News Release

Hunting Permit Registration Opens September 1, 2022

Hunters in the Big Sandy Creek Unit

NPS Photo / Ian Kessler

News Release Date: August 22, 2022

Contact: Andrew Bennett, 409-951-6823

KOUNTZE, Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz announced today that the preserve will start issuing this season’s free hunting permits on Thursday, September 1, 2022. Available 2022/2023 permits will be issued until February 27, 2023.

Permits will be issued at the Big Thicket Visitor Center from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm daily. The visitor center is located 8 miles north of Kountze at the intersection of US Highways 69/287 and FM 420 at 6102 FM 420 Road. Big Thicket hunting permits allow hunters to take white-tailed deer, squirrel, rabbit, feral hog, and waterfowl, except for permits for the Lake Bayou Hunting Unit, which is a waterfowl-only area. The preserve observes the state of Texas hunting seasons from October 1, 2022, until February 28, 2023. Additional feral hogs may be taken by permit-holders in any hunting unit except Lake Bayou during the special hog season, which runs from January 1, 2023, until February 28, 2023.
 

• Everyone who hunts in Big Thicket National Preserve must have a Big Thicket hunting permit.
• You must show both your current Texas Hunting License and current driver’s license to obtain a Big Thicket hunting permit.
• All hunters must apply in person and may hunt in only one unit. Parents or guardians are no longer be able to get permits for their children. All hunters must be present to get a permit.
• The deadline for returning hunter harvest cards after the 2022/2023 season will be April 1, 2023.

The number of permits issued for each hunting area varies based on the size of the area and wildlife management goals for that area. The following numbers of permits, by hunting area, are available: Beaumont–200; Beech Creek–150; Big Sandy Creek–400; Jack Gore Baygall–400; Lance Rosier–900; Neches Bottom–150; Lake Bayou–50.

For more information, visit our hunting and hunting regulations pages.

Big Thicket National Preserve is located in southeast Texas, near the city Beaumont and 75 miles northeast of Houston. The preserve consists of nine land units and six water corridors encompassing more than 113,000 acres. The Big Thicket, often referred to as a “biological crossroads,” is a transition zone between four distinct vegetation types: the moist eastern hardwood forest, the southwestern desert, the southeastern swamp, and the central prairies. Species from all of these different vegetation types come together in the thicket, exhibiting a variety of vegetation and wildlife that has received national interest.

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