Trinity River Refuge Waterfowl Hunt announced

Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge will accept applications for a public waterfowl hunt starting Aug. 5 and postmarked by Sept. 3. Any application received before or after these dates will not be accepted.

If selected through a lottery drawing, you will be able to hunt waterfowl for two consecutive weekends on Champion Lake during the regular waterfowl season. Review the application instructions before you fill out the application form. Access to the hunt area is by boat (10 hp or less) only. Twenty hunters for each two weekend slots, totaling 100 permits, will be drawn. Hunters may list November, December or January in any priority order they want. If no priority is listed when drawn, you will be placed in the first available slot for two consecutive weekends. Mail applications back to Trinity River NWR P.O. Box 10015, Liberty, TX 77575.

Application fee is $25 per person. Senior citizens (65 and older) and medically documented hunters with a disability will have a fee of $15. Hunters with disabilities will now have to meet the state definition, which states, “A disabled person is defined as a paraplegic or a person possessing the disabled parking placard or license plate on the vehicle.” Documentation of a disability for the $15 fee is required with the application per state requirement by sending in a copy of your placard or license plate. We will check validity of placard or license plate through the Department of Motor Vehicles. No doctor’s notes allowed.

Only one application per person is allowed. You must be 18 or older by Oct. 1 to apply. The permitted hunter will be allowed to bring one guest and one youth, or two youths. If selected, you will not have to pay any additional fees for yourself or your guests.

You may stop by the Refuge office during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) to get applications or just download it from the Refuge website. You are advised to call 936-336-9786 to make sure someone is available before visiting the office.

A public drawing will be held at the Refuge office, 601 FM 1011 in Liberty, on Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. You do not have to be present to be selected. Those persons selected will be notified by mail within 10 days and given a Refuge hunt permit, list of Refuge regulations and the unit map.