Big Time Texas Hunts Winners Selected

Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.texas.gov

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AUSTIN, Texas — Tommy Bridgers has joined an elite group of sportsmen who can call themselves desert bighorn sheep hunters. That’s because the Duncanville, Texas resident is this year’s winner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Big Time Texas Hunts Grand Slam.

“I’m absolutely flabbergasted,” exclaimed Bridgers. “That’s the only way I can describe how excited I am about winning this contest.”

Bridgers was selected in a random computer drawing from among 20,355 Texas Grand Slam entries and will participate in a series of four separate guided hunts for all four big game animals in Texas — white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and desert bighorn sheep.

Bridgers paid $10 to apply for the drawing and said he has been entering the Big Time Texas Hunts annually. The bighorn sheep hunt alone is priceless, something only a handful of people ever get a chance to experience. “I’m a member of the Dallas Safari Club and I know we auctioned off a bighorn permit last year for about $100,000,” he said. “Anybody who hunts sheep knows how hard it is to get one of these permits.”

For his four hunts, Bridgers just needs to bring hunting gear and a valid hunting license. Guide service, food, lodging, and on-site transportation for himself and a non-hunting companion are all provided.

Here are this year’s winners and hometowns for all seven Big Time Texas Hunts categories:

Texas Grand Slam

  • Tommy H. Bridgers, Duncanville, TX

Texas Exotic Safari

  • Jimmy R, Clark, Somerville, TX
  • Oscar Buenrostro, Houston, TX

Texas Premium Buck

  • Kenneth Watson, Weatherford, TX

Texas Whitetail Bonanza

  • Alan C. Weston, Burnet, TX
  • David G. Fallin, The Woodlands, TX
  • Jean J. Astie, , Dallas, TX
  • Robert Valentine, Houston, TX
  • Stephen L. Holley, Dallas, TX
  • Lee R. Jones, , Wichita Falls, TX
  • Buren A. Haltom, Dayton, TX
  • Ward M. Cooksey, Sulphur Springs, TX
  • Miguel Saldivar, Devine, TX
  • Roberto J. Laurel, Laredo, TX

Texas Big Time Bird Hunt

  • Paulino Silguero, Hebbronville, TX

Texas Waterfowl Adventure

  • Richard A. Pratt, Plano, TX

Texas Gator Hunt

  • Adolfo C. Nabarrette, Odessa, TX

All told, hunters bought 79,815 Big Time Texas Hunt entries during this year’s sales period from Aug. 15 through the Oct. 15 deadline. This generated $798,150 in gross revenue to support wildlife research, habitat management and public hunting.