AR15 and game warden

Howard Nguyen

New member
Has anyone had first hand experience being pulled over by game warden while hunting with an AR especially where a silencer is attached to it?

Second question: is it legal in Texas to hunt with a silencer on an AR ?

I am not comfortable hunting without hearing protection and ear muffs are rather a nuisance in the field.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
As a matter of fact it is legal to hunt in Texas with a silencer. I have a pig hunt planned in 3 weeks in Tx. I have a FFL friend of mine there and I have been asking him alot of questions. AR's OK silencers OK, heck, it is even legal to shoot pigs from a helicopter in Tx.
 
sort of...
gamewarden actually just came into my house the other day to tag one of my cats... i had two suppressed rifles (AR-10 SASS, 22-250 on my deep freeze) as he walked in, here in SD you can hunt legally with cans, we were talking rules/regs and about mag restrictions, and he said heck you can use a 100rd drum if you want!!! we got a great guy for a gamewarden out here, nicest guy you've ever met.
 
Ya a couple of times and it depends on what sort of Officer you are dealing with.

I had a National park ranger pull me over 2 years ago, on a guided mountain lion hunt. I had a Cameraman and a Hunter in the truck, who happened to be hunting with a Custom DPMS Ar15 in 6.8 spc.

We were outside National Park boundries on national forest Looking for the track of a lion that had lost the dogs down in the canyons. I was diving approximately 5mph with my head hanging out the window looking for the track, when lights came on behind me. I was aware of this rangers personality (from talk around town, I had not yet had the pleasure of his acquaintance lol)so I had seen to it that my hunters magazine was laying on the back seat and the rifle was clear. The officer proceeded to tell me he had pullled me over for "speeding"
blink.gif
and wanted to check our permits and weapons. The hunter lifted the Ar, muzzle pointed to the roof and with his left hand drew down the charging handle exposing an empty chamber.

The officer was obviously not happy with the weapon.

"where is the magazine" asked the oficer
"in the back seat" replied the hunter.
"well sir the magazine has to be locked away either in the bed of the truck or in the Glove box, so what you have is a loaded weapon. again
blink.gif


Long story short we were not ticketed and the ranger was not around for much longer, but I have found that conservation officers in this area are about 70% Jerks (nicest word i could use without swearing)and 30% salt of the earth nice guys. When dealing with the Jerks, every encounter is like a DOT truck inspection. Every person is a criminal they just havn't been caught yet.

2 days later we were standing out side the vehicle and the hunter was showing the AR to one of my friends who was looking through the optic. A different officer drove by and stopped, backed up and pulled in next to us. He stepped out cautiously, hand covering his weapon. But the hunter quickly engaged him in conversation, asked him if he wanted to look at the rifle and within 2 minutes the officer had his trunk open and was showing us his Colt AR15 and we were talking guns and having a good ol time.
 
Last edited:
It's just my personal observation based on limited experience, but IMHO, the Federal Officers tend to be more intolerant and 'possibly ignorant' in dealing with the general public than State Officers...

There is an old saying about petty bureaucrats and giving them limited powers, the ego can be a nasty thing...Then there is the factor of the 'new breed' of officers versus the guys/gals that have been around for awhile...But I'll refrain from getting on my soap box about that subject...
 
I got a visit from a Warden one time cause somebody saw me glassing a field with my rifle from the road. I saw two coyotes in a pivot track and I was planning on hunting there later that season. Not that I was doing anything wrong, it is legal in Kansas to shoot coyotes from a vehical, and on the edge of the road as long as you have permission on the land that you are shooting on. He came and told me about being called in and told me that he prefered I use Bino's in the situation. He was really cool and the visit ended up in him showing me the M4 that he carried in his truck. Some of those guys are way cool, some aren't. But they have a unique situation of KNOWING that the people they are trying to enforce the law on are armed. I could see how that could make a guy nervous...
 
utah, if that is where you were, has some strict gun laws. i havent checked in a while, but if i remember right the ammo has to be in the "trunk" and the rifle has to be cased. get a concealed carry permit that utah honors and the separate and unloaded thing is different.
 
Only had one encounter at a conservation checkpoint on opening day of duck season. I had just purchased my R15 and was using the gap between drivers seat and console to hold the unloaded unscoped rifle from getting beat up. The agent threw a fit and searched my entire truck. Not because it was an AR not because I had an empty 30 rd mag in it. But because he was AR ignorant and assumed the barrel fluting was used to attach a suppressor to the barrel. After 20 mins of rifling through every inch of my truck he decided "i left the suppressor at home" I do not own one but he wouldnt admit that. With that said are suppressors illegal in missouri?
 
