I had a choice. He asked me if I would mind him taking a look. I had nothing to hide and I try to cooperate with GWs. I believe they have the best interests of hunters,(not poachers), in mind. I appreciate what they do and don't mind a MINOR, (and the original post sounded minor), inconvenience to help them get through thier day. Suppose that the house with the rack on the back porch was the home of a local poacher. Suppose the GWs stopped to take a look around when they saw the rack. What if that seemingly minor investigation turned into the arrest of a poacher that killed the huge buck you chased all season. well, those Gws would be heros then wouldn't they? Or would y'all still say they were out of order?
I have to stand with TXjourneyman on this one guys. In all of my outdoor experiences I have only ran into a game warden 3 times and everytime I have welcomed the search and told them great job, I know im legal when I go out, so I dont mind a few minutes of inconvience to keep poaching and other illegal activities in check. Once was at the boat ramp as me and a buddy were loading up from crappie/bass fishing, once while I was hunting National Forest ( wanted to make sure I wasnt hunting over bait) and once on the hunting club while we were hunting hogs.
I think the attitude of the officers towards me (as tx eludes to) would go a long way towards my level of compliance to their requests. Great point, Greg.....and that shouldn't be overlooked.
Ya... obviously me. Since all I'm seeing or reading about is a bunch of hunters complaining about GW's. If you got nothing to hide. Who cares? They were doing their job. End of epic story.
I'd have told him I shot it w/ my BMG .50 cal, what's it to him!!! Then the burden of proof is lain upon his shoulders to do something about it. Let him try to charge you w/ something, try to prove it. I've only ever had one issue w/ a warden, and he wanted to see ALL of my used up tags when I was taking a youth hunting, and I wasn't even carrying a weapon!!! Jackhole!!! Sorry they had to come by and harass you, you could always get them back by making a list of people to call them all hours of the night saying they herd gunshots and saw a truck w/ a spotlight near their house.......:D
Havent' seen a GW in 21 years of hunting! If by some miracle I ever ran into one and he wanted to check me out for something I would be pleased. Ask me whatever you want and look wherever you want. The only thing I'd be pissed at was he was wasting time on me instead of known poachers down the road.
I agree Rory! No one likes to be hassled. I don't like the hassle at airports any more, but in the interest of safer travel I put up with it, and if it saves one life it is worth the inconvenience of everyone. I also detest poachers and game law violators, but I'll put up with some hassle now and then if the GW's are trying to do their job to cut down on the Law Breakers, and/or punish them. Dan
I've never seen a GW around these areas while hunting. We have called GW's on different occasions, and my dad helped set up a sting on some poachers 7-8 years ago that were just "watching deer" with a spotlight and a rifle in the truck. Some are pretty good friends with my dad from his years with the DNR, and they have always struck me as good, and FAIR people. Sounds like to me that the GW's were acting on a tip. Probably just doing their job and following up on it.
mmm, good question. Did some one set u up or where they just doing there job? I guess you could find out who they where. My question is did they have a right to be on your property with out probable cause. If the antlers were not in plain sight, they would not have justification for probable cause. Even though they may have been doing their job, doesn't give them the right to abuse our constitutional rights to unwarranted search & seizures. You might want to file a complaint for their intrusion onto your property, and talk to aclu or a local politcal official and see what they think if that happened to them. Now, I'm not saying that they shouldn't be looking for poachers, but they should have their facts first. I think you were set up. I think many times that the dnr has way too much power as it is.
......is this all the story.......I am with Greg/mo and the others as to someone made a phone call......interesting.
