Texas Outdoor Nation Kudos

I just picked up my May issue and was so excited to see the Texas Outdoor Nation section. There is definitely something special about Texas and you at Texas Fish & Game have tapped into it. The way you presented the Texas independent spirit was great, and I look forward to seeing more of what you have to bring to the table with this concept.

Rocky Drew

I’m seceding with you! Great job on the Texas Outdoor Nation column and the new section of the magazine. Makes me proud to be a member.

Juan Gonzalez

Settle This Argument

Dear Chester, can you please help settle a long-standing argument I have had with a friend. He says there have never been grizzly bears in Texas. I say there have been. Who is right?

Caleb Harris

EDITOR: Caleb—you are correct. Grizzlies have not been here for a long time but they once lived out in the Trans Pecos region of the state. The last grizzly known to live in Texas was killed in 1900. This was documented in a 1948 edition of Texas Game and Fish, not to be confused with Texas Fish & Game.

Thanks to TFG

I want to personally thank the Texas Fish & Game staff for all of the hard work they do putting out by far the best outdoor magazine I have come across. I cannot imagine someone picking up the magazine and not enjoying it. You have so much to offer for the complete sportsman from the expert to the novice. Whether I am laughing with Reavis Wortham, getting fired up for the hunt with Ted Nugent or learning the deep things of the outdoors with Chester Moore I just cannot put the magazine down. It is obvious you love what you do and the fact that you keep doing it consistently is inspiring to us out there. Please keep up the great work.

Carol Lindsey

EDITOR: Wow! Would you like to become our PR representative? What a great endorsement. We do love getting the best information to you and appreciate the overwhelmingly positive feedback we get. We are grateful for all of you who make what we do possible.

Texas-Sized Problems

Dear Chester, what do you think is the biggest problem facing the outdoors lover in Texas today? I am mainly interested in the hunting side of things although I am an avid fisherman. It just seems like there are so many things coming against hunting, it is hard not to question the future.

JR Reynolds

EDITOR: We covered this very topic last year in an article called “The Demographics Bomb” and a lot of it has to do with the growing population of the state. We can’t blame people for wanting to move here but it does change things.

I think the biggest problem is a combination of two issues-a shrinking amount of available hunting land and rising prices. We are not too far off from having a “king’s deer” situation where only the rich will be able to hunt. South Texas is out of the price range for the average guy, and has been that way for 25 years. The Hill Country is getting there and even East Texas leases have risen dramatically.

For the average guy who works 40 hours a week and hunts a few times a year, access to quality hunting land is a growing problem and this will be noticed more as development chews up forests and a continually devalued dollar and rising prices on lease fees go up, up and eventually away from most of us. I don’t know the time window but for sure in 20 years, the Texas hunting landscape will be radically different.