Originally Posted By: Tyler BurginOnly had one encounter at a conservation checkpoint on opening day of duck season. I had just purchased my R15 and was using the gap between drivers seat and console to hold the unloaded unscoped rifle from getting beat up. The agent threw a fit and searched my entire truck. Not because it was an AR not because I had an empty 30 rd mag in it. But because he was AR ignorant and assumed the barrel fluting was used to attach a suppressor to the barrel. After 20 mins of rifling through every inch of my truck he decided "i left the suppressor at home" I do not own one but he wouldnt admit that. With that said are suppressors illegal in missouri?

How did his mechanical mind figure out the fluting is used to attach silencer?
 
I can relate to the DOT inspection comment. I gave up on being nice to those jerks! (SAME HERE THEY ARE JERK'S )

This AR-15 seem's to be a problem all over the country as it is here too... I get asked all the time what cha hunting or where's the war zone... Hey im only hunting coyotes i say... They wanna check out my weapon where did i get it from and other stupid crap... Well it so happens that i got it from a Very well known GAME-WARDEN in the area and i say his name... It aint long and they are on their way....He's sort of a legend in this state....cant wait till the next NEWBIE comes along...They got big boots to fill i always say to them...LOL ! GOOD TO KNOW THE RIGHT PEOPLE I GUESS.....
 
No suppressors aren't illegal in Missouri as long as you have the correct paper work.

Yeah I know to well about DOT. I owned a dump truck business for a while and I think the one around my parts had great joy in writing me tickets. If DOT wants to find something wrong they will, it's the same as impossible to keep your rig in good enough shape that they can't find something.
 
I have no idea what he was thinking. I argued till I was blue in the face and then just figured I wasnt in a hurry lets just watch what my tax dollars are paying this goon to do
 
Quote:No suppressors aren't illegal in Missouri as long as you have the correct paper work We just recently got the law changed to allow possession of a silencer, but I don't think it extends yet to hunting with one...While I agree that it's a stupid position, at least we can own/possess one now..
 
In Texas suppressors are legal for non game animals. As far as being pulled over by a game warden, none of them that I know would have any problem with you having one.
 
Last edited:
My local Game Warden is fine with AR's and I think would get a kick out of one with a suppressor. Another Warden I know well isn't a fan of them but knows the laws and will not harass a guy with one. He also would get a kick out of shooting with a can if I bought one.

Both these guys are great. One even carves wooden duck decoys for me. As OldTurtle said, the only cock-eyed look I ever got was from a federal warden.

As for DOT, I once got a ticket for having an empty soda bottle on the floor of my truck. Failure to Maintain a Commercial Vehicle. I nearly choked on that one.
 
remember, no law enforcement person has the right to check or record the serial number of your weapon (except full autos) without reason to believe that the gun is stolen, or was used in a crime. i am not a lawyer by any stretch, but the cops like to violate rights all the time. some of them are just ignorant, some hope you wont know the difference, and some just have an authority problem.
the game wardens around here are pretty good, i know most all of them by first name. they probably get tired of me sometimes but i turn in more poachers than anyone else around here. one of them checked a friend of mine, they have both known each other for years, he hassled him for having a 20rd mag with a block in it. it would only hold 5 rounds unless you disassembled the mag and removed the block. no ticket was issued but there shouldnt have been. another warden whom i know pretty well saw my truck parked on property that he also can hunt and came to see what i was doing. he never asked if i had permission to be there,( i do), but he was not happy about the roadkill half rotten deer i had in the back of my truck. he says "you know you cant do that", i said john, no, i dont know that. "its in the regs". fact is, it is LEGAL to bait coyotes using "legally obtained mammals". i got it cleared many years ago that i could collect all the roadkills i want, just as long as they are not still usable for human consumption. it is very clear in the regs that the warden was WRONG.
 
Game wardens here seem to be pretty cool. My last encounter with a warden was while getting my CCW Permit..he was the instructor. Time before that me and another guy just stopped to BS with the Warden in the area to the South of where I live....he was full of tips concerning Predator Calling. I think in general their main concern would be wether or not you`ve got a permit.
 
I personally have never had a negative encounter with a warden.

I think so far we have done a "fairly" good job of not turning this into a "Law dog bashing" thread. I hope we can keep it that way.


Chupa
 
Originally Posted By: treed86In Texas suppressors are legal for non game animals. As far as being pulled over by a game warden, none of them that I know would have any problem with you having one. However if you are hunting game animals with an ar you can only have a 5 round mag.

You are partly correct. It's important to have a copy of regs available. Silencers for nongame species such as pigs, exotics, and varmints is okay. Magazine restrictions on game species are not existent except on migratory birds.

http://tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/hunt/means/
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top