bzzboyz
04-12-2004, 12:24 PM
April 10, 2004, 3:24PM
Hate hunting class? Cash talks
By SHANNON TOMPKINS
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Beginning this autumn, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will, for a $10 tithe, issue an indulgence for the transgression of hunting without having the required hunter education training.
Currently, anyone 17 and older and born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, must have taken and passed a state-approved hunter education course before they can legally hunt in Texas.
The hunter education requirement was imposed by the Texas Legislature more than three decades ago in a move to improve hunter safety. The course, taught by volunteer instructors, involves at least 10 hours of study over a minimum of two days. The classes cover hunting and firearms safety, wildlife management, ethics and other related topics.
When Texas' hunter education requirement was passed, the state saw 15 to 25 fatal firearms-related hunting accidents each hunting season.
Since the program was implemented, approximately 650,000 people have taken and passed Texas' hunter education course.
This past year, only two firearms-related hunting fatalities were recorded in the state.
But with more people falling under the hunter education requirements, and some of those people finding the hunter education course too bothersome to take, more people have gone afield without the required hunter education certification.
Unlike many states, Texas does not require a person to show proof of hunter education certification before they are issued a hunting license.
Texas game wardens over the past few years have averaged issuing 2,500 to 3,000 citations to hunters violating the hunter education requirement.
But Texas law gives those caught hunting without the certification 90 days to take and pass a hunter education course and the misdemeanor charge is dropped.
Even with these liberal -- some might say toothless -- rules, the hunter education requirement appears to be too odious for some.
Prodded by constituents who argue that Texas hunter education requirements are a barrier to recruiting new hunters, TPWD earlier this year proposed a "hunter education deferral" option.
Thursday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted the proposal.
Under terms of the program, which takes effect Sept. 1, a person falling under the hunter education requirements will be able to go to any hunting license outlet and ask for a hunter education deferral.
The deferral is automatically granted for a $10 fee. The deferral notice is printed on the person's hunting license.
The hunter education exemption is a one-time deal and is good only for the hunting season in which it is granted. And the hunter with a deferral must hunt with a person who is 17 or older and who has completed a hunter education course or is exempt from the requirements.
The justification for the deferral/exemption is that it will allow a person to "try" hunting without having to first invest time in taking the hunter education training. If the person who buys a deferral wants to continue hunting, he pays only $5 when he signs up for a hunter education course. (The fee for the course typically is $10.)
The hunter education deferral was one of several changes in hunting and fishing rules and regulations the TPW Commission approved during its Thursday meeting in Austin.
Other changes adopted for the 2004-05 fiscal year and effective Sept. 1 include:
· Adding Hardin and Liberty counties and the southern halves of Tyler and Montgomery counties to the four-dozen or so East Texas counties in which a spring turkey hunting season for eastern wild turkey is allowed.
The commission also approved a TPWD recommendation to extend the spring turkey season in East Texas from its current 14-day length to a 30-day season.
Beginning in 2005, the East Texas spring turkey season will open April 1 and run through April 30.
· Setting a four-day antlerless deer season for eight counties in eastern Texas.
Counties affected are Brazos, Cherokee, Gregg, Grimes, Houston, Madison, Robertson and Rusk.
Currently in those counties, antlerless deer may be taken only by hunters holding Managed Lands Deer Permits or Landowner Assisted Management Permits; both types of permits are issued only to landowners who have a TPWD-approved wildlife management plan.
Under the new rule, deer hunters in those counties will be allowed to take antlerless deer and tag them with an antlerless-deer tag from their hunting license during a four-day period beginning Thanksgiving Day and continuing through the following Sunday.
· Legalization of collecting oysters by hand.
While hand-collection of oysters for personal consumption has always been allowed, it was not listed in the Parks and Wildlife Code as a legal means or method of harvesting oysters. TPWD rules mentioned only collection of oysters by mechanical means.
TPWD staff noticed the oversight and proposed including "non-mechanical means" as a legal means and method of harvesting oysters.
· Legalization of use of minnow traps in saltwater.
Similar to the situation with hand-collection of oyster, use of minnows traps in saltwater has been common but was not expressly allowed under TPWD regulations.
The regulation changes adopted by the commission allow use of minnow traps in coastal waters.
Another change requires that saltwater perch traps be fit with biodegradable panels similar to those required on crab traps. The requirement is aimed at reducing the loss of marine life trapped in lost or abandoned perch traps.
