Yes he can. Read the laws.

"Sec. 12.103. ENTERING LAND; USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY ENTRY; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) To enforce the game and fish laws of the state and to conduct scientific investigations and research regarding wild game or fish, an authorized employee of the department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish are known to range or stray. No action may be sustained against an employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water when acting in his official capacity as described by this subsection."

It can't be spelled out any better than that.

a warden can enter anyone's property for any reason. he doesn't need a warrant. he does not need to suspect illegal activity. all he needs is to suspect "activity" and he has the right to enter the property and check licenses and whatever else.

a wounded deer that crosses a property line cannot be retrieved unless permission has been secured from that property owner.

a game warden may not retrieve a wounded animal without the permission of that landowner. the only exception being if it is suspected that this animal was wounded illegally as an act of poaching and he needs it as evidence. then he can go.



but if it was a legally shot animal. and their is no permission from the property owner....then the animal is un-retrievable.

remember texas game laws define hunting as "the TAKING or attempted TAKING of a wildlife resource" taking means just that, taking....picking up a dead animal on the road is considered taking and is considered hunting.

a game warden has no authority to hunt or take on anyone's property unless permission has been given. he only has access to investigate the legal/illegal nature of any sort of hunting/fishing that may be taking place on the property. he cannot force the landowner to allow you access...nor can he claim the deer for you under those circumstancs.

I can tell you what happened to me last year during this situation and the previous year we were on the other end of it.

Last year a buddy shot a buck and wounded a deer that we watched get over the fence through the woods. We lease this place and don't know the neighbors but left a note on the gate. They never responsed but we notified the Game Warden the next day and he came to assist in our search.

He did not let us cross the fence until we could prove the wounded animal made it across. We found blood on our side and then on their side a few feet away. At that time we all crossed the fence and continued our search. The Warden ended our search when we lost the blood trail and couldn't see the animal in a close distance. He had zero contact with the other landowner or their lease members.

Different lease and Warden but the year prior we found evidence of a deer being killed and drug on our property. We contacted the Warden and he told us that he assisted in the recovery of that deer and knew exactly where we were standing. Said the adjoining hunter showed him proof of where the deer was shot and they made the recovery on our side of the fence.

I have no idea other than what I read through here of the actual law but both instances ended in the same results. Warden assisted recovery across a fence without notification.

I agree with this.

Then how come they always use them for drug bust and stuff, I have always heard that they do not have to have a search warrant like cops do! I am not saying yes or no I am just asking, I am a fireman and have no clue about what cops and wardens can do but sometimes get curious! We work together all the time but they do their business and we do ours and I usually do not ask many questions

a crime has been commited if reasonable effort has not been made to retrieve animal..so game warden has justifyable reason..i think

It doesn't have anything to do with powers granted or needing/not needing a search warrant. TX GW's are probably the most highly trained LEO in the state, hence, the longest academy, almost eight months. They are trained to do everything a city policeman, county deputy and State Troopers do plus the Parks and Wildlife code.

Many smaller counties rely on them due to the lack of manpower and that level of training they posess. When the time comes to kick a door you want people who you can trust. I want the person behind me to have advanced skills and to be safe, not some ill trained Bubba with his muzzle pointed at my back with his finger on the trigger.

Erich is spot on with his reply.

OK, stretching a little here but.........is it not against the law to waste a game animal? By refusing to let someone recover a deer laying just on your side and not recovering it yourself could be construed as waste?

I don't believe the GW needs to contact the people leasing the property for hunting purposes he only needs to contact the owner.

They enter places where they suspect hunting... If they know there is no hunting on the place and the landowner says no its still a no to me.

What game and fish laws/ scientific investigation would the warden be performing by looking for a downed deer across a property line?[/quote

Making sure the deer his friend shot that ran on the arseholes land is a legal deer meets the game laws.....nothing landowner can do if GW says he suspects deer is not legal...

Making sure the deer his friend shot that ran on the arseholes land is a legal deer meets the game laws.....nothing landowner can do if GW says he suspects deer is not legal...

What makes the land owner an "arsehole"? Not wanting every person within a mile of his fences running all over his place looking for "wounded" deer?

If the deer was a legal deer what gives the GW the right to remove it from the property without the landowners permission?