Holiday get-togethers are a fun way to share your harvest, and one-pot venison dishes are an easy way to do it. 

One-pot recipes can be simple, like our Venison Chili (warning: contains beans), or go gourmet with Chef Jeff Blank's Venison Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Biscuits – the biscuits cook on top of the stew.

Chef Matt Martinez's Cowboy Pinto Beans uses ground or cubed venison, and his fried rice dish is made with venison sausage. Find both recipes in Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine's story Wild in the Kitchen With Matt Martinez. 

Try any of these recipes in a Dutch oven (video) at hunt camp. Slow cookers make one-pot meals even easier, but brush up on slow-cooker tips for the best results. 

We hope these recipes give you enjoyable memories of sharing the tradition of wild game with friends and family. Best wishes for a new year filled with many successful hunts! 

Taking the time to regularly clean your shotgun not only prepares you for your next hunt, but it helps you stay safe – a jammed shotgun can be both disappointing and a safety hazard.

Here are 5 simple steps for cleaning your shotgun barrel:

1. Place your firearm on a table pointed in a safe direction. Ensure action is open and that firearm is unloaded in chamber and magazine. 

2. Remove the shotgun barrel following the manual's instructions.

3. Look for debris and clean it out. See the video How to Clean a Shotgun for specific tools and techniques.  

4. Oil the barrel and wipe off excess.

5. Reassemble firearm and safely store it out of the reach of children.

Firearm maintenance skills are key to every hunter’s success. They're just some of the skills you learn in Hunter Education. Anyone born after Sept. 1, 1971 must complete Hunter Ed in order to hunt in Texas. 

If you score big this season, be sure to enter the Texas Big Game Awards (TBGA) now through March 1, 2025.

The TBGA was created by the Texas Wildlife Association and Texas Parks and Wildlife to promote education and hunting heritage, and to highlight the conservation efforts of landowners and hunters by recognizing high-quality harvests. There are no entry fees.

Entry categories include Youth Division and First Time Big Game Harvest, as well as White-tailed Deer, Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, Pronghorn, Javelina and the Texas Slam award. All entries must be scored by a TBGA certified scorer.

Winners will be recognized at Regional Sportsman's Celebration banquets and the annual state celebration, and 9 scholarships will be awarded. Enter and join us, it’s a lot of fun! For more information, see the program rules and watch the video Texas Big Game Awards.

The first changes in more than 50 years have been made regarding management of mountain lions in Texas.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved regulations banning canned hunts (the capture and later release of a mountain lion for the purpose of hunting or pursuing with hounds) and implementing a 36-hour trapping standard for live lions.

“The regulations support ethical hunting and trapping practices while continuing to provide flexibility for landowners to manage mountain lions,” said Wildlife Diversity Program Director Richard Heilbrun. For details, see our press release Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Adopts New Mountain Lion Regulations.

Hunters and trappers who harvest a mountain lion are asked to voluntarily enter information about it in the Texas Hunt & Fish app. The information gathered will be used to help advance our understanding of mountain lions in Texas. 

If you see or suspect wildlife crimes of any kind, report them immediately to Operation Game Thief (OGT) by calling 1-800-792-GAME (4263). 

It's not just hunting and fishing crimes that are being committed, people also come to Texas from other states and countries to steal our wildlife and sell it. Check out this list of what information to report, so you know what details to note and remember. See the OGT Facebook for recent news, including rewards being offered.

The sooner your report what you see, the more likely the culprits will be caught. So call OGT any time, day or night, at 1-800-792-4263. Put the number in your phone now – you never know when you might need it.