Daingerfield State Park Cleans up Nice

August 11th, 2011

This is Passport to Texas

Daingerfield State Park is open for business after being closed for a year. Our state park guide, Bryan Frazier explains.

It was closed for a year. It’s been totally renovated. I mean, renovations on CCC structures down at the boat house; the state park store; the cabins were recently renovated; the campsites.

We went from 10 full hookups with water, electric and sewer to 40!

The lake is in great shape. It’s a beautiful park in the Pineywoods in Northeast Texas, and now it’s open for reservations including the group lodge that sleeps up to 14 or 15. It’s been completely renovated with new fixtures and new appliances, and I think people are going to enjoy what they find there.

And what you mentioned to me before I turned on my recorder is that the lake has not been fished in a year.

It has not. And I was up there and fished it, and the fishing is quite good for things like largemouth bass and even chain pickerel, which if you live in NE Texas, it’s a pretty common fish, but if you if you live in other parts of the state—it’s not. It’s a Texas Pike.

So, get on up to Daingerfield SP. Make those reservations as soon as you can, as soon as you know where you’re going to be, because people are finding out that that place is a hot ticket right now.

Thanks, Bryan

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years.

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

Big Time Texas Hunt of a Lifetime

August 10th, 2011

This is Passport to Texas…

Steve Poskey of Lufkin never thought he would win the Premium Buck Hunt in last year’s Big Time Texas Hunts drawing, but he did.

03—All my wife could say was Oh my God. Oh my God!

He had purchased entries for years, and even though he hadn’t won, he was always glad to buy some chances.

03—The money goes to a good cause. You know—Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Steve and his wife Linda, both avid hunters, won the opportunity to go on a guided hunt for trophy deer in the brush country of south Texas.

04—It was fantastic. I couldn’t believe it, you know. You couldn’t keep up with the deer. There was no way you could count ‘em.

The couple each had their own guide, and between them harvested 2 trophy bucks, a management buck and a doe.

03—It was way better than my expectations. Way, way better.

Online entries are $9 each with a $5 processing fee. They are $10 when purchased at a license retailer, by mail, or by phone, and may be purchased through October 15.

03—I’ll buy some this year. I may become the first two-time winner.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and works to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

2010 Premium Buck Hunt Winner

August 9th, 2011

This is Passport to Texas…

Last year at this time, Steve Poskey of Lufkin did what he always does: he bought entries in Texas Parks and Wildlife’s annual Big Time Texas Hunts drawing.

03—I’m not sure what year they first started this, but I’ve been doing it for a long time.

Although winning eluded him, Steve continued to buy entries for hunt packages, including the White-tailed Bonanza, Texas Grand Slam, and the Premium Buck Hunt.

03—I just felt like I was supporting a good cause, you know.

In 2010, Lady Luck smiled on Steve, when he received a phone call telling him he had won the Premium Buck Hunt.

09—I said, would say that one more time, ma’am? And she repeated it, and I remember exactly what I told her; I said, you’re joking, right? And she said, no sir, I’m not joking.

We would never joke about a thing like that, Steve.

Online entries are $9 each with a $5 processing fee, and $10 when purchased at a license retailer, by mail, or by phone. Entries available through October 15.

Find more information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. Tomorrow—what happened on Steve Poskey’s big buck adventure?

02—It was a fantastic experience.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series and works to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

TPW TV: Climate Detective

August 8th, 2011

This is Passport to Texas

[SFX taking core from tree.]

That’s the sound of a scientist taking a core sample from a cypress tree. This month on the Parks and Wildlife TV Series, find out how scientists use the samples to understand drought patterns in Texas.

Producer Alan Fisher:

You may have learned in grade school that trees put on a ring for each year that they’re alive. And what’s also interesting about tree rings is the width of those rings can tell you whether they grew in a wet year or a dry year.

It’s important for us to know what types of droughts we have to contend with in the future and we’re trying to figure that out by seeing what kinds of droughts have impacted our region over the past.

So, scientists are using those rings that can go much further back that written climate records to learn about the past climate of Texas.

Right now we’ve got a chronology here that goes back to the 14oos; I’m convinced that many of these trees started growing before Europeans came to the New World.

The study was funded by the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority because they were really interested in understanding a little more about these drought patterns and what they could learn for future planning.

Thanks, Alan.

This show airs the week of August 14 on Texas PBS stations. Check your local listings.

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

Fall 2011 Dove Forecast

August 5th, 2011

This is Passport to Texas

Texas’ hot dry summer will affect fall hunting forecasts. Yet, Corey Mason, dove program leader for Parks and Wildlife, says dove season, which opens September first, should be good.

We do expect to have decreased seed production, and also a decline in agricultural production. But what that means on a positive, is that it does provide some bare ground so that those seeds that are available can be found by dove.

So, the hunting forecast is going to be good for Texas just because of the number of birds we have in the sky. You know, we have an estimated fall population in excess of 40-million mourning dove, so we’re going to have ample opportunity for hunters who choose to enjoy the sport.

Hunting and fishing and nature viewing in Texas have a huge economic impact. And certainly with dove being as prolific as they are and being such a popular bird, they must have quite an impact on the Texas economy.

They do, and you know, in a lot of these small towns the first of September—and the opening of deer season as well in early November—are very significant events for them. Dove hunting has an economic value estimated at 300-million plus dollars annually in Texas.

And we’re talking primarily the small rural towns that benefit.

It’s folks coming in town renting hotel rooms in small communities that don’t typically have them booked that time of year, and the local cafes and gas stations that are selling fuel and ice and cokes and candy bars and all those kinds of things. They really make a significant impact on local communities. It’s hunters dollars putting a lot of things in play.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… supports our series.

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