Be Aware

[Tony Logan]

Way to go :hatsoff: I have been following this post carefully. I fought the law and won before as well (short fish that had died because it was gut hooked,the only fish I kept, the rest I had released) Not enough people stand up to them, they just pay the fine and suck it up, just like so many advised you to do on this forum. The day I went to court only 6 or 7 people were their fighting their tickets. He had probably written 100 that month. Even when the DA told me I could face 6 months in jail if I went before a judge I wasn't bluffed. I told them I will have to see it to believe it.

 

[agill]

That's good news! Glad it worked out for you. Thanks for keepig us informed. :hatsoff:

 

[Robert an saa fan]

Like Flint Hunter said that is good news! Thanks for posting this and keeping us updated. :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[Patocazador]

Any judge with "common sense" would have ruled the same. However, we all know many people don't possess that attribute.

I'm surprised that the arresting officer (MP) showed up. In a civil court he would most likely be a 'no-show.'

2 Tall strikes a blow for our side. Thanks. atriot:

 

[stinkyfeet]

I wasn't fighting for anything else other then to keep my name clean, not pay fines, and not lose hunting rights for 2 years, also not get nailed by the military with UCMJ action as well.. besides I have qualifications to be game warden when I retire in 5 years and this would have hurt my chances.

 

[newtewsmoke]

Glad you beat the rap!! one thing to watch out for now, is that game ranger is really gonna be layin for ya, just waitin to get you for something, or maybe not. :wink:

 

[Wes/Tex]

I'm very glad this worked out the way it did. Your approach was perfectly correct considering what your case means. A logical, professional approach will often do the trick. Though have seen the "logical" approach fail miserably, but in the case I'm thinking of, the person doing the presenting of facts was giving off the "I'm smarter than you are" vibes. The judge listened to 45 minutes of it and asked if he was through...when he said yes the judge dropped the gavel and said, "Guilty, pay the baliff!" Glad yours was done with class! :hatsoff:

 

[jamesthomas]

Well, I give you a :hatsoff: for stating your case in clear terms. I would see if I could catch the judge off duty and show him the ins an outs of a muzzleloader. You might get a convert and a fellow muzzleloader to shoot with.

 

[Roguedog]

Unfortunately, my experience with game officers has been anything but positive. A friend and I were camping during turkey season on Corp of Engineers property. The property in question is located along the borders of a large lake and it is legal to hunt these areas and we access them by boat.

One afternoon my buddy and I were taking a break and fishing from the bank when a game warden came speeding up to us from the water. He shut the engine just a few feet from us and hollered for us to "reel them in". We had waves splashing all up on he bank from his speeding craft! He then separated us, searched our tents and belongings, and threatened to right us a ticket for hunting in an illegal area. The problem is that he admitted that he failed to properly post the area as he was supposed to. He then told us we could continue to camp hunt, but.....he would be back later and if he found one scrap of paper he was going to write us up. He made me feel like I was a scum bag criminal and that if he could have his way, he would have locked us away for life!

This really hit me the wrong way. My friend and I are stewards of the land and always keep a clean camp and never leave trash. He could have been nice to us, used common courtesy and not treated us like we were thugs! It was his decision not to do so.

I have had other encounters over the years that were negative as well. I guess my point is that sometimes, people in positions of authority are not always level headed and sometimes try to abuse the authority they have been given.

Sorry for the rant. This is just my personal experience. Reading the comments by the original poster kind of got me stirred up.

Jeff

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well done.

LD

 

[Roguedog]

Unfortunately, we seem to remember vividly those negative encounters more than the positive ones. Luckily, I have had very few encounters with law enforcement/game officials in my lifetime. I am sure there are a lot of good guys and gals out there working hard to do their jobs in a professional manner. However, the bad apples seem to ruin it for the good guys. I'm glad that things worked out for the original poster and that common sense prevailed!

