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Old August 8, 2018, 03:28 PM   #26
HiBC
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Another thing about Colorado,the DOW was changed to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The "Game Warden" I grew up with had a relationship with hunters and fishermen. A kinship. A mutual respect.

The merging of Parks and Wildlife allegedly was about duplication of services,budgets etc. Maybe.

But the New Ranger/Game Warden has different roots.The "Park Ranger" force is strong. This new CPW warden MAY be more oriented to mountain biking,bird watching,and MAY not like guns or hunting/hunters..
I'm not putting them all in that box ,but there are some. The old DOW Officers ...and the new CPW officers just have a different vibe.

I don't know if the program is the same these days,but the DOW established a partnership between themselves,hunters ,and landowners.
Landowners suffer game related crop damage and hunter problems.. Hunters want access to private land.
The DOW worked to open lands to hunting,with the promise to landowners the hunters would respect the land.The landowners allowed access.

The DOW took that responsibility very seriously.

The trespasser or disrespectful or slob hunter who got a complaint would feel the full book thrown at them.
The DOW held hunters to high standards and supported the landowners

One year we had some folks from out of state mess up our private land antelope hunt by trespassing.We told the DOW officer,with video.
Later I read a very irate letter in Colorado Outdoors Magazine written by someone from that state who was prosecuted .It seemed familiar. I give DOW credit for supporting the hunter.

The Western States have public land.All sorts of folks use it. In some cases,both locals who feel "native" and out of staters spending big dollars feel entitled. Some people are just stupid,and some are slobs.
I'm grateful to the Wardens for doing the job.

Most folks are just trying to have a good hunt,and play by the rules
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Old August 8, 2018, 05:12 PM   #27
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I seem to run into at least one every year on a hunt in my home state. Also was checked by the warden’s on both of the out of state hunts I did ( NM &WY ).
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Old August 8, 2018, 05:44 PM   #28
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Wardens are hunter.....hunters of violators. Like any good hunter, a warden knows the best place to find their quarry. They know where the best "stands" are and those areas where they are most likely to witness a violation.

Like regular LEOs. wardens cannot enter your home or property unless they have a search warrant, have witnessed something to provoke probable cause or have a there is a legitimate threat of eminent danger. That is why you see them patrolling mostly on public land and cruising public roads with binoculars. If you only hunt private property and do all your violating out of eyesight of your neighbors and the road, odds are you can go your whole lifetime without seeing a warden while hunting. One reason you see them more on water is because, here, water is public domain and they are just more visible.

Folks are quick to criticize wardens here locally and on these types of forums. Truth is most are overworked and underpaid while doing a bang-up job of protecting and enforcement. I for one am happy to see them while in the woods and on the water.
You might want to learn search and seizure law. You are a bit off on your "facts." As retired L.E. with most my time in vice, I know my facts. Study "open fields doctrine." Me and the rabbit sheriff are close personal friends. I am not running him down, I am stating a fact about him.
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Old August 8, 2018, 07:35 PM   #29
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I’ve been checked by game wardens a few times in Texas, but never in Louisiana (where I grew up).

Goose hunting west of Houston - he showed up on an ATV and checked what we had and checked our shotguns for legal amount of shells.

Deer hunting in the Hill Country of Texas - he showed up like a ghost at my remote camp, and checked out the buck I had shot. Really big guy with a Dirty Harry revolver. All business, and refused my offer of coffee and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Deer hunting in South Texas - showed up to check out our deer harvest. Very friendly and had coffee with us.

Got checked while fishing a couple of times in Texas.

