A Desert Bighorn hunt (not just a tag) is up for grabs as part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s “Big Time Texas Hunts” raffle program again this year. The winner of the "Texas Grand Slam" raffle package will receive four separate hunts. One of those hunts is for a Desert Bighorn ram and will take place on one of Texas' outstanding Wildlife Management Areas; Elephant Mountain, Sierra Diablo or Black Gap. Entries are only $10 each but you must purchase your entry (or entries, as there is no limit on the number you may purchase) by Wednesday, November 1, 2006.

The webpage to start at for additional information is: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/btth/grandslam.phtml

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From: http://www.theeagle.com/stories/092006/sports_20060920049.php

Updated 7:30 AM on Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Williams: State's hunt raffle pays off for winners

By MATT WILLIAMS
Special to the Eagle


George Schultz is a 66-year-old retired school teacher from Bullard who had to return to the classroom in order to scratch out a living. He has never considered himself to be very lucky at anything.

Schultz's luck changed in a big way last November. That's when a message came across his classroom desk summoning him to the principal's office.

"I'll never forget it," said Schultz, a special education teacher in Jacksonville. "I was sitting at my desk when the message came. I felt just like a kid. I was thinking, 'Well, I wonder what I've done now?'"

When Schultz arrived at the principal's office, he was told he had an important phone call waiting. There was a representative from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on the line who had some good news to share.

Minutes later, Schultz learned he was the winner of the 2005-06 Texas Grand Slam lottery in TPWD's popular Big Time Hunts program. The program offers hunters chances to win all-expense-paid premium hunts in seven different categories.

Chances can be purchased for $10. There is no limit on the number of chances you can buy.

Valued at more than $100,000, the Texas Grand Slam is considered to be the creme de la creme of the Big Time Hunt list. The package includes four separate big game hunts for white-tailed deer, mule deer, antelope and desert bighorn sheep.

Each hunt is all-inclusive with food, guides, lodging and taxidermy provided. The winner also gets to bring along a nonhunting companion to join in the fun. Needless to say, it's a neat deal.

The sheep hunt is a serious bonus to the Texas Grand Slam package. That's because TPWD issues only a handful of bighorn permits annually. Bidders have paid in excess of $100,000 for one sheep permit at fundraising auctions.

Schultz's name was drawn from the 19,605 chances sold for the Texas Grand Slam last year. Those are pretty slim odds, especially when taking into account he spent only $10 to put his name in the hat once. Schultz also bought single chances in the Texas Premium Hunt, Texas Exotic Safari and Texas Whitetail Bonanza categories.

"I've been buying chances in the Big Time Hunt lottery since it started, but I have never won anything," Schultz said. "I had forgotten all about entering until I got the phone call. Winning came as a total surprise."

The notification caught Schultz so off guard, in fact, that he had to scramble to locate a rifle to use on the hunts.

"I had recently lost my deer lease, and I sold my rifle," he said. "The school superintendent loaned me his rifle to get me out of the bind."

Schultz used the .270 to take a 4x3 mule deer in Pecos County just after Thanksgiving. Then he borrowed his brother-in-law's .243 to shoot a whitetail buck in Hall County.

He completed the golden leg of the Texas Grand Slam in June, when he traveled to the TPWD's Elephant Mountain wildlife management area in Brewster County. He shot a bighorn ram that totalled a gross score of 164 3/8 Boone and Crockett points.

There are seven herds of free-ranging desert bighorn currently in Texas.

The 23,000-acre Elephant Mountain WMA supports around 120 animals. WMA manager Mike Pittman of Alpine estimated Schultz's ram was 12 years old.

"He was definitely an old man," Schultz said of the ram. "He hardly had any teeth left in his head."

Shultz is preparing for what could be the most challenging hunt of his Texas Grand Slam menu. He heads to Fort Hancock in early October to hunt pronghorn antelope in Hudspeth County. Antelope are open-range critters with eagle eyes that can spot a rat from a mile.

"I am really looking forward to it," Shultz said. "This whole deal has been a real neat experience."

Tom Roughton can relate.

Roughton, a 56-year-old homebuilder from Austin, received a similar phone call last November notifying him he had won the Big Time Hunt's "Texas Premium Buck Hunt Package."

The package included an invitation that allowed him and a guest to participate in a four-day deer hunt on the Caiman Ranch in Encinal. The ranch is in the heart of the state's best big buck country, near the border of La Salle and Webb counties.

