Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Mule deer taken earlier this year from the Hueco Mountains in Far West Texas tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.

15—It’s what they call a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, or TSE, which is similar to scrapie in sheep or BSE [mad cow disease] in cattle. I think it’s important to note that CWD is not known to infect livestock or humans for that matter.

Mitch Lockwood is Texas Parks and Wildife big game program director. The agency sampled more than 26-thousand hunter-harvested deer for the disease over the past decade; this recent discovery marks the first known cases inside Texas.

30—The incubation period for CWD is long. It can be two to three years, and it could possibly be longer than that in some cases. And so that’s one of the challenges of the disease; the deer doesn’t show any outward signs of being infected. There could be a long time between the deer actually being infected with CWD…before it actually shows any outward sign. So, that disease is able to manifest itself long before we detect that disease in the population.

In the latter stages of the diseases, symptoms may include listlessness, weight loss, weakness, and no fear of humans. Contact Parks and Wildlife is you encounter a deer displaying these symptoms.

Tomorrow: the CWD management strategy.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program…supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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

This is Passport to Texas

Autumn in Texas signals the start of hunting season. And the November issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine offers features about this tradition that are sure to engage; Editor, Louie Bond.

63— You know, when it’s November in Texas, it’s all about whitetails. And we take kind of a different spin on the whitetails this year. We have an essay by Reid Whitliff, who wrote a really wonderful essay on bow hunting. When he first went hunting for whitetails with a gun, it just didn’t do much for him; a friend introduced him to bow-hunting, and that’s where he really found his true inner hunter. So, he wrote this very lyrical essay, and called bow-hunting the fly-fishing of hunting. We also have another take on hunting, which is waterfowl hunting, but ladies waterfowl hunting with our own head of education, Nancy Herron, and the director of this program, Dawn Bello. It’s a really interesting look at women –what they experience and how they feel. And our third feature is something that you may not think goes with hunting, but actually I found it goes very well, and it’s about land conservation. Because where is hunting, of course, without land conservation. So, we present the 2012 Leopold winners, the Mitchell family and their incredible Cook’s Branch Conservancy. And it’s an amazing family; it’s four generations. Fifty of them voted together unanimously to preserve this land. So, it’s all about land and hunting and getting outdoors in November.

Thanks, Louie!

The November issue of Texas parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This is Passport to Texas Supported by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Wensley Guthrie was only eight years old when we met her eight years ago, at a Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo.

We still love her story about quail with her father David. A half lifetime ago, she told us about her role on their quail hunting trips.

51—It was really fun, but my dog didn’t get to come because he’s scared of everything. We left in the afternoon and got there at night time. In the morning we got up real early and went quail hunting. There are two kinds; I think I remember one of the names, and that is the Bobwhite. They’re not really little but they’re about medium size and they like to hide in the bushes, and my daddy shoots them, and if they fall in the bushes I have to go get them. And I think that they should switch dove season and quail season, because when we went dove hunting there were more quail than dove. And then when we went quail hunting there were more dove than quail.

Well, it’s eight years later and sorry to tell you Wensley – the seasons have not changed.

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

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

This is Passport to Texas

Venison is quality protein; and hunters help get it onto the tables of deserving families when they donate deer to Hunters for the Hungry.

09—Once it’s donated, the meat is used by food pantries, food banks, and other food assistance providers that serve their local communities.

Anitra Hendricks oversees the program. Hunters donate their legally tagged, field-dressed deer at participating meat processors across the state, which you can find on the Hunters for the Hungry website.

24—Once they locate a processor, then basically it’s just a matter of harvesting the deer, making sure that they get it cleaned out. The processor will handle everything else. There is a reduced processing fee for those who donate to the program. They pay the fee, they do receive a receipt for a possible tax deduction. The meat processor will grind the meat, package it, and then from there it goes to the food assistance provider.

The Panhandle, far west Texas and the Rio Grande Valley have the fewest donations because of low processor participation. Without nearby participating processors, hunters don’t have an easy way to donate. Anitra is always on the lookout for more processors.

08— The have to be willing to keep some minimal book-keeping as far as tracking donations and reporting that to us at the end of the season.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series and celebrates 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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

This is Passport to Texas

This year as you plan your deer hunt, perhaps you’ll consider donating an animal to Hunters for the Hungry.

08—Hunters for the hungry is a statewide venison donation program that allows hunters to donate their extra venison.

Charitable food assistance providers receive the donated venison as two pound packages of ground meat. Anitra Hendricks oversees the program.

16—For the 2011-2012 season, a hundred and fifty three thousand eighty two pounds was reported by our meat processors. And that was 100 participating meat processors last season. So [that comes to] just a little over 600-thusand quarter pound servings.

The average trimmed weight of a donated deer is about 40 pounds of usable meat. By that account, Texas hunters donated just over 38-hundred animals. Their generosity fed children, elderly, and families in need.

11— So, what we have heard, first hand, from the agencies is that in many cases, the venison that they receive through Hunters for the Hungry, is the only meat –fresh meat—that they may receive on a limited basis.

We’ll have more about Hunters for the hungry and how to donate to the program on tomorrow’s show. Until then, visit passporttotexas.org for additional information.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series and celebrates 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Interactive map of participating MEAT PROCESSORS for 2012-2013.