Archive for the 'Hunting' Category

Drawn Hunts

Thursday, August 9th, 2007

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

With the fall hunting season looming on the horizon, now is the time to apply for drawn public hunts.

A lot of our deadlines have changes from previous years so people who want to apply need to check our website or look at their public hunting lands booklet to make sure that they get their application in by the deadline.

Kelly Edmiston is a public hunting program specialist. Special drawings for controlled hunts — offered through the Public Hunting Program – make affordable, quality hunting experiences a reality for thousands of hunters annually.

This year we’ve added three new categories: an archery mule deer, a gun mule deer, and a private lands pronghorn hunt.

If being drawn for an archery or pronghorn hunt is your dream, register now.

Mid-August, August sixteenth, is going to be the deadline for all of our archery hunts and all of our pronghorn hunts. Basically what we want to do is have people selected and have their attendance confirmed and their permit fees sent in and their permits given back to them in time for the archery season, which is an early season.

Depending on the hunt, expect to pay a non-refundable application fee of either three or ten dollars per hunt. Other fees may apply. Find links to drawn public hunts information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife restoration program…working to increase shooting and hunting opportunities in Texas

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Link to Fishing License Information

Link to Hunting License Information
Link to Big Time Texas Hunt Information
Link to Public Hunting Information

License Changes

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

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

Hunting and fishing licenses for the 2007-2008 seasons go on sale statewide this month.

The new season, dove season, opens September first. It’s on a Saturday. I think it would be a very good idea for hunters to start buying their licenses and their super combos as soon as our sales season opens, which is August fifteenth.

Tom Newton manages licensing at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Buying your license early is like planning your morning commute; you can sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic or you can leave early and breeze through. Whether you buy licenses now or later — be aware of two changes.

We had a license that we called a special resident license that encompassed young hunters and the older hunters. And we took that licenses and we split it into two. Now we’re going to have one senior and one youth hunter. The other thing that we’ve done…our temporary day plus licenses have been consolidated into one single license; we had twelve.

Now there’s a one day license for residents and a one day license for non-residents.

Which will un-complicate things considerably.

Get your licenses online, or at 17-hundred retailers statewide, state parks, game warden offices and Texas Parks and Wildlife headquarters. Find license links at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife restoration program…working to increase shooting and hunting opportunities in Texas.

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

Link to Fishing License Information

Link to Hunting License Information
Link to Big Time Texas Hunt Information
Link to Public Hunting Information

Licenses Go On Sale — Buy Early

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

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

It’s August: time to renew hunting and fishing licenses.

The licenses are effective beginning September first, but they actually go on sale August 15th.

Tom Newton manages licensing at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The fishing is broken down into saltwater or freshwater, or what we call an all-water, which covers both. There’s a couple of different hunting licenses, which is your standard deer hunters, or turkey hunters. With the hunting license you have to purchase a couple of stamps if you’re a bird hunter.

Those include the upland, migratory and federal duck stamps. The best license to buy — if you plan on hunting and fishing — is the Super Combo.

Which encompasses everything: All the stamps, all of your hunting options, all of your fishing options. The only thing you need in addition to that is your federal duck stamp. So, the Super Combo – at sixty-four dollars – is the best priced license. And, like I say, you buy that, you need nothing else for the whole year.

It takes an average of five minutes to process a license sale transaction. Even if there are only four people ahead of you, you’ll still be in line for twenty-five minutes. So buy early. Licenses are available online and at 17-hundred agents statewide.

All of our parks sell licenses. All of our law enforcement sells licenses as we do here at Headquarters.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife restoration program…working to increase shooting and hunting opportunities in Texas.

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

Link to Fishing License Information

Link to Hunting License Information
Link to Big Time Texas Hunt Information
Link to Public Hunting Information

Hunter Education, 2

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

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

Acquiring outdoors knowledge and skills need not be painful or joyless. Steve Hall is Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Director of Education.

One of our most popular topics is outdoor survival and first aid. And of course that can apply to a camper, a mountain biker, a boater, what have you. We have a wealth of programs in education and outreach for anybody who just wants to learn more about safety, the outdoors, shooting sports.

We have a sporting clays mobile truck that goes statewide where you can learn how to shoot the clay birds. Most everybody that’s ever done that has come back giggling and excited and happy about a new activity that they really never quite thought that they would do. You know, shoot a shotgun at one of those little fast moving things.

So we have other types of programs and other audiences that we try to reach in those cases.

Find more information about outdoor educational opportunities on our website at passporttotexas.org.

While you’re there, click on the tab for Outdoor Stories and share your favorite memory of time spent in the great Texas outdoors.

That’s our show…made possible by the Wildlife Restoration program… helping to increase hunting and shooting opportunities in Texas.

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

Hunter Education, 1

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

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

Hunting licenses go on sale next month. And if you’re a new hunter, or new to Texas, taking a hunter education class will prepare you for the seasons ahead.

Hunter education teaches hunting safety, skills and responsibility. And mandatory hunter education, taught over the course of a weekend, became law in 1988.

Steve Hall, Parks and Wildlife’s Director of Education, says hunter education is the first step in a lifelong pledge to safety and sportsmanship.

Hunter education is actually targeting those aged 12 through 16 years of age. And that’s kind of the way the law is designed. It’s to try to get them early enough in their hunting process to make a difference.

We deal with any youngster even under age twelve that just simply wants to learn about firearm safety or handling of an air gun or you know daisy BB gun. Are they doing that right? It’s no longer acceptable for a kid to go out their back door, even in a rural setting, and go plinking with a BB gun.

So we help them to understand safety first of all, but also their image. And that’s the kind of thing we try to teach.

Hunter education classes are ongoing statewide. Find classes near you by visiting our passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…made possible by the Wildlife Restoration program… helping to increase hunting and shooting opportunities in Texas.

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