Reptile & Amphibian Forums

KLTV (Texas) 28 August 04 Gilmer man cited for shooting snakes
Gilmer, Texas: An East Texas man who wanted to "doctor" some snakes ended up being cited for hunting without a license.
Frightened neighbors called 9-1-1 when they heard repeated gunfire.
An off-duty police officer on Tuesday discovered 45-year-old Ricky Huey of Gilmer firing a pellet gun near a highway bridge.
Huey says he spotted a water moccasin and thought he'd sit along the shady creek bank and "doctor" -- or kill -- some snakes.
Game warden Jeff Cox cited Huey for shooting snakes without a hunting license.
Cox says it's one thing to defend yourself from a snake, but it's another when you're in public and shooting at them -- for sport.
The Longview News-Journal reports Huey and Cox later met with a justice of the peace, who ordered deferred adjudication.
So in the next 30 days, if Huey isn't cited for hunting without a license -- his record will be cleared.
Gilmer man cited for shooting snakes

So does this mean I can visit Texas and herp to my heart’s content without a hunting license (I’ll leave my pellet gun at home)? And all I have to do is avoid getting cited in the next 30 day period, and my record will be expunged? I can handle that.

well. almost correct, you prolly wont be stopped. But if i were you , id come down here and ask some ranchers, most are happy as all heck if you can grab a couple of hots off their property. most are partial to their indigos though. but yeah, talk to a rancher, do not get caught trespassing though. Wildlife rangers and Texas ranchers do not look easy on that.. and if you get caught illegaly in King Ranch consider yourself screwed, they have their own laws there.. moral of my story, ask a rancher. you'll prolly get more than you dreamed of.

NEWS-JOURNAL (Longview, Texas) 04 September 04 Snake doctor now free to treat patients (Wes Ferguson)
The Gilmer snake doctor is now licensed to kill, after his attorney advised him to just pay the $23 so he could shoot water moccasins legally.
A game warden cited 45-year-old Ricky Huey of Gilmer last week for killing water moccasins on the side of the road without a hunting license. Upshur County Justice of the Peace Arnold Grimes gave Huey 30 days deferred adjudication, and Huey picked up his hunting license Thursday.
"That was the best resolution to the matter, and he can't mess up the deferred because he's got the license now. So as a practical matter, it's over with," said Gilmer attorney Todd Tefteller, who is representing Huey for free.
Tefteller filed an appeal on Huey's behalf earlier this week, but he notified the county court on Friday that they wouldn't be pursuing the appeal after all.
"The law probably is whatever (game warden) Jeff Cox says it is because he knows that code," Tefteller said. "That's what I told Ricky to start with, and I don't like cottonmouth snakes either."
All sides are happy with the resolution, Tefteller and Huey said, but the tale has a bittersweet ending.
"Dadgum it man, last night my BB gun messed up on me. So now I got my license and I can't doctor me no snakes," he said.
Snake doctor now free to treat patients