- NARRATOR: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure-- it's what we share.

Funding also provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Helping hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages get outside.

Out here, fun can't lose.

[theme music] - ANNOUNCER: Coming up on Texas Parks & Wildlife... [dove call] - Real good weather for dove.

I hope they like it.

Cause if they like it, then I'm liking it.

- What we're going to be doing today is a gulf coast fried shrimp.

You can see the white's already coming through there on the meat.

Great color on these shrimp.

- Amid all of this urban growth, there is this gem.

It really is a magical place.

[theme music] - ANNOUNCER: Texas Parks & Wildlife , a television series for all outdoors.

♪ ♪ [dramatic music] [bird calling] [dramatic music] [bird calling] - We're at the Roger R. Fawcett Wildlife Management Area.

We're about 65 miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

It's in the Southern part of the cross timbers where we've got a lot of unique habitats here.

We've got open grassland prairie habitat, bisected with post oak, blackjack oak woodlands.

We've got a lot of water on the area, provides good habitat for waterfowl.

And here on the south end of the area, we've got some dove fields.

We've been planting native sunflowers here for doves, provide good feeding area.

Also provides good public hunting opportunity.

The Fawcett Wildlife Management Area is just one of many public hunting lands that are open for public access in Texas.

We now have just over a million acres of land that's accessible with the annual public hunting permit or the limited public use permit.

This time of year we offer walk-in dove hunting with the use of the annual public hunting permit.

You self-register, and you just go find a good a spot to hunt.

[wind blowing] [dramatic music] - EVAN: Oh, I like this spot a lot.

Where do you think they'll come in from?

- I think they're gonna be coming from the creek behind us, and coming into the sunflower fields, and kind of landing.

I think we're in a perfect spot.

You know, to wake him up to go to school, I have to tell him a couple times.

Now, to go hunting, wake up at 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning, I just barely have to tap him and he's out of the bed.

[Evan laughs] He beats me out the door, you know, so, and that's, it's our time to get away and spend some quality time together as father and son.

And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

- The birds ain't coming.

It's a real nice breeze.

- It's perfect.

- I love when we go hunting, because it's always a good time, and if we don't get something, we're at least happy to go or get out of the house.

It's like real good weather for dove, I think.

And I hope they like it, because if they like it, then I'm liking it.

[shooting] - He was at a pretty good distance.

Wasn't he?

- EVAN: Yeah.

- He was farther than usual.

- That one got away.

That's, that's the fun part about dove hunting, you know.

It's just, all of a sudden, you're just blasting away and just trying to get one.

So, it's fun.

To have access to public land like this, I mean, it's a dream.

It's perfect right now, because we're the only ones out here.

So it's ideal.

And the scenery behind it, with all these hills?

I mean, it's, it's just beautiful.

You couldn't ask for a better place right now.

[shooting] - EVAN: Did you get one?

- I did, you, you bumped him up for me.

- Ha!

Where'd he come from?

- He come from right, right beside you, he flew behind you.

- Oh!

I didn't even see it!

[laughing] - Oh yeah.

It's a good one.

Actually, he helped me out.

He kind, he kind of scared it out, you know?

It come in behind him and I, I took him down, one shot.

- EVAN: Well, when the birds are active, it keeps you active, and it's just a fun time, really.

- JEREMY: It's perfect.

It's memories that we will both remember forever.

[dramatic music] [waves crashing] [birds squawking] [gentle music] - Every park is unique and special in the state of Texas.

I'm gonna encourage you to go to every single one of them at least once.

Why you should come here to Galveston, you need to see how unique our beaches are.

Come and learn about our coastal prairie that we're protecting.

Come and see the beauty of the gulf and the bay.

Come and watch the sunset on the bay.

They're absolutely stunning.

Maybe you'll be out there on the beach in the morning for a sunrise, and it'll be an unforgettable experience.

There is a lot of fun activities to do for the kids.

