SPRING BRANCH, Texas — If you've ever been to a Texas State Park, you have no doubt seen a magnificent buck and thought, "Man, I'd like to get a shot at him!"
Once a year, some people get that chance.
Every year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department holds "draw hunt." You sign up for whatever hunt you'd like, send in a small registration fee, then a lottery is held to see who wins those hunts.
December 4 and 5, Guadalupe River State Park will close to the public for its annual Youth Hunt. This allows kids ages 8 to 16-years-old to hunt. "This is an opportunity the average person in Texas doesn't get," said Lead Park Ranger Mark Pearson.
He said, "The whitetail herd here is pretty healthy, but we have too many exotics." The park has a huge herd of axis deer, some mouflon, aoudad, occasional sitka, but the biggest problem is the wild hogs.
Pearson said the hunt allows hunters to take one antlered buck, but as many exotics as they want. In fact, even after you kill your buck, you can still hunt all three days and take as many exotics as you'd like.
The most important thing Pearson said is to manage the quality of the animals in the park. The park will close to the public at 10 p.m. Dec. 3 through Dec. 9.
The only people allowed in will be the selected hunters.
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