our deer harvested was one and a half, two and a half years old. We’ve moved that up to two and a half three and a half, and tree and a half to four and a half.

Older deer lead to a better herd. Association treasurer, Damon Holditch says improving the land, with thoughtful hunting, creates a stronger, healthier herd and turns shooters into hunters.

A shooter shoots the first thing that comes out. A hunter will actually work his particular ranch or blind area and select which deer should be harvested for the betterment of the whole herd.

Holditch says hunter education—Simms Creek style—weeds out the shooters from the hunters.

I think some of the guys who think they’re hunters and they’re shooters, they only stay around one year because they don’t want to be harassed—but that’s fine—we don’t want them here anyway, because they’re not good for the herd. The guys who really are hunters they do appreciate it.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…working to restore habitat in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

Biologist Mike Miller dropped his jaw during at the spring meeting of the Simms Creek Wildlife Management Association.

[bones rattling] Sorry. At’s awright. You’re a biologist, not a basketball player. (laughter)

A little ribbing and a lot of “jawing” went on during the annual meeting in Star, Texas. Landowners listened to speakers in one room; hunters with leases on their property were in another with Miller.

We’re actually taking a look at their the deer jawbones from this past season’s harvest. And I end up writing a harvest summary for the association during the summer months. And that’s when we kind of revisit their goals and objectives, and see how close they got with this year’s harvest with the goals that are set for them.

Don Jackson, founding member of the Simms Creek Wildlife Management Association, says one of their goals is managing their land for better deer, which they do through Parks & Wildlife’s Managed Lands Deer Permit Program.

And you have to do a lot of different things to qualify for that. You have to run census lines, you have to put in food plots, you have to count deer when you go out, and you have to improve waterways or improve water systems. And you also have to turn in your jawbones as we’re doing here for aging.

Simms Creek WMA—improving herds and hunters—that’s tomorrow.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…working to improve habitat in Texas.

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

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Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Patricio Naredo’s outdoor story begins on a dark and windy night…camping with his Boy Scout troop.

We were supposed to have a fire, but it was windy so we couldn’t. So then one of our camp directors or something he made up this animal called like, I don’t remember what it’s called. He said it’s like half Chihuahua, half badger. So we started putting out marshmallows and started like putting out traps going hunting for him with our flashlight. And then, someone turned it off and they were like “Oh no my batteries dead!” And then, he started making all these sounds then he turned it back on and he’s all like shining at something. It was a log but it kind of looked like an alligator. So I barely screamed and I started running for the tents. Like, everybody got we got freaked out.

One question remains: will Patricio venture out into the woods at nighttime again?

I’m not afraid of the dark!

Thanks, Patricio. Extra flashlights, batteries and, not to mention, your wits are always good things to have when you camp overnight.

If you have an outdoor story, we’d love to hear them. Spooky, funny, or sad…whatever they may be, you can share them with us at passporttotexas.org

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Wildseed Farm in Fredericksburg is one of thousands of education vacation destinations you can find on the website texaseducationvacation.com. Marilyn Thomas, with her husband John, own the farm.

People enjoy going out there, looking to see what wildflowers look like. And the children seem to like the walking trail because they can see the butterflies on the flowers.

And speaking of butterflies, the farm has a lovely butterfly enclosure on site.

We absolutely have. And, if I do say so myself, I do think it’s one of the most wonderful butterfly houses anywhere.

In Texas, we say, “It’s not bragging if it’s true,” so we made tracks to the Butterfly Haus—which was spectacular—where we met up with curator Liz Cannedy who was introducing children to a swallowtail caterpillar.

Okay, there you go. You want to touch it? And we just touch it minimally. Just minimally. You like caterpillars don’t you?

I love Caterpillars. I love carrying caterpillars. I want to carry one.

No, I’m going to put this one back because he’s eating. We want him to eat.

It’s a world of wonder for all ages at the Wildseed Farm in Fredericksburg. Make it your education vacation destination in May. Learn more at Texas Education Vacation dot com.

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

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