I keep expecting to see a GW here at our little ranch, where I shoot targets a lot and hunt constantly when the weather isn’t too hot (hogs, coyotes, squirrels, and deer, as seasons also).
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Old August 8, 2018, 08:34 PM   #30
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Don’t make the mistake of thinking they are all honest. I thought that for fifty years anytime I was checked just checked my license few questions everything was fine.Then I met one who wasn’t fine in fact he was a liar.Said he watched me with a rifle in a unit I didn’t have a tag .Its a long story but I didn’t do what he said.He thought I was somebody else when he realized he messed up he went goofy.1500 miles from home and they set my hearing date two days before Christmas. I did call his supervisor later found out what he arrested me for wasn’t illegal by that time the warden had resigned the supervisor wouldn’t say whether it was forced or not.
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Old August 8, 2018, 08:43 PM   #31
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Don’t take my post above thinking I dislike Game Wardens.Most are honest hardworking and what they do is greatly appreciated.But there are some Bad apples in every profession. I used to think when people talked about being fined for nothing that they probably did something now I don’t know what to think.
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Old August 8, 2018, 11:14 PM   #32
Brian Pfleuger
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In all my years hunting in Upstate NY, I saw exactly 2 game wardens "in the woods".

One of them was just driving slowly down a seasonal limited use road, looking in the woods. I waved, he waved.

The other thought he was Dirty Harry and wanted to give me one hell of a hard time for no reason at all. Long story, but it literally ended with me asking him if I was being detained because if not I had enough and was leaving. He told me I could leave.

Otherwise, I never saw them anywhere except the occasional road checkpoint.

Everyone I ever talked to in NY pretty much said the same thing. Almost everyone I know who hunts there commits some form of violation, from hunting with illegal weapons (like a rifle in shotgun areas or a crossbow during bow) or not tagging animals. I don't know anyone who's ever been caught.

Oh, I forgot... one place you will seem them in swarms is the Salmon River around Pulaski during a run. I swear, they bring in every warden in the state. They wear plain clothes so you can't tell who they are but I swear it's every other guy on the river. You can't blink sideways without seeing a badge come out.
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Old August 9, 2018, 06:13 AM   #33
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I don't think I've ever encountered a game warden while hunting. Well, once or twice the local guy would come by after the hunt and just chat with the local fellows. I never knew him to actually "check" anything, just a sort "How'ed you boys do today?" type visit.

Maybe a half dozen times while fishing. Most of the time they just stopped to chat, (slow weekdays). I asked one if he needed to see my fishing license and he just said, "You got a 25,000 dollar bass boat...you got a fishing license." Once or twice I had to produce my license.
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Old August 9, 2018, 06:59 AM   #34
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yes the fish police are after money during the new York salmon run. a group of quit going up to new York because of that. its very easy to commit a volation with out being aware of it, plus all the expense for hooking a fish that don,t bite that's going to die and stink up the place any way and be full of mercury. good by new York.
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Old August 9, 2018, 09:21 AM   #35
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The Kill em all boyz

The best thing about gross violators? They tend to be stupid, knuckle dragging Neanderthal types.

The title will be familiar to folks in Or and Wa. Truly disgusting, wanton waste of truly superb game animals. Running bear with dogs out of season. All about watching their dogs kill the bear...Leaving gorgeous 5 X 6 elk to rot.

It is very fortunate for the prosecutors that the trophy's they kept were cell phone videos of their "activities"

There were about 20 of these guys....their violations went on for years in both Or and Wa.

Oh and there is something useful about the idiots. One can tell the political bent of TV commentators. The good ones call them poachers,, the bad ones call them hunters.
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Old August 9, 2018, 01:23 PM   #36
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Interesting reading
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Old August 9, 2018, 01:51 PM   #37
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I guess I didn't really touch on it before...
In Utah, I get checked by game wardens almost every year - but usually only if I'm driving somewhere, sitting on a road (for lunch, getting ready to hike out, etc.), or if I'm in camp.
In Idaho, I don't think I've ever been stopped by one while hunting. I've passed their parked trucks and have occasionally seen them check other people. But I've never been stopped, and I haven't needed to stop at any check stations (because I wasn't hunting that day, or I came through after they shut down for the night).
I've seen a few in Wyoming. They either came into our camp to check carcasses and tags, or witnessed a kill and came to make sure it was legal.

