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More Cheating Fisherman…..this time in Georgia.

Started by POSTON WIDEHEAD, July 23, 2014, 10:57:41 PM

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POSTON WIDEHEAD

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

SLawyer Dave

I have no problem with Fish and Game busting poachers and illegal game sales like this.  Pretty much every outdoorsman knows that you can't harvest fish and game with a consumer license, and then sell your catch.  Poachers know they are poaching.  However as a part time judicial officer, who hears a lot of Fish and Game cases, I keep seeing some pretty awful cases.  The hunting and fishing rules here in California, are so cumbersome and almost written in hieroglyphics, that the game wardens can't even understand them, let alone hunters and fishermen.  It is so bad here in California that I actually go looking for game wardens pretty much every time I go hunting and fishing.....just to make sure "my" understanding of the rules is the same as "theirs". 

I just issued a ruling on a case I heard last week, wherein a hunter was charged with "illegal entry" into a wildlife area.  He had a license, non-toxic shot, and in every other way was compliant with California hunting law, except he "walked" into this particular wildlife area rather than "boat in" from the Sacramento River, as this area is designated because there is no other public access.  Now mind you, he had permission to enter and cross the private property adjacent to the wildlife area.  There is no warning signs or other devices telling neighboring landowners or their guests that they can't access the wildlife area from their property.  I really wasn't sure if the "boat in" restriction should really apply to him.

However, because of how horrible the fish and game laws are written, (Fish and Game Code, cites the California Code of Regulations, which then cites other codes), that I have learned to actually look up every charge.  In this case, the code cited by the officer, CCR 551(q)(35)(G), actually did not exist. (he was close, it was 551(q)(38)(G), but it took me nearly an hour just to find this *DanG little subsection out of the tens of thousands of regulations that exist just for Fish and Game).  So it made my decision to find him Not Guilty easy.  But really.....is it this kind of very questionable "harm" that our law enforcement should really be focusing on.

A couple of months ago, I had 4 young men cited for "illegal hunting with toxic shot".  Now mind you, I hunt and fish, and pretty much everyone in California knows that you can't use toxic shot for water fowl anymore.  In this case, there was a special regulation, that only applied to this particular refuge, wherein even though the men were hunting for Spring Turkeys, (which is not a water fowl), it was illegal to use toxic shot.  Upon looking up the incredibly complex numbers and letters of the citation, I found that the officer had actually cited the four men for illegally riding a four wheeler on a boat ramp. (I'm not making this up).  So again, they were found Not Guilty. 

When the rules and laws are so complex and unintelligible that the game wardens can't even cite the correct violations.....there is a problem.

goose63

A few weeks ago thy caught  5 guys from Michigan with 100 fish over the limit in Devils Lake N D the fine was $ 17000
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

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