Not Getting Caught

[Sean Gadhar]

Did you miss the two >>>>> :redface:

 

[necchi]

Az,,
I respect for Sean for telling that story,
Because many of us did stupid things when we were younger and learned from those mistakes, it's what makes us who we are today.

But of course you must be without sin, and therefore capable of throwing stones.
:hmm:

I get a kick out of some folks when they get older and cast judgment on others, they sometimes have selective memories of their own youthful experiences.
Better atone for those lost memories, you might forget but there's someone else who won't

 

[F.G. Ford]

I should still be doing time, for the things that I have done in the past.
But we all try to mend our ways, as we get older.
There are not too many of us who have not hunted deer with a .22.
But with age and wisdom we have come to respect the laws of the land. From which we have matured, and understand the game laws.
At my wise old age, I cannot critique some youngster for their indiscretions without reflecting on mine.
But I can help them.
Not getting caught is no longer the question.
Ethics are what counts.
Have great day!
Fred

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I have so much of my enjoyment of the hunt, tied up in telling the story. I fail to comprehend taking the deer of a lifetime, yet never being able to tell the story.

I ran liquor stores for about 18 years, I heard a lot of deer & elk tails. When I started asking questions, I could often tell the ones not taken on the up & up. The teller wanted to change the subject. The up & up guys would talk your ear off :rotf: Just like I hoped to do to them when I got the photos back from ice fishin :wink:

 

[Billnpatti]

It is an issue of morals and ethics. Those who have been brought up with high morals and ethical standards will obey the laws whether someone is watching or not. As someone once said "Character is what you do when no one is looking."....or words to that effect.

 

[BrownBear]

...if it's hard for an officer to prove, then folks should go ahead and diregard the game laws that fall into the "tough to prove" category, or do most folks obey the game laws as written?

I'm a hardliner. If it's in the law, I obey it. Period.

Don't like the law? Get it changed.

 

[Wes/Tex]

I'm a hardliner. If it's in the law, I obey it. Period.

Don't like the law? Get it changed.

You and me too! By Texas law, the Game Warden is actually the most powerful LEO in the state and has the authority to check your car or house without waiting for a warrant. That in itself should make folks stay on the straight & narrow. I do it because it's the right thing to do.

 

[stinkyfeet]

It is an issue of morals and ethics. Those who have been brought up with high morals and ethical standards will obey the laws whether someone is watching or not. As someone once said "Character is what you do when no one is looking."....or words to that effect.

I feel as we get older we also mature and develop our own seen of ethics, yes some are learned and others are earned as well. I was raised the right way, but when I moved out of the parents place into my own I strayed from the rules somewhat not saying I am proud of all that I have done, but I can say I have learned from the mistakes of my past even though I was never caught. Now as of even this morning I am in an ethical ordeal, every morning I hunt a huge 10 point likely around 150 class comes out of the draw around 100 yards from my stand the issue is he stays in an off limits (impact area on a military base) area so I cant move closer to his entrance and exit route, nor if I shot him there can I legal go in to retrieve him. So I am forced to watch him eveytime I go out hoping he makes a mistake and wonders my way, or when the rut gets closer to lure him in with a decoy and scent, and some rattlin and a gruntin. :idunno: But I will admit theres something about a trophy buck that makes honest folks do stupid things, just not this guy. But yet people that are honest folks will see a trophy buck and slam on the brakes back up think about it and pull out a gun and take a shot from the car, and out pops the game warden. My hunting buddy says the people that don't shoot right away are the ones that are usually law abidders (until then), the guys that barely stop before they shoot are the professional poachers. Game Wardens are some smart people. Hunting poachers with a monster buck robo deer :bow:

 

[theoldredneck]

As a kid we spotlight hunted rabbits, shot bass with a bow and did other things kids do. As adults we should learn and most of us do. I'm at a point in life that given the choice between shooting a 12 point and a young yearling the young one is shot. I have more problems with people that kill deer or any game for "Sport" and leave it to rot. I'm not talking about coyote, crows, etc. I can also see killing the smaller game like squirrels that are raiding pecan crops. Finding a deer with head and/or horns gone and 4 wheeler tracks next to it is different. They could have hauled it out and gave it to a processor. Several of us have killed deer for years and gave the meat to people that needed it. A deer is a lot of meat to just waste because a person just doesn't want to take credit for it. Don't shoot it if you are not going to take it. Sorry for the rant.

 

[Supercracker]

Game Wardens are some smart people. Hunting poachers with a monster buck robo deer :bow:

There is a hilarious thread in another forum I'm on about a guy who put a lengthy, way back through the woods, roundabout stalk on a trophy bear and made a good shot on it only to find out that he had just legally shot the robobear and almost gave a warden hiding nearby a heart attack.


On the topic at hand. I think we can all agree that there are some poorly considered laws out there that are just too stupid to dignify with compliance.
For example:
-the way the rules are written here in Florida means I'm not supposed to use a flashlight to kill rats in my barn at night.

-I raise (from day old chicks) and keep a few quail in a flight pen year round for training my dogs. According to the letter of the rules, I'm not supposed to occasionally eat a couple of them unless the season is in. Even though they are, for all intents and purposes, just goofy looking barn chickens.

etc. etc. I'm sure everyone can think of similarly ridiculous unintended effects of poorly written rules in their area that are similarly largely ignored.

