If you’ve ever dreamed of chasing a desert bighorn across West Texas or calling in spring gobblers on private land with a world-class guide, Big Time Texas Hunts might be your golden ticket. This long-running program from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department isn’t just about trophy animals—it’s about access, adventure, and putting your entry fee toward something that matters.
Started in the late 1990s, the Big Time Texas Hunts program gives everyday hunters a shot at premium guided hunts you’d normally need serious money or connections to get into. For just $9 an entry (or $10 if you’re buying through a license retailer or by phone), you can throw your name in the hat for one of several separate hunts that most folks only read about in magazines.
Entries are open to hunters 17 years of age and older, and winners don’t even need to have a license at the time of entry—just when it’s time to hunt. Drawings take place in mid-October, and if you’re one of the lucky winners of this year, you’ll have five business days to claim the prize. Whether you enter once or a dozen times, every entry funds wildlife habitat work and public access projects across Texas. You can find all the official rules and entry details at tpwd.texas.gov/btth.
Last season, more than 154,000 Big Time Texas Hunts entries were submitted. That helped raise over $1.3 million in gross sales—marking the fourth year in a row the program broke the million-dollar mark. Since it began, it’s brought in more than $21 million, all of it going back into important wildlife conservation funding and public hunting efforts across the state. Each year, the Big Time Texas Hunts program selects 14 winners across its various hunting packages.
That’s not just a feel-good stat. The money supports wildlife habitat conservation and real boots-on-the-ground work: food plots for white-tailed deer, reseeding native grasses, grassland restoration projects, ADA-accessible blinds, brush control, and even invasive species management like wild hog removal. It also helps with desert bighorn sheep restoration, upland game birds management, and the funding of numerous public hunting leases. It’s one of the most important conservation fundraisers in Texas—and it’s all powered by the support of our Texas hunters.
The hunt packages are no joke. The Texas Grand Slam Hunt Package, widely considered the crown jewel of the program, includes guided hunts for four of the state’s most iconic big game animals: desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, white-tailed deer, and desert mule deer. If you’re looking for something different, there’s also the Exotic Safari, a three- to five-day hunt for exotic animals like axis deer, gemsbok, and scimitar-horned oryx on private ranches.
This year, TPWD added the new Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure—a free-range hunt for a mature male ram in the Chihuahuan Desert. It’s rugged, remote, and one of the very best hunting opportunities Texas has to offer. Then there’s the Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt in the Texas Panhandle and the Whitetail Bonanza, one of the most popular hunts year after year. Another standout is the Big Time Bird Hunt, which last year featured a turkey hunt led by wild game chef Jesse Griffiths and included a private cooking lesson.
In total, the Big Time Texas Hunts program offers ten unique packages:
- Texas Grand Slam – Desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, and desert mule deer
- Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt – A mature mule deer buck in the Texas Panhandle
- Whitetail Bonanza – Five winners each receive a high-quality whitetail deer hunt
- Premium Buck Hunt – A trophy white-tailed buck in West Texas
- Exotic Safari – Hunt gemsbok or scimitar-horned oryx at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area
- Gator Hunt – Trophy alligator hunt at J.D. Murphree WMA on the Gulf Coast
- Big Time Bird Hunt – Dove, waterfowl, and turkey hunts, plus a wild game cooking experience
- Wild Hog Adventure – A South Texas hunt for feral hogs
- Trans-Pecos Aoudad Adventure – Free-range hunt for a mature male ram in the Chihuahuan Desert
- Nilgai Antelope Safari – A coastal plains hunt for Nilgai, with a guest spot included
Each hunt includes professional guides, meals, lodging, and on-site transportation. Some allow you to bring a non-hunting guest, and all take place on either private lands or top wildlife management areas.
Tip for Texas Hunters: If you’re planning your own trip—drawn or not—check out Hunterizer. It’s a free tool built for hunters by hunters, and it helps you locate public hunting lands, filter by species like big game species or upland game birds, view season dates, and understand regulations. It’s also a great way to track what’s in season across wildlife management areas or scout areas for future trips.
A Model Worth Watching
This entire program is run by the Wildlife Department’s team, including folks like Public Hunting Program Director Kevin Mote, TPWD Marketing Manager Kelly Edmiston, and longtime supporters like Janis Johnson of the Texas Bighorn Society. Leaders like Justin Dreibelbis have emphasized how critical the sale of BTTH entries is to the quality of public hunts and the broader benefit of species management across the state.
And while next year’s Big Time Texas Hunts won’t open until the sale begins again on May 15, it’s already shaping up to be another big one. The success of the program has caught the attention of hunters nationwide. While other states haven’t adopted a similar model just yet, it’s exactly the kind of program Hunterizer would love to see replicated—one that combines public hunting access with meaningful habitat management and support for wildlife research.
Whether you’re putting in for next year’s Big Time Texas Hunts package or just exploring Hunt Texas through TPWD’s public land programs, it’s encouraging to see a model that values both access and conservation—and backs it up with results.
