[US_MARINE1976]

This is to all Texas hunters who hunt deer. Last year a new law was started where you must use a logbook on the back of your hunting liscense. I was aware of it but completely forgot. I was reminded when I was checked and got a ticket. Still alot of hunters who dont know this law so spread it around. The fines are 25 - 500.00 mine is 145.00.

 

[txgolfer45]

Ouch! I'll have to check the back of my license. I know I have tags. Log book?

A friend of a friend got a deer confiscated by a game warden on the way home from a hunt. He had quartered the deer and did not keep evidence of the sex. The tag as filled out correctly. Fine plus confiscation.

Scott

 

[jlptexashunter]

Fellas,
Every July/August the Outdoor Annual hits the TPWD website, I download a copy in PDF format and keep one in my hunting bag and one in my glove compartment. So far so good on keeping up with the newest laws. There is a section on the website that also tells you what's new from last year to this year.

I've got an idea, next August let's all get together over some clays and soft drinks at Elm Fork and go over them so we all stay in the data stream.

Just a thought.

 

[txgolfer45]

Jeff,

Great Idea!!!

Scott

 

[IceCreamSoldier]

I've got an idea, next August let's all get together over some clays and soft drinks at Elm Fork and go over them so we all stay in the data stream.

Just a thought.

Man you and them thar clays...I gotta really see what all the interest is in those things! Can you eat em? :lol:

 

[jlptexashunter]

You can wrap them in bacon and grill em.

Kind of crunchy so if you have sensitive teeth, just throw the clay away and eat the bacon. :shock:

 

[Choctaw]

Not that I got to hunt deer this past season, but I would have missed the log too. Sign me up for the study session!

 

[Ulysses]

You can add this stupid law to the "gun plugged to 3 shots" law. The more I hear of these stupid laws and the heavy fines that go with them, the more disgusted I am with game enforcement officials in general. They have strayed FAR, FAR away from the original intent of enforcing reasonable laws to help preserve game for future generations. Now they are mainly revenue generators who look for some technicality to cite you for some offense. Their actions are alienating the very citizens who pay their salarys and fund their agencies through their license fees and taxes. I'm at the point now where if I saw a game warden in need of help, I would just tell him that helping game wardens is not in my job description as a hunter and he will just have to solve his prediciment the best way he can.

I heard that last year they were giving (or threatening to give) citations at a big sporting clays event in one of the states in the north-central US (perhaps Wisconsin) because the shooters had uncased guns in a vehicle (their golf carts with gun racks). Give me a frigging break :!: :x :x How stupid is this :?: :!:

 

[Evan]

Ulysses,

I have high regard for your opinions and the willingness with which you share your knowledge with others on this board, but on this issue I would have to disagree.

I have known many game wardens, and they have all been people who chose their job because of their passion for hunting and fishing. None of the wardens I have known wrote tickets that were unwarranted, and most were willing to let you go for minor infractions, even if a citation was warranted, if you were polite. The wardens I've known have been mainly interested in commercial fishermen breaking the rules, outfitters consistently shooting over the limit, and people that consistently poach or break game laws.

Maybe the quality of wardens in other parts of the country is less, but Texas wardens are, in my opinion, dedicated individuals who are spread too thin and hampered by too small of budgets, and who still strive to do a good job.

Evan

 

[b540glenn]

......Last year a new law was started where you must use a logbook on the back of your hunting liscense....

What information does this logbook record? Does the DNR (or your equivalent) collect these log books? What is done with the info from the logbook?

Just curious,

 

[Live2Hunt]

Texas Game Wardens are some of the most dedicated outdoorsmen around. I have never met one that did not impress me as a darn fine person. I can't speak for the folks in the other 49 states... In the interest of full disclosure I have a cousin who is in the Academy at the moment and have had the opportunity to meet many Game Wardens.

 

[Guest]

I have known many great game wardens, I have also known a few that really liked having a badge and a gun. 99% are great guys, 1% are turds in the punchbowl of life. You would have to look long and hard for someone who is more polite and respectable than I am to any law enforcement. I have been pulled over, disrespected and fined by what looked like twelve year olds. This was after a day of goose hunting, I was not worried about being pulled over because I had not done anything wrong. My license, geese and gun were all examined without a problem. One of the guys found one box 2.75 low brass #8 lead shot in my truck and the ticket book could not come out fast enough. It was an overlooked box from an earlier range session. It was pretty obvious that my 3.5 Winchester Super X2 was not going to cycle such a shell, much less bring down a goose with one. At any rate, I did not agree with this and I do not think they should have the right to pull someone over without probable cause. I was pulled over because I was wearing camo in a hunting area.

ranburr

 

[Live2Hunt]

Since I don't goose hunt I gotta ask; is it illegal to have those types of shells on your person or in the vehicle when you are goose hunting?

 

[Ulysses]

Ranburr,

Regardless of whether they are nice guys or "turds in a punchbowl", they are government employees! That means they will toe the line of whatever directives come down to them from the higher-up bosses. The higher-up bosses know where their funding comes from and they like being a boss of numerous employees. (It keeps them with a good job and a good paycheck). Therefore, they will do whatever is necessary to keep the money rolling in. I know a little bit about being a government employee and know how it works.

Individually, the game wardens may be great guys, but they've got jobs to do, orders to follow, and families to feed (their own). If they want to continue being a game warden, they will follow orders no matter what they may think of the orders personally. Just as in your example, it made no difference to them that you simply forgot you had that box of lead shotshells in the car. They found a technical violation and slapped a ticket on you. You are not the only person to have received that type ticket. As I have said, I support necessary and reasonable enforcement of the game laws. However, in the past 15 to 20 years, IMO, the game enforcement agencies have turned into typical government bureaucrats whose sole function is to preserve their own little fiefdom and jobs at the expense of those they are suppose to be serving. They've lost my support and the support of many who have fallen victim to some technicality.

 

[Ulysses]

In case some of you may think I'm being extreme in my views of the practices of the game department officials, I would invite you to read the current (March 04) issue of NRA's The American Rifleman. On page 14 is an article by NRA President Kayne Robinson titled "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly". The same article may also be in The American Hunter.

The article points out some of the outrageous actions taken by the game departments which, in his opinion, are very discouraging to law abiding hunters. Among those examples is the arrest of a person who happens to be sighting in his hunting rifle on the family farm during deer season in a "shotgun only" state. Another example of abuse is the routine stopping of hunters and the searching of their cars without any suspicion whatsoever of any violation of any kind. He points out that in his many years of being a law enforcement officer, he couldn't just stop someone and search them without probable cause, but game department officials (game wardens) routinely stop people without probable cause and search their vehicles, check their licenses, and check that everything is in 100% compliance with all the bureaucratic red tape. He mentions the numerous hunters that have been arrested and issued citations because they failed to MAKE A PHONE CALL to get the Harvest Information Program number and write it on their license, thereby rendering their license invalid :!: Give me a frigging break :!: :evil: :evil:

My comments on this thread were not inspired in any way by this article. I just happened to sit down today to look through the magazine and right there in black and white was an article dealing with the very thing we are discussing on this board.

So, those of you who are supporting the game department officials regardless of what they do, may want to reconsider your support. As I've said repeatedly, I fully support the enforcement of legitimate, reasonable laws that help preserve our wildlife. I DON'T support the senseless enforcement of nitpicking laws which have zero effect on the game populations and serve only to raise revenue for the enforcement agencies and piss off law abiding hunters. The enforcement agencies are shooting themselves in the foot, and I'll damn sure tell them so.