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

[KenLee]

I don't know the true details of the story in this thread or nuances of all the laws involved, but what I DO know is that statement is patently false.

Amen! Assuming a warden knows the law is stupidity.

 

[KenLee]

LOL, yeah, it's been a week lol. I'll be done for now haha. I guess the lesson here is if you have a loved one interested in law enforcement, dissuade them, or at least direct them to Conservation police, they seem to enjoy their jobs lol.

They enjoy their jobs because they lie to property owners to weasel their way into hunting nice parcels.

 

[KenLee]

"Who in the hell is a champion of being restricted on 50% of the average persons off days in a week? What is wrong with you??"

Thumpers...notice I did not say Trumpers.

 

[Loggerdude]

Today’s mapping takes out all the guess work.

 

[NevadaMike]

Just an update. A little over a year later everything was dismissed.

 

[doc holiday13]

Dude so awesome!! Glad it worked out for you

Just an update. A little over a year later everything was dismissed.

 

[idelkslayer]

Just an update. A little over a year later everything was dismissed.

How did you manage that? If you don't mind sharing.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Just an update. A little over a year later everything was dismissed.

How did you manage that? If you don't mind sharing.

Yes, please let us know. Who dismissed the charges-The victim (not pursuing the matter), the judge threw it out, or the game warden dudes along with the prosecutor??

 

[NevadaMike]

Yes, please let us know. Who dismissed the charges-The victim (not pursuing the matter), the judge threw it out, or the game warden dudes along with the prosecutor??

When everything was rolling I think the judge thought it was heavy handed and the new prosecutor argued with him on few points when he tried to ease a few things. He made a joke about me being old and never having a ticket prior and said if I could stay out of his courtroom for a year he would dismiss it. I obviously agreed. Well I managed to stay out of his courtroom and every other courtroom and I received a letter of dismissal.

 

[JohnB]

But what about the elk?

 

[NevadaMike]

But what about the elk?

I never inquired about it again.

 

[RockAndSage]

When everything was rolling I think the judge thought it was heavy handed and the new prosecutor argued with him on few points when he tried to ease a few things. He made a joke about me being old and never having a ticket prior and said if I could stay out of his courtroom for a year he would dismiss it. I obviously agreed. Well I managed to stay out of his courtroom and every other courtroom and I received a letter of dismissal.

This is awesome to hear man, thanks for sharing the update.

 

[Sandhills]

Feel free to post the "you are a dumbass" comments here but hopefully I can save some other new hunter some stress.

I got my first bull elk in I Idaho last fall on state land. I came up through public land early in the dark and waited for daylight. I got my bull first thing in the morning and got it tagged and bagged very early. I spent the next several hours moving the game bags around to keep them cool while waiting on the other hunters in the group to call it a day. I had the proper tag, weapon and location. As the day progressed I started feeling the need to expedite getting the elk to the processor. See where I am going with this?

A very thin strip of land along the highway below us had been private Potlatch Latch land for decades and the gates were open and the public routinely used the road to access public lands above it. This land is now owned by the billionaire Wilks Brothers and was on OnX. I rode down an unmarked road on my bicycle and the gate at the very bottom was now closed and locked. It was marked private on the opposite side and visible only when on the other side. I should have turned around and rode back up. The gate was about 100 yards from the highway so I tossed my bike over the gate and rode out to the highway. I was on that land for about 90 seconds. Unfortunately for me Idaho Fish and Game drove by as I was getting the elk loaded into a truck to get it to the processor. At this point I still had no clue of the gravity of the situation!! I felt no cause for concern and with a smile went to meet the officer to provide my ID and documents. At that point in my 58 years I had never even had a parking ticket and was new to hunting.

I got a ticket for trespass to hunt and thanks to the Wilks brothers Idaho trespassing laws became a VERY BIG DEAL in 2018. There have been attempts in the legislature to not allow people to buy very small parcels of land to block access to thousands but thus far the billionaire lobbyist have blocked it. The ticketing officer told me I better get an attorney. What?? I rode my bike across a dirt road where there were no people, structures, or farmland and I did not damage anything.

Fast forward 4 months and the best offer from the county prosecutor was loss of my elk, $1500 fine, loss of nationwide hunting privileges for a year, 90 day suspended jail sentence, 40 hours of community service and 1 year of probation. One would think I cut a lock, shot my elk on private land and rolled around in the dirt with the officer. My friends were hunting the same area the day after I got my ticket and the officer was there confirming where my elk carcass was. It was of course exactly where I told him it was. The charges were strictly for being on private land. If I heard this story I would say someone is full of $hit because something is missing here. It is not. I worked side by side with law enforcement for my career and I definitely passed the attitude test and left nothing but bicycle tracks on private land.

