You can cook it anyhow you see fit and give it to whoever you'd like.

But you can also look up your local shelters / charities that feed the needy. They would prolly appreciate some clean fish fillets to be cooked and served.

Some may take the whole fish, some may only accept it IF it is ready to cook and others will only take it if it's ready to eat.

I applaud your efforts ! But your going to be met with many road blocks. Everyone WANTS fresh fish but very are willing to clean them.

The drum and gar both are EXCELLENT eating !!!

Huh. I don't consider bowfishing to be unethical in and of itself. But discarding dead fish one has shot with no intention of using them is highly unethical.

Consider that most so-called 'rough' fish are native Texas species - gar (several types), freshwater drum, and buffalo. They all have a native, natural role in Texas ecosystems and are not trash.

Thank you guys for the input! Im still not seeing where it is unethical though, I am a bass fishermen who practices catch and release and recently tried gar and carp my friend caught and loved it! So I decided to bow fish for them, which if your a decent shot (which I am) will kill the instantly, not an unethical thing, especially if im not just shooting to shoot, im doing it for food and to give back to the ones who need it most.

Agreed! I think the transfer document I spoke of gives the game wardens a way to defeat a common ploy used by some fishermen where they claim to give fish away to people fishing nearby to stay under limits. I have seen this on a Texas Game Warden episode now on TV where the GW replied to an angler that such a form had to be completed. Anyway, I think that is the objective of the form, to control total fish caught by any one angler (and applications to hunters, too).

Brad

I think that you'll have a problem even giving them away because of the liability if they weren't properly cared for before the transfer and if you cooked them and donated, I am pretty sure that you'd need some sort of food license. When you get into the food realm, just too much could go wrong accepting it from strangers.

+1

I work on Ft Hood, There are dozens of Asians and some southern black people that I work with that will meet me any where any time to get Drum and Carp. Most of them when they find out that I love to fish ask me about these fish. I had a Filipino lady and her entire family come down to pick up 6- 20+ lb small mouth buffalo. I am asked almost daily when I am going fishing again. If you link up with the Asian community near where you live you will have friends for life. I don't sell or barter the fish. I'm not trying to stereotype, I'm sure there are Asians and black people who wouldn't want these fish. But the ones that do, will literally drive out to the lake meet me at the boat launch any time day or night to get them. They will also find others to get the fish to. There are never any fish turned down. GL

I don't know how to state this any more clearly. If you're killing fish just for the sake of shooting and killing them, without USING the fish, it's unethical (i.e. WRONG). It's also a violation of Texas fish & game laws. Giving the fish to your neighbors for them to eat is using them. If you bring me some buffalo that I intend to use as cat food, that's using them. But if you're shooting fish dead, and waste them because you don't have some use for them, it is flat out WRONG.

I have no respect for those who kill carp, buffalo, gar, etc (by whatever means), and then just leave the carcasses out to rot.

For me, matters of right & wrong have greater significance than whether the thing is legal or illegal (but illegal still matters!)

Only analogy I can think of is deer hunting. Would you go out during archery season and shoot some deer just to shoot them, without any intent to use them yourself, or at least have someone who you can give them to?

You go to any Asian market and they have carp, and drum for sale there.

This may sound oddly familiar, but have you considered teaching them how to fish instead?

Get off you high horse!! Who says he's torturing the fish for his pleasure. Some of like sticking fish with a bow, it does not mean we get pleasure from "torturing creatures to death slowly"

@OP - Check for someone with pigs or organic compost/farmers in the area as they will take them. We give alot to a local organic composter, gardeners and some guys who use them for catfish bait. Some of the larger gar are pretty good boiled in 7up and eaten with butter or make some gar balls.

and for all the others bashing bowfishers, it's not illegal to shoot the fish with no intent to eat them. These are not classified as game fish per TPWD and do not fall under waster of game laws. Now dumping them at the boat ramp or into the lake is illegal and just plain disrespectful to fellow outdoors men.

I have no complaint with bowfishing in and of itself, so long as the fish are not killed and left to waste. You are correct that they are not "game" fish, but they are still edible. Here's the relevant rule from Texas fish & game:

http://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoo...ing-regulations

Waste of fish

It is unlawful to leave edible fish or bait fish taken from the public waters of the state to die without the intent to retain the fish for consumption or bait.

Carrollton

I have looked up how to donate fish to a food bank or some other charity, it's not too difficult. The hardest part is finding an organization to take wild meat. All you have to do (I believe) is fill out a wildlife transfer document.

$3.99 a lb. Damn, that is a friggin deal right there.