Nilgai Poaching Operation Busted

[RiverRat1]

that's the only public hunting down here for the most part and that's the only opportunity a lot of people have. People have been duck hunting and deer hunting spoil islands for decades. it's public. we need to protect that.
Maybe what should happen is a bureaucrat with a set tells those 2-3 ranches, "this is public land", and that's the end of it. instead of giving them even more sweet heart, giving away what little public land we actually have.
if people break the law, nail them. but this is a rare place of the world where a landowner is getting to determine what happens on public land that's in their area, that they don't own.
when you see kids riding bicycles with a bag of decoys slung over their shoulder.. it makes you sentimental about having this public hunting resource down here.
right now, my oldest son dealt with some BS near port aransas because people that live in an area THINK because they live close to some spoil islands, they should have the right to determine what people do there. They call the game wardens consistently. the game wardens come out, and have told my son and his buddies, "this is legal to hunt, but I'd appreciate it if you stopped hunting here because I don't like getting the calls"

sorry buddy. the right answer is to explain to karen and bob from Massachusetts that this is texas, and we do things differently.

Yea let's just take away more hunting rights from us that's the answer . It's a big deal to alot of people and alot of texas residents.

Maybe one of you guys can school me on this. I can admit I don't know the area and specifics very well.

If there are public lands why don't they have boundaries? Or are you talking about public waters that rise and fall? These are two different things.

Hunting islands is also different versus hunting water up against someone's property. Post up a map that shows public lands and private maybe.. I envision it this way. The big game, aside from islands, lives on private property. These hunters troll the edge of private property and as the water rises they try to shoot game as it gets on the edge. Sort of like river bank hunting used to be.

Zero chance if any of you public hunters owned land on a river you'd agree to let hunters walk the river bank hunting, zero. That's just dumb on a new level.

[Greenheadless]

Yea let's just take away more hunting rights from us that's the answer . It's a big deal to alot of people and alot of texas residents.

Don’t mind him. He’s just being, well, him.

[Quackerbox]

This is gonna boil down to, Money talks and BS walks.

He'll get some fines and agree to stay in his lane. Whether he stays in it is another story. Like I said, the dude is suspect by the photos alone

[GarGuy]

This is gonna boil down to, Money talks and BS walks.

He'll get some fines and agree to stay in his lane. Whether he stays in it is another story. Like I said, the dude is suspect by the photos alone

Meanwhile the issue remains unresolved. Charge enough folks and cost them enough legal fees and they will gradually go away regardless of who's right.

[kyle1974]

Maybe one of you guys can school me on this. I can admit I don't know the area and specifics very well.

If there are public lands why don't they have boundaries? Or are you talking about public waters that rise and fall? These are two different things.

Hunting islands is also different versus hunting water up against someone's property. Post up a map that shows public lands and private maybe.. I envision it this way. The big game, aside from islands, lives on private property. These hunters troll the edge of private property and as the water rises they try to shoot game as it gets on the edge. Sort of like river bank hunting used to be.

Zero chance if any of you public hunters owned land on a river you'd agree to let hunters walk the river bank hunting, zero. That's just dumb on a new level.

I could post up a map that shows GLO public lands.

you go hunt two of those islands that's over 1500 acres combined, and then you'll find out that the state allowed the king ranch to have a 99 year lease to what is labeled as public land, on every public land map that's available. you could go hunt another island that lots of people do, and get harassed by game wardens because it's "legal, but we'd rather you didn't hunt down here". by the way.. there are dozens of islands down there, all labeled the same.

then I could show you part of the laguna madre in the land cut, that has no distinguishable boundary at all. it's just water. the kenedy ranch sued the state for ownership of it, and the state lost. if you build a duck blind there, the ranch will burn it down. if you hunt there, they call their game warden buddies/employees and they arrest you.

there's nothing on any map anywhere that shows this to be privately owned/leased by someone else. there are no signs. so when people get in a bind down there, the first reaction I have is "well, where they EXACTLY", because there are multiple areas down there that show to be 100% public, but maybe are, but maybe arent depending on who sees you there.

but to wrap up, what you envision is completely inaccurate.

