One way to make the holidays special is to serve a meal that includes your wild harvest. So we've gathered together some of our favorite tested recipes for you to try.

Everyone will love these easy Tex-Mex favorites: Wild Hog Tacos, Dove Carnitas, and Cottontail Carnitas. Find new takes on venison and quail in the magazine story, Wild in the Kitchen with Matt Martinez. If you're ready to up your game, try this recipe for smoked teal. And if you want to keep it simple, cooking show host Christopher Kimball shares the best ways to cook different types of wild protein. 

For more inspiration, listen to our podcast episode, Culinary Weekend, and hear chef Jesse Griffiths discuss how cooking and eating wild game helps connect people to nature. Then enjoy a happy holiday season with your family, friends and good, wild foods.

Today's hunters enjoy abundant whitetails, but not long ago this iconic species was nearly wiped out. It wasn't until the early 1900's that the ethic of "wise use" and scientific management were applied to wildlife, and the slow return of whitetails began. 

For more than 50 years, TPWD was involved in trapping and relocating whitetails to areas with small deer populations. It worked, and today deer are once again found in nearly every Texas county.

The whitetail's triumph as a species is a real wildlife management success story. Read the Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine story, The State of Whitetails to find out what it took to bring them back from the brink, and the methods we're now using to maintain a robust deer population.

If you use tree stands, be careful. Falling from a tree stand is the #1 hunting accident in North America that's not related to firearms.

If you use tree stands, or might in the future: 

1. Use a good climbing system
2. Use a harness while in the stand
3. Use a line to haul your equipment in AND out

Also be sure you have 3 points of contact when you're using the ladder or climbing into the stand. Watch our short  video, Tree Stand Safety for more tips on how to safely use one. Then take the free tree stand safety course. Enjoy tree stands, but avoid any unplanned exits.

Texas hunters are now allowed to use air guns. Far from being BB guns, air guns must be powered by separate compressed air tanks and propel a projectile at least 800 feet per second. 

Air guns function more like a muzzleloader or crossbow than a centerfire rifle; the projectile is slower than a rifle bullet and it won't expand like a bullet. Shot placement is critical to minimize wounding loss, so it's very important to regularly sight in an air gun. 

If you plan to hunt with one of these high-powered tools, familiarize yourself with its capabilities prior to going afield, and practice at closer distances than you would with a centerfire rifle.

Read our magazine story, Big Bore Air Guns, for more about their history and user experience. You'll find air gun regulations in the Outdoor Annual.

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) is a bill that will give Texas more than $50 million each year for conservation of at-risk wildlife – including pronghorn and pintail ducks – if it passes. The funds would come from existing revenues, without any new taxes. 

Support for RAWA is growing, and last week the bill passed out of the House of Natural Resources committee and will now move to the house floor with 162 bipartisan sponsors. But it may not pass unless people who care about our wildlife, people like you, take action. Contact your U.S. Representatives, and tell them you expect their support of RAWA. #RecoverWildlife