Game warden encounters

We watch a lot of lone star law and it got me to thinking, have you had issues with them? The only one I can think of was the warden on Bridgeport. I had a nice stringer of Sandies. He wanted to argue one was an undersized hybrid. I pointed out that it had one tooth patch, but he said you can't go by that. I proceeded to pull out the tpwd reg handout that clearly stated that white bass have one tooth patch. He didn't like it, but he couldn't do anything. Moral of the story is keep a copy with you at all times and be familiar with it. Anyone have any stories?

All have been professional with me except that red headed pistol pete on Fork.

One pulled me over near Lampasas because there was a small spot of blood on the rear bumper of my truck. Told him that a friend had killed a deer the day before, and we used my truck to bring it back to camp to field dress. He looked in my cooler, then sent me on my way.

I've only had the one bad encounter. You're right about the overwhelming professionalism.

Never an issue, just the normal check license, life jackets and fish limits. I was pretty hammered one time but wasn't operating the boat, we had a few laughs they were cool.

No, been checked maybe 4-5 times

All been pretty chill . Last one got me for stickers . Forgot to put them on and wasn’t even sure if I had the stickers cuz the wife took care of it . I was buzzing pretty good he wrote me a ticket for reg and said judge would drop it with proof. Told me My line had a few fish on it a ways away and smiled and left . Very nice and professional nothing bad to say

Since I’m an old outlaw according to TPWD, I’ll just say they’re some fine folks just trying to do their job.

Only once. Knew I should have knocked out that bear.

RJ had a run in with one last year

Never an issue on the water, however I did have one weird one come in the hunting camp and nose around. He introduced himself as a game warden 3-4 times as if we couldn't read the sign on his truck or emblem on his shirt. He was scanning things near and far like there were VC hiding in the trees. I offered him a cup of coffee, he said no. I offered him coffee with a twist of Jack, he said no. I then offered him just a plain shot of Jack, no again. I told him to come back next week and we would have Glenlevit, I got a blank stare. He then proceeded to tell me he was glad there were new hunters on that place this year, that the guys in years past killed everything that walked, and he wrote multiple citations. I informed him we were on our own land, we owned it, and the family had owned it since the 1800's, and nobody had shot a deer on the place in 2-3 years. He tried to argue, but he was clearly lost as to where he thought he was. He then just stared at the sky, paced around and left.

Never a bad experience. Maybe a few arrogant attitudes but they were rookies.

That one wasn’t bad. I’ve had to climb the side of a mountain to get away from them before.

Most all experiences have been really good but long time ago one warden tried his best to get 4 shells in shotgun when I was probably 12-13 dove hunting with factory plug. He couldn’t do it but he did break 2 pencils some other folks were using and wrote them tickets. Was a bit excessive for sure. Other than that some 30 years ago all wardens have been awesome.

No bad experiences, only good ones and I've been checked many times over the years. Got stopped when my dad, brother, and I were coming back from lease in Sonora with a loaded down pickup full of deer. Game warden stopped us, had me shoot at a fence post to prove I'd shot my tagged deer. I passed the test. Hunted the 6666 ranch with the game warden as my guide when I was a teenager... out of the game wardens car. He was my dad's best friend and we donated the deer to the boys ranch orphanage .

Did have to explain to a game warden in Florida what species of fish I'd caught... he was a new warden, he wasn't a fisherman and didn't know what kind of snapper I'd caught. He'd been a former police officer.

At one time I seriously considered becoming one.

Had one come up to me in the boat ramp parking lot after I loaded the boat. He asked me if I knew how fast I was going on my way back to the ramp. I said, no, not really. He said , well we don’t either, but just be careful with that thing. They were pretty cool.

Had a few run ins with the possum police over the past few decades. Matter of fact, the only time I ever went to jail was at the hand of a game warden. All that being said, I've had nothing but great experiences with them the past 30+ years.

Yes sir. Many a time in the 90’s

Got stopped at Fork,..did all the checks and was good. Then he says where's your life jackets...duh. we got them on.
Oh yeah,..ok thanks.

Was in the back of a cove with several boats in it. GW pulled in checking everyone. Ironically I was ready to go. So after a few minutes I pull out and start heading out of the cove. GW immediately stops what he’s doing and starts chasing me. It’s they actually, caught up to me in a high speed chase. They thought they had caught DB Cooper. Checked everything on the list and I was good. Was pretty funny really. They were very disappointed in their pursuit.