[wytex]

you pretty much can’t hunt riverbanks anymore anyhow. Had a guy on the boat last week that has a fat ticket and a court date for hunting in the red river. Said the Oklahoma GW lit em up cause the landowners were tired of Texas folks hunting around there. He said they were in the water or sandbars the whole time but the GW told them it belongs to the landowner to the middle of the river. Big folks with big money screwed up duck hunting everywhere else for normal folks. Guess that ones done too. I remember landowners fencing off public lakes out west and claiming you were trespassing being in a public lake bed. How they never make them pull the fences blows my mind but I bet they’re still there!

Yep, Oklahoma owns the river bed in the Red, goes to the permanent vegetation line on the Texas side in some areas. Spouse's family has dealt with this for years, folks coming over from Oklahoma and they used to hunt in the Red itself too. Have to buy an Oklahoma license to hunt ducks on their part of the Red now.

[RiverRat1]

What is the definition of public land?
Is the argument we should be allowed to hunt all public land? Or just public land that people have been allowed to hunt for a long time?

[S-3 Ranch]

Don’t mind him. He’s just being, well, him.

lol yep , their are official USGS survey maps with benchmarks that show the actual boundaries, the Caveat is how and which court it’s interpreted in, the time and money involved is a huge bite to chew, they work off the “ you might beat the rap ? But will never beat the ride “ , and wallet whip you into submission,
then who will control and enforce the contested area? State ? Federal? Corp of engineers,
or the could just sell or deed it as a wildlife easement and still keep the grazing rights, it’s a omnipresent cluster F

[kyle1974]

lol yep , their are official USGS survey maps with benchmarks that show the actual boundaries, the Caveat is how and which court it’s interpreted in, the time and money involved is a huge bite to chew, they work off the “ you might beat the rap ? But will never beat the ride “ , and wallet whip you into submission,
then who will control and enforce the contested area? State ? Federal? Corp of engineers,
or the could just sell or deed it as a wildlife easement and still keep the grazing rights, it’s a omnipresent cluster F

but I mean... those ranches need a little breathing room you know? it's hard to make it on 500,000 contiguous acres. LMAO

[GarGuy]

What is the definition of public land?
Is the argument we should be allowed to hunt all public land? Or just public land that people have been allowed to hunt for a long time?

The long and short of it is this... there are thousands of acres down there that are absolutely public and legal to hunt. Whether or not we think it should or shouldn't be is irrelevant. There are a group of ranchers and law enforcement that actually work for them that will tell folks they can't hunt there.

[Duckhead78]

Curious and I have never read the regulations for Texas but does it not use the term navigable water way ? Seems like that would clear up the gray area pending if the fan boat was within the navigable waterway. In Louisiana even if the waterway has open access the bank is still private.

Texas and Louisiana has different laws in regards to navigable waterways.

[Duckhead78]

The water is private too. Ders a reason bassmasters don't have tourneys here anymore

Water in a navigable water in Texas isn’t private but Louisiana is. Each State has their own laws in regards to that topic. B.A.S.S. still has tournaments held out of Orange Texas in the Sabine. They’re having yet another one here in a few months. They just can’t fish Louisiana waters do to their laws.

[Quackerbox]

I could post up a map that shows GLO public lands.

you go hunt two of those islands that's over 1500 acres combined, and then you'll find out that the state allowed the king ranch to have a 99 year lease to what is labeled as public land, on every public land map that's available. you could go hunt another island that lots of people do, and get harassed by game wardens because it's "legal, but we'd rather you didn't hunt down here". by the way.. there are dozens of islands down there, all labeled the same.

then I could show you part of the laguna madre in the land cut, that has no distinguishable boundary at all. it's just water. the kenedy ranch sued the state for ownership of it, and the state lost. if you build a duck blind there, the ranch will burn it down. if you hunt there, they call their game warden buddies/employees and they arrest you.

there's nothing on any map anywhere that shows this to be privately owned/leased by someone else. there are no signs. so when people get in a bind down there, the first reaction I have is "well, where they EXACTLY", because there are multiple areas down there that show to be 100% public, but maybe are, but maybe arent depending on who sees you there.

but to wrap up, what you envision is completely inaccurate.

That is 100% wrong and beat the rap and ride. If its not marked, and Im not told by someone it literally hasnt met the definition of the law

[Agdog]

There’s only one “a” in “Nilgai”. Carry on.

[M16]

Private land should have to be fenced or marked. That should settle things. As long as the fence and markings are legitimate.