Four duck hunters attempted to deceive Texas Game Wardens over the number of ducks they shot before three of them from Louisiana finally admitted to exceeding their daily bag limit of six each, and for a rather disgusting reason.
The three Louisiana poachers said they didn’t want to stop shooting, claiming this was more ducks than they had seen all season in Texas and Louisiana, the Texas Game Wardens related in a Facebook post.
Game wardens from Hamilton and Bosque counties were patrolling the Brazos River in Bosque County when they heard several volleys of gunfire nearby. They found no violations. But when loading up their boat, they heard more gunfire from the same area.
They used a satellite mapping program to pinpoint several private lakes in the area that could be potential hunting locations.
Near one entrance, they encountered a man in camouflage exiting an equipment shed. He appeared evasive and was seen urgently texting.
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From the Texas Game Wardens report:
“The man directed the wardens to a nearby duck blind, where three nervous hunters were packing up their gear and offered conflicting details about their group size. Initially claiming there were eight hunters—then seven—none of the remaining hunters could name the hunters who had allegedly left.
“As one warden interviewed the hunters, the other went to inspect a pile of ducks on the opposite bank. As he was checking the ducks, the warden discovered a fourth individual behind the dam, dressed in camouflage with a stringer of ducks he was attempting to hide. The hunter lacked a valid hunting license and had crossed two fences to conceal the 16 birds. When confronted, the group falsely claimed he was retrieving a lost bird.
“Further investigation revealed numerous violations. Near the blind, wardens found additional ducks and roughly 250 shotgun shells and hulls containing prohibited lead shot. The hunters admitted to using leftover shot from dove season, knowing it was illegal for waterfowl hunting.”
It was determined that four individuals were hunting, and only three had valid hunting licenses. In all, the men used four shotguns to illegally harvest 54 ducks, 30 more than their combined legal limit.
“Multiple citations were issued for exceeding the bag limit, hunting without a valid license, and using lead shot for waterfowl,” the Texas Game Wardens post stated. “The hunters were also charged civil restitution for the illegally taken ducks. The fines and restitution total for the group was more than $7,000.”
Commenters on the Texas Game Wardens Facebook page took exception to the fine, most saying it should have been much more. A sample of comments:
“Good job busting the outlaws, but what a sad slap on the wrist. That’s not nearly enough to discourage that kind of behavior.”
“Take their hunting privileges!! This is absolutely insane!”
“My opinion is the total fines and restitution should have been a lot more than $7,000. Maybe jail time and loss of equipment and firearms. Does that sound too tough? NO they stole from us.”
“People like this are why hunters get a bad rep. Shame on them. Hopefully lesson learned. They got off easy with only $7,000 fine for the group.”
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“I’m glad the wardens trusted their gut and found these poachers but also wish the punishment would have been harsher. Especially since they actively tried to deceive the wardens and knowingly broke so many regulations/laws.”
“They should never be able to purchase a Texas hunting license. $7,000 is not nearly enough.”
The ducks were seized, cleaned and distributed to families in Hamilton and Bosque counties.
“This case serves as a clear example of the need for adherence to hunting regulations to preserve wildlife populations,” the Texas Game Wardens stated.
Photo courtesy of Texas Game Wardens.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Hunters who didn’t want to stop shooting get ‘sad slap on the wrist’
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