On one our local lakes they would park the truck out of visual sight and then head towards the ramp to greet the hunters as they approached the ramp. I was checked several times and never once had an issue. Maybe the GW was having a bad day.

Hmm. I've ran into both of them before and they have always been very polite and very professional.

ok ask yourself (or your friend) why in the He11 didn't you have a plug in the gun in the first place you spend how many THOUSANDS of dollars on this hobby and to get a ticket for not having a $3.00 part to your gun is just plain stupid....

in fact I would guess because the GW couldn't write "stupid" on the ticket he settled for the next best thing.

Gotta say I agree with you. They've always been really professional guys with me.

I work with the Game Warden that is being talked about. I will call him and see what he has to say. Maybe hearing the other side of the story might shed light for both sides.

So it was removed w/o disassembling the gun, thus a violation. OP says he "broke it", GW would probably say it was just easily removed with his ruler.

Yup- lose that one in court 100% of time

Yup

I disagree. The law doesn't define what a plug is, only that it "be plugged" with a "one piece filler" By that definition, a stick is very much so a "plug" as long as it doesn't allow for more then 3 shells

I agree..as its written a plug is anything that keeps a 4th shell from being loaded and can't be removed without dis-assembly....... However, I think its all a moot argument since this is more than likely not the whole story.

I agree with both of your points, BuckRage.

I definitely agree with that! I'm eager to hear what the GW has to say!

I have to say I have never met a game warden that wasn't polite, and courteous.
Most of the time wind up talking to them for a few minutes, after they are through checking to make sure we are within the law.

This year my husband went through all the shotguns before dove season. Making sure they all had plugs in place, and oiling them up. Well at least he thought he did, but missed one of the guns he only uses during duck. Fast forward to teal season. He sure had a shocked look on his face when the game warden checked his gun, and it didn't pass the test. Being the good wife that I am, I had the picture of him getting his first ever ticket from a game warden, posted to his facebook with in seconds. The game warden was still nice, and laughed about us taking the picture.

And also it must be in there so good it requires gun to be disassembled to be removed, his stick plug failed this part of the code.

Last time this crowd bashed game wardens, when the truth came out, all there was around was crickets

Every body posting that the GW is wrong and you haven't even heard the story firsthand. Ya Sig No one wanted to post after the facts of the other story were posted. Hopefully someone will contact the GW who will present the facts.

What was the other story, did I miss something?

Just someone griping about getting a ticket and just gave parts of the story to make themselves look like the big bad GW was picking on them. The GW posted a lot more info about the situation and they guy left out about 95% of the story.

Not saying the original poster's buddy griped about anything on this story.

And thats what our troops are fighting for? A broken twig in a barrel?

One rack of the shotgun or 2?

I'm just glad I never take my plugs out, ever. All I use my shotguns for are migratory birds, so there's never much reason to take the plugs out except for the yearly strip-down cleaning of the mag spring and tube. I've hunted with folks who either forgot their plug or made one that wasn't long enough and used sticks. There's gotta be more to the story...

What kind of shotgun is this anyway? The type of factory plug it uses could have some bearing. Some designs are just not going to work right with a stick plug.

Someone got this answer from TPWD in 2012. Note: "and it doesn't break"


There is no requirement that a shotgun plug be a “factory piece”. The plug must be a one-piece filler and it must be incapable of being removed without disassembling the gun. As long as the pencil is the proper length and it doesn’t break, then it is OK to use a pencil as a shotgun plug.

Scott Vaca
Assistant Chief of Wildlife Enforcement

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
Office: 512-389-4626
Fax: 512-389-8400

Texas Game Wardens serving Texans since 1895-Law Enforcement off the Pavement

Interesting. I don't know what the ruler used looks like or how easy it would be for a dowel or stick to break, or how hard one would need to work to break one. Thanks for posting that, though.

Wouldn't mind hearing the other side but I really don't think he needs to say a word, except in court. My family has a property in Wood County and I have dealt with both Wood County Wardens several times and they have always been professional. Derek even wrote me the second most expensive ticket in my life and I still consider him a friend.