Learn from my trespassing mistake in Idaho!!!!!

[HairyScandinavian]

In Texas you have to be highway patrol before you can be parks and wildlife. The highway patrol department makes sure no one with common sense and understanding makes it through.

I had a BIG problem with one way down South in the valley, corrupt as hell down there. He was basically working for a landowner to harass us on federal land across the road. In the end he called me and apologized profusely. Didn't get my 3 hours arguing on the side of the road back though.

 

[yfarm]

Was told by a USFW employee that federal game wardens are the most humorless people on the planet. Never had an issue, have been polite in my interactions. Had an old state game warden that covered the county where my lease is, nice guy, got a new young captain supervising,told him he wanted more tickets. The old guy retired because of the attitude, got a new young warden that busts balls for no reason.
My step mother and a good friend were both attorneys and both repeatedly told my sons keep your mouth shut, don’t offer information.
As far as trespassing goes with hunters, as a landowner with posted land, you will get no breaks from me after years of dealing with lying dirtbags in Iowa.

 

[NevadaMike]

@NevadaMike Curious if the Elk was confiscated and held pending the case or if they let you hold on to it and you had to forfeit what's left later, or how all that worked out? If confiscated, did the GW make you escort him to it's location and was it quartered and all already or what? I'm wondering how that goes down for example if the animal isn't quartered yet, they gonna expect you to quarter it up to get confiscated or what exactly happens.

As for the elevated trespassing for hunting charges. It seems to me the spirit of the law for that would be trespassing to poach ON the private property, seems kind of BS the elevated charge would be used just crossing... probably should've been plain trespassing.

The elk was quartered and in game bags and he took it with him. He gave me a property tag. To add insult to injury I had to pay $250 to have it processed so they could "donate" it one the case was settled. Both attorneys and my Idaho judge friend said I could have fought the "trespass to hunt" but at what cost? That is where they get you! My daughter is getting married in June at my house and I did not want to be dealing with a jury trial. Had it not been for the wedding I would have been all in on principle and made it as public as possible.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Was told by a USFW employee that federal game wardens are the most humorless people on the planet. Never had an issue, have been polite in my interactions. Had an old state game warden that covered the county where my lease is, nice guy, got a new young captain supervising,told him he wanted more tickets. The old guy retired because of the attitude, got a new young warden that busts balls for no reason.
My step mother and a good friend were both attorneys and both repeatedly told my sons keep your mouth shut, don’t offer information.
As far as trespassing goes with hunters, as a landowner with posted land, you will get no breaks from me after years of dealing with lying dirtbags in Iowa.

I've always heard that as well, especially with waterfowl. My incident referenced above two federal wardens saved my a$$ from likely ending up in a body bag in the Texas warden's trunk lol (might be exaggerating a little bit) and for the next three days of the hunt the feds were waiting by my truck every evening when I got back, I'd walk up and they'd wave at me and I'd wave back and they'd roll up their window and leave. Felt good, very thankful to have them there.

 

[Spoonbill]

The elk was quartered and in game bags and he took it with him. He gave me a property tag. To add insult to injury I had to pay $250 to have it processed so they could "donate" it one the case was settled. Both attorneys and my Idaho judge friend said I could have fought the "trespass to hunt" but at what cost? That is where they get you! My daughter is getting married in June at my house and I did not want to be dealing with a jury trial. Had it not been for the wedding I would have been all in on principle and made it as public as possible.

The processing fee is required by law. Out of curiosity, do you mind sharing what county you were in? No worries if you want to keep it private.
Also thanks for sharing, good reminder for the rest of us.

 

[idelkslayer]

The elk was quartered and in game bags and he took it with him. He gave me a property tag. To add insult to injury I had to pay $250 to have it processed so they could "donate" it one the case was settled. Both attorneys and my Idaho judge friend said I could have fought the "trespass to hunt" but at what cost? That is where they get you! My daughter is getting married in June at my house and I did not want to be dealing with a jury trial. Had it not been for the wedding I would have been all in on principle and made it as public as possible.

I wonder about that given Idaho's definition of "hunting".
"Hunting" means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, killed, taken, or wounded. Such term does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, any wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures thereof."

You did not "hunt" on private land according to your story and this definition. You hiked/rode your bike on private land. The definition above does not seem to include any verbiage about "packing" game meat or other parts.

You should have only been cited for trespassing, not trespassing while hunting. A first offense for that type of trespassing is an infraction punishable by fine of $300.

Although not your situation, I would argue that a person is trespassing while hunting if you were on your way in to hunt and passed through private land, because you are "pursuing" wildlife at that point.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I wonder about that given Idaho's definition of "hunting".
"Hunting" means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, killed, taken, or wounded. Such term does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, any wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures thereof."

You did not "hunt" on private land according to your story and this definition. You hiked/rode your bike on private land. The definition above does not seem to include any verbiage about "packing" game meat or other parts.

