I was on state game bird hunting today (state land) and I wasn't sure where I was in relation to a safety zone (No signs were posted that I could see) and didn't unload my gun before walking into the zone. The game warden/ranger gave me a ticket. It is a manditory court date and there is no fine amount, apparently it is determined at the court. Antoher guy I was with got a ticket too. No one seems to worried about this, but I am freaking out. I never get tickets for anything... I am a new hunter and this is going into my second year. What can I expect from this? Do I need a lawyer? Is there anything I should do? Does anyone have any idea how much this will cost me? Thanks in advance for any help.
I got a Ticket hunting today. How bad is this?
JerseyGTO
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100 plus court costs. it happened to me in 2009. farmer knew i hunted the same tree for 15 years and would always stop and say hi. found out that a tenet renting a small house on the property has as much rights as the property owner has. he set me up and co were behind trees at daylight. turns out any person that resides on a property can conplain even if the owner is okay with you being there. i was hunting state land 300 feet facing away from the farm but it didnt matter
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Jesus Christ that the funniest thing I've ever read on this site..., besides jakesbeard being a mod
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All rise. Judge Gladice ***** preciding. People vs stoner....people vs stoner! Are u council for stoner? Yes. Yes I am. Like my man says man u dig....I only tried acid ...uh.... 10 times man........and I only Smoked marijuana.....22 times man.....your honor man.....I don't need no acid...no marijuana man.... Cause I'm hooked on downers man.....
Trippin in court.....Cheech Y Chong.....circa 197? :ko:[up]
I found that statute. It just has first and second violation fines, but it says the second violation is perminent loss of hunting privaleges. Is there a place where is says that after a certian amount of time it will go off your record?
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You should have told him that your a taxpayer and that you pay his salary. They like that..... Or throw around some big names and tell him that you are going to have home fired. I am so glad that I don't have to hear that crap anymore. Anyways, pay your fine.... It's no big deal, just a minor inconvenience for you and a learning experience.
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4,708 Posts
i got a ticket years ago because of the group i was with and where i was dropped off. I had taken the cap off my muzzle loader. When Officer O'rourke asked I told him I had it on then took it off. I was within the safety footage. Got a ticket took it to court with lawyer. Paid small fine and changed form safety issue to something less.
Court and lawyers go hand in hand. Are you well versed in the law? A good lawyer will be. I will never ever go to court without one.
Court and lawyers go hand in hand. Are you well versed in the law? A good lawyer will be. I will never ever go to court without one.
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853 Posts
See if you can talk to the prosecuter and have it changed to a twp ordinance you may pay more but at least you won't have it attached to your license. The reason I say this is if you get another f&w ticket within 3 yrs for anything you will lose you hunting and fishing privledges for 6 mth or a yr. Chris
Do you know how far you were from the occupied building? Did the CO measure it? I'd do a little research before rolling over, a second F&G violation in the next 5 years will result in a loss of hunting and fishing privledges for two years. If you hire a lawyer make sure he is knowledgeable in F&G laws, my buddy hired a traffic/DWI layer on a recommendation from a friend for $500 and ended up losing his license for two years for bogus violations, written by an individual who didn't have the authority to write the tickets and then prosecuted my friend in municipal court where he can't act as a prosecutor! My friend then ended up hiring Evan Nappen for $2500 who filed the appeal, got the convictions/tickets thrown out, his license reinstated and fine money returned. The judge and prosecutor screwed him, he lost his hunting and fishing rights for 14 months before he was reinstated.
I suggest you contact MTH from this site who is a very good lawyer, hunter and former police officer. I'm sure he will give you good advice! Never go cheap on doctors, lawyers or parachutes!
I suggest you contact MTH from this site who is a very good lawyer, hunter and former police officer. I'm sure he will give you good advice! Never go cheap on doctors, lawyers or parachutes!
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Pay the fine! Then be careful not to break any F&W laws again. If you are going to hunt unfamiliar territory go onto Google Earth ahead of time ,look at the land you are planning to hunt. Check for buildings and measure safety zones. All the above can be done on the Google Earth site.
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I hope the fine is minimal. Don't be discouraged by unsafe hunters. There are plenty of safety minded hunters out there and those are the ones That I enjoy hunting with.
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do NOT plead guilty calmly state your case maybe bring a map say i thought i was here when it turned out i was here my mistake if you praticipate in any conservation type of activity or hunters helping the hungry donations mention that too if this is the first time then mention that too etc etc
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Nice story, but fact is a law was broken. I tried that one time... Ohh officer I got confused and thought I was still in a 55 zone hehe
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It is all up to you to know where a 450 ft boundary might be . When we are afield as it states when you took your hunting test .It is up to you to uphold the law.
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