Hate hunting class? Cash talks
By SHANNON TOMPKINS
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Beginning this autumn, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will, for a $10 tithe, issue an indulgence for the transgression of hunting without having the required hunter education training.
Currently, anyone 17 and older and born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, must have taken and passed a state-approved hunter education course before they can legally hunt in Texas.
The hunter education requirement was imposed by the Texas Legislature more than three decades ago in a move to improve hunter safety. The course, taught by volunteer instructors, involves at least 10 hours of study over a minimum of two days. The classes cover hunting and firearms safety, wildlife management, ethics and other related topics.
When Texas' hunter education requirement was passed, the state saw 15 to 25 fatal firearms-related hunting accidents each hunting season.
Since the program was implemented, approximately 650,000 people have taken and passed Texas' hunter education course.
This past year, only two firearms-related hunting fatalities were recorded in the state.
But with more people falling under the hunter education requirements, and some of those people finding the hunter education course too bothersome to take, more people have gone afield without the required hunter education certification.
Unlike many states, Texas does not require a person to show proof of hunter education certification before they are issued a hunting license.
Texas game wardens over the past few years have averaged issuing 2,500 to 3,000 citations to hunters violating the hunter education requirement.
But Texas law gives those caught hunting without the certification 90 days to take and pass a hunter education course and the misdemeanor charge is dropped.
Even with these liberal -- some might say toothless -- rules, the hunter education requirement appears to be too odious for some.
Prodded by constituents who argue that Texas hunter education requirements are a barrier to recruiting new hunters, TPWD earlier this year proposed a "hunter education deferral" option.
Thursday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted the proposal.
Under terms of the program, which takes effect Sept. 1, a person falling under the hunter education requirements will be able to go to any hunting license outlet and ask for a hunter education deferral.
The deferral is automatically granted for a $10 fee. The deferral notice is printed on the person's hunting license.
The hunter education exemption is a one-time deal and is good only for the hunting season in which it is granted. And the hunter with a deferral must hunt with a person who is 17 or older and who has completed a hunter education course or is exempt from the requirements.
The justification for the deferral/exemption is that it will allow a person to "try" hunting without having to first invest time in taking the hunter education training. If the person who buys a deferral wants to continue hunting, he pays only $5 when he signs up for a hunter education course. (The fee for the course typically is $10.)
The hunter education deferral was one of several changes in hunting and fishing rules and regulations the TPW Commission approved during its Thursday meeting in Austin.
Other changes adopted for the 2004-05 fiscal year and effective Sept. 1 include:
· Adding Hardin and Liberty counties and the southern halves of Tyler and Montgomery counties to the four-dozen or so East Texas counties in which a spring turkey hunting season for eastern wild turkey is allowed.
The commission also approved a TPWD recommendation to extend the spring turkey season in East Texas from its current 14-day length to a 30-day season.
Beginning in 2005, the East Texas spring turkey season will open April 1 and run through April 30.
· Setting a four-day antlerless deer season for eight counties in eastern Texas.
Counties affected are Brazos, Cherokee, Gregg, Grimes, Houston, Madison, Robertson and Rusk.
Currently in those counties, antlerless deer may be taken only by hunters holding Managed Lands Deer Permits or Landowner Assisted Management Permits; both types of permits are issued only to landowners who have a TPWD-approved wildlife management plan.
Under the new rule, deer hunters in those counties will be allowed to take antlerless deer and tag them with an antlerless-deer tag from their hunting license during a four-day period beginning Thanksgiving Day and continuing through the following Sunday.
· Legalization of collecting oysters by hand.
While hand-collection of oysters for personal consumption has always been allowed, it was not listed in the Parks and Wildlife Code as a legal means or method of harvesting oysters. TPWD rules mentioned only collection of oysters by mechanical means.
TPWD staff noticed the oversight and proposed including "non-mechanical means" as a legal means and method of harvesting oysters.
· Legalization of use of minnow traps in saltwater.
Similar to the situation with hand-collection of oyster, use of minnows traps in saltwater has been common but was not expressly allowed under TPWD regulations.
The regulation changes adopted by the commission allow use of minnow traps in coastal waters.
Another change requires that saltwater perch traps be fit with biodegradable panels similar to those required on crab traps. The requirement is aimed at reducing the loss of marine life trapped in lost or abandoned perch traps.