When I complained about bearing the entire burden of obeying the law, I was subscribing to the basic notion that anything in America is legal unless specifically forbidden. Yes, as a citizen I bear the burden of obeying the law, but the government has a responsibility for communicating the law. I view this as the same as if I had turned on a street and was ticketed for driving up a one-way street. The problem would be that there was no sign indicating that it was a one-way street. I broke the law, but had no way of knowing I was doing so.

I don't get this "roll over and take it" attitude that so many of my fellows have out there. Law enforcement and politicians are working for us, not the other way around. When they can't write a coherent set of laws or regulations, they are unreasonable to enforce them harshly.
Maybe some of my spirit of freedom comes from holding a Concealed Handgun License in Texas. While I was being ticketed by the Game Warden, I had my Smith & Wesson concealed on my hip the whole time. I did follow the required procedure regarding this issue, and the Game Warden was unfazed. Most people he is ticketing are heavily armed.

After getting busted, I ran a search through the Outdoor Annual's PDF and found "antlerless permit" in there 308 times. Not one of those indicates how to obtain an anterless permit. No pricing infomation for an antlerless permit is included either. Is it any wonder that I thought the antlerless tag on the hunting license was the "antlerless permit"?

The old-timer who helped clean my deer had never taken an animal to a game processor. I could certainly ignore the laws, take deer out of season, and completely process them with no State interference, but what kind of example would that set for my 10-year old boy?

I have already spoken with a lawyer acquaintance who advised just talking honestly with the Justice of the Peace. I'm going to contact a local lawyer who has dealt with this JP. Frankly, I would rather give an attorney $250 than give it to the people who write and enforce these convoluted regulations. I would much rather give the $250 to a food bank.

Figure this out. I found another Texas county's list of fines and learned that they levy $255 for taking an antlerless deer without a permit. Oddly enough, they charge the same fine for taking a deer out of season. That seems a more grievous offense to me. It may be tricky to grasp this antlerless permit versus hunting license versus antlerless tag business, but "November 5 - January 1" is pretty clear.

Here are a couple more confusing samples from the 2005-2006 Texas Outdoor Annual:
"Completion of the log is not required for mule deer, or for white-tailed deer or mule deer lawfully taken under a MLD permit, LAMPS permit, TPWD Special Drawn Public Hunt permit, U.S. Forest Service antlerless permit, or on a Big Time Texas Hunt." Am I the only one who finds the mule deer info confusing?

WHITE-TAILED DEER HARVEST RESTRICTIONS (as used in County Listings):
• MANAGED LANDS DEER (MLD) PERMITS: Permits issued to landowners with a TPWD-approved
Wildlife Management Plan. MLD permits allow hunters, at the discretion of the landowner or agent,
to exceed the county bag limit and (in some cases) to hunt during an extended season. All deer
taken on a property for which MLD permits have been issued must be tagged with the
appropriate type of MLD permit. NOTE: No license log entry or tag from a hunting license is
required for deer killed under a MLD permit (see license log requirement, pg. 65).

Exceed the county bag limit? Hunt during an extended season? No license log entry? No tag from a hunting license is required? Why is info related to such hunting mixed in with the pragraph I have to decipher on shooting bucks and antlerless deer?