Warden James Brown, Lake Cisco. Great Guy, it would be difficult to find a nicer human being but...as long as we have known him and talked with him at the dock, he will still check you to make sure all is legal. I already know the question is coming "could you open the lid on that cooler for me"?

The only thing I’ve encountered that left me bewildered was the lady Warden on Grapevine several years ago. She was checking every single fishing boat she came across while jet skis were doing donuts 1/8 mile inside the no wake zone in Twin. She idled right past em to get to me for a boat check. When I asked she said she was just there to check fishermen…. Check went fine, she was nice and to the point, just confused as to why she would only target fishermen and ignore blatant violations right in front of her.

I’m always happy to be checked, usually have everything out on the deck and ready when I see them approaching. Overall love me some TPWD and have nothing but respect for our wardens.

I have only been checked 5 times in my life and I have spent thousands of hours on the water or in the field. Just ask my two ex wives. All of my encounters in Texas have been totally professional.

Had an encounter once with a really nice GW on Aquilla Lake, years ago.
It was the end of August, I had stopped the day before and bought a new fishing license at Smitty's Sporting Goods.

We were up one of the creeks fishing and up rolls John the Law. He asks for fishing licenses, which we handed over.
He looks at mine and says "this license is no good", I said that can't be, I just bought it yesterday. He said it's not good until Sept. 1, which is tomorrow.

My buddy looks at him and says, "C'mon man, he got it yesterday, can't you let that slide?"
Warden boy says "I don't get paid to let things slide" and issues me a ticket for no license.

I went back to Smitty's and got a copy of my previous license and mailed to the JP.
He dropped the ticket for me.

I've always had good encounters with the GWs. A buddy of mine (the one who went to jail) were dove hunting the second day of the season and we sat up next to a pile of wings and body parts a mile high and had a cooler full of beer right next to us when the GW came by. We were both 19 at the time, and we were ready for the MIP but he never even asked what was in the cooler much less why we each had a beer in the cup holders of our chairs.

me and a buddy were night fishing at Twok, by the dam. was heading back to Holiday Marina. This boat kept circling @ the entrance to the marina. I hollered at my buddy. wonder what the sum b!tch is up to. Got closer it was GW. He stopped me, checked me from stem to stern. I was 100% legit. When he handed me all my stuff back. He grinned and said, Now you know what this sum b!tch was up to.... we laughed and got the H out of dodge.

I have daily encounters with a former GW. For some reason I married her.

Most of my encounters where back when I was in my late teens (mid 60's) running around the backroads in Bandera County.
Got stopped several times, but always just given a lecture and sent on my way.
He just never stopped me when I was doing something wrong!
That old boy you didn't mess with!

I moved back here thirty years ago and have only been checked one time, by border patrol. Came back from fishing the Mexico side of Amistad and you would have thought that we had a boat load of drugs with us. They had one of us stand at the stern and one stand at the bow. They opened all compartments and searched (EVERY) inch of the boat. They also asked us about being out of the boat in Mexico. Don't know how they came up with that fantasy. Nothing to see here BP, have a good day.

fishing boerne city lake while down from colorado visiting some friends I had brought my canoe so I could do a couple of trips on the guadalupe.

put a trolling motor on back so I could get around the lake faster, pulling out the gw showed up and immediately started with a ticket for no numbers on the boat.

dumb sob tried to tell me that even though I was from out of state and even colorado does not require a tm powered canoe to have numbers he was gonna write me up. we got in to a mildly heated argument, I got the ticket and went to the jp next day and got it dismissed.

he was borderline jerk and flat would not listen to reason.

all my other encounters have been to check me out and totally professional, for the record, I have not been checked in probably 15 yrs or more.

He was set up like a bowling pin.

Most have been zero issues. A few not so much.
The last one was with that bucket head from Port Lavaca.
I run a outboard jet on a 15' scooter. It hates rough water, so my routes are all about staying out of it. Coming in one afternoon, the SE wind was screaming, and I hug the bank and make a hard turn at mosquito point going into Seadrift so I can run the calmer water.

I make the turn, running the 4" sand bottom, when I hear a siren go off. I look back and that moron had ground his big ol' tuna schooner straight up on that sand flat. The conversation that followed was as bizarre as you've ever heard.

