Thanks for clarifying!

It does bring up another question though:

How can restaurants sell "Texas Redfish" when I am almost certain they're all from LA?

Not knowing the exact regulation, but I'm sure any restaurant serving red fish, spec trout etc us to get it from commercial fisherman who obtain special liscense from the State. Maybe the "Texas"
Reds were caught in Texas waters,

But then again, you can still find Shiner under the Imports section for some menus.

Never seen spotted seatrout on a restaurant menu. Redfish, yes, as they are farm raised.

Guess i missed that detail about them being Alligator snappers. beautiful creatures and not as belligerent as their cousins. Ive only come across 1 my entire life so i can certainly see why they are protected.

Ursus, why is there a market for turtles with asians? food or pets?

FIDO, which warden is your brother?

Food.

I had a buddy I worked with, he's Chinese, been over in the states for about 10 years at the time. When he saw all the turtles along Leon Creek and the ponds on the golf course at Kelly AFB, he asked how come there were so many. Told him no one was around to shoot them since it was on base. He was trying to concoct a scheme to catch them and send them back to China.

Always looking for ways to make a buck. He said they would pay good money for the red ears and even more for the soft shells.

It's Brent. He's in the Austin / Comal Co area

In much of Asia, China in particular, the turtle population has been pretty well demolished. They go looking pretty much anywhere for turtles now. They could very well demolish the Texas populations , on public waters, very quickly if left unchecked....I got to watch some pretty interesting/heated arguments about the issue. Semi related--The regulations for Asian water lettuce are scary as hell. The game wardens get to do inspections of Asian markets for that (bet they skip showing that duty). I got to go along on these inspections a couple times (ie-try to help identify species and determine outreach opportunities), and frankly the potential for introduction of related invasive exotic species is scary as hell......but dang someone has a suprisely powerful lobby.

that is interesting. particularly because in a land with excessive pork, beef, and venison, they are still hell bent on eating a species they might knowingly deplete. that kind of insatiability for marine species is strange to me.

now that i think of it, years ago when i shot my first soft shell, i went to youtube to see how to clean them. Every video looked like it was filmed in the back of an asian restaurant.

If y'all are not aware of it, there are a good number of Game Wardens in Dallas today and tomorrow on fill-in patrol duty.

My buddy was on the show tonight, he was the one in the wheelchair who was with another friend who spotlighted a deer decoy. They will never live it down (it will forever live on Facebook).

They honestly were not going to shoot the deer, they're just not that irresponsible, but they knew it was as big deer and were curious.

Interesting night watching the game warden shows. It was interesting seeing Warden Minter (black guy). Not so shocking, he didn't talk much. I worked with him multiple times on a youth feral hog hunt he hosted out near Prairieville and Kemp. Pretty much play biologist, and act as the emergency cook when it is discovered with all the careful planning (and the food actually being on site), no thought had been put into actually who would cook the food. Mad scramble. But for 4 years, was truly a highlight of my year. Probably my favorite warden to work with.

Then the mild kick in the gut. I like North Woods Law about as much as the local version. Back in 2013, I happened to be in Vermont when Geraldine Largay went missing. Having done quite a bit of SAR work in the past, I headed over volunteer for a day. Met a couple of the wardens that are on the show (didn't know it at the time). I would periodically check up on the search status, but nothing ever came of it. I did not know until tonight that she was found in Nov. 2015 by a forestry contractor.....lots of important lessons in this article. One minor one, I've mentioned on here before, but got some odd feedback----if you have a family member go missing and search dogs are involved, DON'T put a lot of faith in them. I have seen them work seeming miracles, and I've seen "certified" tracking dogs miss a trail while we were staring at the tracks......sorry for being long winded, just feeling like thumb typing.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/05/25/report-largay-kept-journal-during-weeks-missing-in-maine-woods/

Just started watching and I'm addicted. Quite a few Aggie rings throughout.

I just found this show. I'm living in Singapore. They show it over here on Animal Planet. This show is like gold to me and I'm loving it.

The episode with the Forney chainsaw-wielding road-hunter was The best I've seen so far. Thought that he was going to come unhinged - guy was a piece of work. Was waiting for the GW to give him a dirt bath

Only disappointment was they didn't show the deer he shot


Look it up if you've missed it

I was wondering if that was one they "recreated". Seems a little too convenient that he was such an @$$, then shot off the road......within camera range.

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I was wondering if that was one they "recreated". Seems a little too convenient that he was such an @$$, then shot off the road......within camera range.

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Yep, thought the same myself.

Getting the road shots didn't really jive with me and I wondered how he got the two shots off and killed the deer while seemingly having an issue chambering another round.

IIRC, he shot in the air on both shots, then had a dead deer down...?

But I laughed nonetheless...

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I was wondering if that was one they "recreated". Seems a little too convenient that he was such an @$$, then shot off the road......within camera range.

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I noticed the recreation disclaimer at the end of last week's episode. Was pretty disappointing to see.

No way I could do that job.
They have to deal with the scum of society (like all police) except they are doing so in the middle of nowhere with armed people.
I'm appreciative that they make the sacrifice though to keep our woods and waters safe.

quote:

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I happened to be in Vermont when Geraldine Largay went missing. Having done quite a bit of SAR work in the past, I headed over volunteer for a day

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Sad story.
Dont quite understand it.
It seems like a basic map of the AT, and the general area along with a compass could get you out of there.
Obviously staying put as soon as she realized she was lost would have been a better idea than trying to hike to a taller peak, but after a certain amount of time I would think you just have to get on the move.
Walk in a straight line downhill or in any one direction (logically South) long enough and you are bound to cross a logging road, fence, stream, etc.
Just seems terrible to die in your tent so close to the trail

Yeah, until seeing that episode of North Woods Law, I had not thought about her in awhile. It really was a kick in the gut, but I am glad she was eventually found.

Odd note, it is amazing how many game warden searches (for people, not legal issues) start from stepping off the trail or hopping off the boat to poss. I used to work with the assorted wardens out of the Garland office quite a bit. They have to do quite a few body recoveries.

I'll check into the story on Kaufman County. The black Game Warden who didn't say much was the senior warden in the county until early this summer. I'm sorta surprised they got him on camera. He used to organize a big youth hog hunt outside of Kemp for about 10 years. I would go play biologist, some years guide, and some years act as the cook (that was a hole in planning---food showed up but the details of actually cooking it had somehow been overlooked...so me and another biologist jumped in with no notice to cook for about 75 people). Warden Minter is known for busting poachers in southern Kaufman County, but is typically extremely quiet and reserved.