You should have only been cited for trespassing, not trespassing while hunting. A first offense for that type of trespassing is an infraction punishable by fine of $300.

Although not your situation, I would argue that a person is trespassing while hunting if you were on your way in to hunt and passed through private land, because you are "pursuing" wildlife at that point.

If the judge decides that packing out the meat is included in the definition of hunting, then you’re still on the hook. And it seems to me many judges would call it that way. Obviously, the prosecutor saw it that way. A guy could appeal, but all this takes time and money, scarce resources for most of us. Unless you’re looking to set a precedent and you can afford the resources to try that, most people would just take their lumps and move on.

 

[tony]

Man, I work in a prison and we have convicts that get less punishment for drugs and kid touching and killing
Chick burned her kid up in house fire 1 year
Chick high on everything killed 2 of her kids and paralyzed another driving high. 10 years total. Out in 6.
Multiple drug offenders, parole 2,3,4 times
Sex acts on kids parole after a few years in many cases.

 

[idelkslayer]

If the judge decides that packing out the meat is included in the definition of hunting, then you’re still on the hook. And it seems to me many judges would call it that way. Obviously, the prosecutor saw it that way. A guy could appeal, but all this takes time and money, scarce resources for most of us. Unless you’re looking to set a precedent and you can afford the resources to try that, most people would just take their lumps and move on.

And that's how bad laws stay on the books and bad judges stay on the bench.

 

[EastHumboldt]

And that's how bad laws stay on the books and bad judges stay on the bench.

That may be true, but once again, most of us have other shit to do besides picking a fight with a judge or prosecutor (in my case giving completely amateur opinions about legal matters and many other things I know nothing about on the internet).

 

[NevadaMike]

If the judge decides that packing out the meat is included in the definition of hunting, then you’re still on the hook. And it seems to me many judges would call it that way. Obviously, the prosecutor saw it that way. A guy could appeal, but all this takes time and money, scarce resources for most of us. Unless you’re looking to set a precedent and you can afford the resources to try that, most people would just take their lumps and move on.

Exactly. The other avenue is the road was put in and partially maintained with public dollars creating a public easement. That is not the name of it but basically what it means. To quote the lawyer " we can go for it but you'll be buying me a new truck."

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Exactly. The other avenue is the road was put in and partially maintained with public dollars creating a public easement. That is not the name of it but basically what it means. To quote the lawyer " we can go for it but you'll be buying me a new truck."

Too bad you can't recoup legal fees if you win, that would make prosecutors think twice and be sure they've got a good case.

 

[Steve300xcw]

How did you get to the ground you hunted?

 

[KsRancher]

How did you get to the ground you hunted?

Along the same lines. To the OP. Not that it changes anything at this point. But I was curious how much further the pack out would have been if you went out the way you went it

 

[Customweld]

Exactly. The other avenue is the road was put in and partially maintained with public dollars creating a public easement. That is not the name of it but basically what it means. To quote the lawyer " we can go for it but you'll be buying me a new truck."

Those guys did that with every road they had. That forced either the FS or the county to prove that they were either built or maintained with public monies . The FS don’t or didn’t have the appetite ( they couldn’t really care less)to fight and the counties didn’t have the budget or expertise. Huge amounts of acreage are locked behind these gates.

 

[Lowell]

Exactly. The other avenue is the road was put in and partially maintained with public dollars creating a public easement. That is not the name of it but basically what it means. To quote the lawyer " we can go for it but you'll be buying me a new truck."

And there is the problem. A bunch of people donated $'s on the corner crossing case in WYO.

 

[NMJM]

Interesting read.

How many here have a lawyer on retainer? Serious question.

Unless you're going through a current situation needing a lawyer, I bet most here don't.

$1,000+ retainer in fees. Doubt it.

I always crack up when I read "I'll call my lawyer".

My thoughts exactly. And those that do have a lawyer, my guess is all of them are related to business. Any lawyer who works in tax, real estate or other specialty will tell you to get a criminal lawyer.

 

[BKH55]

Thanks for the story learned a bit here!

 

[Zzyzx]

If the judge decides that packing out the meat is included in the definition of hunting, then you’re still on the hook. And it seems to me many judges would call it that way. Obviously, the prosecutor saw it that way. A guy could appeal, but all this takes time and money, scarce resources for most of us. Unless you’re looking to set a precedent and you can afford the resources to try that, most people would just take their lumps and move on.

“Retrieving wildlife” is expressly included in Idaho’s trespass to hunt statute.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

“Retrieving wildlife” is expressly included in Idaho’s trespass to hunt statute.

Good catch. I would bet money the spirit of that lingo is for people who shot something that crossed the fence and died, so retrieving it from private. I would argue OP wasn't retrieving wildlife, that he was transporting wildlife???