Im with TDK on this, I might not agree with the laws but they are the laws, deal with it. If you are presumed to be hunting, you are subject to the laws, you look like a hunter, you get treated like a hunter. I apologize if I offend you but if you don't like it stop hunting. These laws are in place to protect what we all love to do. Not specifically from YOU or your friend but from people who break these laws. If someone gets caught with some pot do I care? No, but it's about enforcing the laws that are in place, no matter how trivial.

TDK, I was poking fun at you on Obama. However, I do think we as a population in this country are allowing a lot of things to happen that are of concern. Will the next step be that the GW can "legally" come into our home and search our freezer if we are a holder of a hunting license? My buddy was wrong and he will pay. I just am concerned things are gradually, but surely heading downhill with "big brother". Good discussion here and I can appreciate all points even the ones I may not totally agree with. Hope everyone has a good hunting season.

Your buddy broke the law and you post a rant??? Thats just sad.

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Apparently, others have processed birds the same way in the past. You missed my point. Are we as a society going to one day be comfortable with house to house searches because we "may" have illegal drugs? Shouldn't be a problem since we know we are not involved in that sort of thing, right? According to one poster they followed a guy to his cabin. That's all I'm sayin'...

Talk about a backfire of a post.

No not really! It depends on how your looking at the rant. If it were clearly "I got a ticket and I am ticked" resulting from breaking a law, then yes it is not a worthy rant. If taken as I took it "I was searched and don't know why" then I understand.

I have been a cop for 22 years and had no idea of the specific state law in place, which obviously supercedes federal law. I don't know how much I like it. When I look at it from a law enforcement standpoint it is a good tool to use. When I look at it from a citizen's standpoint I get a little ruffled.

In my younger years as an officer I would not have looked twice at the law. My though process would be "Get the bad guy at all costs". Well the older I get the more history I read and the more information I retain as to how these rights came about. More importantly I recognize what the costs of human life were spent to ensure we have these rights.

Well over the years each of these rights are being eroded. It is like a sponge sucking the life out of our freedoms.

Example: Your rights to be free of a search, except in this instance (Game Laws).

Example : Your rights to keep and bear arms, with the exception of this kind
of firearm and you can carry it if you have a license,
such as a concealed handgun license.

These are simply two of the most clear amendmants we have and they have been gutted. I don't like it.

The only thing that stops me from a complete rant here is each and every game warden I have been in contact with has been a nice person. They have always asked for consent and it has always been granted. I have met some I totally disagree with but that is another issue. The issue I am speaking of is abuse of power. I have never felt abused by any game warden. They are a professional bunch.

Here is where I am torn with the law. We have given up this one freedom to be free of a random search as long as we are hunting. I didn't even know this was a law in effect. Now never have being abused by this law and always being treated well (other than a disagreement) Is a good thing. But what happens when one bad seed appears. Our rights to be free of searches are not in place. What law does a citizen get to rely upon if in the event a bad seed appears. How does he go about protecting himself. I have to say they have done well in the choices and training of the game wardens. These rights were not put in place to protect the citizen from the good officers, they were set in motion to give us the right to stop the bad ones.

Seems to me that you wanted him to get off with a warning and he broke three diffent game laws. This has zero to do with a search as he had reason to believe that game laws had been broken.....pay the fines and go about your business.

I must agree with G6.5 on the encroachment of our constitutional rights here. They say you eat an an elephant one bite at a time. Same can be said for the constitution and Bill of Rights.

WAL1809, you get the actual issue here. My best friend is an FBI agent who served 35 years as an agent. His take on this was same as yours'. This is an erosion of rights. I agree with you that most GW's are guys. Laws protect us from abuse of power by the bad ones. Thanks for the input.

The OP's original rant was that he felt a warning would have been better than a ticket, which is ridiculous. A law was broke and a ticket was issued....everybody gets mad when the ticket gets issued to them or someone else in thier group, but are quick to say that gw's are never around when someone else is breaking the law and deserves a citation.
Now the OP is trying to change his rant to be an "illegal search" issue. It's funny to me that he states that he wasn't there when the "search" was conducted, but knows that it violated his constitutional rights. My guess is that the warden pulled up to the truck, had good reason to believe that the occupants were in the field hunting, saw a cooler and inspected the contents, saw a violation and decided to wait for the hunters. I would love to hear this warden's side of the story. That warden was doing exactly what the State of Texas hired him to do, and doing it in a way that the state allows him. Wardens are granted an inspection authority when dealing with hunting, fishing or water safety to protect our resources, if they weren't it would be detrimental to wildlife populations.

