by John Jefferson

A WHITE-TAILED BUCK DEER with antlers still in velvet seems to be contemplating the changing season in late August. In September, the velvet will be rubbed off in preparation for the mating season and the inevitable fights for territory and mating partners. (Photo © John Jefferson)

As Clint Eastwood once famously uttered, “Are ya feeling lucky?”

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has announced its public hunting program. It’s pretty vast.

Hunts are awarded by lottery-type drawing. That’s where luck comes into play. I tried to get comparative applicant numbers from the Texas Lottery, but they flatly denied my inquiry, telling me I’d have to file an open records request, and hung up on me. My luck in reaching the public hunt administrator at TPWD was a lot better. He tells me the public drawn hunts bring in 155,611 applications and the “Grand Slam” hunt and the “Big Time Texas Hunts” bring in another 83,965 apps.

TPWD posts the number of previous applicants for hunts in its online hunt catalogue. Online is now the only way to apply. (No computer? Try libraries or cell phone.) You may only apply once annually for a hunt area but may apply for numerous areas. I apply for the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area either-sex deer hunt. It’s the most popular hunt in their stable since the Chap is known for large, South Texas whitetail bucks. The drawn hunt catalogue says 4,149 hunters applied for it last year, and 26 were successfully drawn. (A “group” may include up to four hunters.) TPWD awards a “loyalty point” each time a hunter applies unsuccessfully. They tell me I now have the most loyalty points of anyone who applied last year – somewhere in the mid-20s. And I’ve never been drawn for a whitetail buck hunt. But I’m guessing that the odds are still better than the Texas Lottery, and much better than the chance of getting struck by lightning. A friend applied one time and was drawn, though, so it can happen.

Some luckily drawn hunters, however, can’t make the hunts each year, and TPWD accepts “stand-by” applicants. Stand-bys have to show up at the start of the hunt and names are drawn. The odds of that are much better; I have been drawn as a stand-by for two doe hunts and one buck hunt. Hunt fees range from $130 for places like the Chap down to $80 for less popular pastures. Other species hunts are less, and include practically every game species in Texas, including a bighorn ram. Some youth-only doe hunts are free. Google “Texas Parks and Wildlife Drawn Hunts”. Deadlines are near!

But, wait; a $10 Grand Slam entry could take you on FOUR hunts — for a whitetail, a mule deer, a pronghorn, AND a bighorn! Food, lodging, guides and taxidermy are included. Larry Holland was the first winner in 1996. He told me he took his kids to buy school supplies and they saw a poster about the Slam. Money was tight, and he declined. They insisted, knowing how he lived to hunt. He put one $10 chance on his credit card. And WON! It became an extraordinary experience.

Like Larry, you, too, could get lucky, and go on the hunt of a lifetime.

But you gotta apply, first.

JJ