AUSTIN The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) announced the winners of this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts (BTTH).
TPWD has notified the 14 winners of their random selection from the pool of 154,032 entries, which raised more than $1.39 million to support wildlife research, habitat management and public hunting across the state. The BTTH projects webpage lists specific examples of how the funds support TPWD’s mission.
“Big Time Texas Hunts continues to be an important conservation fundraiser for TPWD, and we greatly appreciate the support of our Texas hunters who purchase entries each year,” Kelly Edmiston, TPWD public hunting coordinator, said in a news release. “If a hunter is lucky enough to win, they will experience the hunt of a lifetime. If they don’t win, they can feel good knowing the funds from their entry go directly to wildlife conservation and public access projects on public hunting lands in Texas.”
Kevin Hirt, of Garden City, won the newly added Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure, a challenging free-range hunt with professional guides for a mature male ram in the Chihuahuan Desert. A portion of the proceeds from this hunt goes directly to desert bighorn sheep restoration and research efforts. Hunting aoudad positively impacts bighorn sheep by lowering the number of competitors and reducing the spread of disease and grazing pressure on the habitat.
Winners from other categories include:
- Big Time Bird Hunt – James Sanford, Brenham
- Exotic Safari – Stephen Reid, Odessa
- Gator Hunt – Roger Wooley, Graham
- Nilgai Antelope Safari – Christopher Shrum, Canyon Lake
- Premium Buck Hunt – Larry Tatom, Kingsland
- Texas Grand Slam – Lynn Betts, Pleasant View, UT
- Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt – Robert Pennington, Bulverde
- Whitetail Bonanza – Curtis Luchak, Freeport; Cynthia Day, Wolfforth; Jeffrey Manley, Houston; Sandra Compton, Santa Fe; Winfred Menzel, Fort Worth
- Wild Hog Adventure – Douglas Carvan, Cedar Creek
“We want to congratulate the winners, but also thank all the hunters who bought an entry, and the outfitters and TPWD wildlife biologists who created and executed the hunts,” said Janis Johnson, TPWD marketing manager. “This year we added a new hunt, the Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure, which generated a lot of interest. The Big Time Bird Hunt saw the addition of wildlife game chef, Jesse Griffiths, to the turkey hunt as a guide and chef and was a tremendous hit with Texas hunters.”
Entries for next year’s Big Time Texas Hunts go on sale May 15.
Big Time Texas Hunts is made possible with support from Toyota and the Texas Bighorn Society.
