AMARILLO, TEXAS -- For the first time, Palo Duro Canyon will be included in the exotic drawn hunts program which will allow 20 lucky hunters into Palo Duro Canyon to hunt auodad sheep and wild feral hogs.

This is a small portion of a much bigger program that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will be offering to the public.

"Any way that we can try to create more public use opportunities including hunting be it on our state owned wildlife areas or state parks, or leased private lands, the attempt is to try to provide more access in a state that has such limited amounts of public lands to start with," said Gene Miller, A wildlife biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

5 thousand hunters will be selected through random computer drawings to participate in drawn hunts across the state. These spots are limited considering last year over 43 thousand hunters applied for only 5 thousand positions offered in special drawn hunt categories.

If you are interested in applying for a drawn hunt, it's simple, go to a local hunting license seller and pick up an application booklet, but officials say to get an early start in August for hunts coming up this fall and winter including the one at Palo Duro Canyon.

This really only scrapes the surface of what programs the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have going on, I encourage you to check out the links provided below for more information about a variety of public lands hunting opportunities in the state of Texas.