Well sparky, looks like you're in a bind. What were you thinking?
All the poachers run those jet motors.
So are you saying all jet users are poachers? At three in the afternoon? Isn't that profiling?
He wasn't catching on to any of my sarcasm not even close.
So do you want me to pull your dumb self off this bar or you want to call an airboat?
He actually had to think about it.
He was NOT happy when I made him get out of that tub to help push a little and get it to float higher. We finally got him loose and floating, and after all that. "I gotta see your fish and check your safety equipment"
And we had another lesson on what is and is not required on a boat my size.
And then another lesson on how to actually measure fish.
And then a navigation lesson in San Antonio bay, dude if you see white sand ahead, you can't run there. Not ever. Wow, I never noticed. You need to head back to Matagorda where you can run that sled.

You would think that encounter would be burned into permanent memory, right?
Nope, he checked me last week at Swan Point, and had zero memory of me, the boat, the incident.

Twice. Fishing at Fairfield at first light about 20 years ago on the point of the west arm about 5 yards off the reeds. BAM! .45 pistol about 15 - 20 feet away from me in the woods. If I hadn't already taken a dump that morning I would have crapped my pants. This young GW comes dragging out about a 50 pound hog. I asked him if he saw me and if he did why didn't he warn me. "She was sleeping".

Last one was in January this year at Falcon. Hottie, newbie, senorita GW checking us at the county ramp. After she completed her search I told her I was open to a frisk or body search if she wanted. My buddy was telling me under his breath to shut up the whole time! LOL. She was def not the norm GW!!!

The one at Lake Lavon in the early 2000s was very reasonable. Out of state buddy purchased a one day license the night before going fishing the next day. The license, of course, had expired at midnight (about two hours after he had purchased it). We were fishing the generator discharge from the discharge rip rap and hadn’t seen a sign to not go past the old fence posts. The GW gave us a friendly lecture and suggested we fish somewhere else.

pretty much like everybody..most are all right but a few are a holes

I could type 6 pages of my encounters with Jerry Ash. None of them good.

ronnie brooks was my favorite. i considered him a friend and i miss him. had a really bad encounter with a young cocky lying piece of [censored] who just so happens to be on lone star law occasionally. i later contacted his supervisor and he said all i had to do was give the word and he would be fired, he had been warned about acting the way he ended up acting, especially in montague county. i declined

I’ve been boarded several times. Only once was it an [censored]. On Aquila. We were fishing a tourney and the guy wanted to see my live wells, then laughed and said I should just load up and go home. He wrote me a ticket for not having my registration card in my boat. I got it dropped later that week.

It’s been 50/50 for me, hard to remember the good ones but will never forget the dickheads!

If you ever had any encounters with the game warden we had for 20 years in Young County then you know a POS he was.
Look up POS in the dictionary and you will find his picture.

I've had the displeasure of meeting that jack hole on a few occasions. Never had a ticket but he is a piece of work for sure.

Only issue I ever had was dove hunting down in SE Tx back in the 1970's. Buddy and I were hunting a tree line off some rice fields. Apparently the city of Port Arthur had annexed this area the previous year and we didn't know. Got the ticket from some young gungho type for hunting in a bird sanctuary. I think it was a $20 fine from the JP who was pretty cool about it..

Only issue ever with the GW.

Wish we had cell phone video back in the day. Actually I've had Jerry Ash follow me home and set in m drive way after I had stopped at the beer store 2 blocks from my house.

Last one was at Lavonia on Lake Lavon. I pulled off the road leaving the ramp to check something on the boat and hook up my transom saver. He stopped on the other side of the road. I was thinking carp I have not drained the boat. I told him he said no problem. He did not stop to check me. He just wanted to talk trucks. I was driving a Tacoma at the time and he had just bought one. I was fishing for crappie under the bridge at Rainswood. It was probably noon or 1 and I had already had quite a few beers. He just wanted to check my fish. I had one that was 9-7/8". It was deep hooked so I threw it in the well. He measured all the fish that appered to be close and got to that one. He said looks a little short and proceeded to show me how to measure a fish. I thanked him and he went on.

He gave 2 friends of mine tickets on lop who were veterans because they re life jackets didn't have coast guard approved stickers . They had bought them at surplus store. I have more stories but the guy is a abouste pos.

