Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Leslie McGaha wanted to try out her new bass kayak on Sam Rayburn Lake. Shortly after she got on the water, she had the company of an otter.

So it was about 9:30 in the morning and I paddled across a branch of the lake, and I was hot. And so I saw a shady spot and figured I would go ahead and park there and see what I could see. And it was amazing: I saw a giant black crawdad crawling out of the bank; I was listening to the fish noises and the birds; the gar. Then, all of a sudden there was this bright flash of silver off to my right and I thought it was a gar or a carp.

And then he stopped for a second and looks straight at me and he and he starts hissing, kind of like he’s yelling at me. So I hissed back. So we have a pretty good conversation for a few minutes, and he pops down again, pops back up, and we start the whole thing over again two or three times before he goes on his merry way a little bit farther up the creek channel. It was just the funniest thing that had ever happened to me; it was amazing.

Share your outdoor story with us like Leslie did, and if we use it, you’ll receive a coveted Passport to Texas t-shirt.

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

Outdoor Story: An Otter, Water and A Hissy Fit Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

[TPW TV Theme Music]

If you recognize that music, you’re probably a regular viewer of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Series. The new season kicks off this month, and series Producer Don Cash is here to tell us about it.

Like every season, we are going all over the state all season long.

There are about 75 state park segments on there. And, if you want to find out about the great Texas outdoors—watch Texas Parks and Wildlife television.

Thanks, Don.

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

TPW TV New Season Begins Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The deadline to submit your entry to win one of seven exclusive Big Time Texas Hunt packages is October 15.

You know, if you’re lucky enough to win one of these hunts, we can guarantee you that it will be a great hunting experience.

Linda Campbell is program director for Private Lands and Public Hunting. The cost of an entry to win a guided hunting trip is just 10-dollars, and you can enter as many times as you like.

Even if you don’t win, though, you contribute to the work of the wildlife division and what we do to enhance habitat and hunting opportunities for Texans.

Entrants can walk away with deer hunts, bird hunts, and even an alligator hunt. Plus, the winner of the Texas Grand Slam gets the rare opportunity to hunt a desert Bighorn Sheep.

You know, it’s very rare that anybody gets to hunt a desert bighorn sheep; we have so few permits. That’s a guided hunt by our people on our wildlife management areas. They work very hard to provide an excellent quality hunt. Our hunters are generally just delighted with the experience overall.

If you win, but for some reason cannot go on the hunt…

You cannot sell these wins, but you can transfer them to an immediate family members, or to a youth 8 to 16 years old.

Find complete details about Big Time Texas Hunt on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show… we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Big Time Texas Hunts, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Life’s short, Hunt Big—that’s the motto of Big Time Texas Hunts.

Big Time Texas Hunts is a drawing that we offer for some high quality guided hunting packages. We do it to raise money for support of our various wildlife conservation efforts including research, also to increase our public hunting opportunities throughout the state.

Linda Campbell is the program director for Private Lands and Public Hunting. The program, in its 13th year, offers hunters the chance to win one of seven exclusive hunting trips; the first hunt offered through the program was the Texas Grand Slam.

It’s still one of our most important offerings. That’s the opportunity to hunt the four premier big game species in Texas, including: desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn, mule deer, and white tail deer.

The deadline to enter is October 15, and it only costs ten dollars per entry. And you can enter as often as you like.

We have around 80-thousand total entries for all of the hunts per year. You know that’s a gross amount that we earn—several hundred thousand dollars every year to support our research and management of our game species.

We have a link to Big Time Texas Hunts at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Big Time Texas Hunts, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

If you’re a gardener, or just looking for a volunteer opportunity, then put November 14th on your calendar, and take part in the Sheldon Lake State Park Prairie Plant-a-thon.

And, we hope to get a hundred, a hundred and twenty-five people out here to spend the morning, and see if we can get three thousand or so plants planted in the ground. We got 26-hundred in, in a four hour period last November.

Robert Comstock is superintendent of Sheldon Lake State Park, which is outside of Houston. The Plant-A-Thon is part of an ongoing effort to replant 400 acres of the park with native tall grass species.

Hopefully in the next two to three years we’ll have all the prairies in the park restored to their former glory.

Many of the native grasses used during plant-a-thons, and weekly restoration projects, are rescued from construction sites around Houston by members of area Texas Master Naturalist Chapters.

They dig up clumps of native grass that they identify from projects all throughout the Houston area. And they’ll work out here and they’ll take these clumps of grasses, and break them apart and put them into one gallon pots where they’ll sit for about three months to get their roots established.

Then volunteers plant the grasses into the prairie. Find details about the Plant-A-Thon at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…made possible by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore native habitat in Texas.

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

November 14, 2009 — Sheldon Lake SP — Prairie Plant-a-thon Day — Join a biologist and staff as we introduce native grasses and plants into historic prairie lands in the park. Come prepared to dig in the dirt, and learn about our native tall grass prairie. Coyotes, bobcats, eagles, and hawks could be spotted. 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (281) 456-2800.

Prairie Plant-A-Thon Play Now | Play in Popup | Download