Jeff

 

[longcruise]

I wasn't fighting for anything else other then to keep my name clean, not pay fines, and not lose hunting rights for 2 years, also not get nailed by the military with UCMJ action as well.. besides I have qualifications to be game warden when I retire in 5 years and this would have hurt my chances.

Well 2 tall, it seems like many if not most of the participants in this thread don't understand the difference between civilian law and the UCMJ! As soon as you posted that you are military and this took place on post, the whole game changed! I don't think you were subjected to any kind of malicious enforcement. Just an MP who is learning his way around the system.

Some thought the idea of military game management was unusual, but many years ago I hunted regularly on Quanitco marine base and there was an officer in charge of a group of EM whose sole job was managing the wildlife and hunters on the base. They were a great bunch of guys. The only thing they would get excited about was guys going into closed units (always by accident) where there were training ops going on.

Glad you got out of the ticket and good thanks for your service! :hatsoff:

 

[Wes/Tex]

Just remember what a close friend's Dad told him under similar circumstances, "Well, son, the good Lord was a very inefficient Creator. He made way more horse's asses than He ever made horses"! :haha: :thumbsup:

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Unfortunately, we seem to remember vividly those negative encounters more than the positive ones.
Jeff

There is a saying as a mover

If you see a shipper (home owner) on the street & they can't remember where they know you from. . .the move went well.

The point being if a move goes badly, the shipper never forgets you

 

[Patocazador]

Many more of my encounters with wildlife officers were negative rather than positive and I recall almost all of them.

ALL USFWS officers are ridiculous in their approach. You already have two strikes against you just because you exist. :cursing:

I was threatened with a ticket once for using an outboard motor on a boat because it was in the back of my truck. He saw me beach the boat and place the oars in the bottom but he still wrote me a warning ticket.

 

[Wes/Tex]

It's unfortunate that some in all branches of law enforcement need to become the fry guy at McDonalds, but it's true in all public institutions.

 

[stinkyfeet]

I have had the honor of meeting many a great game wardens and law enforcement officers in my lifetime. I understand they are doing their job and get a bad rap for doing such. But this is the second time this year I have had run ins with the game wardens once on base one off with the same gun maybe its cursed, I never had law issues until I built the 40 caliber. But as an inspiring game warden after military retirement I have gone on ride alongs and assisted in different operations such as fish studies, dummy deer stings and so on and most of the guys the game wardens come acrossed treat them like manure from the get go.

 

[azmntman]

horses arse's in all professions. I have had a few run in's with game wardens and both were cool. 1st I shot a buck with a .45 flintlock and a pass thru hit a doe I didn't know was there and she was dying. I went and flagged down the warden, took him to the scene and the deer was gone? (breathing its last when I left it) and he said "let nature takes its course, nice buck" and helped me drag and load my deer, didn't bother to try to track it or anything. Next time hunting with my son, elk crossing fence, I said shoot the third one which he did but he was think other side of the fence and shot a spike not a cow. Took it to game n fish and got him a ticket. He was in ROTC and shaking about it as they cant even get a speeding ticket w/o possibly being expelled. He showed up in dress uniform the day of the court date and gave his name, clerk said "oh officer ____ was in a few minutes ago and dismissed the charge" (Son now teaching at academy as a major, I'm mighty proud). Here in AZ they would rather catch ya shooting a sign than poaching and if they do they impound everything but your underwear! Never had a bad experience with game n fish yet. City cops another story.....

VERY glad you were treated fairly and with respect.

 

[dbutch]

Congrats..Common sense prevailed..Happy Hunting!

 

[cynthialee]

I am glad to hear you contested it and did not just pay the fine and move on as some had counseled.
This was a good call. There is no way that a .395 roundball is going to stay that small by the time you get done ramming it home to the breach, then pulling the trigger, then air resistance of travel, then impact with deer hide...them 40 caliber roundballs are pretty big by the time they are fished out of the guts.

What is the farthest you feel comfortable shooting Bambi with that .40?