I intended to go to a Jury trial based on the charges and it wasn't until the last hearing the prosecutor dropped the suspended jail time and probation. Fortunately the judge was a decent person and advised me, after I pled guilty, of an Idaho law that will show this case as dismissed in one year and will not show up anywhere.

I think the officer had an ax to grind with one of the people in our camp and I got caught up in it.

IMPORTANT LESSONS

1. Know where you are in Idaho and stay off of private land. It is the hunters responsibility to know.

2. SHUT THE **** UP!! The officer did not see anything and had no proof. I was just a naive dumbass. I have friends that are cops and judges and they have always said never say anything. He kept me there for over an hour questioning me a building a case. At one point I said "can I just go to town and plead guilty and pay my fine?" At that point I thought I was dealing with something like a parking ticket. Guess what video clip he submitted without context? If I could do it again I would have provided my documentation politely said nothing else. I will never share seemingly harmless information again.

Okay there is my humiliating story. Hopefully someone learns from this and turns around when onX tells them to and remember STFU! I cant imagine how terrible it would have been if I had damaged private property or shot my elk on private land!

Never give more information than necessary.

 

[Randle]

Wow, thanks for bringing this back up.
For what its worth it helped last year. when my grandson shot his elk.
I will try to keep it short.
I remember reading this when you posted it , but couldnt remember where I read it.
Grandson shot a bull on a friends ground, it crossed onto other private ground.
He called for help, we showed up. When he told where the bull was I said we need to get permission to recover it.
Our friend was going to tractor it out for him but I told him I didnt want him involved and get a trespass for an elk he didnt shoot and it would cause more problems with his new neighbor.
I did not have local officers number.
Called a friend thats an officer in another unit I used to live in anf he gave local Officers number
First I called the landowner where the bull was.
Left voice mail
"Hi this is Randy_______, My grandson shot a bull on _____s property and we would like permission to recover it"
no returned call from him
Call local Officer, told him the same thing in a voicemail.
Waited, waiting, still waiting.
That is the hardest thing I have done in awhile, wait while a bull is down and needs to be processed.y son and grandson wanted to just go in but refrained.
Officer calls back, we talk, he says in know that ground and LO. From previous tresspass compliants. OH BOY......
He says let me call them.
When he called back he said LO said go for it
Praise the Lord. it worked out great.
But your story was on my mind the whole time
Thanks for sharing, glad ot got dismissed.
It definitely helped us

 

[wapitibob]

Wow, thanks for bringing this back up.
For what its worth it helped last year. when my grandson shot his elk.
I will try to keep it short.
I remember reading this when you posted it , but couldnt remember where I read it.
Grandson shot a bull on a friends ground, it crossed onto other private ground.
He called for help, we showed up. When he told where the bull was I said we need to get permission to recover it.
Our friend was going to tractor it out for him but I told him I didnt want him involved and get a trespass for an elk he didnt shoot and it would cause more problems with his new neighbor.
I did not have local officers number.
Called a friend thats an officer in another unit I used to live in anf he gave local Officers number
First I called the landowner where the bull was.
Left voice mail
"Hi this is Randy_______, My grandson shot a bull on _____s property and we would like permission to recover it"
no returned call from him
Call local Officer, told him the same thing in a voicemail.
Waited, waiting, still waiting.
That is the hardest thing I have done in awhile, wait while a bull is down and needs to be processed.y son and grandson wanted to just go in but refrained.
Officer calls back, we talk, he says in know that ground and LO. From previous tresspass compliants. OH BOY......
He says let me call them.
When he called back he said LO said go for it
Praise the Lord. it worked out great.
But your story was on my mind the whole time
Thanks for sharing, glad ot got dismissed.
It definitely helped us

Congrats to you guys, this is how the situation is properly handled.

 

[Fd2009]

Dude posted it publicly after the judgement has been given for others to learn from. I'll assume he paid his fine. Who cares if there is an undertone in his text or you feel on your high horse he didn't fully accept the amount of responsibility you deem necessary. Fact is in the states eyes, he has accepted his accountability.

Bunch of hardasses.

I agree with you 100 percent.

 

[Fd2009]

Thanks for sharing your story!
Sounds like you are a stand up guy that had a hard decision that cost dearly!
I think you sharing your experience will help others like my self to make the decision to take the long route and for that o thank you !