Luckily no problems and no power trips. Fingers crossed that my good luck continues

Ash gave me a ticket on Monticello the 2nd time he checked me in the same day. Said my tm was touching the cab at the dam. Boarded me and completely turned my boat upside down. I have more stories. But I'm through venting. Put i

No bad experiences at all. A couple were not very talkative when they stopped me but that's OK. They were professional and courteous. Just no small talk. My stuff is in order so I don't worry about it.

The GW here in Wise County is awesome. We had a situation where some roadrunners were pecking on our glass doors because they could see the reflection and thought it was another bird moving in on their territory. Sounded like a grown man banging on the door. This went on for weeks. I called him as they are a protected species. He gave good advice and then followed up by phone a week later.
Had to call him again as we had a deer that looked like coyotes had got to it and was dying. It laid beside the house. He was out here pretty fast. Really nice guy. Friendly and helpful.

i dealt with a warden one thursday night at wise county park. i wish i could remember his name, he was young but super cool. been years ago. prob 20+

My stuff is in order too. When Ash gave me a ticket he said this kinda ruins your day with a big smile. I know it's a hard thankless job, but he's a real asswhipe.

Mike Sebila?


He was a good one. Not sure where he is now. The female GW we had out here was great too. She was always respectful when she stopped you or checked you at the ramp. After a couple of times she wouldn't even check your license she would just stop and ask how the fishing was going etc.

i dont remember his name at all. i never had the opp to meet the female warden. heard she was really strict on running in the river

The one I dealt with on the lake was not good. This was 20+ years ago.

Almost forgot about my first encounter. A buddy and I had paddled a little boat out to one of the old bridges off 66 on Ray Hubbard. We were sitting on the bridge toking on a number. Here comes a warden idling through the stumps. I said oh carp put that thing out. I had turned 17 the day before. My buddy and I shared a birthday but he was a year younger. The GW started to write me a ticket for no license. I was pleading for leniency and said I just turned 17 and after fishing in Texas for 7 years I just forgot to get a license. At that time there was a little bait shop just past the bridge. I said I would walk up there and get my license. He said you are getting a ticket take it up with the judge and I could give you one for no life jackets.

Well you were breaking the law in a number of ways.

All have been super professional with myself. I actually have had 0 bad encounters with any of them, even when I knew I may have been in the wrong. Went on 3 day waterfowl trip. We were 2 shy of a limit for 3 days. The way the law is written, you are supposed to transport with 1 wing and breast still intact. Completely RIDICULOUS because it is a waste of meat. Well filling up at the gas station, he rolls in, asks if we had killed anything, honest with him and asks to see our kill. All our birds had one wing attached but both breasts were cleaned and taken out of the bird. He checked the cooler and all the bags of meat and just said, although I could technically ticket you both for this, I appreciate the that you guys took the time and conserved the meat in a way that nothing was wasted and I can still identify birds if I needed to with the little meat still on the breast bone. Shook our hands, and went on his way.

Probably been checked a dozen times in multiple different states. Usually turns into sitting around talking about hunting stories or something for about an hour and then shake their hands and be on my way.

Encounters on the water only for me and all have been professional. Checked twice in a 4 hour period one day in a tournament on LBJ several years ago. Before I leave the house I double check everything on the boat.

What's a GW? I've lived in Alabama 7 years now, fish almost every weekend and have never seen one. But during Tennessee deer season they set up a road block and check every hunter coming into the state. Don't get caught bringing a deer carcass across state lines.

I've never seen so much [censored] in one post

CWD probably the motivation in that exercise.

All good experiences. License checks, cooler checks, fish measurements, etc... never an issue. A boat got pulled over last night here on cedar creek for not having lights on. Not sure what the outcome was though. Glad they're around to keep everyone in check.

Only time they get irritated with me is if I'm bank fishing at night somewhere that doesn't have clearly marked closing hours. I do my best to check online when I go somewhere new but it's not always clear online either. Never been kicked out of anywhere. Usually they either just let me keep fishing or tell me to pack it up within an hour.

Checked 2 times while fishing and never a problem. Checked 1 time only while hunting in Texas (2020) when I was at my truck after evening hunt. Nicest 2 guys you would ever meet in the woods.

