Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has added bonuses for winners as it opens entries for this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts, offering some of the best hunting opportunities on Texas private ranches and public lands.
This year, for the first time, TPWD added bonus gifts to nearly half of its 10 premium guided hunt packages.
“In our 29th 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,” said Kevin Mote, TPWD private lands and public hunting program director. “Revenue generated from the sale of BTTH entries provides funding for wildlife habitat work, improves the quality of public hunts and covers the cost of next year’s hunts.”
Among the most popular hunts: the Texas Grand Slam, giving one lucky winner four separate big-game hunts, desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and desert mule deer. Another popular hunt, the Exotic Safari, offers the winner and a guest a chance to hunt gemsbok and scimitar-horned oryx at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt offers a three-to five-day hunt for mature mule deer in the Texas Panhandle.
The Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure has also returned for its second year, offering a challenging free-range hunt for a mature male ram in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Additionally, winners from four of these hunts will receive a unique bonus gift.
“Adding valuable bonuses to the hunts will, we hope, inspire more people to participate in this popular fundraiser,” said Janis Johnson, TPWD marketing manager. “We are so thankful to Allens Boots, Redneck Blinds and Los Cazadores for their generous donations to the program for our winners.”
Bonus gifts include:
- Custom-fitted boots, a $2,000 value, made from the alligator harvested during the Gator Hunt
- The winner of the Premium Buck Hunt will receive a 6 by 6 foot portable deer blind, valued at $825.
- $500 of the ammunition of choice for the winner of the Big Time Bird Hunt
- $500 hunting clothes package from Los Cazadores for the winner of the Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure
Since inception in 1998, Big Time Texas Hunt participants have helped raise more than $22.7 million to fund wildlife research, habitat conservation and public hunting access. The 2024-25 hunting season raised $1.39 million and was the fifth year in a row with gross revenue exceeding $1 million.
Conservation efforts funded by Big Time Texas Hunts include desert bighorn sheep restoration work in West Texas, thousands of acres of brush control work across the state for the benefit of species like mule deer, pronghorn and quail and multiple grassland restoration projects. Public hunting efforts include the funding of numerous public hunting leases and the purchase of hunting equipment such as ADA-accessible blinds for several Wildlife Management Areas.
Big Time Texas Hunts entries are available online for $9 each, at license retailers or by calling (800) 895-4248 for $10 each. The deadline to purchase entries is October 15 and winners will be announced within two weeks.