I find some comedy in discovering a warden's 'day job' when encountering a new one (primarily in Utah). Wardens that deal with hunters a lot keep their eyes and ears peeled, but don't make a fuss about being surrounded by people with firearms (usually loaded). Those that primarily deal with fisherman, invasive species inspections, and roadkill surveys, however, tend to want to disarm everyone they encounter and still seem uncomfortable while finishing whatever check for which they stopped the hunter.
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Old August 9, 2018, 03:54 PM   #38
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When I first started hunting in southeast Arizona about 10 years ago, they would drive through the area stopping at each camp checking licenses mid-day. The last one I saw about 5 years ago actually came to the spot I was hunting to check my license. I had pitched a spur camp on top of a 400’ tall hill. Just enough flat spot to lay a sleeping bag flat. But I could hunt from my sleeping bag. I could see the main road from my vantage point and saw his truck stop and I assumed he saw me and was glassing me. Sure enough about an hour after I saw the truck leave he walked into my camp. Nice guy and certainly motivated. It wasn’t quite a straight up climb. But almost. He Carried an AR. Come to think of it, that close to the Mexican border I think I’d carry an AR too.
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Old August 9, 2018, 07:25 PM   #39
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Don’t make the mistake of thinking they are all honest.
Yep, a few years ago we had one that was hunting after hours and without a permit (poaching) when he heard gun shots. He went to investigate and got shot by the idiots target shooting without a proper backstop. It was argued that he "transitioned" {from poacher} to officer mode and so was able to collect worker's comp for his injuries. Chris Fried survived, only paid a small fine, avoided felony charges for his poaching, and not only got to keep his job, but has been featured on the TV show "Lone Star Law."
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texa...arges-kept-job

https://www.mystatesman.com/news/wou...6fzGJx8du6RDN/
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Old August 9, 2018, 10:52 PM   #40
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at least as far as Idaho is concerned we have a few. you rarely encounter them while out hunting unless they are responding to reports of poaching or conducting game surveys. you usually see them most at checkpoints when there are mandatory stops for hunters so they can come up with statistics and the like for number of people hunting,number of days hunting, success ratios and taking a census of harvested game.

wolves and mountain lions only require inspection if you intend to sell the hide. bears you are required to present the skull to a game warden or other designated person to have a molar extracted and if you plan on selling the hide have it inspected and marked. idaho is a fairly hands on region in comparison to other states but at least in my area, the wardens aren't too intrusive.
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Old August 9, 2018, 11:10 PM   #41
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In Colorado two teenage girls camp near by maybe sisters hunting deer one girl shoots one it runs over a hill they go after it on the other side of the hill a older man sees the gun shot deer and shoots it dead the girls soon show up the man askes if one of them shot it one girls said yes .The man told them he was more camping then hunting and that he did have a hunting licenses and they should tag it and take the deer. They pack it to camp they where so happy and could not wait to go home and show there parents there deer. short time later the game warden shows up after the older man shared the story with the warden .

The older man got a ticket for not tagging the deer he killed and the one girl got a ticket and lost the deer .
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Old August 10, 2018, 03:15 AM   #42
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The older man got a ticket for not tagging the deer he killed and the one girl got a ticket and lost the deer .
There's more to that story, I'm sure.
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Old August 10, 2018, 04:39 PM   #43
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another instance

Just remembered, I was checked once in AR coming out of the woods late in bow season. So that's checked twice in 48 yrs. I was stopped on USFS land as I left the area on FS roads.

There was some comment about "open fields doctrine", which is a component of the search & seizure law and the 4th Amendment..... your constitutional rights. There are also some law phrases typically associated 4th issues, open view and plain sight.

