- 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 is provided by Toyota.

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

Toyota--Let's Go Places.

Coming up on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - This spring break I decided to try something a little bit new and go on a backpacking trip.

We'll see how it goes.

- Getting up in the morning and you have a purpose for the day.

And at the end of the day, you feel like you've made the world a little bit of a better place.

- They're mostly up in here.

There're just clouds of them.

There're just clouds of them.

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

- NARRATOR: It's Friday afternoon in the Houston Medical Center, and Ruby Rhueman is just heading in to work.

- Good girl.

- NARRATOR: No, that's not Ruby.

That's Ruby.

She starts her shift by greeting her co-workers.

- How you doing today?

- NARRATOR: She puts on her ID badge.

And before long, she's out making the rounds.

- DOROTHY: Hello.

This is Ruby.

- Hi Ruby.

- DOROTHY: Ruby's seven years old.

She's a Labrador Retriever.

- NARRATOR: She's here to lift the spirits of patients, a job which might include a game of fetch.

- There you go.

- NARRATOR: It's a treat for patients and work for Ruby, but's a job she loves.

- DOROTHY: Good to see you again.

- NARRATOR: This work requires her to be obedient and disciplined, qualities that she learned from her handler, Dorothy Rhueman.

- I got into dogs because a two-year-old chocolate Labrador came with the package when I got married.

We'd go hunting a lot.

And every time I'd shoot a bird, his dog would take my bird to him.

And I didn't like that.

So I wanted my own dog to bring my own bird to me.

And so I purchased my own puppy and came home and trained her and had my first gun dog.

The hunting season is so short, I decided to do competitions with them.

- NARRATOR: Dorothy trained two other competition dogs before adopting a very special black lab named "Coal."

- DOROTHY: Coal was my soul mate.

She gave me a platform and gave me a name in our sport.

Ruby was her little sister and she raised Ruby.

And Ruby worshipped her.

- NARRATOR: It was Coal who first taught Ruby what being a champion is all about.

- DOROTHY: We have these great dogs.

They're wonderful gifts.

And we enjoy taking them out and using them for what they're bred to do.

Fetch.

Good girl.

Very good.

So in your own house you have an obstacle course.

Heel.

Very nice, good.

Drop.

That's it, right there.

- NARRATOR: Ruby trains in the field most weekends, and practices those skills at home.

- DOROTHY: That's it, very good.

Ruby.

So who says you can't train in a subdivision.

Ruby.

- NARRATOR: It's a talent that runs in the family.

- DOROTHY: Dixie.

- NARRATOR: Ruby's little sister Dixie is just learning the basics.

- DOROTHY: Sit.

Here.

Heel.

Sit.

Sit.

Whoops!

I dropped one.

Leave it!

[hisses] They have to sit for hours and they can't move in the icy water when you're duck hunting.

That's the beginning and the foundation of all their training right there.

- NARRATOR: The dogs' training will be pushed to the limits at the Master National Retriever Competition, being held this year at the Big Woods on the Trinity, also known as Doc MacFarlane's place.

- What a hunt test does is take elements of duck hunting and takes it to a schematized level.

We can design technical ponds to see the skills that are necessary to be a successful hunting dog in sort of a compact and shorter time frame.

- NARRATOR: Over 800 dogs compete here from all over the nation.

These dogs are the elite of the sport, having qualified at other regional hunt tests.

But the whole event has a spirit of encouragement and good-nature because the dogs don't compete against each other, they compete against a standard.

It's a pass-fail test in a series of increasing difficulty over eight days with one goal: always bring back the bird.

Now it's Ruby's turn.

She watches closely as the marks are set.

When she has her eye on the right mark, Dorothy gives her the cue.

[suspenseful music] It's a clean retrieve.

Next, they aim for the live flyer.

Ruby heads for the spot just where the bird came down.

But there's a problem.

The bird is not there.

Dorothy gives the signal to start searching, boxing the area until Ruby picks up the scent.

[whistling] She still hasn't found the bird.

Dorothy is worried.

- DOROTHY: Where is this silly thing?!

- NARRATOR: Ruby is getting tired and starting to overheat in the afternoon Texas sun.

If Ruby returns without a bird, it's all over.

- DOROTHY: I just boxed that whole area.

I just don't know where it is.

- NARRATOR: This "flyer" has turned into a "runner", and simple retrieve is now a game of hide-and-seek.

