burniegoeasily

I have a good friend, mentor if you will. He is in his 90s, he loves hunting. He lives on the land his grand father had claimed before Texas was founded. The land streaches over 1000 achres. He will kill at least 1 deer a year, when he hunts. He will only kill what he will eat in a year. He allows only me to hunt this land, so there are only two people who ever hunt this land at the max.

The quandry is that this man refuses to by a licence. He is from the old school, where you only kill what you eat and scence the deer are on his land, he has to pay no one to shoot his own deer. He has never bought a licence and refuses to ever. He has payed a couple of fines for not doing so. I have tried to expain why we need to by licences and the conservation efforts it supports. He still refuses to by one, and scence he is probably not going to live much longer I just let it go. Scence he has trouble walking he depends on me to help him get to his blind, that is when he hunts, he hasnt been in two years.
I think he might want me to go with him this year. I will go because of his age and I feel better when some one is with him out in the field. I just dont know if I feel comfortable with the idea of hunting with a person who is doing it illegally.

How do yall feel about the posible situation, and the decision Im going to have to make.

kc_bowhunter

Forget about his license and take him out hunting! It may be his last season and you don't want to spoil it by nagging him about buying a license. I know we're supposed to have them (and I buy them), but being on his 90's, he's seen a lot and been thru a lot. It's time to give him the respect, and memories that he will appreciate.
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I have a good friend, mentor if you will. He is in his 90s, he loves hunting. He lives on the land his grand father had claimed before Texas was founded. The land streaches over 1000 achres. He will kill at least 1 deer a year, when he hunts. He will only kill what he will eat in a year. He allows only me to hunt this land, so there are only two people who ever hunt this land at the max.

The quandry is that this man refuses to by a licence. He is from the old school, where you only kill what you eat and scence the deer are on his land, he has to pay no one to shoot his own deer. He has never bought a licence and refuses to ever. He has payed a couple of fines for not doing so. I have tried to expain why we need to by licences and the conservation efforts it supports. He still refuses to by one, and scence he is probably not going to live much longer I just let it go. Scence he has trouble walking he depends on me to help him get to his blind, that is when he hunts, he hasnt been in two years.
I think he might want me to go with him this year. I will go because of his age and I feel better when some one is with him out in the field. I just dont know if I feel comfortable with the idea of hunting with a person who is doing it illegally.

How do yall feel about the posible situation, and the decision Im going to have to make.
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Jimmy S

I initially thought this may be tough to answer, but after thinking for a few minutes, I know how I feel. There are exceptions to every case and situations and I honestly feel this is one of them. The fact that has has never bought a license, kills only what he needs and has paid fines for his wrong doings shows me your friend, at the very least, is not a hypocrite. Yes, he is out of line and more so when he was younger. He feels strongly about his ideas and if someone at his stage in his life wants to continue doing what he has always done, I for one, would not look down on him. My views may be the exception here, but I don't know what would be gained if he was forced to change. The fact that he still hunts at his age, hunts his own property and only takes what he needs is the positive side of this equation. My &quot;mentor&quot; been gone for over 30 yrs, but if he was still with me in his 90's and was looking forward to spending time in the woods during deer season, I would not let a license ever come between us. If you want to make yourself feel better, make a contribution to the Fish and Game Dept for the amount he would have paid for his license.

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Tazman

burnie I will be honest, it may be his last time out and although it is wrong, it is him, it is not right, but I could not find it in my heart to deny him his possible last hunt. This really bugs me saying this, because I know if the situation was anything but what you just described I would turn him in.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

Phlogiston

Not sure about Texas but in NY, senior license is $5, so that isn't much for conservation support. I bet his fines have accounted for way more conservation than what he might have paid in license fees.

Could you buy a license for him?

Hunting is a right, treat it like a priviledge - respect nature

burniegoeasily

It looks like yall feel like I do. I have been with him on many occasions where we have been bird hunting and he gets fined by the game warden. He smiles, takes hes ticket and once the g.a. is gone hes back to hunting. I have asked him why he just dont buy a licence instead of paying large fines. He always responds &quot;principle&quot;. In his youth there were no such thing as bag limits and licences. He refuses to change or pay some one else to harvest what he considers his. I wouldnt denie him a hunt, especially this year. He missed the last two with health problems. This could be his last.

Some thing I would like to pass on that I have learned from him is; He is always stating that when he was young, deer were every where (that is in North West Texas) and from the 40s to the 60s he said that the deer where hard to find. He tells me now that the deer populations are back to what they had been in the past. I attribute this to the conservation efforts and bag limits. Just a little food for thought.

6ptsika

I wouldn't give it a second thought, take the man hunting. His 1000 acres supports a lot of deer, if he's only taking a couple deer, well, he's giving a lot more than he's taking. Most states don't require a man to buy a license to hunt his own farm, so I could certainly see looking the other way here.
Hope he bags a big one!
Like Bill said, those were the men who built tis country, wish we had more like him.


&quot;In heaven, even the fish have antlers&quot;

burniegoeasily

I had a question, does any one know if there is a seniour citizen discount or clause that is in affect in Texas. I was reading somewhere that in some states after a certain age a license is not required.

azhunter

I looked at texas regs and it shows its $19 for a license. You might try telling him you would be more comfortable hunting with him if he had a license and that as a gesture for him letting you use his land offer to pick up the fee for him.