By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter
For years, the Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) has provided opportunities for youth to learn how to hunt in a safe, educational guided experience. Now, TWA has expanded its program to meet a vital need in the adult population, as well.
It’s called the Adult Learn to Hunt Program.
“Texas Wildlife Association’s mission is to advocate on behalf of private landowners and establish their ethical relationship with the land,” Dr. Matt Hughes, program director, said. “The Adult Learn to Hunt Program targets adults to teach them the skills of hunting, as well as broaden their understanding of how hunting can be used in a conservation mindset to manage populations and to have a healthy habitat.”
The mentored hunts are typically three days and two nights and consist of firearm training and safety, harvest shot placement techniques and instruction on skinning, butchering and cooking wild game.
“They’ll come out Friday around noon. We go through, get the camp set up and then we go through gun safety practices. Usually all Friday night, Friday evening, we’re talking about conservation and hunting and how it plays a role in the landscape. We’re talking about safety, and we’re talking about ethics. We’re kind of giving this big understanding of what hunting is and how it’s shaped in Texas,” Hughes said. “Then Saturday morning, they’ll hunt for the first time. Ideally if they have something that they’ve killed, we bring it back. We harvest the meat, and we teach them how to butcher that animal.”
The program is based on the Texas Youth Hunting Program model.
“We’ll show priority to people who have never hunted before, but if they’ve hunted once or had very limited understanding of hunting and the aspects of that, then they’re eligible, as well,” Hughes said. “We don’t really have an age range. This is an adult program, so we’re looking at mostly 18 and up.”
Most of the hunts will be for white-tailed deer, but there will also be hunts for feral swine, upland game birds and a few exotics.
“Ideally, (the hunts) are all over the state. Now, we are subject to private landowners offering up their property to do things,” Hughes said. “We are always looking for landowners, so anyone who’s (reading) this right now and has white-tailed deer or feral hogs and would like to get involved with helping adults learn to hunt, we would love to chat with you guys about opening up different properties across the state because the more diverse the land that we can offer, the better experiences for everyone that participates.”
Landowners who are interested in supporting the program by allowing a hunt on their property should contact Hughes at mhughes@texas-wildlife.org.
The application for the Adult Learn to Hunt program is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfs5xjT2H3l_G3DUk2_SOvNJOQtodYqetGE1Bn0pIGsJoPjTw/viewform.
If selected, participants must be a current TWA associate member or above. All hunters must have a valid Texas hunting license and have proof of a completed Hunter Education course.