I was ticketed in1982 while hunting in Colorado. I forgot to unload my rifle while riding in the back of a jeep to hunt in the afternoon. I reminded both of my buddies because their guns were pointing towards me in the back seat, but I neglected to unload my own. Cost me about 80 bucks. We saw the same GW the next year at a game check when we were headed back to Texas. He told me that he had just had an incident of someone getting shot from a loaded rifle in a truck.

I cannot think of a single negative incident that I've ever had with a game warden. Have gotten a couple of tickets for being dumb, but the GW's were professional and courteous.

Now, got a safety check by the Coast Guard once that kind of freaked my mom out, because they approached our boat with a machine gun pointed at us. But that wasn't game wardens.

What is a Game Warden? In the seven years I've lived in Alabama, I've never met one. The State Police have pulled up to my boat on several occasions, but they can only do safety checks. The only time I see them is when they set up road blocks at the Tennessee state line. Trying to catch hunters bringing deer back into Alabama without it being deboned.

DV and I have a very good friend who is a GW, but back in about 2001 he got an MIP from one on PK. DV might have been with him on that trip I can't remember he'll have to tell you that if he sees this.

Who is "them" ? The State Police is the last group you mentioned. Do State Police check hunters coming from Tenn.? Are Tenn deer bones illegal in Ala.?

Only checked 1 time.

It’s part of Alabama’s CWD Reduction Strategy.

One bad, one funny and one great story about the GW's.

The bad - was on Lewisville with my son and his friend when they were in H.S. on July 2nd. After fishing for a bit the boys asked me if I knew where party cove was and if I would take them there. I like t-backs as much as they did so I said sure and we cruise through party cove to admire the scenery. The boys knew a bunch of the kids from H.S. that were drinking and acting the fools. On the way out, I see the lake patrol boat anchored up near there and they are watching the action with high powered binos. I do the 'what's up nod' as I pass by and then they flag me over to do a complete safety check with no issues. Then the GW who was onboard says that he is going to write me a ticket for having an expired registration which ended in June (2 days earlier). I said I understood but couldn't he give me a break since it was an honest mistake and that's when he became a prick and started giving me attitude. It got heated from there and I told the whole group that they were a bunch of perverted POS's and worthless for not doing anything about the underage drinking that was going on but they were real heroes for giving me a ticket for expired registration.

The funny - at the gravel pits with about six other boats and here comes the lake patrol doing boat checks and license checks (GW on board). They check my friend first and he calls me to make sure I have everything in order (which it is). They start checking the next boat when the rumbling in the gut starts to hit me. I tried to wait for them but it got real serious real fast so I took off for the nearest bathroom as fast as my boat would go. They must of thought that I was running from them because they gave chase but I easily out ran them and as I'm running to the bathroom after beaching my boat, the pull into the cove and beach right next to my boat and my buddy has to explain what is going on. I come out of the bathroom twenty pounds lighter and floating on air as I head back to my boat. They laughed and didn't even bother checking me.

The great - I helped catch a group of guys cast netting game fish up by Alton Bridge. The game warden calls me a few days later to get some more info from me because he was entering me into Operation Game Thief for a reward for my part in helping them catch the poachers. About a month later, I get a check for over $800 in the mail.

Pulled over 8 times on Bastrop in one day during their training days. After the first stop, the subsequent stops started with, "Sorry, guys. Training day. you know the routine." Cleared the lake that day of most boats but not us.

Always professional.

Was in a similar situation once with my FIL. He shut down and drifted past the GW and said we're on our way out and asked to be checked next. The GW actually waved us by without a check.

By and large most all of them have been good... very friendly, talkative, etc. I would not want their job and dealing with the public in that capacity.

I've had a Texas Lifetime Combo license for over 30 years. Most of my GW experiences have been quick and polite. I have had to explain a couple things to a couple rookie GWs over the years.

Biggest jerk was a Federal Fish and Game guy on my family's ranch in Wood County.

Used to sell boats for a living. Got pulled over many many times delivering new boats to customers. The only GW that ever gave me a ticket was some tall dude on Ray Hubbard. He was a real #ick

My first and only encounter while hunting was when I was about 14. It was the first year on a new lease between Rankin and Big Lake, an area which held both WT and mule deer. I was sitting in a blind with my uncle and we saw what appeared to be an older buck, but it was lame and stunted. The antler on one side was basically a club, and the other side was twisted and gnarled. My uncle culled him, but we genuinely could not tell if he was a WT or a muley so my uncle wrapped up all his tags and taped them in the ear.