Honestly I would rather there be no hunting at all than to give up the rights granted to us by the US constitution and it's amendments.

I agree.

I agree. Many lives have been shed in protection of our rights and constitution. The ostrich who puts his head in the sand still gets it from behind. He just didn't see it coming. I guess that makes it all better. Time to wake up folks. OP nailed this one!

At what point are you giving up your constitutional rights? The Supreme Court is responsible for making sure that our constitutional rights are protected, and they have not deemed a warden's inspection authority unconstitutional. The legislture has granted inspection authority to gw's when it comes to certain activities. That is the only way it can be done, if protecting our resources is important. It is NOT the same as stopping a car on the highway and doing random searches for narcotics and other contraband. What a game warden is doing is not random, it is an inspection for resources, licenses, legal means etc...Hunting is a privilege, not a right, and with that you give up certain expectations of privacy while engaged in hunting and fishing. One day the state may change the authority of gw's and require probable cause to "search" a container that may be used to store game, if that does happen, then I'd imagine that bag limits and other regulations would be broken more than what they are already. Who wants that?

I'd have to think about that one. I mean, with no hunting, why would I even need the rights...

not gonna read through the whole thing looks like it has gotten way off topic.

Fact is a lot of people ignore that law. I got a ticket for the same thing about 7 years ago. I thought since I was camping for a few days it was alright. NOPE

Then about 3 years ago I was up in the panhandle with an outfitter he started cleaning the sandhills that night at the hotel. I said "don't you need to leave a wing on those?"
"nah"
"well I got a ticket for that before"
"You dont have to worry about that"
Next day Game warden opens his cooler after the goose hunt

Lets just say I bet he worries about that now.

I love this, the OP is mad because the GW followed the law and busted his buddy who didnt?? The GW CAN LOOK IN THE COOLER......so are you guys mad about the law or the GW doing his job??

Jasb its just ignorance thats all. My thoughts are if it is a law just follow it if you dont want any trouble. The man was just doing his job!!!

Certainly I don't want this to happen. I am just a red blooded American who believes there should be a brick wall twix us and government encroachment. I simply do not want to become a head buried in the sand type of person. I'll give an example. War rages on the border today right now. I can see the government coming up with "well since you are driving on a major drug corridor we have the right to stop and search" or "we have the right to conduct check points". (Which if you have ever been to south Texas you know they are already and have been in place). I get stopped and questioned everytime I come through there. I have had my truck inspected, boat inspected ect.

My point is where do we put the foot down. I don't know as I am a hunter and don't want our rescourses depleted. I will sstill hunt. I will remain in compliance and offer consent to search. I have nothing to hide. I just don't want to see an erosion of what was given to us. The sstopping of this erosion begins right here where people get together and talk about it. If we don't and we just shrug our shoulders then we are to blame.

WHAT PART DO YOU NOT GET? Seems to me you don't give a rats arse about the constitution in this case for sure. It does not matter if it is a right or not, you don't give up your rights no matter what happens. Even when someone is killed the murder still has rights.

Also the supreme court can only rule on a case that is brought before them. And speaking of the supreme court do you honestly believe they all give a crap about the constitution?


"Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Care to show me in the above text where is says except game wardens, or unless you are hunting.

This is why I will just stick with shooting feral hogs. No limit issues and if I find one with wings I'll be sure to leave it attached.

All kidding aside, the OP stated in his original post the issue of the search. So, read carefully before you comment that he is changing that. The GW was in compliance with the laws as they stand now. The law is flawed and invasive with regard to our constitutional rights. If you don't see that then you need to sit and think about it. National healthcare, discussion about gun control, restrictions on farmers about what they can and cannot do with the land they own, CPS dictating whether somebody can spank their child for acting up. The list goes on guys. That is the whole point to this thread.

By the way, they will pop the wrong guy one of these days and he will have the resources and backbone to challenge this. Then, this practice will stop. Until then, they have free reign.

What right was violated in this case? Game warden sees cooler, game warden has probable cause. I am a stanch supporter in the constitution and bill of rights, I see no problem with the GW in this case. As for other instances I agree there are problems but what can you expect, its been overruled and butchered for the past 200 years to where we no longer know what our rights are, that is for another thread though, nobody's rights were violated here though.

I would like to know why is it that some of the ones that are so willing to argue about following the laws are okay with the government breaking the laws?