Why Texas Is An Outdoor Nation

We call the outdoors scene in this great state “Texas Outdoor Nation” for a reason. Texas is not only like a country unto itself geographically but it is also totally unique in diversity, innovation and just plain cool.

Here are some facts and figures that should make you happy to live here or want to get here as fast as you can.

#Depending on range conditions Texas is home to between 3.5 and 5 million whitetail deer. That is by far the largest in the United States.

#Texas was the first state to have saltwater hatcheries and remains the innovator in the field of producing redfish, speckled trout and now southern flounder.

#The Texas state record all-tackle alligator garfish (302 pounds) also stands as the world record.

#We are home to bass fishing champions. Rick Clunn, Larry Nixon, Tommy Martin and Alton Jones are either from Texas or lived here during their championship reigns. Recently B.A.S.S. legend and Classic champ Denny Brauer moved to Texas to spend more time on his beloved Lake Amistad.

#Texas may have the image throughout the national media to be a dry, desolate land but in fact much of the state is forest. In fact Texas now ranks only behind Alaska as having forestland with a whopping 60 million acres. East Texas alone has 12 million acres of property considered timber.

#Exotic hunting originated in Texas with the import of blackbuck antelope, axis deer, aoudad sheep another species by private holdings like the YO Ranch. There are currently 35 huntable exotic species here with populations of certain species skyrocketing. Free-ranging axis deer (those outside of high fences) are flourishing in Kerr, Uvalde, Real, Medina and Bandera Counties.

#At the time of this writing there have been 564 largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more donated to the Sharelunker Program. This program was founded in 1986. The lake with the most Sharelunkers is Lake Fork which represents nearly half of all entries.

#Speaking of Texas-sized bass, state officials have a program called “Operation World Record” that seeks to create a world record largemouth here. They do much of the research at a secret facility called “Lake X” in the blogosphere but in reality the Luminant Project Lake where a lake has been stocked only with Sharelunker fingerlings.

#Waterfowl hunting is a big deal here. According to Ducks Unlimited officials, just about every county in Texas produced at least one band recovery. However, the counties located along the Texas coast reported the most band recoveries. The top five counties were 1. Jefferson, 2. Fort Bend, 3. Wharton, 4.Calhoun and 5. Chambers.

#Texas is tops for turkey. There are more than 500,000 Rio Grande turkey as well as a population of easterns in the Pineywoods. In addition there are a few Merriam’s in the extreme western portion of the state.

#Texas once had its own wolf species. Canis lupus monstrablis, the “Texas Wolf” went extinct by the 1940s but was once common throughout the  Central and northern counties.

#Texas has some unique laws on the books when it comes to guns and wildlife. Did you know it was illegal to shoot a buffalo from a second story hotel window? Seriously.