If a game warden is on a property, they will readily identify themselves if asked, so the point is moot. If the property owner is so scared they can’t fathom making contact with someone before shooting them, they should probably stay in the city.

Relaying a story about some eccentric rich guy, owning land and fostering a recovering drug addicts' hippie community was really "interesting" though. May not have been pertinent, but "interesting".

I have met a few game wardens in the course of hunting. Have seen some who were very professional and some who were very pleasant and nice to visit with.

I’ve been hunting for over 50 years. Only had 6 or 7 meetings with them. Never been cited. Only one was a jerk; a real jerk.

They used to have a key to my gate. I have a very high hill that overlooks a dirt road. GW and Sheriffs deputies used to come by and get on the hill watching for road hunters and probable drug deals.

We have a relatively new one in Montague County. I saw him in town and introduced myself. He already knew who I was and where the key to my gate was. The previous GW had filled him in on everybody in the County.

Many like that here in this thread. It’s sickitating. While I have nothing to hide, & truly detest poachers, I believe in privacy, private property, & the 4th Amendment more.

I have had good and bad interactions with GWs. The good was in getting assistance to get the Denton County Sheriff's Office to do their jobs and deal with the people shooting across my property while I was on it and nearly hit multiple times. The original deputy who responded said there would be an investigation but then days later opted not to do anything about the incident. At that time, the deputy informed me that he doesn't enforce hunting laws like shooting across property lines, you know, because of office discretion. I called the GW for assistance. The GW apparently went and had a talk with the sheriff's office and the next day I was assigned an investigator and was told the deputy involved would be receiving additional training. All 3 shooters eventually got probation for deadly conduct.

The bad interaction was with the previous Montague County GW who got a call that somebody was hunting a rural cemetery. This was about 11:30 at night when he rolled up on me, the guy hunting the cemetery. The cemetery association had contacted me to deal with a hog rooting up graves. The game warden wanted me to prove I had permission to hunt where I was hunting. We went round and around for about a half hour, him even threatening to make me leave the property if I did not provide him with written authorization or contact information for the association, neither of which is required by law. I wasn't going to have him wake up my landowner in the middle of the night, LOL. I suggested he go back to his complainant or look up the cemetery association himself if he wanted additional information. Eventually, he left.

Certainly not how I would have handled that situation. We are all just so different. Maybe I am missing something, but it seems the GW was making a reasonable attempt to do his job. If I was the landowner, or hunter, I would appreciate that and wouldnt mind a call at midnight.
How would the GW be expected to handle it if the "hunter" did not have permission to be there and was hunting deer in a cemetery at night. I would think its kinda tough for a GW to walk up on an armed man at night not knowing he wasnt the worst of criminals.
If I was the landowner or the cemetery people I would likely be bothered that you had just made an enemy of local law enforcement just because you didnt make one call. Double, Im not trying to give you a hard time, but its just exactly the type situation that causes the controversy of some being cooperative of law enforcement and some not.

I have had no problems with the local Gamewarden’s when they are poking around. On the other hand I’ve had problems with poachers and trespassing. If the fellow filmed himself poaching on his own trailcam, then he is a fool and I would support it being seized as evidence. If there was no wrongdoing and the warden took his camera, it is theft in my eyes. One of the parties here is in the wrong. My hunch, based on associates, would be the camera owner is a poacher. Not enough details supplied in this instance for me to decide which party is in the wrong.

Why can't the Game Warden just stop at the farm, introduce himself and say he is making a routine, spot check? No problem. If there is evidence of wrong doing, then get a warrant and do the same thing.

The problem is that he never had probable cause. He got a complaint, not from the landowner, investigated, found a hunter (me) on private property where he didn't observe me doing anything wrong and I cooperated 100% in accord with the law. If he gets butt hurt because the law does not require additional cooperation, that is on him. He knows the regs. He knows he can ask. He knows that I can say no. He also knows he can't require me to provide him additional information as he tried to do.

Ive been wronged twice by GW's and for years it seemed like I was the only one who would dare mention they don't walk on water around here.

I beat 1 of those encounters in court, the other was just another waste of my time that resulted in no citation...BOTH times I was minding my own business, following the law and harming nobody

You know I find it interesting. I am 70 years old. I have hunted since I was a young boy. Been on many leases, owned my own ranch, have hunted in multiple states, etc.

How is it that some of you have had multiple complaints and negative interactions with GW's when I have had zero?? There is a common denominator in all of this.
Makes me sad when I read about fellow hunters trashing our GW's. They are regular people like us and are not perfect. But if you have had multiple issues then IMO that is on you

Been checked before, no big effn'g deal. Guys just trying to keep the peace and laws intact.

