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Those states in the West were the property of the US before they became states. They were admitted to the Union as full states by a vote of congress on congress' terms. Those terms included retention by the Feds of vast swaths of public land.

Texas was a Republic for a few years before it was admitted to the Union. The Republic of Texas did negotiate retention of its public lands and the US accepted it on those terms. The original (thirteen?) colonies also kept their public lands. For reasons I don't understand there is not a lot of public land (state or Federal) in Kansas either.

Almost all hunting in Texas is on private land. Although there is some public "walk-in" hunting most hunting is leased out. It is very expensive in my opinion. I usually make a trip every year to New Mexico to hunt Blues on BLM and state land. I estimate about a third of the land in New Mexico is owned by the Feds. At the time of Texas' admission into the Union a disagreement about who owned New Mexico and Colorado between the US and the Republic of Texas was settled. Obviously the Feds got New Mexico and Colorado, along with their public lands.