COHunter,
My brothers and I take full advantage of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Public Hunting Lands Program. To date I have killed a nice desert muley buck, several whitetail does, a 30" aoudad ram, several axis deer does, turkeys, and more ducks and geese than I can count. The only problem with the public hunting lands program is you have to draw a tag or be available to hunt on public lands as a "standby" hunter. Drawing a tag now takes several years as you have to build points just like you do in Colorado. The more points, the better your chance at drawing a tag. Some areas are better than others, therefore, competition for permits is usually lottery type odds. But, there is some outstanding hunting here in Texas in public parks and wildlife management areas. It helps to know how to play the system and it doesn't matter if you're a resident or non-resident. Our public lands are open to all American citizens and Texas doesn't gouge the non-residents with outrageous license fees. The public hunts are usually 3 days with a permit fee of $50 with some hunts being 5 days for $100 regardless of residency. Of course, your State hunting license is extra.
If you're interested, I'll point you the right direction. It costs $2 to apply for a permit per species. But, you can hunt deer, antelope, turkey, hogs, exotics, and ALLIGATORS!
Like TxHunter said, check out the TP&W website and get them to mail you the public hunting lands application package. I'll be glad to help you with any questions you might have. Granted, I'll hope you'll share with me some info of where that big 30" muley is hanging out............
Watch your top knot!
songdog