- DOROTHY: I can give her one more back and try one more time.

[whistles] Whu!

It moved!

- NARRATOR: Ruby finds the flyer, but she's exhausted and overheating.

The judges give her a break to cool off.

After a short rest and some water, Ruby goes for it and brings back the last two birds clean.

It's a successful run, but it's taken a physical toll on Ruby.

- DOROTHY: She got hot.

Immediately the judges said, "Put this dog in an air-conditioned vehicle and get her off the grounds."

And so we came straight back and she spent the whole afternoon on the bed.

- NARRATOR: But this isn't the first time Ruby has felt a little down.

- For several months, Ruby used to have dreams and she used to cry.

I knew she was mourning for Coal.

We lost her to Hemangiosarcoma, and it's a cancer that sets on very quickly.

We had ten and a half years with her, and that was a blessing.

She was a once-in-a-lifetime dog.

After Coal died, a big hole was in our heart.

We ran the week after with Ruby and it was so amazing!

She turned on.

She ran a perfect series.

It was like Ruby was running for Coal.

She was always the sidekick.

Now she was top dog.

And she could shine to her fullest, and she did.

- NARRATOR: After a good night's sleep, Ruby is back in the field to show off what she can do.

- DOROTHY: Close.

[gunshot] [Ruby whining] That's it.

Ruby!

[upbeat music] Ruby!

[upbeat music] - NARRATOR: It's a flawless run that helps her secure yet another Master National title.

But all the honors, awards, and trophies are no replacement for a quiet morning with the family and a real duck hunt.

There are no judges or spectators here.

- DOROTHY: Hunting to us is a fun time to get out with the family and we just get to put our hair down and just relax.

[duck call] As a trainer, I ask a lot of our dogs.

This is kind of our reward because she's paid her dues.

Let them run, let them do what they're bred to do.

[Ruby whining] There they are.

The dogs love it because it's a new experience every time you go out.

[splashing] It feels great to get a few ducks and that's icing on the cake.

- NARRATOR: The family snags a few birds for dinner and heads home.

- DOROTHY: Nice hunt.

- Yeah, fun!

- DOROTHY: Fun hunt.

- NARRATOR: It's just another day on the job for Ruby the Retriever.

[rhythmic music] - Hi, I'm Heidi Rao, hunter education specialist with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Let's talk about the safe zones of fire while hunting.

When hunting in a group, each hunter has a safe zone of fire.

This is an area where you can safely take a shot.

If you shoot beyond your safe zone of fire, this could have dangerous or deadly results.

It's easy to find your safe zone of fire.

Start by focusing on an object ahead of you like a tree.

Hold your thumbs up and slowly bring them to the side of your body until your thumbs disappear out of vision.

This is about a 45-degree angle and the area where you can safely take a shot.

This is your safe zone of fire.

It's that easy.

If you are hunting with another person, be very careful to never cross into that person's safe zone of fire.

In fact, no matter how many hunters there are, even one hunter, you should never swing outside of your 45-degree safe zone of fire.

Another thing to think about is target fixation.

When a bird flushes, you can easily forget about your surroundings and your safe zone of fire.

If you're excited and only focusing on your target, you can quickly lose track of your safe shooting zone.

You can even lose sight of buildings and roadways.

This is very dangerous.

Bottom line, don't let target fixation override your sense of safety.

Firearm safety is your responsibility.

So, always be aware of your safe zone of fire, even when you're excited.

We always want to enjoy safe and memorable hunts.

[energetic music] - NARRATOR: There is a shift going on in Texas.

More and more people are moving from the country to the big cities and sprawling suburbs.

And many of those folks don't have a place to get away, a place to go fishing.

[birds chirping] But there is a program underway to change that.

[fish splashing] - MARCOS: Make it easy, convenient, and close to home.

- NARRATOR: It's the neighborhood fishing program.

- I'm almost getting a bite!

- NARRATOR: And now city lakes throughout the state are stocked year round.

[girls cheering] - JEFF: You wanna have the fish there for 'em to catch because that's what's gonna get 'em hooked.

- Our goal with the neighborhood fishing program is to bring the focus back to the outdoors.

- NARRATOR: The plan is to get more city folks grabbing the pole again and heading for the pond.

[upbeat music] [birds chirping] - I think they'll be coming momentarily 'cause they said between nine and nine thirty.

