Never had a less than perfect encounter, even when someone in our group was getting a couple of citations...

A good friend and fishing buddy of mine is a retired GW, he was with them for over 30 years. When he retired he said there was a different breed of people who were becoming GW's. He said in order to be an effective GW, that person needed to be an avid hunter and/or fisherman. I really believe that as well. He said there are some wardens who have never hunted or fished a day in their lives.

We were running dove hunts in deep S TX three miles in from 77 off a private road. It was the 1st evening of utter season and there were limts (somehow/someway) for all. The hunters went inside for refreshments while myself and one other commenced to cleaning the game. After about half were cleaned and after no telling what was said, we saw shadows emerge from the brush which materialized into two wardens. They had parked on the PR and went through the brush in the complete dark.

No tickets given, but a few changes were implemented involving the handling of each Hunter's bag limit.

My 13 year old son and I were duck hunting last season and were hunting in Collin county. We had shot a few and were hunting an irrigation pond on an abandoned tree farm when we noticed a truck coming across the property with a purpose. I knew others had access to the property, but not many so I was a little surprised to see the truck. It navigated its way all the back to where we were and I soon realized it was a Game Warden. It ended up being a couple of really nice guys and after they made sure we were good guys they took the time to make sure my son was having fun and enjoying the outdoors. They really complimented his gun, our dog, our setup, and made him feel really special. They even asked him to blow his call and were complimentary of his skills. I was proud to have met them both.

The last weekend of that season we had a chance to hunt a man's property over in East Texas. He called me a couple of days before the hunt and said there were a couple of gentleman that had called and asked for permission to hunt the place as well and he wanted to know if it was OK for these other guys to join me and my son. While I honestly didn't want the company I wasn't about to tell the man who was letting me hunt his place that I wouldn't accommodate his other associates. Turns out they were both Game
Wardens and were very experienced duck hunters. Not only did they make sure to put my son and I in the best spot for our hunt, they made him feel very special and were sure to make sure he had his opportunities. The first group came in and they called the shot and my son shot two birds out of the group and they went absolutely crazy really pumping him up. It was one of our best outings of the year.

I'm sure there are some bad apples out there, but my son experienced some of the good ones last season and these fellas knew how to make a kid (and his dad) feel lucky to be in Texas.

All my encounters with game wardens have been pleasant. Only had a couple license checks.

One fellow went above and beyond in setting up to catch some serial trespassing hunters entering from the back through adjacent properties.

Turned out the trespassing posse was led by a cop in a neighboring jurisdiction. Our game warden, caught him, and issued the appropriate tickets for the infractions.

No professional courtesy to overlook a serial trespasser.