Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

You need to be a shooter before you become a hunter.

:12—Shooting sports comes first. Go to a shooting range and get some experience shooting. Nobody wants to cripple an animal. So, being proficient with a firearm becomes very important, and comes before the actual hunt.

Ty Harris is hunter education volunteer with Parks and Wildlife.

:15—The biggest thing to understand about the shooting sports is that it’s a big responsibility builder, and don’t be afraid to get your kids started very young. It’s not unheard of to have seven, eight and nine-year-old shooters come out and perform very well, in sporting clays or any of the shooting sports.

I witnessed a new shooter in the making. By moving the gun and the shooter together Harris helped newbie, Christina Huth, assume a safe and proper shooting stance.

:25—Don’t let go. Hang onto it. Don’t let go. Don’t let go. Don’t let go. Stop. Right there’s your shooting stance. So now, wherever the target goes, you go. Head, arm, gun, everything moves together. Okay? Up, down, right, left. Head never comes off. Keep both eyes open. That’s all there is to it. (That’s so easy). It is. And when you see the orange thing flying, shoot it. (When do I get to shoot?) Right now. (Alright.[gunshot]). That’ll break it every time. (I love it).

By the way, Christina has since become a Texas game warden, stationed in Val Verde County.

That’s our show for today…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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This is Passport to Texas

I met Ty Harris, a volunteer with Parks and Wildlife’s Hunter Education program, at the five stand sporting clays field at the Parrie Haynes Ranch, near Killeen.

:12—And it’s a type of shooting game. There are numerous games. But in this type of shooting game you basically have five stations. And from the station, you’ll be presented a series of targets. Some right to left, some incoming.

Clays are launched remotely from each location, including from atop a huge wooden structure behind the shooters.

:07—This structure is called a tower shot. So it throws the clay from over your head and behind you; so it’s a very challenging target.

Harris says sporting clays offer real hunting situations.

:10—For a bird hunter, you never know where the birds are going to be coming from. So sporting clays provide that uncertainty, yet, you still have the anticipation that you know a bird is coming.

The shooting sports, says Harris, should come before you ever go into the field, gun in hand, to hunt.

:15—Before we become hunters, we are shooters. We can’t hunt if we don’t know how to shoot. So, a situation like this, where we can provide that shooting experience in a safe environment, just really lends itself to hunting.

That’s our show for today…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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This is Passport to Texas

Women in the Wild may sound like an anthropological examination of early human females, but in truth it’s a workshop to help women interact with the outdoors in new ways.

:08—Women in the Wild is a great way for ladies to come out and try things that they otherwise might be intimidated to try, in a third party setting.

Game Warden Brandi Reeder organized the event, set for May 1 & 2 in Rockport.

:13—We have everything from shotguns, BB guns, archery, fishing and fly-fishing, boat operations, Dutch oven cooking, first aide, self-defense. We just have a wide range of activities in which these ladies can come out here and try.

Reeder says Women in the Wild participants will learn from the best.

:12—Including John Martel who does outdoor photography. And then I have Jay Watkins who’s a pro guide as well as pro tournament fisherman. I have Chuck Naiser who’s going to do my fly-fishing this year; I have an exceptional lineup.

The only requirements are that you’re a woman and at least 21 years old; otherwise, no experience necessary.

:12—The more knowledge that you get, the more confident you feel in your own capabilities to do things. Instead of relying on someone else to help you with it, you can do these activities yourself and be confident that even if you don’t know it—you can learn it!

We have details about registration and accommodations for the Women in the Wild workshop, at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show …with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Accommodations for the weekend are not provided, however, there are many great places to stay in Rockport. Find a partial listing at this website: http://www.rockportnet.com/stay.html

Explore the Outdoors with “Women in the Wild” Workshop

ROCKPORT — Women interested in the outdoors are invited to attend the second annual Women in the Wild workshop, a weekend-long event being held by the Rockport chapter of the Texas Outdoors Woman Network (TOWN) on May 1-2. The event is designed to help familiarize women with the various outdoor activities in the Coastal Bend and encourage them to participate in a fun and safe outdoor environment.

The event will be held at The Lodge in Rockport. The entry fee includes participation in four of the scheduled activities, a t-shirt, a Saltwater Fisheries Enhancement Association membership and meals for the weekend.

Courses offered include beginner and intermediate shotgun shooting, BB guns, archery and self defense. There will also be a fly fishing seminar with Chuck Naiser and a fishing seminar with Jay Watkins. Women will have a chance to learn boat equipment and operation, kayaking, outdoor photography, habitat/species identification, first aid and Dutch oven cooking.

“The intent is to help these women become familiar with new activities without pressure to master any one thing,” said Texas Game Warden Brandi Reeder.

TOWN is an offshoot of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) program. Its goal is to provide outdoors-oriented women a chance to meet and develop friendships with other women who have similar interests. Chapters across Texas regularly hold various activities that allow women to participate in the outdoors in a stress-free and supporting environment.

Women interested in the program need to register before April 15. Entry costs $125 before March 15 and $150 after that. Registration is limited to the first 75 women above the age of 21.

Registration forms are available at the Parks and Wildlife Law Enforcement Offices in Corpus Christi, Rockport, and Victoria and online at http://www.townrockport.org/. For more information visit the TOWN Rockport Web site or contact Brandi Reeder at brandi.reeder@tpwd.state.tx.us or (361) 790-2611.

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This is Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories

Jim Blackburn—an environmental attorney and planner from Houston—shares one of the more memorable kayaking experiences he has had along the Texas coast.

We were out on Bolivar flats in our kayaks, and there were literally thousands of avocets, which are gorgeous black and white birds with sort of a brownish neck and sort of an upturned bill. They’re wading birds, probably about fourteen-sixteen inches in height. There were literally thousands of them, and they would sort of just rise and fall in a mass. Just the patterns that threes birds made, were just incredible to see. And I’ve just never seen that many avocets in one place.

When you’re on a kayak, says Blackburn, you can get closer to nature than you ever thought possible.

I oftentimes take my kayak to the rookery islands to see the large fish-eating birds – the herons… the egrets… going through their breeding rituals. And then later in the spring raising their young; those are really, really nice experiences.

Download a Canoeing and Kayaking resource guide from our revamped website, passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… helping to fund the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

At the end of January, two vessels collided in the port of Port Arthur; one was an oil tanker carrying crude, the other a barge towing ships.

This is the largest spill that Port Arthur’s seen in a very long time.

Winston Denton is a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist who was at the site of the January 23 incident.

The Eagle Otome is an oil tanker; it was coming into Port Arthur [when the accident occurred]. Okay, we’re looking at the barge that was involved in the collision with the ship. The barge just hit it and went right inside the ship.

It’s estimated that 450-thousand gallons of crude spilled into the water… which translates to approximately 11-thousand barrels of oil.

Prior to this, what we considered a large spill was two to three thousand barrels; and this is, like, four times that.

Hundreds of people, including from parks and wildlife and the US coast guard, mobilized to mitigate damages and clean the spill. Booms stopped oil from migrating down the intercostal waterway into sensitive wetlands. More than a dozen animals died from the spill, but others were trapped, cleaned and saved.

That’s one more…I think he’ll make it.

At the time we recorded this show, oil sheen remained on the water.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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