- NARRATOR: Effie Dukes and her husband David are waiting.

- EFFIE: Oh yeah look they are coming with the fish.

[truck engine rumbling] [motor hums] - MARCOS: Some of 'em are going in maybe at 14 inches and they're pretty healthy.

The hatchery does a great job of gettin' ready.

[water splashes] - And now we'll catch something, we'll catch the big one!

- What we try to do is actually bring fishing close to home.

And most people in Texas are moving into bigger and bigger towns.

Having these opportunities in your backyard basically is what it's all about.

- EFFIE: Yeah, I got a big one!

[laughs] - That's what I'm talking about!

[laughs] - NARRATOR: While Effie's husband has the touch, her goal is to stay slime-free.

- I use gloves to put the worms on, I don't wanna touch 'em, they're squirgy.

[laughs] I have wet wipes, but he said real fisher people don't use wet wipes or plastic gloves, but I told him I'm not a real fisher woman.

I'm just, you know, out here to enjoy the outside.

[water splashing] Look, Pastor Burgh got one already, yeah.

- MARCOS: You know the program is designed to actually kind of recruit new anglers and get people fishing, and it's pretty much we want to provide a perfect outdoor experience, with fishing being the main point.

[Effie laughs] - NARRATOR: And as for Effie, she finally catches that fish, and stays clean and the same time.

- Look, it's a big catfish, and I caught it with a net, with the help of my husband, with a rod and a reel that I don't know how to use!

[car horn blows] - NARRATOR: In South Houston, at Tom Bass Pond, the bite is about to get really good.

- GLENN: You teach a child to fish, you feed them for a lifetime, alright?

- NARRATOR: While this truck will bring trout in the winter, it's summer and there's catfish aplenty.

[fish flapping] - OK let's learn how to put our own bait on.

Who wants to put their own bait on?

- JEFF: There you go, go in the end.

- GLENN: There he is, push it on.

- JEFF: Try to push it all the way.

- GLENN: Squeeze him, he ain't hurtin'!

[laughs] - GIRL: What is that that's coming out?

- JEFF: Worm stuff!

- Worm stuff!

[laughs] Each child that participates in these types of activities will develop or have the opportunity to develop a lifestyle.

That's something they can go back home with and say, "Momma, Daddy, Auntie, Grandmother, take me fishing."

- JEFF: When you are trying to introduce kids to fishing... - Is he still alive?

- JEFF: Yes, he is.

They really need have a good probability they're gonna catch a fish... One little touch.

So there's a fishery here pretty much year round that people can count on.

- ANGLER: First fish of the day!

- GLENN: For the opportunity to be near by is the new key.

These children may never see the rainforest, but they can appreciate what is near to them and that is most important.

[indistinct chatter] - ANGLER: There you go, you got one!

- Look, he come out here just in a few minutes!

- Let's go, come on, I got it!

Come on!

- WOMAN: How did you do that?

That's not fair!

[gentle breeze blows] [bird squawks] When you're out here, it's very relaxing.

And then when you can have your kids out here with you, that's so cool.

[gentle breeze] - NARRATOR: So where do all of these fish come from?

Well, hatcheries throughout the state raise and stock thousands of catfish and trout every year.

Here at Possum Kingdom, the majority of the work goes to raising these hungry catfish.

One pond holds up to 6,000.

- We raise them all the way up to 12 inches and it usually takes several months to a year to get them up to size.

[fish flapping] - NARRATOR: With the help of city, county, and corporate sponsors, the hatcheries can raise the thousands of fish needed for the program.

These are heading for city lakes in Waco and San Angelo.

- DALE: The small bodies of water that we stock in the cities, they typically don't have real stable, quality fisheries in 'em.

It's pretty much a necessity, this program, if we wanna reach out to the urban angler.

[traffic passing] [water trickling] [water splashing] - NARRATOR: In the heart of San Angelo, rainbow trout have just been stocked in Oakes Street Lake.

- This spot in particular is real close to downtown, it's close to residential areas.

- CHARLES: Throw as far as you can.

- MANDY: This was basically a perfect spot for neighborhood fishing program.

[ducks quacking] - NARRATOR: Local Charles Cruz.

- Dad, yours looks like it's moving.

- NARRATOR: And his daughter Cameron are here to try their luck.

- Look, something looks like something's messing with mine.

Sometimes he tries to get me to touch 'em, I just don't want to.

