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game wardens,private property and hunting season
Gotteskrieger
Member Posts: 3,170 ✭✭
i have 33 acres that i hike. sometimes i carry a pistol sometimes i carry my ak. it's my property so i'll do what i want.i don't hunt so if a game warden came on my property what could he do if i was carrying my ak? could he claim i was hunting?
Comments
He can claim anything he wants but it is a flimsy accusation at best unless there is a dead animal for proof you are hunting. That would be a different story.
West Virginia land owners do not need a hunting or fishing license when on your own property.
The DNR does advise (it's not a law) that farmers or others to wear blaze orange when out doing chores or other activity on their property during rifle and black powder season.
As with any questions on legalities, it depends upon your state's laws.
Where are you located?
As with any questions on legalities, it depends upon your state's laws.
WV
From the West Virginia regulations book.
Resident Landowners
Resident Landowners or their resident children or their resident parents or resident tenants of such land, may hunt or trap on their own land without a license during open seasons.
Resident landowner privileges apply to West Virginia residents who own land in West Virginia, their resident children and parents, or resident tenants. Resident tenants must permanently live on the land.
========================================
Just in case you should decide to hunt.
Resident Landowner Privileges
West Virginia resident landowners may hunt on their own
land without obtaining a license. See definition of resident
landowner privileges on page 8.
A resident landowner hunting on his/her own land without
a license can take the same number of deer as a licensed
hunter.
A hunter (licensee or landowner) cannot take more
than the number of deer allowed in the respective seasons.
After killing a deer as a landowner, a person cannot take
another deer by use of a license for which the privilege has
already been used.
Example - if a landowner has a Class X or
A license and kills an antlered deer on his own land during
buck season, the landowner cannot use the Class X or A
license to kill another buck during the buck season.
He/she can check the deer in as a landowner kill or on the Class X
or A license. Either way, the Class X or A privilege to kill an
antlered deer during the buck season has been used.
=====================================
As I stated before. He can't do anything even if you were hunting.
If you tell him you are hunting, there may be other requirements about hours and seasons that may apply to you if you are hunting (or say you are).
Wish that were true in TN! I live in KY and own land in TN. Buy out of state hunting license because the law says I have to. No problem there. Last year, before deer season, I had several washed out spots that I had graded and seeded. Every time I went down, someone had driven through the middle of them, leaving huge ruts. Blamed my uncles, cousins, even my dad for tearing up the ground. All of them swore it wasn't them. Opening day of last year's youth season, I sat in the blind with my son and watched as the freaking game warden drove right through the middle of the new, barely up grass! Jumped out of the blind and ran him down. After questioning him, he admitted that he had been through there several times over the past couple of months just "looking around." Then he questioned my son about having his license. I told my son to keep quiet, and told the g.w. that he didn't require a license as he was 12 (12 and under requires no license in TN, even if they live out of state). Then he asked to see his hunter's safety card. When hunting on my property, I don't carry my wallet, so didn't have the card with me. Offered to take him to the house and show it to him (you could see the roof of the house from where we were hunting!) Gave me grief over that. I was steamed! But, after checking it out, there is nothing I can do. A game warden, at least in TN, can enter private property anytime they feel like it, and there isn't a dang thing you can do. I was squirrel hunting and deer scouting this past August. Was riding my 4-wheeler around. Out of an old logging road, way on the back of my property, comes the game warden. Again, just "looking around, checking for food plots." I think I caught him in a lie, as in the passenger seat of his truck was a pretty good looking blonde who was NOT wearing a TWRA uniform. He got really upset when I reached into the bag on the 4-wheeler and pulled out my camera and asked if I could take his and his friends picture, as I was sure his wife would like a copy. [}:)] Haven't seen him since, but I figure I will run into him before the season ends in January.
I checked on having the TWRA fix the ruts or reimburse me for my time and new seed. Nope. Unless the damage was "done with malicious intent," they aren't liable for it. The head honcho in Nashville that I called said that this guy was "just doing his job." I told him it sounded like the Gestapo to me. He didn't take too kindly to that.
That is not the case in Michigan. An officer only needs reasonable suspicion that a conservation law is being violated to make entry onto private property. The legal theory is called "open fields doctrine". Unless the area is within a curtilage of a dwelling, a search warrant would not be required.
The land is the property of the landowner, but the public holds a vested interest in the free-ranging animals there. The wildlife belongs to the people as a whole.
Might be worth looking into as how far a game warden can go while searching for illegal kills. Course you can hide the extra squirrel in a mighty small place. lol
Allen
Ok, I have to ask. WTH do you need to carry an AK around with you on your property unless you are hunting or target shooting? Don't get me wrong, it is your property and you have the right to carry whatever the heck you please. I am just curious.
its my property and i have a right to carry what ever the heck i please.
4 wheelers And hunters have gone into places i didn't want them to. they drive under my rock cliffs and dump trash. They cut down trees to get their 4 wheelers where they want to hunt from them. they build tree stands in my trees. they spin circles in my flat spots. hunters dump corn to chum the deer.one person ,i was unarmed at the time, held his 30-30 at low port at my feet telling me it was his uncles land and i shouldn't be there.3 people were shot to death not more than a mile from there on and on and on. all this has happened over a period of years but i am fed up. i am gone for weeks at a time so no telling what i will find.
i will continue to carry my AK on my land.
