Father and son Sean and Adriel Lee head out on a dark January morning to set up for their duck hunt at Purtis Creek State Park. Their headlamps illuminate the darkness. For duck hunters, an early morning start is a common part of the experience.
“Are you ready, buddy?” Sean asks. “I'm ready to get some ducks,” Adriel replies.
The Lees were accompanied by Northeast Texas Ecosystem Project Leader Chris Farrell on this mentored waterfowl hunt conducted by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, designed to introduce newcomers to the sport.
“For many people this is the first time they have ever even held a gun or bow, and some of them are pretty nervous about it. Our goal is to give them the tools they need in a very low-stress environment to be a confident, competent and ethical hunter,” says Heidi Bailey, longtime TPWD hunt coordinator for Purtis Creek State Park.
Breaking into hunting can be difficult — especially if you don't have an experienced family member or friend to teach you. TPWD offers mentored hunting programs to bridge that gap. Participants attend a one- to two-day workshop where they learn about the species they will be hunting, gear needed for the hunt, laws and ethics, and places to hunt. After the classroom portion of the course, students typically head out to the field to do some shooting and learn how to set up blinds and decoys. With the completion of the workshop, participants are eligible to go on a guided hunt at a TPWD state park or wildlife management area with a designated mentor.
For the Purtis Creek program, TPWD conducts a workshop in December and a mentored hunt in January. As the fog rises above the park's 355-acre lake, the Lees trade shots at the ducks from their position on the shore. Sean Lee offers commentary and encouragement during the hunt:
“OK, that one right there. You take it.”
“There you go. Got one. He got one.
Nice!”
“They're coming, they're coming. Shoot!”
“We're seeing a lot of action today.”
“If I was a better shot, I'd have my limit by now.”
The workshop and hunts, while available to both youth and adults, are geared toward getting adults out in the field since youth have a multitude of hunting programs available.
“We realized that some of the adults coming didn't have any more experience than the kids,” Bailey says. “My hat's off to them for taking their kid hunting, but you worry a little when you see them pulling the price tag off the brand new gun they've never shot prior to heading out on the hunt.”
Bailey saw an opportunity to provide assistance to novice adult hunters. “My goal in putting on this workshop and these hunts every year is to give hunters as full of a toolbox as we can in a couple of days time to where they have the knowledge and skills go out on their own, harvest a couple of ducks and be safe doing it,” she says.
In Sean's case, he had participated in the workshop several years earlier with his daughter, Abigail, and hoped to return with his son, Adriel.
“It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my son and me, and we made memories that will last a lifetime,” Sean says.
In addition to Purtis Creek, several state parks and wildlife management areas conduct mentored hunts for adults, including Inks Lake, Brazos Bend and San Angelo state parks and Old Sabine Bottom and Gus Engeling WMAs. Find more information at tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/mentored_hunting_workshops.
