In This Issue:
 It’s time to plan your autumn hunts because dates have been set for the 2016-2017 season. They include a dove season of 90 days, which is the longest in 80 years! The traditional opening date of Sept. 1 remains the same, but an additional 20 days will push dove hunting season into January. We’re currently conducting dove surveys for this year and we’ll let you know the forecast once they’re done.
You’ll find all the season dates online, so start planning today for what should be an outstanding season.
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 Now’s the time - enter online to win any of this season’s Drawn Hunts. Here's what’s new for the 2016-2107 season:
- New primo Private Lands Dove hunts
- Hunts on U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuges
- Many more E-postcard hunts on public lands
- More hunt positions and areas than ever before
You can browse hunts by category or location and apply multiple times in the same category. Keep an eye on the deadline dates and get your entries in by 11:59 p.m. CST on the day of your category deadline. The cost of each entry ranges from $0 to $10. Youth hunts are always free, but you must apply for them in order to win. Don’t miss out, apply today!
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A message from our sponsor:
A number of changes have been made to this year’s deer hunting regulations. These include:
- Expanding white-tailed deer hunting into 14 counties in the Panhandle
- Creating additional deer hunting opportunities in East Texas
Find more details about all the new changes to deer hunting regulations online.
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 Is a premium guided hunt your kind of adventure? Then enter Big Time Texas Hunts for a chance to hunt on some of the finest private ranches and wildlife management areas in Texas. Each of the 9 different hunt packages include food, lodging and guide service.
The big daddy of them all is the Texas Grand Slam, which will take one lucky winner on 4 separate hunts for bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and desert mule deer. Hunters can also apply for packages with unique game, like the Exotic Safari, Wild Hog Adventure and Gator Hunt, as well as small game packages like the Waterfowl Adventure and Big Time Bird Hunt.
The Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt was added for the first time last year, and you can see the results in the photo. The winner harvested the largest scoring mule deer ever taken from a Texas Wildlife Management Area, at 232 0/8 gross and 226 2/8 net. The Premium Buck Hunt and Whitetail Bonanza are two more deer-themed packages that are always popular.
October 15 is the entry deadline. You can enter online online for $9*, by mail, phone or at retail outlets for $10. Enter as many times as you like, it’s for a good cause - your entry fee will go directly to support wildlife conservation and public hunting in Texas.
*Please note that a $5 administrative fee is charged for each online transaction, but you can purchase unlimited entries or licenses in a single transaction and pay only one fee.
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 Do you need to do a little warm-up before dove season? Or perhaps you’re new to hunting and want to become a better shotgun shooter. This short video demonstrates these 3 everyday exercises that can help you improve:
- The flashlight drill – teaches proper mount, point and swing
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The 3-bullet drill – improves focus while mounting shotgun
- Mounting – teaches fluid gun mount from different positions
This will be the longest dove season in 80 years, and one of the most important skills while hunting dove is staying within your safe zone-of-fire. Always be aware of your surroundings and wary of birds that fly low or fly between you and your fellow hunters. Practice your shotgun skills, including shooting within a safe zone-of-fire, and you’ll be ready for a successful and safe season.
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 For over 100 years Texas Game Wardens have been protecting the wildlife and citizens of Texas. Now, their law-enforcement exploits are getting national exposure with the premiere of reality series Lone Star Law on Animal Planet. It airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. CDT. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the sneak preview.
We’ve also got the latest Game Warden Field Notes. This month’s stories include: a goat stuck in Rio Grande River mud, a rescue from a rollover in a ravine, using night vision to catch the bad guys, and a man with a pitbull in his lap guarding the illicit contents of his underwear. To keep up with what the wardens are up to as it happens, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
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 From Twitter: This five-year old got his first turkey this year – what a smile! For the latest Texas hunting news, follow TPWD Hunt on Twitter.
And for safe, fun ways to introduce your child to hunting, check out the Texas Youth Hunting Program. It offers instructive and introductory youth hunts for a variety of species. There are also special youth-only hunting seasons.
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The Hunt Texas e-newsletter is made possible in part
by the generous support of Toyota.
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