Passport to Texas

Geese at Bonham State Park

Hunting: Goose Conservation Order Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In 1999 the US Fish and Wildlife Service, on the recommendation of scientists, implemented a light goose conservation order.

05— With intent to try to reduce the rate of growth of white geese.

Dave Morrison is Small Game Program Director at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

15—We were seeing problems in the arctic ecosystems whereby the numbers of light geese that were showing up were starting to do habitat degradation. So, in an effort to try to stem that tide, light goose conservation order began.

The conservation order—generally in effect after the end of the migratory bird hunting season—is not, itself, a hunting season.

33—It’s a management action, so it doesn’t fall under the same type of guidelines that our hunting seasons do. For example, the Light Goose Conservation Order –when it started – we increased the daily bag limit to no bag limit. You were able to hunt 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset; you were able to use electronic calls; there’s all sorts of things that came along with this conservation order as an effort to try to reduce the numbers of birds in the nests, and try to turn that population around to get it – instead of increasing to see a declining trend.

It’s been fourteen years since the order was enacted. Has it worked? We’ll find out tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series… and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel…For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Goose hunting in Texas.

Hunting: Goose Hunting in Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas has a great reputation when it comes to goose hunting.

04— Texas has long been known as the snow goose hunting capital of the world.

Dave Morrison is Small Game Program Director at Texas Parks and Wildlife. To hunt geese in Texas you’ll need a hunting license, a migratory game bird stamp, a federal migratory bird stamp and HIP certification. You wouldn’t necessarily hunt geese as you would ducks.

12—A lot of times you’re hunting ducks over water, and in water. A lot of times you’re hunting geese in dry conditions – dry fields. To goose hunt, you need lots of decoys, and you’ve got to have someone who really knows what they’re doing on a call.

Historically, hunters harvest Canada geese in the panhandle, although snow geese are starting to appear on the landscape. The coast, meantime, offers a higher concentration of snow geese.

13—But understand that the snow geese that show up in the high plains are different than the snow geese that show up along the coast. Snow geese that show up on the coast are from the mid-continent flock, whereas that those that show up in the high plains are the western arctic group.

They’re still the same animal, the just come from different subsets of the population. Visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for hunting seasons and all regulations.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series… and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel…For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Camping at Inks Lake

Nature: Outdoor Resolutions for the New Year Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Don’t you love the start of a new year? It‘s totally fresh and filled with possibilities. So, take a few minutes to consider how you’re going to make this year better for you and your family.

One way would be to get outside more, because—as we like to say: life’s better outside.

Spending time in the natural world has a way of resetting the brain and giving you a fresh perspective. Researchers have discovered that children who spend time in nature do better on exams, and are less disruptive in the classroom.

Bring a pair of walking shoes to the office, and during your lunch hour, stroll outdoors in the fresh air. Even if you’re in a city, you can still observe the varied wildlife and plant life you see along the way. It’s amazing how much nature you can actually find in a concrete jungle.

Spend time with friends or family at one of our many state parks. Most folks are within 90 minutes of a state park or natural area; many are much closer. Take a nature hike, ride a bike. Pitch a tent and sleep under the stars, or find a park with cabins and rough it indoors.

Commit to learning something new about Texas history by visiting one of the state’s incredible historic sites.

There’s a world of wonder out there, and once you spend more time outdoors, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Call of the Mild by Lily Raff McCaulou

Hunting: Lily Pulls the Trigger Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When you grow up in a hunting family, you learn to (at least) appreciate the tradition.

06—It was so different from what I grew up with and from anything I knew, that I wanted to know more about it.

Journalist Lily Raff McCaulou moved from NYC to Bend Oregon to write for a small newspaper, many readers of which were anglers and hunters. To connect with them and the food she ate, Lily learned to hunt.

22—You know, the locavore movement was starting to take hold, and I’d been a meat eater my whole life, and was wondering: do I really have what it takes to hunt and kill my own meat. And wanting to know what I could get from that experience — and that closeness to my food. So, it was a combination of all these different factors that made me decide this is something that I want to try.

It took a year from the time she completed hunter education, to participating in a pheasant hunt during a Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshop. Even so, she wasn’t sure she’d take a shot, but then…

25—All the other women in my group had shot a bird, and I just started feeling like, ‘Hey, I’ve come all this way and it’s been a year in the making, and I want to take a shot, too.’ Eventually, all the stars aligned and the dog that I was with sniffed out a bird and held it on point [and when it flushed], and I got it; I took the shot and the bird fell immediately. Rather than feeling all the guilt and remorse, I felt empowered.

Lily Raff McCaulou writes about her experience in her book Call of the Mild.

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

Cocina y Comparte © Fotógrafo Federico Gil para el Larousse de la Cocina Mexicana

Hunting/Food/Heritage: Wild Game/Mexican Food Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Before domestication of livestock, wild game was the primary protein for humans on both sides of what is now the Mexican border. In Mexico, venison was of particular importance.

15—Venison is especially important in a ritual sense as well as a culinary sense.

Karen Hursh Graber is senior Food Editor of the internet magazine Mexico Connect.

17—The word ‘venison’ in English, and the word ‘venado’ in Spanish – are both from the Latin word ‘venari’, which is the verb ‘to hunt.’ So, that’s pretty impressive that the word for deer is the same as the word for hunt. It just shows the symbolic hunting imagery of deer in both cultures.

Mexicans, unlike Americans, are more sparing in their use of venison – and all meat wild and domestic – in their recipes: such as Salpicon De Venado.

16—Instead of serving a huge hunk of meat, they’ll serve small pieces, and put it in a taco or in a stew. Salpicon is like a cold meat salad – it’s a venison salad. It’s dressed with herbs and spices and they serve it is tacos.

Find Karen Hursh Graber’s recipe for Cold Venison Salad at passporttotexas.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Shredded Venison Salad: Salpicon De Venado
by Karen Hursh Graber © 2005
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2381-shredded-venison-salad-salpicon-de-venado

This dish is found on restaurant menus throughout Mexico, but particularly in the western part of the country and in the Yucatan, where it is called zic de venado. This recipe is a good buffet dish, to be piled on tostadas or served with warm tortillas and habanero salsa. It makes an attractive presentation served on a bed of mesclun greens. Following are two variations on the traditional recipe, one savory and one sweet-and-hot.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds venison, cooked and shredded (venison is lean and shreds nicely, like flank or skirt steak)
• juice of 4 bitter (Seville) oranges or use half sweet oranges and half limes
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped radishes
• salt to taste

Preparation:

Place the venison in a non-reactive bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients and let them rest for 15 minutes to combine the flavors. Add the mixture to the venison and serve immediately or refrigerate and bring to room temperature at serving time.

Serves 8-10 as part of a multi-course buffet or as an appetizer.

Variation I:

Omit the radishes and add ½ cup chopped green olives and 1 firm-ripe avocado, diced.

Variation II:

Omit the radishes and add 1 green mango, diced, 1 diced plantain and 2 (or more, to taste) Serrano chiles, seeded and diced.