Passport to Texas

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

Squirrel hunting is often a child’s first introduction to the sport. As Texas Parks and Wildlife television producer Ron Kabele tells us, the tradition is beginning to fade.

One of the reasons is the habitat is going away. A lot of the good squirrel habitat is hardwood bottomland. And, it’s pretty well accepted that we’ve lost just a tremendous amount of the hardwood bottomlands in East Texas.

In a segment this month, the television series follows a father as he takes his daughter squirrel hunting where the healthy habitat still sustains a squirrel population.

This is a beautiful place. And the squirrel habitat—I haven’t seen like this since I was a kid hunting in south Alabama. (gunshot) Macy, be sure he’s dead before you pick him up. I know that. This one? Whoa. That’s cool.

Kabele says biologists he’s talked to fear squirrel hunting may not survive the future, but they keep hope alive.

And so, we’re wanting to continue that tradition in hopes of instilling conservation ethics, and just a love of being in the out of doors.

You can view this story on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television show in August. Find a link to stations that air the series at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

The Hunt Texas Online Connection is a high tech way for hunters to find landowners with hunting opportunities.

We feel like hunters need all the help they can get to find opportunities, and so that’s one of the reasons we’re doing this.

Linda Campbell oversees the state’s Private Lands and Public Hunting program. The Internet was an obvious choice when deciding how to match landowners and hunters.

Well, we know that people use the Internet to find all kinds of opportunities. And more and more that is the tool people use to plan vacations and plan trips. And so, this is just one more way that we can connect the providers of opportunities with those seeking them.

Hunters may review current opportunities on the website.

As a hunter, you search the site by the type of game you’re interested in, the way you wish to harvest, the location, the county, and other attributes. So, you can do all of this and then narrow it down that way.

To contact a landowner about a listing, hunters must create an account with a user name and password.

Find a link to the Hunt Texas Online Connection at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

Finding a place to hunt can be a barrier for many people, which is why Texas Parks and Wildlife has created the Hunt Texas Online Connection.

Hunt Texas Online Connection is a new online service that we’re providing to all our constituents, to try to get landowners with hunting vacancies, opportunities, in touch with hunters who are seeking opportunities.

Linda Campbell oversees the state’s Private Lands and Public Hunting program.

We know that there are folks out there, for example, with overpopulation problems, needing hunters to fill vacancies—particularly for deer management. So, we just wanted to make it easier for people to find hunting opportunities.

The program has drawn significant participation from landowners with hunting opportunities.

Well, we’ve got quite a few landowners signed up trying to advertise their leases. There are some businesses out there, of course, and we also list those businesses, and encourage our constituents to check out those businesses as well.

Tomorrow—using the site to find hunting opportunities.

Find a link to the Hunt Texas Online Connection at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

Hunt Texas—The Basics is a first-of-its-kind skill-building workshop being offered to new hunters this fall by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The purpose of the workshop is to develop responsible and successful hunters who recognize the importance of wildlife and habitat conservation.

Linda Campbell is Program Director of the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program. The workshop is an effort to support the hunting tradition in Texas, and to recruit new outdoorsmen, as these conservationist help sustain our natural resources.

In Texas, we’re doing pretty well holding our own with the number of hunters. But, we’re also concerned with changes in the population of Texas, more urbanization and people moving away from the land, and the effect of that on the ability to continue the hunting heritage of our state.

Workshop participants learn about firearm selection game processing, safety, ethics and much more.

We’re in the early stages of planning, but right now we are going to try to provide some firearms and ammunition for those that do not have firearms available to them.

The first workshop is September 19 & 20 at the Justin Hurst WMA. Participants will end the workshop with a mentored dove hunt. Find more information, including fees, at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

Let’s say you want to learn how to hunt, but you don’t have family or friends to teach you. What do you do? You attend the first-of-its-kind skill-building workshop for novice hunters.

Called Hunt Texas—The Basics. And it’s designed to provide new hunters with the basic skills needed to successfully pursue a variety of game species.

Linda Campbell is Program Director of the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program. In May, Parks and Wildlife Commissioners approved a Mentored Hunting Permit, thus clearing the way for these multi-day workshops.

Workshops will be developed locally by our field staff. They will be held on a WMA. Our first one is planned for the Justin Hurst WMA, down on the coast; it’s going to occur in September.

Firearm selection, game processing, dove hunting techniques and hunting license requirements are among the workshop topics. A hunting license will be required to participate, as will a $25 Mentored Hunting Permit.

This is on a first come, first served reservation basis. Of course, they’ve got to limit the number of people that can participate so that they can provide real hands on training. And so, to do that right, we’ll limit the number of folks participating.

Find information about the first workshop, scheduled for September 19 & 20 at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

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

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