Drawn Hunts Have Begun | New Season Dates | Hog Season Never Closes | CWD Update | Who Wants to Learn to Hunt? | Toyota Giveaway
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Apply for Drawn Hunts in More Than 100 Areas

Ken Garcia with bighorn harvest, link

Are you ready to take your shot? We are now accepting applications for Drawn Hunts in more than 60 categories including pronghorn, mule deer and a guided bighorn sheep package.?

Apply for multiple hunts in the same category, but stay aware of the?deadline dates?? the 1st and 15th of Aug., Sept. and Oct., plus Nov. 1st.?Each entry will cost anywhere from $0 to $10, and Youth Only entries are always free.?

New:?Predator hunts at Matador WMA have been added to E-Postcard hunts. Applicants for E-Postcard hunts and U.S. Forest Service Antlerless Deer Permits must have a current Annual Public Hunting Permit?(APH) Permit to apply. APH Permits go on sale annually on Aug. 15.

Insider Tip:?For your best chances to win, look at the?online listing of drawn hunts and check the odds for success and selection. Hunts with the best odds = the best chances of winning. Find out more in our news release?Texas Drawn Hunt Program Opens for 2023?24 Season Applications.


NEW: Season Dates for 2023-24

Hunter pointing shotgun toward sky

Mark your calendar?? season?dates for 2023-2024 are set, including:

  • Dove:?9/1?all zones, including South Zone's Special?White-winged Dove Days?
  • Teal:?9/9
  • Archery:?9/30
  • Quail:?10/28
  • White-tailed deer:?11/4
  • Rio Grande turkey:?11/4

Access all new season dates and regulations in the Outdoor Annual?online?or in the free?app?beginning Aug. 15. If you already have the app, it auto-updates in mid-August (requires internet access). Once the app is updated, you can access it in the field without an internet connection. Make you life easier, get the Outdoor Annual app.?


Hog Season Never Closes

Woman with hog harvest, link

Wild pigs, feral hogs and wild boars refer to the same species in Texas. Any pure wild boar strains (none were native) disappeared due to cross-breeding with hogs Spanish explorers brought with them.?

Today there is a large population of feral hogs across the state. They're considered a destructive nuisance, so they can be taken any time of year and there's no bag limit.

A license is required to hunt feral pigs on public lands. But landowners and their agents don't need a license to hunt them on the landowner's property, if hogs are doing damage.?

5 reasons to start planning your feral hog hunt:?

  1. Challenging quarry
  2. You can hunt them anytime
  3. No bag limit
  4. They're a problem and need to be removed?
  5. Good on the table ? check out our video Going Hog Wild?

For tips on hunting hogs, see the Texas Park & Wildlife magazine story Hog Wild,?by Hunter Education Coordinator Steve Hall.


Bighorn sheep and white-tailed buck license plates, link

CWD Update

Buck and doe looking at camera

Chronic Wasting Disease?(CWD) is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk in some parts of Texas.?

This year CWD was?discovered in a free-range deer in?Bexar County?for the first time; it was also found in deer breeding facilities in Sutton, Zavala, Washington, Gonzales, Frio and Hamilton counties for the first time. Find out more about recent detection from our press releases.?

We are working together with Texas Animal Health Commission to determine the extent of the disease within the facilities, and to evaluate risks to Texas? free-range deer populations.

CWD poses great risks to our native deer populations, both captive and free-range alike.?We are doing all we can to arrest the further spread of this disease, including running an extensive ad campaign this summer to create more CWD awareness among hunters and the general public.?

If you harvest white-tailed deer, mule deer or elk within a designated?CWD Zone, you're required to bring them to a?check station?within 48 hours. This allows us to take a sample of the animal and test it for CWD.?Protect Texas Deer. Learn the Facts about CWD.


Big Time Texas Hunt - Enter now, link

Know Someone Who Wants to Learn to Hunt?

Adult hunter with doe harvest during TWA-sponsored hunt, link

If you know an adult that's interested in hunting, there are a number of mentored hunting workshops for adults in Texas.?

Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) offers an Adult Learn to Hunt program, which is focused on novice adult hunters interested in conservation hunting and sustainable food sources. If you'd like to share your hunting knowledge, contact them about becoming a volunteer hunt mentor.

If you know someone who would like to learn to hunt, let them know about these programs and help keep our hunting tradition alive for generations to come.

For a first-hand look at the adult experience, see our video A Mentored Hunt.?


A message from our non-profit partner Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation:

Get Away with a Toyota Giveaway

Toyota truck giveaway, with link

To celebrate 100 years of Texas State Parks, Toyota and Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation have teamed up to offer a giveaway to help you get away!

One lucky sweepstakes winner will take home a Toyota Tundra prize package that includes everything you need for a Texas outdoor adventure, including a?Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, plus extras from YETI, Solo Stove, PAKMULE, Tecovas, SWAROVSKI OPTIK, Turtlebox, PECOS Outdoor and more.

Make a $25 donation here to support 100 years of Texas State Parks between May 1 and Oct. 22, 2023, and you will be automatically entered. Visit LetsGo100.org for complete details and sweepstakes rules.


Messages from a Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine advertisers:

Safari Club Sporting Clays Oct. 5, with link

Safari Club enter to win hunts, with link

The Hunt Texas newsletter is made possible in part
by the generous support of Toyota.?

Toyota Tundra, with link
Toyota

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