I recall a few years ago a member on here, don't remember who, that was working on his tractor in the field and a gw rolled up demanding to see his hunting license.

That was probably me. I was near the barn working on my tractor with the landowner standing nearby, both of us in street clothes. He did ask us at first if we had been hunting recently, to which I replied "yes". The landowner informed him that he doesn't hunt. When he asked to see my hunting license, I told him it was in my wallet in my trailer. He asked that we walk over to my trailer so he could see it, which we did. He also asked me if I had killed anything and I told him "Yes, a doe." He asked me when I killed it and I told him last weekend. I must admit at the time that I found it a little amusing the he thought I would admit to having hunted and killed a doe out of season without a license while standing there in street clothes. I mean, standing there in street clothes it would have been so much easier to say I hadn't been hunting that year.

While I didn't see the experience as being necessary, it was definitely something that didn't settle well at all with the landowner. I found it very much like an officer stopping at your house, asking if the vehicle in the driveway is your's, and then asking to see your driver's license.

Sounds like there 'might' have been more to the meeting than you were privy to (I.E. Warden might have been acting on information called in by someone). They don't always tell you why they are there.

It just seems a bridge too far that the Warden would go on that type of 'fishing expedition' ...out of the blue, with no apparent reason. But who knows.

Sounds like there 'might' have been more to the meeting than you were privy to (I.E. Warden might have been acting on information called in by someone). They don't always tell you why they are there.

It just seems a bridge too far that the Warden would go on that type of 'fishing expedition' ...out of the blue, with no apparent reason. But who knows.

Agree with flint.
It does seem odd but he may of had other information that caused him to be curious. If the shoe was on the other foot and a neighbor was doing something illegal then Im sure everyone would be ok with the GW going over there and doing the same inquiry. Once again, they are usually just trying to do the job we all want them to do. Evidently they step outa bounds sometimes but on here is first Ive heard of it.
In this case, even though it seemed odd, I would not have been bothered by that encounter at all. I would be thankful he was being proactive about his job instead of sitting somewhere doing nothing. The two GWs I have worked closest with have been very diligent/aggresive about trying to catch the bad guys and I love it. Our current GW called me day before opening day to tell me he wanted to go in on us well before daylight to try and catch a poacher we suspected as hunting on us. I loved it. After a year of dogged pursuit he finally got the guy on numerous violations. Our landowner is somewhat politically connected and he was able to get the punishment part of the law changed to address some of what the guy had done. They even named the law change after our LO. Our old GW outa Throckmorton was the same way. We worked together to catch an outlaw. He was relentless.

I learn so much on this forum. I never heard the term boot licker before......

I learn so much on this forum. I never heard the term boot licker before......

I’d heard it before but I guess I didn’t know the real definition lol,

I think we both knew how this one was going to end, it took a few days but it finally got to rolling

Met a guy at a seminar. Turned out we hunted close together. Real close. We had a problem pasture with bad hunters on our SE fence line. They had a pasture with bad hunters on their NW fence line. We figured out that pasture must be right in between his and mine.

Imagine our mutual surprise when figured out we were actually sharing that fence line. There was nothing in between.

That was probably me. I was near the barn working on my tractor with the landowner standing nearby, both of us in street clothes. He did ask us at first if we had been hunting recently, to which I replied "yes". The landowner informed him that he doesn't hunt. When he asked to see my hunting license, I told him it was in my wallet in my trailer. He asked that we walk over to my trailer so he could see it, which we did. He also asked me if I had killed anything and I told him "Yes, a doe." He asked me when I killed it and I told him last weekend. I must admit at the time that I found it a little amusing the he thought I would admit to having hunted and killed a doe out of season without a license while standing there in street clothes. I mean, standing there in street clothes it would have been so much easier to say I hadn't been hunting that year.

While I didn't see the experience as being necessary, it was definitely something that didn't settle well at all with the landowner. I found it very much like an officer stopping at your house, asking if the vehicle in the driveway is your's, and then asking to see your driver's license.

The GW may have wanted to see which tag you used on the doe and he may have wanted to see if it was properly recorded on the reverse side of license.

Perhaps this is a good place to stop and ask yourself what if the roles were reversed and you were the officer. You come across two men working on a tractor just outside a barn. You have no history with either of them ever breaking any laws and it's obvious they're not hunting and for all you know, may not have hunted that season or at any time in the past. Now would you feel it would be appropriate to stop and ask them to stop what they are doing so you can ask them if they had been hunting that season and when one of them said yes, feel it necessary to ask to see his license? I can honestly say that if the roles were reversed on me, I would not have even stopped to waste their time.

If you hunt or fish you owe a debt of gratitude to the Gamewardens who are tasked with policing the resource. Whether you realize it or not, it is the sportsmen who harvest the fruit of the wardens labor. All the native wild game animals in Texas are owned by the state. That is regardless of whether on public or private property. In order for wardens to police the resource they are tasked with, requires them to go where the animals are, be it public or private. My experiences with Gamewardens has been overwhelmingly positive. I have had two encounters with wardens that were not positive. Both were young men that did not yet know their way around. Both matured into assets to have around in time. The net benefits have far outweighed the two negatives in my estimation. In light of that I always show the wardens grace, even in the rare instances they were mistaken.

^^^I wish I knew how to save a quote like Smokeys above so I could just requote it EVERYTIME a GW thread comes up. Perfectly expresses my feelings and does it much better than I. Only difference is I have had zero negative encounters with GW(or any LEO.)

If you hunt or fish you owe a debt of gratitude to the Gamewardens who are tasked with policing the resource. Whether you realize it or not, it is the sportsmen who harvest the fruit of the wardens labor. All the native wild game animals in Texas are owned by the state. That is regardless of whether on public or private property. In order for wardens to police the resource they are tasked with, requires them to go where the animals are, be it public or private. My experiences with Gamewardens has been overwhelmingly positive. I have had two encounters with wardens that were not positive. Both were young men that did not yet know their way around. Both matured into assets to have around in time. The net benefits have far outweighed the two negatives in my estimation. In light of that I always show the wardens grace, even in the rare instances they were mistaken.

Exactly. I don’t understand what’s so difficult to comprehend about our rights or exercising them. So many people seem to think exercising your rights or expecting law enforcement to respect our rights means that you hate law enforcement. It’s simply not true, and extremely short-sighted.

Someone needs to talk with a shrink