Garden City Man Wins Big Game Hunt from Texas Parks & Wildlife

AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) this week announced the winners of this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts, including a Garden City hunter.  

TPWD has notified the 14 winners of their random selection from the pool of 144,274 entries, which raised more than $1.3 million to support wildlife research, habitat management and public hunting across the state. Specific examples of how the funds support the TPWD mission can be found online. 

“Big Time Texas Hunts continues to be an important conservation fundraiser for TPWD, and we greatly appreciate the support of our Texas hunters who purchase entries each year,” said Kelly Edmiston, TPWD public hunting coordinator. “If a hunter is lucky enough to win, they will experience the hunt of a lifetime. If they don’t win, they can feel good knowing the funds from their entry go directly to wildlife conservation and public access projects on public hunting lands in Texas.”

Stephen Frederick Vobach of Dallas, winner of the Texas Grand Slam hunting package, is making plans for four separate guided hunts for the state’s top four premier big game species – desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and mule deer.

Winners from other categories include:

• Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt – Joseph Kevin Leago, League City
• Nilgai Antelope Safari – William R. Defriend, Groesbeck
• Premium Buck Hunt – Brett Edgar Culver, Fort Worth
• Exotic Safari – Wesley R. Young, Leander
• Whitetail Bonanza – Jay Paul Kasper, Shiner; Mark W. Lowrance, Garden City, Kan.; Roger E. Hunter, Salado; Paul Graham Hicks, Fort Worth; Gerald Muhammad, Lantana
• Big Time Bird Hunt – Gabriel Gonzalez, New Braunfels
• Gator Hunt – Nathaniel August Priess, Granbury
• Powderhorn Cast and Blast – Brandon Garcia, Houston
• Wild Hog Adventure – Matthew C. Dickson, Midland

“We want to congratulate the winners, but also thank all the hunters who bought an entry this year,” said Janis Johnson, TPWD marketing manager. “They are the ones who helped us raise over $1.3 million from entry sales for Big Time Texas Hunts to support wildlife management, research and conservation efforts in Texas.”

Entries for next year’s Big Time Texas Hunts go on sale May 15, 2024.

Big Time Texas Hunts is made possible with support from Toyota and the Texas Bighorn Society.