You see them enjoying boogie boarding, surfing.

We have some amazing opportunities for water recreation on the beach side.

- I love it.

I'm gonna eat it.

[waves crashing] - KYLE: When we can peel them off of the beach and get them over to the bay side, get them on those hiking trails, maybe they're gonna see an alligator in one of our freshwater ponds.

Maybe we can take them crabbing or fishing.

- Oh, I see it!

They caught it!

It's big!

- Got it.

- He won't let go of the chicken.

- KYLE: We encourage folks to see the whole park.

Most of them are coming here for that beach and sand, and they're pretty surprised at the other things we can offer.

[gentle music] - RICK BECKER: We are about to go on a bay hike.

Do you notice anything about this area?

It's an interpretive walk.

- Wow.

- RICK: Where we take guests down and introduce them to that part of the park.

Talk about the flora, talk about the fauna.

Let's just taste.

And talk about the salt marsh and its importance to the climate.

- Salty.

- RICK: Very salty.

Then we'll go across the street to Lake Como, and we'll take a seine net out into the lake.

And we'll see what we catch.

It's like a treasure hunt.

You drag the net through, and you never know what you're going to find.

Oh, look at what we got.

As we pull it up, you can see the excitement in the kids' eyes.

- You know?

- This park is really fun to come to and enjoy nature out here.

- Most of them look white.

- If we can get enough of those kids that are interested in maintaining our natural environment, well then we actually have a future.

[birds chirping] If it wasn't for the park, I think this would all be residential areas.

This is very valuable land.

To the east of us is Pirates Beach, just to the west of us is Jamaica Beach.

We have five different ecosystems here between the beach and the bay, and it's really good to preserve that for future generations.

[waves crashing] But when I came through, this was all underwater, and almost all of the greenery around here was killed.

We're trying to restore the native grasses here in the prairie.

- Coastal prairie is one of the most endangered habitats in North America.

Less than 1% of what used to exist in Texas remains.

To combat this, we're growing our own native plants in the greenhouses.

You can see this root system has come in very nicely.

Most of the prairie is located underground.

That's actually what holds this island together.

Without the root systems of these plants holding the soil in place, this whole island would basically wash away.

[gentle music] - RICK: What I find particularly attractive about Galveston Island State Park, amid all of this urban growth, there is this gem.

It really is a magical place.

- Hello, I'm Davis Turner of Huckleberry, out of Austin, Texas, where we like to focus on Gulf Coast seafood.

[upbeat music] We're gonna be doing a quick fry with a little bit of salsa, limes, and cilantro.

What we're gonna be doing is starting on a just a regular old cast iron pan, topped with a little bit of oil.

We're gonna be saying maybe about two inches, an inch and a half, two inches from the top.

[upbeat music] We have our fire lit.

Now we're gonna go ahead and start preheating that to about 325, 350 degrees.

Really don't wanna go above 350.

But in the meantime, we're gonna go ahead and start with our shrimp.

Whenever we're cleaning 'em up, we wanna be able to leave the heads on, and we'd like to also leave the tail on.

So the easiest way to do that is to take a paring knife, gonna come straight from the backside of its head and just follow its spine all the way to the tail.

[upbeat music] So we have that.

We wanna be able to clean out the shrimp.

Again, just take your paring knife, scrape out all the inside.

From there, we have a cleaned, head on, tail on shrimp that we're gonna let soak in buttermilk.

Now that we have our cleaned shrimp and we've put them in the buttermilk, we're gonna go ahead and start getting ready for the dredge.

A good tip to know is use one hand to pull out of the buttermilk, another hand to bread your shrimp.

This mix that we use is a cornmeal and a rice flour blend.

[upbeat music] Now that we have our breaded shrimp ready to go, we have another quick tip.

Don't drop this directly into the fryer.

What you're gonna wanna do is let it sit in the refrigerator, an ice chest, for a minimum of five minutes.