Roughton collected a whopper whitetail on the second day of the adventure. The mature 10-pointer grossed 163 B&C points and ranks as the top buck of Roughton's hunting career. His hunting partner, Darrel Miles of Creed, Colo., also was allowed to take a quality buck.

"I don't know how it could have been any better," Roughton said. "The facilities, the food and the guide were all top notch. It was truly the deer hunt of a lifetime."

Roughton said the guide even preserved the memory by recording his trip on video.

"He filmed this deer before I got there and documented everything on video from the start of the hunt to the finish," Roughton said. "It was first class."

Roughton invested a little more in the Big Time Hunt lottery than Schultz did. He bought eight chances for $80.

Roughton is convinced eight is his lucky number, and obviously, he's right.

The hunter bought eight chances in the Texas Whitetail Bonanza in 2004 and came away a winner in that category as well.

"It probably doesn't mean anything," Roughton said of relying on lucky No. 8. "But in my mind I figured, 'What the heck - why change a good thing?' I'm buying eight chances every year from here on out."

Not surprisingly, Roughton and Schultz already have anted up in the 2006-07 Texas Big Time lotto. The chances went on sale August 15, along with current hunting and fishing licenses. Deadline for entry is November 1.

Winners in all categories will be selected within two weeks after the entry deadline by a random computer drawing. Hunt dates are arranged between TPWD and the hunt provider.

Contest rules say acceptance of the package must be made within five business days of notification, or it will be offered to an alternate. Winners are allowed to reassign the package to an immediate family member, or a youth hunter 8 to 16 years old, pending approval by TPWD executive director, Bob Cook. However, no packages may be "sold" to another hunter.

The Big Time Hunts concept has proven to be a serious money maker for TPWD. Last year's program generated more than $750,000 in revenue for the state agency.

The money is tagged for use in conservation projects, wildlife management and bolstering public hunting opportunities in Texas. In exchange, the hunting public gets the opportunity to win some neat hunting trips that many people could not otherwise afford.

There are seven categories hunters can enter. The different hunts are for a wide range of game animals including whitetail deer, mule deer, antelope, exotics, wild turkey, ducks, geese, quail, dove, pheasant and alligators. Some of the hunts allow winners to bring along a hunting companion.

Hunters can enter each category as many times as they like, with each chance costing $10.

The chances can be purchased wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold, by mail, with a credit card over the Internet at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/btth or by phone at 1-800-895-4248.

Individuals must be at least 17 years old to purchase entries. Hunt participants must be at least 8 years old.

• Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. His e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.


TEXAS BIG TIME HUNT

Here's a look at the 2006-07 Texas Big Time Hunt menu, along with tentative schedules, according to TPWD listings:

• Texas Grand Slam: One winner of four separate big game hunts, with a nonhunting companion.

Schedule: Mule deer and white-tailed deer hunts will be taken during the fall or winter 2006-07; desert bighorn sheep during fall or winter 2006-07, or as determined by the availability of the next harvestable sheep; pronghorn antelope, fall 2007.

• Texas Exotic Safari: Two winners of a hunt for super-exotics; each winner can bring a hunting guest.
Schedule: January or February 2007.

• Texas Whitetail Bonanza: 10 winners of a hunt for a buck white-tailed deer; each winner can bring one hunting guest.
Schedule: Fall and winter 2006-07.

• Texas Premium Buck Hunt: One winner of a hunt for a premium buck white-tailed deer (160 B&C class), with one hunting guest.
Schedule: Fall and winter 2006-07.

• Texas Waterfowl Adventure: One winner of three separate hunts for waterfowl.
Schedule: Fall and winter 2006-07.

• Texas Big Time Bird Hunt: One winner of four separate hunts for upland game birds; up to three hunting guests on each hunt.
Schedule: Quail and pheasant, fall and winter 2006-07; turkey, spring 2007; dove, fall 2007.

• Texas Gator Hunt: One winner of a hunt for an alligator, with one hunting guest.
Schedule: September 2007.

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Another article on the same subject is at: http://www.theorangecountynews.com/news/2006/0920/Outdoors/013.html

A photo of the Desert Bighorn ram taken on the above discussed hunt is also available at the above link.

Just a reminder that the deadline for getting in on this particular raffle is drawing near: Midnight on the evening of Wednesday, November 1, 2006.

The webpage to start at for additional information is: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/btth/grandslam.phtml[/quote]

From: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/btth/

And the winner is: Danny Bennett - Victoria, TX