Hunting Article by Ted Nugent

[Ben]

I ran into this hunting article by Ted Nugent in my newsfeed and thought it hit on some interesting points.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2019/10/03/ted-nugent-demand-common-sense-hunting-reform/3786992002/

I certainly took note regarding complex and easily misinterpreted and/or hard to understand laws and regs. Back in CA, there were always stories about guys being approached by DFG, wanting to be cooperative and safe, and thus doing something like laying their loaded gun on the pickup tailgate or on top of their ATV and then boom - getting a ticket for a loaded firearm in the vehicle while engaged in hunting.

And stuff like that ties directly to who is getting into wildlife law enforcement. I'm sure there were always stories about the hard-nosed game warden, who would give a ticket for something like leaning the loaded gun on the vehicle while other wardens wouldn't do a thing. But it seems many people are becoming wardens now to make hunting harder.

Again, the CA example. One of my duties for the last 15 years of the old job was attending bi-monthly coordination meetings that included CA DFG wardens. I remember in the early years, it was enjoyable sitting with them at lunch and talking hunting and fishing and getting tips on where to go. Later on, as older guys retired and newer guys came in, a good majority of them didn't even hunt or fish - they were there to be "environmental cops" who would just as soon discourage hunting. In fact a few years before I retired, CA changed "Department of Fish and Game" to "Department of Wildlife" as part of their move away from promotion of fishing and hunting.

Seems like, related to Nugent's article, that seems to be a common theme in a lot of places. I haven't seen it here in Idaho yet. In fact just the opposite in my dealings with DFG here so far, but it seems to be becoming the outlier rather than the norm.

[BobR]

As far as CA, I was hunting chukar near Ridgecrest with a friend when we were approached by a  F&G cop. My hunting partner propped his gun against the truck, after verifying it was unloaded and was told by the F&G cop had he not seen him check it to ensure it was unloaded he would have checked and then given him a ticket if it were loaded, just for the gun touching the side of the truck. I wonder if safety is also a concern of theirs because it seems a lot of people get shot by "unloaded" guns when placing or removing from a vehicle.

bob

[230RN]

Nugent seems to be right, at least as far as when I was still wandering around with a firearm.  A new game warden ticketed me for hunting without a license and trespassing even though I had been prowling around that area with a .22 for years, just plinking at cow pies and guilty-looking rocks, and had permission from the lessees of the ground.  No, I did not have a license, but had been under the false old impression that you weren't hunting if you did not have harvested game in your possession.  Wrong.

I plead not guilty and contacted the retired old game warden, who used to be one of the "good guys," who volunteered to testify for me.  I also got the lessees of the ground to testify that I had permission to be out there.  (I'm really a noble, lovable guy, and people like me.  Believe it or not.)

The old game warden's testimony was that while he was a warden, possession was needed to prove hunting, but apparently the law had changed, and merely engaging in acts that looked like hunting was in fact hunting.

I got a not guilty on the trespassing charge, but tagged on the hunting charge.  I think it was a three-point violation and don't remember the fine.

The point of all this is that conversations with other hunters around that time indicated that the warden who tagged me had and was still developing a negative reputation with the sportsmen around here, and indeed would cite you for sneezing while hunting if he figured some way he could get away with it.

So yes, there  seems to be a shift to enforcement and maybe even a quota system as is rumored for traffic police, at least as far as I could tell, instead of the rather cooperative effort at conservation of ye old days.

Now let's face it, to me, leaning a gun, loaded or not, against a vehicle or fencepost or tree can be pretty dumb, but interpreting the former as having a loaded gun in the vehicle is stretching things, to my justice-minded mind.

There.  I said it and I'm glad I offered it to the world.  I think Nugent is right.  It's just another "choke point" set up by urban lemmings to eliminate any hairy-assed activity not related to debating the best latte to buy al fresco.

Those urbanites are doing their level best to cut off America's balls vitality.

Grrr...

Terry, 230RN

[French G.]

Regional I guess. I was lawfully hunting firewood yesterday on a state WMA when two employees happened by. Far from asking for my license or griping about me temporarily impeding the road with a tree they tried to rope me into buying a timber sale. Now if only I had a truck and skidder. We have sorry wardens here too, but if the country gets a little less civil game cops are likely to be on the pointy end like it or not. Long way from backup interacting with people predisposed to self sufficiency.