Mired in what will undoubtedly be one of the worst droughts on record, white-tailed deer in Texas are facing tough conditions heading into the fall hunting season.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC), the world championship of professional bass fishing, announced its final field of competitors today. The three-day event, to be held on Lake Conroe, combines the top Professional Anglers Association members from the Walmart FLW Tour, Bassmaster Elite Series and Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series.

Effective September 1, some Texas reservoirs will have different fish-harvest regulations. One is Lake Kirby, where the 12-inch minimum length and 25-fish daily bag limit for blue and channel catfish was changed to a NO minimum length limit and daily bag limit of 50 blue or channel catfish in any combination.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission today approved $5.6 million in competitive grants for city and county parks across the state. Commissioners chose 12 out of 52 eligible grant requests for outdoor recreation facilities funding.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Inland Fisheries biologist Michael Baird of Waco sometimes thinks he’s heard it all—until the next fish story reaches his ears.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be conducting a free Hunter Education New Instructor Training Workshop September 17, 2011 in Mount Pleasant, Texas. Workshop will begin at 8:00am – 5:00pm at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Law Enforcement Regional Office located at 212 S. Johnson.

Fishing and hunting licenses go on sale in Texas August 15, and hunters and anglers will be lining up to buy. Many will also pick up a copy of the latest Texas and Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) publication summarizing Texas hunting and fishing regulations, the Outdoor Annual.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be conducting a free hunter education new instructor training workshop Saturday, August 13, 2011, in Waco. The workshop will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Dewey Recreation Center, 925 N. 9th Street.

As experts nervously watch mounting threats of record drought in Texas, several truths are evident: (1) when water won’t fall from the sky, what comes out of the ground is critical, (2) there are important things people can do to prepare to weather a drought, but when you’re in one the only quick fix is rain and (3) there are still parks, lakes and spring-fed rivers with water where folks can beat the dry heat.

At the very tip of South Texas in Estero Llano Grande State Park, Christopher Sandoval stands at a trail head waiting for visitors. Sandoval is interning this summer with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.