 

[Supercracker]

By Texas law, the Game Warden is actually the most powerful LEO in the state and has the authority to check your car or house without waiting for a warrant. That in itself should make folks stay on the straight & narrow.

Same here for the wardens. A few years back the local cops started having a Warden present at their DUI and license checkpoints. Any time any one refuses to give them permission to search their car they have the warden "check it for game violations" and they "assist". Because people leaving the bar, downtown, at 2:00am often also have a poached deer in their Honda civic. :td:

 

[FishDFly]

I follow the rules, at one point I did not.
Kind of lived on the edge when I was young.

When I entered the service I had a misdemeanor for possession on an alligator. That misdemeanor has followed me for a long time, I had a weakness for hunting alligators.

We had company on the ranch and we heard a person shoot who was a friend of my father's. He said he missed. My father insisted that we go back and look for the deer. Friend said had looked but could not find it.

As we looked for the deer I went to the other end of a clearing and found the deer gutted and draped over a log to cool.

The end to a long friendship with him and my father.

Following the rules is the right thing to do.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

My father was a Wildlife conservation officer in PA. most folks follow the rules, a few made minor unintentional violations and got warnings. There were a few regular poachers and law breakers. There were a few things I thought were nit picking things, that many WCO's gave tickets for, like failing to sign the hunting license. As a kid, we were expected to follow the rules without question. As an adult, I found that sometimes the law violates my ethical and moral lines. Just as a for instance, I came across a auto accident in which a lady hit a deer on the road. Her car was totalled, but she was alright. The buck had two broken rear legs and his intestines were hanging out, yet he was still alive flailing and bleating like a lamb. In PA you can destroy a sick animal, but not a terminally ill injured animal. I borrowed a rifle from a house along the road (I knew the fellow)and dispatched the deer and then called the Game Warden to give it's location. A deputy arrived 20 minutes later and read me the riot act, over taking the law into my own hands. I explained that I would do it again in a heartbeat and he would not like the media story if I were cited for ending the suffering of an obviously suffering and terminally injured deer.

In Pennsylvania, if you find a dead doe along the road with a live fawn standing next to it, the orders to the WCO's are to kill the fawn immediately. Same for most baby animals that come into their possession.

The PA rule makers have totally lost sight of historical firearms technology. One cannot use a breech loading flint or breech loading percussion gun to hunt any game animal in the state except groundhogs and coyotes. A matchlock or wheel lock is a legal firearm for elk, but not for deer or bear, except for a couple urban counties around Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. A flourescent orange hat required for some seasons may not have any insignia or letter on it, (like the browning insignia embroidered on many hats) but in other seasons such a hat meets the flourescent orange requirement. Without exception, if you are on your way to your hunting site and outside the car, you need to wear FO. Does that include stopping at Walmart for a box of ammo? The rule is written that broadly, even though it is not intended to apply to such situations.

I refuse to wear orange to stop for lunch at a restaurant, or to stop for gas.

Another observation, In PA the WCO's get twice the minimum training as the state police and almost 4 times the minimum training of local police. Our district justices (Justices of the Peace) are not required to even have a high school diploma.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Nice post Mr.zimmerstutzen

I like most of the DOW officers I have met. My cousin and I were stopped & checked one hunt. The officer set Rick's (unsigned)tag on the hood of the truck, handed Rick a pen and said "well it's good you remembered to sign your tags" :shocked2: then he turned his back :haha: Nice guy!

 

[Lonegun1894]

I have really liked the vast majority too, and have only ever met one who, well, frankly, didn't need to wear a badge of any kind. But that is one out of many and I hope I will only meet the good ones from here on out after having met that one bad apple.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I have really liked the vast majority too, and have only ever met one who, well, frankly, didn't need to wear a badge of any kind. But that is one out of many and I hope I will only meet the good ones from here on out after having met that one bad apple.

My dad walked a beat, as a Denver cop. From him I learned, "Most law enforcement wear a badge, some few hide behind a shield." By this he did not mean they were yellow, rather they hid there hate, malice, Sadism, etc behind the safety of being law enforcement. The DOW officers I've met here in Colorado, wear a badge.

 

[BrownBear]

The DOW officers I've met here in Colorado, wear a badge.

Yup.

I heard complaints about one DOW officer, but when we finally met up with him it was an eye opener.

We were polite and respectful, and he returned the favor. Once we had been checked, we continued to chat with him. Nicest guy in the world who shared our interest in the well being of the critters and land. He even volunteered info about some general areas where populations were better than where we were. And wished us good luck!

I'm convinced there's a whole lot in how folks behave when being checked by Johny Law. If we're anal sphincters, they return that favor too.

 

[Spikebuck]

Dr Dave Samuel, a long-time leader of the National Bowhunter Education Foundation, and professional wildlife biologist once said:

"If you're alone on a mountain-side and it's 10 minutes before legal shooting time and a big buck is standing in front of you, you have a decision to make. If you decide to shoot, no one but you will ever know. But if too many people make that decision, it really says something about the future of our sport."

Can't say much more than that.

 

[sidelock]

This happened to a kid I know last winter who was duck hunting------ except the
SOB wrote him up. I know the law says--- but have a heart. That warden is known to be super tough but ---- a simple mistake by a 17 year old kid ?????

 

[necchi]

I know the law says--- but have a heart. ---- a simple mistake by a 17 year old kid ?????

I remember being 17.
It wasn't a "mistake".
And now, he'll probably not do it again.