Note that depending on how your respective state game/conservation laws are written, a WCO or game warden my have MORE search discretion than a typical LEO (or vice cop). When in the act of hunting or fishing, your vehicle, gear, etc, MAY be "open for inspection" to the officer. A WCO/warden MAY be able to look/search, absent what is typically considered probable cause necessary for a search of a vehicle or ones person. Depends on your state law. I cannot say if that latitude can extend to residences and other outbuildings, but seems as if I have heard in some states it can.
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Old August 10, 2018, 04:53 PM   #44
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There's more to that story, I'm sure.
sounds like plenty of opportunity to get tickets. especially if NM has the same "no party hunting" rules as ID. telling a GW that you shot an animal and didn't tag it, is one way to get a ticket, telling another person to tag it is another, and tagging an animal that you didn't shoot, while not-necessarily illegal in most states is considered *gasps* unethical to many hunters. any decent game warden might have acknowledged that the man was helping out by putting down a suffering animal and that the animal was tagged and not left to rot, and let both parties off with a warning, but that's not to say the warden wasn't having a bad day or was just an %(^$&*(^$&*^$ to begin with.
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Old August 10, 2018, 09:34 PM   #45
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sounds like plenty of opportunity to get tickets. especially if NM has the same "no party hunting" rules as ID. telling a GW that you shot an animal and didn't tag it, is one way to get a ticket, telling another person to tag it is another, and tagging an animal that you didn't shoot, while not-necessarily illegal in most states is considered *gasps* unethical to many hunters. any decent game warden might have acknowledged that the man was helping out by putting down a suffering animal and that the animal was tagged and not left to rot, and let both parties off with a warning, but that's not to say the warden wasn't having a bad day or was just an %(^$&*(^$&*^$ to begin with.
I don't see party hunting.
Based on the limited information presented in the story, I see:
One person shoots deer.
Deer runs.
Some one else shoots deer.
Deer dies.
Both parties meet.
First party says, "hey, that's my deer."
Second party says, "cool. I don't want a gut-shot deer, anyway."
First party tags it.
Second party walks away.
First party goes back to camp/home.

Two people legally shot it. (Assuming the story is complete and accurate...)
Only one can tag it.

What do you suggest, cutting it in half?...
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Old August 10, 2018, 11:11 PM   #46
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I'm not sure there's an actual written law on the topic but in NY it was always understood that the animal is supposed to belong to the person who fired the first "immediately fatal" shot. They even teach the concept in hunters education.

A gut shot deer that was later killed (presumptively by a properly placed shot) by 2nd person, would belong to the 2nd person. Now, in NY it's no law. Whoever wants to tag it can tag it. Somebody has to, but as long as one of the two tag it, there is no violation.

It's hard for me to believe this is a CO law. I've never seen any reference to it in the past and can find no mention of it now.

How could such a law be enforced? What if both shots had been "immediately fatal"? Who can tag the animal? Who can't? It doesn't make sense.
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Old August 11, 2018, 10:02 AM   #47
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Co Party Hunt law as follows, kill some else's game or let someone kill yours. You need deer tag here to kill buck/doe and those are draw tags.

You really only have 2nd or 3rd hand account on what happened.

If you don't have tag it's Poaching. Co doesn't cover killing wounded big game animal and I would assume if I was to do that I'd have tag and tag it other wise I'd call DOW let them handle. They do cover Accidental Killing and how to handle that.

Before we had draw tag DOW figure that they put in 4 pt or better for bucks and normally the do change for 5yrs. The great hunters killed more forked horned/3pt and just left to rot than 4pt and DOW cancel 4pt or better after 2yrs.
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Old August 11, 2018, 10:11 AM   #48
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I have hunted here in Alabama for 30+ years. Never seen one other than at a game-check station. Never encountered one actually out in the woods. My elderly dad got "busted" last year for shooting doves over a baited field (they had no clue the guy had put out some the day before) but we were pretty sure someone called that one in.

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Old August 12, 2018, 03:59 AM   #49
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In over fifty years of hunting in Arkansas and Texas I have never encountered a game warden in the field.
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Old August 12, 2018, 09:27 AM   #50
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I have a GW (Dawson) where I hunt elk and mule deer who I talk with on a regular basis. Dawson will often times go find a youth or first time Hunter and put them on a deer or elk. He's an avid outdoorsman and he loves to see people successful especially the kids. However, he has a job to do and if you're doing things wrong he's going to do his job.

From my interactions with Game Wardens they're just trying to do their job, and they want to do it in a pleasant and friendly manner for the most part. I'm sure you can catch one on an off day or if you're having an off day things can go south.

Other than Dawson most of my interactions with the GWs have been at check stations for pronghorn, and one time duck and dove hunting. Never had any issues with them and never felt like they were out to get me. All any of them ever did was check my license and check my firearms to make sure I wasn't transporting a chambered round in my rifle/shotgun and to make sure I had a plug in the shotgun.
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