Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A long time ago TP&W screwed up, they did not approve of people hunting for snakes for any other reason than to kill them. The very people that have contributed the most to understanding of these native animals have been pursued relentlessly for years. They proceeded to drive a valuable resource for this data that they are constantly implying they have out of their hands by acting like a bully. And they actually believe that this lack of data is equivocal to a population decline. They never mention the fact that such a small transect is hunted that no amount of collection pressure could impact the species as a whole. They convinced themselves that we hunt for profit, not sport. I have to think that they have not looked at all at the captive born market to see what these animals are "worth" or paid any attention to what things like fuel, rooms, and food cost these days. I think it would be safe bet that anybody who made a request for any data collected on the commercial collector permit system would only get a stack of old turned in permits. No compiled data, or results of any study based on the raw data that they now have but do not look at because they only have resources to execute half of any plan. What good is providing or collecting data that is just put in an old box and collecting dust. This is my rant, so I do not have to make paragraphs. So who is going to make the open records / freedom of information or whatever it is request to see this data? Who is going to be part of the delegation to go down there when this up for input from the public to make our case and drag the truth out of all this. Who is going to vote for whoever their opponent is no matter what? Why do they think it is a good idea to shut down revenue for anybody over this? Why is a bad think for out of state people to come to Texas, buy a license and enjoy or natural resources? Why do not get the same answer every time we ask the same question? For our safety, because they asked us to, it is those darn out of state people, why do they make paint chips taste so good if they are bad for you?

Sorry it is late and I am tired, I am fed up, I am ticked off. I want to be a part making this right. I need to get some sleep, I need to get some straight answers. I need to stop before I trail off in another rant...

At least I will no longer have to buy a hunting license. Why, because you don't need one to photograph animals. If you happen to be walking along cuts with no bags, hooks, or means of take, then you are not hunting. Just walking with a camera.

NO LAW AGAINST THAT!

Steven Owens 20 bucks
Texas Parks and Wildlife - 20 bucks

Thanks!

Steven