Passport to Texas

Out on a Big Time Texas Hunt

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As 95% of Texas is in private hands, it’s not uncommon to spend big bucks for leases to hunt big bucks. Not everyone can. Yet, most of us can spare nine dollars for a chance to win a Big Time Texas Hunts package.

13-These are premier guided hunts for a lot of the wildlife species across the state. Everything from mule deer to alligators to wild hogs–and, of course, really nice whitetail deer also.

Justin Dreibelbis, director of private lands and public hunting at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says hunters can enter for as many hunt packages as they wish online for nine dollars each or at license retailers for ten.

24-They’re all premier guided hunts. It’s all inclusive: you have lodging, food, and guides that understand the area, terrain and animals you’ll be hunting. And a couple of really exciting packages that we have. One is the Texas Grand Slam; it’s four separate hunts for mule deer, pronghorn antelope, whitetail deer, and desert big horn sheep, which not many people get to hunt.

Some packages allow winners to bring hunting companions who are at least 8 years of age.

08-Actually, their companions get to hunt as well. However, on the Grand Slam Hunt, they have a non-hunting guest that can accompany them.

Entries are nine dollars online and ten dollars at license retailers. Submit entries by October 15. Find complete details on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Big Time Texas Hunts Grand Slam

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For nineteen years and counting, hunters from Texas and beyond have supported conservation projects in the state by submitting entries to Big Time Texas Hunts.

05—Big Time Texas Hunts is a pretty special program because it is essentially a conservation fundraiser.

Hunters, 17 years and older, submit entries for a chance to win one of nine premier guided hunt packages. Justin Dreibelbis, director of private lands and public hunting, says the deadline for submissions is October 15.

09—I can assure people out there that this money is going directly back into wildlife conservation on our wildlife management areas and for public hunting and research across the state.

After program expenses, about $400-thousand dollars goes back into wildlife conservation, research and public hunting in Texas. He says there’s a new hunt this year that will stir some excitement.

19—Our Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt. This hunt will be taking place at the newly acquired Yoakum Dunes Wildlife Management Area in Yoakum County. And the lucky winner will actually be hunting during the rut, which is a special hunting opportunity up there in the panhandle, too, for some really, really nice mule deer bucks. So, this is the first time we’ve had the mule deer hunt available.

Entries are nine dollars online and ten dollars at license retailers. Hunters may submit multiple entries to win any of the Big Time Texas Hunt premier guided hunting packages. Find details on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

H. Yturria Land & Cattle Company Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Take a ride with Danny Butler around the Punte del Monte Ranch in deep south Texas and you start to get an idea of his appreciation of all things wild.

09—We have a lot of white-tail, a lot of turkey, lots of quail. In my opinion, it’s better habitat now than it was 150 years ago.

The Butlers are the 2015 Lone Star Land Steward Award recipients for the South Plains Ecoregion. Three generations of Danny’s family owns and operates the 23-thousand acre ranch; they and their ancestors have been at this a long time.

08—Going on 160 years, which is getting rarer and rarer in Texas that lands pass through generations and generations and stay together.

Their H. Yturria Land & Cattle Company has become less reliant on cattle and more focused on wildlife, including hunting. To make the habitat work for wildlife, they improved water resources on their land. Randy Bazan is ranch foreman.

06—We’re roller chopping this pasture here. It makes an indentation in the soil, and that helps gather our rainfall.

This improves the diversity of forbes and grasses, making the land more productive. While native wildlife hunts make up the bulk of the ranch income, the family’s expanded into exotics. Richard Butler.

08—If you don’t diversify, get other sources of income coming in from the property you’ve got, eventually you won’t have the property.

Nominate a landowner for a Lone Star Land Steward Award. Find out how ion the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Will Chronic Wasting Disease Affect Hunting? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When news of Chronic Wasting Disease—or CWD—in a captive breeding population in Medina County surfaced in June 2015, TPW had a management strategy ready to go.

14—Once we got this positive, we began the implementation of that management strategy that we’ve had in place. We immediately restricted movement of all captive deer in Texas until we could do a risk assessment and determine the prevalence of this disease.

Steve Lightfoot, Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman, said careful monitoring of Texas white-tailed deer continues. Meantime, in case anyone’s been worried, hunters need not change their plans this fall.

36— We don’t foresee any changes in how hunters across the state of Texas conduct business this fall. We anticipate that it’s going to be excellent hunting conditions; we’ve got recent rainfall that’s pretty much turned the landscape around. Deer are in healthy shape. And so, right now this is an epidemiological investigation into one deer, in one breeder facility, in one country in Texas. So, I would encourage folks to go about the business of enjoying this wonderful heritage that we’ve got in Texas that’s deer hunting. There are 750-thousand deer hunters. Four million animals. It’s a great opportunity to get out there and enjoy it. Don’t let this deter it.

Find CWD and fall hunting information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series, and funds more than 40 million dollars in conservation efforts in Texas annually through your purchases of hunting and fishing equipment, and motorboat fuels.

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

Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease

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In June, volunteer monitoring at a captive deer breeding facility revealed an animal with Chronic Wasting Disease—or CWD. This put a halt to movement of captive animals statewide.

19— We permit the ability for folks to hold in captivity deer, for the purpose of breeding, genetic improvement, improving the quality of their deer herd. They can release the animals onto their ranches, or they can sell and trade to other facilities that are approved for releases. And part of that can be for hunting.

Steve Lightfoot, spokesperson for Texas parks and Wildlife, says under a plan finalized in August, Texas deer breeders may resume animal movement.

17— With input from stakeholders around the state, leading epidemiologists, veterinarians, deer breeders and other stakeholders, have come to the table, and expressed their issues and concerns. We factored those into the development of this plan, and I think the movement qualification standards we developed pretty much meets those needs.

The plan balances the need to minimize the risk of unwittingly allowing movement of CWD-positive deer while adopting reasonable movement qualification standards that allow qualified deer breeders to move and liberate captive deer.

15— We’re also looking at developing individual herd plans for those captive breeders to ensure that they can continue business with minimal risk of the disease impacting [additional animals]. And also, we’ll be looking at strategic sampling of hunter harvested deer once the seasons start this fall.

Find more information about Chronic Wasting Disease on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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