[laughs] - I think that's real good for her to be able to experience the outdoors like I did when I was younger.

- Hold on I think I caught a stick.

[laughs] - CHARLES: I think this generation for some reason is getting away from that.

- CAMERON: I can't get the stick off either.

[laughs] - CHARLES: And I'd like to do my part.

- The power bait and the corn looks gross together.

[laughs] - MANDY: With the neighborhood fishing program, we're trying to get kids excited about the outdoors again.

- Get it, look, something's getting it!

- MANDY: That they will grow up and become people that wanna protect natural resources.

- CHARLES: Is it a big one?

- Medium.

- Grab it, grab the line!

- CAMERON: I'm trying!

[upbeat music] [Cameron laughs] - CHARLES: It will always be our time together.

[upbeat music] Even if you don't catch anything it's just nice to have that little bonding moment that you have with your kids and I think that right there is worth more than catching any amount of fish.

- NARRATOR: Either for kids.

- EFFIE: We got another one here!

- NARRATOR: Or kids at heart.

- I haven't fished in about 25 years, but this is a lot of fun and we'll be back again!

- NARRATOR: No matter the age, there's sure to be a stocked city pond nearby, where good times are just a cast a way.

[upbeat music] Celebrating a century of Texas State Parks.

[dramatic slide guitar music] - EVAN ARCHILLA: Longhorn Cavern State Park is one of the most unique places in the state of Texas.

We are the only publicly accessible cavern in the state of Texas that was largely formed by the work of an underground river.

We have literally centuries of Texas-sized stories that took place right here within the park and largely within the cavern itself.

[wind noise] I can think of really nowhere else in Texas where you can walk in footsteps of Civil War era bat guano miners, nuclear fallout shelter survivors, underground dancers and live entertainment from the 1930s.

All of it happening right here in Longhorn Cavern, and you can learn all about it on a cavern walking tour almost every single day of the year.

- MISTY SYNDER: Geologists believe that the rocks that surround this cave are about 500 million years old, but the cave itself is relatively young, just a few million years old and so we still have a lot of growing left to do here.

[playful music] Watch your head you tall ones.

It does get low right here for a second.

So, I'm going to show you one of the bats we have in our cave.

They're called tricolor bats.

They are the second smallest bat in North America, and we call them the chicken nuggets of the cave because a full-grown adult, they are about the size of chicken nuggets.

- EVAN: We are one of the best places in Texas to be able to get up close to bats and really admire these interesting creatures at a distance and a level of depth that you just don't get other places.

[crickets chirping] - BRIAN JOHNSON: There's more to do here than just see the cave.

We have over a mile of walking trails, plenty of green space, picnic areas, lots of things to do here.

[hawk call] - EVAN: Longhorn Cavern State Park opened Thanksgiving Day of 1932, but in 1934 things really stated to change when the Civilian Conservation Corp arrived to begin a formal excavation and development of the park.

The CCC removed over 3,000 dump truck loads of debris.

- The CCC when they came into remove the debris, all the work they did was all done by hand.

There was no machinery that was actually inside the cave.

They removed everything with uh, 50-gallon buckets, five-gallon buckets, shovels, pickaxes.

They used levers up top to pull it out of the sink holes that we have in the cave.

- EVAN: They installed our first lighting systems.

They laid down the first trail surfaces.

They built Park Road 4 uh, up above ground, and they also built some of the beautiful CCC era buildings that we have here on the property.

There's really a lot for visitors to take in and the historical significance of what the CCC did here is pretty amazing.

[dramatic music] - MISTY: Anybody scared to go down there?

- CAVER: Uhhhhhhh.

- Longhorn Cavern offers a more adventurous tour, um, called the wild cave tour.

You crawl around in the dirt.

It's not uncommon to get in the water.

You're crawling through uh, tunnels that are very low.

[smack] Ow.

With the wild caver tour, you're crawling on your hands and knees, army crawling on your bellies, and all you have is one little light on your head.

I'll take you down a 3-hour adventure you'll never forget.

[wind blowing, water drips] - EVAN: Longhorn Cavern State Park makes a great day trip.

If you're looking to come out into the hill country to explore some of the diverse typographies that we have in the hill country, we're a natural stopping point on any hill country itinerary.

[dramatic music] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] - NARRATOR: This 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 is provided by Toyota.

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

Toyota--Let's Go Places.