The longer it sits, it's gonna start to dry out the batter to the protein itself.

This is gonna give time for the shrimp to set, and be a much crispier, juicier shrimp.

[upbeat music] All right, our shrimp have rested.

They're ready to start cooking.

We wanna be cautious.

The oil is very hot.

It is gonna sizzle.

So we want to have some good, nice tongs.

Stay away, and go drop one at a time.

When you're dropping your shrimp, you wanna be sure to not overcrowd the pan.

If you overcrowd the pan, it's gonna lower the temperature, and you're not gonna have a good, even cook.

We're gonna be looking about three to four minutes.

That means about maybe a minute and a half, two minutes on each side.

We're just looking for 'em to get nice, golden brown, and then we know they're gonna be good.

[upbeat music] We have some great color on these shrimp.

You can see the white's already coming through there on the meat.

We're gonna go ahead and pull these, and set 'em in our catch pan.

Once we have 'em here, we're gonna go ahead, add a little bit of seasoning salt just to finish it.

Now let's go ahead and start plating.

[upbeat music] We have a nice little pile.

It's gonna be nice and enjoyable for everybody.

[upbeat music] We're gonna be using a salsa macha.

And we like this for a little bit of heat, but you can really use anything that might give you a little bit of kick.

[upbeat music] Now that we have our sauces on there, we're gonna add a little bit of lime, and then top it with a little bit of fresh cilantro.

[upbeat music] All right, this was our take on Gulf Coast Fried Shrimp.

We really hope you enjoy.

[upbeat music] - NARRATOR: Possum Kingdom Lake has long been a popular spot in Texas for a fun weekend getaway.

[upbeat music] In recent years, it's even earned international attention.

[upbeat music] And all of this may be thanks to the towering limestone cliffs known as Hells Gate.

With 90-foot tall canyons and clear blue water, this cove is the perfect place to anchor down and cool off on a hot summer day.

But, there is more to this place than just a party cove.

[bird screeching] Hells Gate acts as a portal into Texas history.

[dramatic music] There is a story to how Hells Gate got its name.

- These two trappers were coming through the area and they chanced upon some Indians, and they had the best-looking furs they ever saw.

Thought, "We gotta find a way to get those best furs from these Indians."

So they got out the fire water, passed it around, and got the Indians so drunk that they fell asleep.

- NARRATOR: Two fur traders coming through the area stole some quality fur pelts from the local Comanches.

They loaded up all the furs and headed down the Brazos.

The Comanches caught up with them and chased them to these high cliffs.

- And one of the trappers says, "I'm climbing up there.

I'd rather climb up there and jump through the gates of hell before I give those back."

[dramatic music] - NARRATOR: So, the Comanches got their furs back and the legend was born.

But there's a twist to this story.

[dramatic music] - KEVIN: This story was written by a newspaper man in Mineral Wells who started a paper called "The Possum Kingdom News" in 1949.

And he wrote the story 'cause he was trying to sell ads to the fishing camps and the businesses on the lake.

And he thought this story would get people to come up to see Hells Gate.

[upbeat music] - NARRATOR: Seventy-four years later, visitors to the area may conclude that the PR paid off.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ - ANGLER: Cast by the gates of hell.

- NARRATOR: Hells Gate has been a focal point at Possum Kingdom for years.

It's put this place on the map for being one of the most intriguing lakes in Texas.

[upbeat music] Heck, the lake has even inspired artists across multiple mediums, from songs to books, and even a movie.

While it might not be certain just how Hells Gate really got its name, the continued curiosity about this cove might just be what makes it legendary.

[upbeat music] [birds chirping] - ASHTON: There is birds which appear really energetic, and the breeze is pretty good, it's not too sunny, shady, and the wind itself is not too strong either.

Might be hearing an insect or two, the wind may be rustling a few leaves but can't really say, there's too much to hear.