They can in Tennessee!
quote: iluvguns, can't you file a complaint with the head man at the TWRA?
I did. He is the guy who told me the warden was "just doing his job."
I'm not bashing all wardens. In the past the guys and gals here have been great. But all the old-timers that I grew up around have retired. Some of, if not most, of the new ones act like jack-booted thugs.
I'd do some more checking. While they may have the "right to enter" that does not necessarily mean they have "the right to drive" wherever they want. "Right to enter" generally means they may enter land by walking on or driving on estabished roads or trails and generally with probable cause. I highly doubt the law gives them "carte blance" to drive anywhere they please uless pursuing someone in the commission of a crime. I wouldn't take "their word for it". I would write them a certified letter letting them know they are welcome to patrol your property provided they can do so in a manner that they do not damage it and if they continue to damage it you will take legal action. You could also fence off the access and put up "no driving" signs and maybe place a few large rocks or plant a few tree or instal "spike strips" at their access point.
Pa. court lets game wardens pursue investigations on posted land
Nov 21, 2007
By MARK SCOLFORO
Associated Press Writer
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Game wardens may enter posted land to investigate hunting violations, a divided state Supreme Court ruled in a case that originated in the opening minutes of the 2002 bear-hunting season.
Landowners do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy against enforcement of state game law, the court said in a 4-3 decision Tuesday that endorsed the "open fields doctrine" that most other states have in place.
"The citizens of this commonwealth throughout our history have shown a keen interest in protecting and preserving as an asset the diverse wildlife that find refuge in the fields and forests within our borders," Justice Ronald D. Castille wrote for the majority. "This interest is so strong that it is enshrined by a separate provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution."
The defendant, Joseph Russo Jr., was ordered to pay $3,600 in fines and restitution after game officers concluded that he used an 80-square-foot pile of mashed apples to bait a bear near his hunting cabin in remote Mehoopany Township, Wyoming County.
DNA evidence matched blood found at the apple mash pile - along with bear tracks - with a bear carcass seized from Russo's home in Pittston. He was found guilty of unlawful taking of game and using an illegal device to hunt.
Russo appealed, arguing that the search of property posted with no-trespassing signs violated state constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy argued in a dissenting opinion that state game law unconstitutionally allows entry onto posted land without any level of suspicion of illegal activity.
Richard Palmer, director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's wildlife bureau, said wildlife conservation officers have to be allowed access to woodlands and other properties in order to do their job effectively.
"This ruling is a positive result that will enable the agency to continue its mission to manage all wild birds and mammals and their habitats for current and future generations," Palmer said.
Although the case involved a Game Commission officer, Russo's lawyer, Andrew Bigda, said it could prompt other types of investigators to freely enter private, posted land without a warrant.
"It could arguably be used by all law enforcement," Bigda said. "It's a really big diminishment of property rights and property owners in Pennsylvania."
As a result of the ruling, Russo expects to have his hunting license suspended under the Game Commission's guidelines, Bigda said. Russo maintains that he did not bait the bear.
Also in Pennsylvania Game Laws supercede all other laws meaning during big game seasons you CANNOT even target shoot unless at an approved range and walking around the woods with an AK47 during deer season WILL get you arrested, argue all you want and make all the threats you want but that is the way it is here.
They can pretty much go on property if they think anyone might be harvesting game--not breaking the law, just harvesting game(fishing/hunting).
Ben
They can search public and private property including automobiles at any time or place that they wish without a warrant.
All they need is due cause to conduct a search and it does not need to be over game laws.
DNA evidence matched blood found at the apple mash pile - along with bear tracks - with a bear carcass seized from Russo's home in Pittston"
My God what a wild man. He had an 80 foot by 80 foot pile of apples for baiting bear. What is that, three dump truck loads of apples? This guy was a serious poacher.
And, DNR took blood samples from the apple mash pile, and compared the DNA with that from the bear meat at Russo's home. DNR isn't playing games up there in Yankeeland.
The Game and Fish or DNR regulations vary by state. If you are in the woods with a .22 in deer season in many places that is automatically considered hunting deer with a .22. If you are 14 you might convince them you thought you were hunting squirrels. In many states they have authority on private land, and in the states I have hunted will come on private land to check licenses. On your own land they are unlikely to cite you, but I would leave the AK in the house during the deer season just to make live simpler.
"used an 80-square-foot pile of mashed apples to bait a bear near his hunting cabin in remote Mehoopany Township, Wyoming County.
DNA evidence matched blood found at the apple mash pile - along with bear tracks - with a bear carcass seized from Russo's home in Pittston"
My God what a wild man. He had an 80 foot by 80 foot pile of apples for baiting bear. What is that, three dump truck loads of apples? This guy was a serious poacher.
And, DNR took blood samples from the apple mash pile, and compared the DNA with that from the bear meat at Russo's home. DNR isn't playing games up there in Yankeeland.
naw it's only 9x9 ft
Here in West Virginia a DNR officer has more authority than a state policeman.
They can search public and private property including automobiles at any time or place that they wish without a warrant.
All they need is due cause to conduct a search and it does not need to be over game laws.
you're saying he can march in my house and search it without a warrant or exigent circumstances?