I figure that is my resposibility to keep up with my states game laws as far as when an animal can be taken or not and so forth but what about other states? Like in Texas a timber rattler is protected but in Oklahoma it's not (oklahoma is only a 15 minute drive away). But like bobcats in Texas (if I understand right) can be taken anytime of the year with no limit as long as they are for yourself to be mounted or what ever but not sold without a bobcat pelt dealers license, but in Oklahoma if I understand right you can only take them at certain times of the year.
So is it up to me or the hunter to know about thier state and it's laws?
what if they lye to me about when and where? if I found out they lied I know I'd send them packing, but I was just wondering how to protect my butt from things that I think would be next to impossible to keep track of.
Thank you for your responses in advance,
Steve
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It is your responsibility to keep up w/ the laws of your state and others as well if you live next to them. We live in OK, close to Texas(30min from border) and we researched before we started buying pelts or mounting them for out of state customers. In OK. bobcat season is dec 1- feb 28. In Texas, bobcats are considered predators and therefore have an open season on them. If you mount them in Ok. for a Texas customer all you need is the Texas Lic. number.(Tx. lic. are all in one)If you buy or mount bobcat pelts from TX they have to have the Tx. cities tag attch. As far as the snakes.....if you want a certan species call your game warden or OKC office and ask them. They have been extremely helpful to us and are more than happy to explain the laws.(Tx. is also helpful).
One of our mottos is: When in doubt......call the game officials of the state in question
Jerry
Where is FT Towson? I live in Denison TX. I kinda figured as close to OK as I live it would be wise to kinda keep up with thier seasons and stuff but what about like Colorado, New Mexico and stuff like that?
Dont take one from across the state line without the CITES tag, period end of story, even for the individuals own use it still must have the CITES TAG.
At the bottom of my taxidermy contract it says two things that save me a lot of grief:
ALL TANNING DONE AT OWNERS RISK! As we have no control over the condition of skins when they are received by us we cannot guarantee success. Although we use quality commercial tanneries or do tanning in house, occasionally a skin will fall apart during the tanning process.
Customers signature attests that to the best of his/her knowledge all specimens entrusted to (your business) are legally taken and possessed under (your state) Statutes.
This could be reworded to cover "all applicable wildlife laws", or some such.
YOU are not required to all the wildlife laws every where!
It is not a bad idea,however,to learn as much as you can about the rules in areas from which you regularly accept specimens.
After rec'g a deer several years ago, in late March, presumably taken Dec. 31 of the coldest year we've had in twenty and the thing had no hair on the back of the ears, but the skin was heavily pigmented and it was small (A=7)(I'm thinking TX deer, or at least from down south), I made up an form on the backsie of my contract entitled "Affidavit of legal harvest" where I require the customer to sign and date a form where they fill in the species, sex, date of harvest, location and the appropriate license number. I don't know if it's legal, but it's not my job to enfoprce the law. If I suspect that an animal is questionable, I show this to the customer. if he refuses to sign it, out the door. I'm not blwing my credibility with the authorities for a few bucks (no pun intended).
But, what happens if you've got a contract signed and work in progress when the authorities show up with a warrant wanting to seize the deer? My contract says that the customer is responsible for all expenses associated with the completion of the mount, but if it isn't completed when the antlers are seized as evidence, is there a way to recoup your projected income on the account? And if so, how would one go about writing it into the contract? With all the twists and turns, I guess that's why God made lawyers.