- NORMA: This program this weekend is about more than going outside and getting involved in wilderness activities, it's really about learning to be a true participant in life.

So welcome to BOLD, and thank you so much for coming.

[applause] Blind people can live the lives they want, and it's really as much about that as it is about being outdoors.

It's learning that you can accomplish things whether or not there's a sighted person to help you.

Very often, a lot of young blind kids are not encouraged to get out independently without a sighted person to use their cane travel skills effectively.

Today, they were led on a hiking run by blind people.

- Nobody should go past me.

- NORMA: So they got to use their canes, they had to, in order to be able to maneuver the trail.

[rocks rustling] - I would really recommend that someone else do this as well because it's a great way to gain even more independence for one thing, and for another, even if you're not an outdoor person like me, you might find that you'll really enjoy everything.

[gentle music] - NORMA: We believe strongly in the capability of blind people to do anything that we set our minds to.

[uplifting music] - Now it'll roll open okay, you wanna set it down on the ground?

- Yeah.

- Why don't we set it... - NORMA: High expectations for independence for blind people is really important, we want them to be able to grow up and live whatever life they wanna live.

[fire crackling] And so that's why we think today is so important.

♪ We can live the life we want yes we know the truth ♪ ♪ One more time ♪ ♪ Live the life we want nobody can stop you ♪ ♪ Shoot for the stars and break on through ♪ ♪ So you're blind you'll be fine you've got the truth ♪ ♪ We can live the life we want yes we know the truth ♪ - Today, we hosted the national federation of the blind.

The touch table I have set up today with them is all of the animals that they would find in the park and have them be able to experience, 'cause some of them have never been able to see, hear, or be able to touch them, so being able to feel the different textures of their hair, of their fur, to some of their claws that they have, super great experience for them.

- Honestly, I didn't think it would be this furry.

- BOY: Wait, is that?

- SAMANTHA: They're on top of the skull.

- ASHTON: Is this the real skull?

- SAMANTHA: Uh-huh.

- Oh, wow.

[Samantha laughs] Here at Parks we have this gift, and it's something that we should be able to provide for everybody.

[birds chirping] - The weekend was for the children, but also for us as parents to see that as a blind adult he can do things, and he will be able to do anything like we can.

You know, he was in a kayak boat with a blind instructor, I mean that to me was amazing.

[upbeat music] - NORMA: Blindness is not a characteristic that really defines who we are, it's really just one aspect of who we are, and that we are really like everyone else.

♪ ♪ - I'm Morgan O'Hanlon, a Senior Staff Writer at "Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine".

- And I'm David Yoskowitz, Executive Director Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

♪ Better outside ♪ - MORGAN: Together, we're bringing you a new show about how life's better outside and the people who work every day to make outside better.

♪ Better outside ♪ In each episode, we'll take you into the great outdoors.

- This will be good.

- MORGAN: Whether we're out counting sheep.

- Gotcha.

- Good shot.

- MORGAN: On the hunt for invasive species or just taking a trip down the river, you'll learn something new about conservation in the Lone Star State.

♪ Better outside ♪ So are you ready to go outside?

♪ Better outside ♪ [upbeat rock music] - NARRATOR: Next time on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - My great hope is that people will become more aware of this particular species and be grateful for the fact that we have them here in Texas.

- If you love trees, this is the place.

It's the land of the oaks.

- What this will do is allow those fish to grow up a little bit more and reproduce in this pond, potentially reach maybe even state record size.

- NARRATOR: That's next time on Texas Parks & Wildlife.

[wind blowing] [wind blowing] [water trickling] [water trickling] [underwater bubbling] [underwater bubbling] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [underwater bubbling] [underwater bubbling] [water trickling] [water trickling] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [underwater bubbling] [underwater bubbling] [underwater bubbling] [water trickling] [water trickling] - NARRATOR: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure-- it's what we share.

Funding also provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Helping hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages get outside.

Out here, fun can't lose.