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Premium guided hunts fund wildlife projects, hunting access
AUSTIN — Big Time Texas Hunts is launching its new season with 10 premium guided hunt packages, offering some of the best hunting experiences in Texas, including a new chance to take an aoudad ram in the Trans-Pecos region.
In addition to the annual suite of offerings, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has added several new categories to its conservation fundraising drawing.
New this year, the Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure offers a challenging free-range hunt for a mature male ram in the Chihuahuan Desert amidst the fabled Texas Trans-Pecos region.
“In our 28th year, we are extremely excited to continue offering hunters an affordable chance at once-in-a-lifetime hunting opportunities and raising important wildlife conservation funding at the same time,” Janis Johnson said, TPWD’s marketing manager.
Additionally, acclaimed wild-game chef, hunter and author Jesse Griffiths will join the Big Time Bird Hunt. Griffiths will lead the turkey hunt and provide a private cooking lesson to the winner.
The Big Time Bird Hunt includes three hunts in different locations – two afternoons of dove hunting with three guests, a goose and duck hunt with three guests and a three-to-five-day turkey hunt with one guest.
Popular hunts in this year’s drawing include the Texas Grand Slam, where one winner will claim four separate big game hunts and go out for desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and desert mule deer. Another sought-after hunt, the Exotic Safari, offers a chance to hunt gemsbok and scimitar- horned oryx at the Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
The Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt, another featured package, provides a threeto- five-day hunt for mature mule deer in the Texas Panhandle.
Big Time Texas Hunt participants have helped raise more than $21.3 million over 27 years to support wildlife research, habitat conservation and public hunting access. The 202324 season raised more than $1.3 million, marking the fourth consecutive year with sales exceeding $1 million.
Conservation projects funded by Big Time Texas Hunts include desert bighorn sheep restoration in West Texas, grassland restoration efforts and thousands of acres of brush control work across the state to benefit species like mule deer, pronghorn and quail.
Public hunting initiatives include the funding of numerous public hunting leases and the purchase of hunting equipment like Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible blinds for Wildlife Management Areas.
“Revenue generated from the sale of BTTH entries cover the cost of next year’s hunts, provides funding for wildlife habitat work and improves the quality of public hunts across the state,” Kevin Mote said, the department’s private lands and public hunting program director.
Big Time Texas Hunts entries are available online for $9 each, at license retailers or by calling 800895-4248 for $10 each. The deadline to purchase entries is Oct. 15, with winners announced within two weeks.
