The ability to manage land in difficult times, through extended dry periods and economic downturns, is the hallmark of a good land steward. This year’s recipients of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards are prime examples.

This week Benelli On Assignment (BOA) host, Joe Coogan and Benelli USA VP of Marketing and Communications, Stephen McKelvain travel to South Texas to take on the challenge of finding big Rio Grande "long beards" in the South Texas brush county of Sarco Creek Ranch, near the historic town of Goliad.

It's easy for hunters to get spoiled in Texas.  From September through May there is at least one ongoing hunting season for some game animal or bird in every region of the state, which includes the nation's highest number of deer, turkeys and migrating doves.

A lifelong passion for preserving prairie land seeded by a high school summer job that didn’t turn out quite like he expected has earned Panhandle rancher Jim Bill Anderson the 2010 Leopold Conservation Award for Texas, a prestigious recognition conferred by Sand County Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as part of its Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

Big game hunters are planning to gather in celebration of the best game harvests in South Texas, and showcase their superior trophy mounts at the first Texas Hunting and Outdoor Classic (THC).  The classic will be held August 13th through the 15th at Freeman Coliseum grounds in the new air-conditioned Expo Center.