Sure enough, GW stops by camp that night and checks us. My uncle, always thinking on his feet, jumps up and says, "I'm glad you're here! Can you help me identify this deer?" GW explains the difference in the tarsal glands on the WT and muley, and identified it as a mule deer. My uncle whipped out his pocket knife and notched his tag right in front of him and thanked the GW for helping us to tag it properly.

Only one mule buck was allowed that year, and my uncle was a little irked he used his tag up on a cull deer, but no ticket was issued.

Nice of you to call him out by name. Jerry is good people. Billy Dodd was too. Both of them tough, but by the book. Ash wrote me a ticket(s) when I was 18 that I fully deserved. Since then, he has helped us tremendously on several places catching poachers, trespassers, and road hunters. I know I will be in the large minority when I say this, but NE Texas is lucky to have him. His no nonsense reputation helps keep the riff-raff down for sure.

I wll tell this story as best as i can from memory...there was a game warden somewhere in the San antonio area wh liked to sit up on a hill at night and watch for poachers riding the roads and spotlighting deer.....this offended my friend who incidently told me this story...it seems that him and several of his buddies liked to ride around at night,drink beer and shoot an ocassional deer....
this was about the time that Q-beam lights became available and they decided to play a trick on the game warden.....one night when they knew the game warden was up on the hill watching,one of them had a tame goat that they loaded into their truck and haluled him to a patch of woods that could be seen from the hill where the game warden was....they duct taped a Q-beam light to the goat and turned him loose in the woods,drove a short distance away and waited....goat was walking through the woods,light bobbing up and down ....and they heard the game warden approaching with his lights turned off....it was light enough that they could see him get quietly out of his truck and go sneaking into the woods after the goat....
short time later,they heard him shout...."you sonofabitches",I'm going to get you for this.....my friend said game warden came stomping out of the woods and could see them parked nearby but went straight to his truck,slammed the door and roared off....

My one bad encounter was on the 4th of July at Joe Pool. We started to leave with everyone else after the fireworks had launched at Lloyd Park. Well, there is an extremely drunk chick on a jet ski. The first GW to stop me said I was good to go but the second one made me tow her drunk [censored] into The Marina at Lynn Creek. We didn't know her at all, yet he made me tow her in. He didn't even give her a ticket. By the time we idled her into Lynn Creek and got to Lloyd the line to load was gone so that was a plus but this was a Sunday and we all had to be at work the next day and it had to be close to midnight before we got to the ramp, loaded and out of there.

He made you tow her in??? Please explain

Couldn't tell you how many times i've been stopped over the years... 30+ probably.

One time we were catfishing at Squaw and I had 8-9 channel cats in the live well of my skeeter. The regular GW that is out there apparently had a rookie riding with him. This guy wanted me to pull all the catfish out of my livewell so he could check them. I politely told him no thank you, but your more than welcome to do it yourself...... Im not chasing them around in the livewell. He boarded the boat and went to digging in the water getting stuck about 3 times, before I said here let me pump the water out for you. Let about half the water out where he could see that they were all 2-3 lb fish. It was funny just watching him stand there staring at the livewell bleeding...

Had another one at Ivie one year, the GW went to push off his boat from mine. Stepped straight down on an eye of the rod and broke it clean off. He apologized and I laughed about it and told him not to worry about it.


Every encounter has been great and by the books. No issues on the boat or license.

He told me I had to tow her in cause I had a rope long enough to do so. He followed me about half way in then went back to check on others. We explained that we didn’t know her but he said since we had lights we had to tow her and her jet ski back to the ramp.

I have fished on average over 100 days per year for the last 30 years. In all that time I have been checked by game wardens several times, and all but two of those times were on Bob Sandlin or Cypress Springs. One of them checked me twice in 30 minutes on Sandlin. One of the times that wasn't on Sandlin was on Lake Gilmer, so it may have been one of the same wardens. The other time was on Fayette County.

The Sandlin and Cypress Springs game wardens are...how should I put this...more abundant and interactive.

Yes. Any state that has a single recorded case of CWD, the transportation of those bones from that state into Alabama is illegal.