I agree!

Would you like me to forget me getting lectured and then cited for a non violation and having to take take off work and take it to court? The Judge quickly agreed and dismissed it.

I can't help those negative interactions I had, they happened and I was in the right, wasn't bothering anybody and not committing any crime? Furthermore, I was polite as possible.

But I am not going to pretend I didn't have them either

Been visited by wardens quite a bit, license checks in deer camps and on the lake, mostly good experiences. Had several visits on my property when gate was unlocked, warden drove up to the camper and visited, most of the times didn't even check license. Had 2 times somewhat negative, once gate was locked because there was a notice of a convict loose in the area while son and I were hunting on our property. We hunted separate halves of 160 acres so that we could hunt and stalk safely. I saw movement in the brush around 9am which was about the time a nice buck had been coming in, scoped it only to see a warden moving thru the brush....I was very not happy. I yelled at him and he seemed to be shocked that I was there. I let him know that was a dangerous thing to do and he was lucky I was very safety conscious. 90% sure he is the same one that got shot a year or 2 later while illegally hunting the Cooper WMA about 12.miles away and still works as a warden as far as I know. I have no respect for him and hope to never see him again...
The other experience was a different warden and technically he was in the right, a year or 2 after we bought the property dad shot a nice buck and was very excited about it. He dressed it and drug it a couple hundred yards out of the woods, then walked to the SUV and went back and loaded it. It was HOT and he wanted to get to town to get some bagged ice to put in the cavity and head back to Dallas to butcher it at home. I was hunting near the front gate and he picked me up there. The warden pulled up as I was opening the gate we we all talked and he checked our licenses and asked how we did. My dad was excited and wanted to show off the buck... and then we realized he had not tagged it, warden went into prick mode while dad filled out the tag, lecturing how he could confiscate the deer, guns suspend license, etc. Since dad got it tagged immediately and before we left our property he just wrote a ticket but totally ruined our experience of the first buck taken by us off our new property...

I’ve only had one bad experience with a game warden and he was a Fed, opening day dove season 2001. Made for a great story when he threatened to take the land owner to jail along with the rest of us law abiding citizens. Land owner told him to F off and he wasn’t taking anyone to jail. GW said, “You wanna bet?” Land owner said, “Yeah I do.” Land owner was sitting on the porch drinking cold beer and the GW way overstepped his authority on an 80 year old man that didn’t give a damn.

GW started off by writing me a ticket after breaking my A5 mesquite branch plug and forcing another shell in. That shotgun was on the Mule. I was hunting with an O/U. He proceeded to find something wrong with the way everyone was hunting. GW was a little man with AUTHORITY. The land owner called the Judge in his county on the party line. He said talk to the judge you goofy SOB. Game warden left in a hurry after being cursed out by the land owner and told not to come back. I miss that old man just as much as my own grandfather. He was a character.

We still have another chain with no other locks on it for when we are there. If a GW we don’t know wants to come in he will do some walking.

So your Dad failed to tag his deer and that's the GW's fault?? Give me a break

Lets simmer that GW love boner talk tlk, that wasn't the most egregious act ever...

If the experience was ruined it wasn’t by the game warden.

Just because you have never had a bad experience does not mean that it does not happen. I was in the same boat, till we had a warden yelling at my daughter, who was perfectly legal. She was near tears. He needed punched, but he knew that he could be a prick all that he wanted.
We have never done anything illegal, always polite, and very respectful. I did everything I could to try and deescalate the situation, wanting to be an example to my daughter about respect to LEOs. He made this very hard to do.
Also, just because I have had three bad experiences does not mean that there are not good ones.

This the type of atypical experience which needs to documented and pushed up the chain of command. Yes, documented means to put it in writing.

Touched a nerve with Hud when you mentioned daughter......
I agree that atypical handling of a situation by a GW could be taken up the ladder to his superiors. Beyond that, Im like tlk and have never had an issue at all. Much respect for LEOs, but say that knowing that there are bad apples everywhere.
As for the not tagging a deer story. I might have some sympathy if you had just rolled into camp, but about to pull out onto a public road I wouldnt think any slack would be given.

I said the GW was in the right! But he wasn't even going to check the truck until dad bragged about the deer, and then he didn't have to be an a$$ about it, just write the ticket and get off my property!

Sorry but the GW did not ruin your experience - you guys did by not tagging the deer - those are the simple facts based on what you wrote above. Anyone who has hunted any time at all knows it is law that you tag the deer when and where it was taken.

And to add ... of course there are some GW's who may could do better just as there are doctors, businesses, etc. who could do better. But overall I believe the vast majority of GW's are honest, hard working people who try to do the right thing -