Passport to Texas

Big Time Texas Hunts

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Big Time Texas Hunts provides hunters an opportunity to enter for a chance to win one of 8 hunt packages.

04— You can enter through the deadline of October 15th.

Linda Campbell oversees Private Lands and Public Hunting at Texas Parks and Wildlife Website. Entries for a hunt of a lifetime are $9 online (with a one-time $5 admin charge) or $10 at license retailers, by phone and by mail.

20— Big Time Texas Hunts is a revenue generating program for Texas Parks and Wildlife; we offer eight hunt packages. Awesome experiences for hunters – really great hunting packages – for deer, and birds and waterfowl, alligator. We even have a new one this year called the Wild Hog Adventure.

Funds collected from entries support wildlife conservation projects in Texas.

13—These are fully guided hunts, and so everything is provided – lodging and food – all the guiding is also provided. You just have to get yourself there to the location. But other than that, everything is taken care of – including the taxes on the hunt itself.

Most hunt packages allow winners to bring either hunting or non-hunting guests. Whether or not draw your name, Linda Campbell says: everyone wins.

05—You’re adding to the opportunity to support wildlife conservation and public hunting.

Find details on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

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

Northern Pintail

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Pull out the hip waders; waterfowl season is near. It begins September 14 – 29 with early teal, but it doesn’t end there.

10— Our regular duck season really depends on the different zones. For the most part statewide it will run from the first of November and will run to the last weekend of January.

Kevin Kraai, waterfowl program leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says duck hunting provides challenges, not the least of which is the recent drought. Yet, hunters who scout in advance and are willing to travel will reap rewards.

34— Scouting is extremely important [when hunting] waterfowl on any year, and especially during times of drought. So, if people are willing to put in a little bit of time and commitment even during less than optimal conditions they can still have a very successful season. Yes. Absolutely. And that was evident even though we had very poor [habitat] conditions the last few years. The overall harvest of waterfowl in the state of Texas has actually gone up over the last few years purely because these birds are concentrating in larger flocks in certain areas, and hunters have figured that out and are basically targeting those concentrations and have been very successful.

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.

Blue-winged teal

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It may feel like summer, but fall waterfowl season is here.

17— The first season that we have for waterfowl begins with our early seasons. Which include all species of teal, and as of the last couple years, in the eastern tier of the state of Texas, we have an early goose season for Canada Geese only that coincides with our early teal season.

Kevin Kraai is the waterfowl program leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

34— We are going to have the most liberal season, which is 16 days; teal is doing very well nationally, so we will be having the most liberal season we can have. Can you explain to our listeners how that’s decided. Yes. We have a harvest strategy in place that depicts the season lengths on teal. And basically, by looking at population estimates from the breeding ground surveys – we can determine whether we’re going to have a liberal, a base, or a closed season. And, basically any number of blue-winged teal above 4.7 million will have a 16-day season. And as of right now, we’re far above 4.7 million.

Early Teal season is September 14 – 29, with a six bird daily bag limit – up from 4. Tomorrow: How to get the most out the waterfowl season.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

Dove at Dusk

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Doves may be harder to find in the Panhandle during the upcoming hunting season because of drought conditions in the area.

09— The drought can be a blessing when it comes to hunting – they can concentrate birds in some areas. But, the last few years we’ve seen a lot of decreased harvest in the Panhandle region just for the fact of conditions.

Shaun Olden-burger is migratory shore and upland game bird program leader at Parks and Wildlife. Farmers planting fewer crops and a shortage of water sent doves searching for more hospitable environs.

07— I probably see hunting opportunity somewhat similar to last year. It was probably average to poor in certain areas in the Panhandle.

However, Olden-burger says if hunters don’t mind traveling to other regions of the state, they can harvest their limit.

28— We look in the Edward’s Plateau area, in the central part of the state; I’ve already heard some very good reports as far as dove numbers there – in some of our initial surveys that we’ve done — we’ve actually found very good numbers in many locations compared to last year. So, I would expect the hunting in the central part of the state to be good, western Texas I’ve heard some good numbers as well, and even in south Texas where we have some drought areas, I’ve heard numbers were up this year compared to last year just based on some field reports. Eastern Texas probably very similar to last year, maybe a few more. We tend to have more consistent rainfall there.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and works to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Mourning Dove

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Dove hunters who get in the field early in the season may experience more success than those who wait.

05— For the most part, we see a lot of the harvest occur very early in all the seasons in all the zones.

Shaun Oldenburger is migratory shore and upland game bird program leader at Parks and Wildlife. September first marks the start of dove season in the North and Central zones and September 20th in the South Zone. While Mourning Doves are plentiful statewide, for greater success, Olden-burger says it pays to do your homework.

27— The nice thing about mourning doves is they tend to be a generalist. They primarily eat seeds, and they need a lot of water on a daily basis. So you think about two things when you go hunt doves: you think about water sources and you think about seeds. And seeds may be a harvested grain field, wheat field, or some other food plot. And so I think a lot of scouting needs to go into these locations. A lot of people do have traditional areas that they just tend to do to. But, you know, a little bit more scouting if you have access to properties, you can ensure – probably – a pretty good hunt on opening day.

What’s this season’s outlook for dove hunters considering we’re still in the throes of a drought?

04— The drought can be a blessing when it comes to hunting – they can concentrate birds in some areas.

But that’s not true everywhere. We’ll tell you more tomorrow. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and works to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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