My county has two wardens and I make it a point to know them as I call them occasionally when I suspect night hunters are on the farm. One young warden dropped by my shop as I was about to go clean out a couple of box stands. I invited him to come along so we jumped in my side by side and drove to the first stand. As we were walking back to the utv we came upon a very large cottonmouth. I told him to shoot the snake. He said all snakes are protected. Then I asked him to let me use his service pistol so I could shoot it as I kill every venomous snake I come across. He said he couldn’t let me use his pistol. I told him to watch the snake until I walked back to the utv and got my levee shovel. He decided to shoot the snake and 9 shots later he finally hit it. Distance couldn’t have been more than 6 feet. I happen to like the wardens I know. Never had a bad experience with my local fish cops.
