Passport to Texas

Hunter Education

Back to School Week: Hunter Education Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

At Allen High School—near Dallas—getting outside is part of the curriculum.

16— It’s a curriculum that teaches the TPW hunter education, boater education, and also the angler education… along with some other things like the National Archery in the Schools program camping, outdoor survival and things like that.

Jason Anderson is an Outdoor Adventure educator at the school. Students who take the course may earn an elective or physical education credit.

13— It’s quite amazing; our first year I started out with 111 students. This past year I had 275, and enrolled for next year I have 590 students enrolled in our outdoor adventure class and hunter education.

Anderson was a PE teacher and coach, but says the outdoor curriculum, especially Hunter Education, is so popular, he had to give up coaching.

19 — Students are really interested in hunting. In Collin County you couldn’t deer hunt for a long time. Well, two years ago TPW opened up where you now have an archery season. So, a lot of our students are really interested in the bow hunting part of it. There’s still a little bit of land left in Collin County where they can actually do some deer hunting.

Jason Anderson says the ethics students learn in hunter education stays with them throughout their lives. Bring TPW outreach and education programs to your classroom learn how on the TPW website.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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

Teaching kids to fish.

Back to School Week: Outdoor Education Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dave Robertstad, a physical education teacher in the Corsicana School District, says the obesity epidemic among school-aged children made him think outside the gymnasium for answers.

06— I came up with the idea of doing anything I can to encourage kids to get outside and move.

He turned to his own love of the outdoors for inspiration.

09—And so I started looking for activities that would interest our kids, and fishing, and hiking, and birding and those kinds of activities came up — and I started to develop that.

He tapped into Texas Parks and Wildlife Outreach and Education programs, becoming a certified angler education instructor, but didn’t stop there.

15 —I’m doing boater education this weekend; I’ve done archery in the schools training through Texas Parks and Wildlife – just to provide my students an exposure to different activities outdoors, with the hope that they will become more fit just because they’re going to want to go out and do those things.

Dave Robertstad even gives students extra credit points for going to state parks – points they can use like cash in their school store.

13— It encourages those kids to get outdoors and say, ‘Hey, I think that’s important.’ And I’m going to give you some extra credit, and you can use those points in our store and reward yourself for making the effort to get outdoors and do something.

Learn about TPW outreach and education programs on the TPW website. We receive funding from Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Trapped Wild Hogs

TPW TV: Hog Wild! Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hunting by itself cannot solve the problem of feral pigs in Texas.

16— Texas Department of Agriculture estimates that pigs produce $52 million a year in agricultural damage alone. Those estimates go way higher than that whenever we start talking about all the damage that is incurred annually.

Justin Foster is a Wildlife Biologist and Research Coordinator at Kerr Wildlife Management Area. A segment – called Hogs Wild – on the Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series, produced by Alan Fisher, follows Foster and his team as they evaluate palatability and lethality of bait formulations and active ingredients for controlling this destructive species.

19— It’s really a pig pesticide of sorts; there’s been some success in Australia using a similar substance. It can be delivered through specialized feeders to just the hogs, and is considered a rather humane way to deal with the feral hog problem. There’s still ongoing testing being done right now.

Viewers have a front row seat as biologists trap, tag, and release the pigs, which they’ll monitor over time to determine the bait’s effectiveness. Justin Foster.

[06 – Pig squeal…clatter of pigs in pens]

10 — Nationwide and internationally, there are lots of people working on this topic. And we are very optimistic. [ambiance]

Hogs Wild airs the week of August 11 on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Mason Mountain WMA

Conservation: Licenses Fund Conservation in Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

To legally hunt and fish in Texas, you need a license; and the money you spend on them supports habitat conservation and game management. That’s win-win, says Tom Newton, who oversees licensing at Parks and Wildlife.

15— The revenue that we get from the licenses goes a long ways to supporting the operations of fishery programs and wildlife programs that help preserve what you’re harvesting. So, it all goes back in to the hunting and fishing activities for our customers.

Recreational anglers and hunters may begin renewing their licenses as early as August 15…and there’s a variety from which to choose.

27— There’s different categories of fishing: freshwater, saltwater, all water. Hunting – you can get your basic deer hunting license; or you can add endorsements to it to hunt migratory birds. We have different combination licenses tailored to those different activities – they just group them in packages – but the best license that we have is the super combo, which includes all activity – all bird hunting all deer hunting, all types of fishing…and it’s the best bargain for the price of 68 bucks.

Some changes may be ahead for a certain group of licensees. Learn more tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and provides funding for private lands and public hunting programs in Texas.

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

Feral Hogs in Texas

Hunting: Big Time Texas Hunts Goes Hog Wild Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Feral hogs are responsible for extensive wildlife habitat destruction.

02 — Certainly it is a resource issue in Texas.

Linda Campbell is program director for Private Lands and Public Hunting at Parks and Wildlife. The destructive nature of wild hogs is just one reason why these non-native mammals are new on the menu for this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts…

22 —…[it’s] called the Wild Hog Adventure…. And so we thought, ‘Well, you know — let’s try this.’ Let’s offer a package where people get a great hunting adventure with wild hogs in East Texas. We’ve got a great operator that’s going to run this hunt for us. And so I think this is going to be a great, fun hunt, and an opportunity to hunt our big, mean looking hogs in East Texas.

There are eight premium hunting packages offered in all. Entries are $9 online or $10 by phone, mail or retail. Deadline is October 15. And buying an entry is a win for wildlife conservation in Texas.

19— The money is used to support wildlife habitat and conservation throughout the state, and it also goes to support public hunting opportunities on our wildlife management areas. And [it supports] other types of conservation and habitat work. You’re donating to a good cause that really is very important to the support of the work we do in the wildlife division.

Find more information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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