I have followed this story for about two weeks. It looks like the hunters will be charge in the federal courts where they stand a chance of being fined up to 2K each per bird. In addition the state of Texas is planning to file restitution charges in State court where the can be fined an additiona 4K each per bird. Texas Parks and Wildlife attorneys said they were going for the max. $222,000. is an expensive price for a lesson on state/federal game laws, but I understand they can afford it. The story is from the Port LAvaca Wave, Port Lavaca, TX
More charges filed for game violations
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Friday, February 17, 2006 1:36 PM CST
By CHARLYN FINN - The Wave has now confirmed the identities of four of six Delaware hunters cited on Jan. 20 for violating game laws in the Guadalupe River bottom area of Calhoun County. Even though charges were filed in a public court and the information is deemed as public record under the Freedom of Information Act, the names of the remaining two have not yet been released. The six visiting men were cited by Texas game wardens and a special investigator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department.
According to a source at the Cape Gazette newspaper in Delaware, two of the hunts in which the men participated were allegedly purchased at a Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Ducks Unlimited auction recently.
On Monday, officials with the U.S. Federal Court, Southern District, in Corpus Christi confirmed that Roger Smith and John Floyd, both of Delaware, have also been cited.
According to documentation in the clerk's office, Smith was cited for exceeding the daily bag limit, no Texas water fowl stamp, wantonly wasting migratory birds, hunting without a hunter's license and an expired hunting stamp.
Floyd was cited for no water fowl stamp endorsement, excess of daily bag limit, waste of migratory waterfowl, taking migratory birds with toxic shot, taking waterfowl with an expired stamp and taking birds without a hunting license.
Last week the clerk's office confirmed that Ken A. Simpler and William O. Emmert of Delaware were also cited.
Simpler received six citations - for wanton waste of migratory birds, hunting with an illegal shot gun, taking geese in a closed season, taking water fowl with lead shot, excess daily bag limit and no migratory bird stamp.
Emmert received four citations - for wanton waste of migratory birds, taking migratory birds with an expired stamp, hunting migratory birds with lead shot and taking excess of daily bag limit.
Capt. Rex May of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department law enforcement division in Victoria said the case is being investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department law enforcement division and it is not the policy of TPWD to comment on another agency's case.
Officials with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, TPWD and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston declined to release the names of any of the hunters. However, The Wave obtained four of the hunters names which led to information on their citations, all public record on file in the U.S. Federal Court clerk's office in Corpus Christi.
Texas game wardens and an undercover officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife cited the six men on Jan. 20 for violating Texas game laws in Calhoun County.
State Game Warden VI Kevin Stanzik said the men were hunting on the Calhoun County line in the Guadalupe River bottom area. Officers for the state and federal agencies surveyed the hunters Friday morning, Jan. 20 and arrested them when they departed from their airboat later that day.
The main citation filed against the waterfowl hunters was failing to retrieve/wanton waste, Stanzik said.
They left 37 dead birds on the water, he said. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife investigator had to go back out and retrieve the dead fowl. We retrieved 36 ducks and one goose.
Ten of the birds retrieved were canvasback hens, a species in decline.
According to Stanzik the hunters were allegedly harassing the waterfowl with air boats and shooting them when they took flight.
Some of the other citations included taking over the daily bag limit for ducks, taking white fronted geese in a closed season, taking over the daily limit of canvasback ducks, using lead field shotgun shells and using unplugged shotguns.
Some of the hunters were also allegedly using lead field shotgun shells which have been prohibited by the State of Texas for several years. For waterfowl hunting, hunters are required to use non-toxic steel shot, bismuth, heavy shot or other non-toxic shots.
Waterfowl hunters are also required to use plugged shotguns that hold a maximum of three shells at a time.
According to Stanzik four of the six had no hunting licenses.
