jomolloy

I live and hunt in Massachusetts. We have some wierd rules up here so I would love to hear what others feel about the following...

Is it poaching to ...

1. Hunt game out of season.... yes
2. Hunt w/o permission on posted land .... yes
(Those were easy, what about the following)
3. (In Mass., it is legal to hunt on unposted land but almost 40% of the towns have laws against hunting on land w/o permission of landowner), hunt on unposted private land w/o permission of landowner in town where that is required
4. Hunt on Sunday ( Mass. is one of 4 (I believe) states that prohibit Sunday hunting).

mobow

A violation of ANY established game laws....

jmbuckhunter

That is the defination I just read in The Missouri Conservationist Magazine.

mobow

Wow, and I didn't even have that mag in front of me.....Damn I'm good.....[&:]

Rob/PA Bowyer

Illegally taking game, trespassing in order to take game, even in season I consider poaching.

goherd1111

Exactly!!!

IAhuntr

Why people wouldattempt to hunt on land without first getting permission from the landowners is beyond me. If you have to feel you are 'sneaking', then you are probably poaching. Would you want someone using a deadly weaponon your private property without asking?

jomolloy

no way. If I lose the plug in mhy shotgun so that I can (but do not) load more than 3 shells during duck season, does that make me a poacher ? That happened to me while standing thigh deep in Buzzards Bay hunting sea ducks. ALso, what if I shoot at legal light minus one (which may have also happened many years ago). What if I leave my licence at home or forget to sign it. There must be some morality to it instead of your answer which basically means "if the government prohibits or has not approved it it is illegal." BTW Mass. legislature is currently considering removing the Sunday hunting ban which is known as a blue law in that it is one of the ridiculous laws passed by our Puritan forefathers, similar to no businesses allowed to open and no alcohol sales on Sunday (also, no adultery or sodomy meaning other than plain vanilla intercourse). So the rational behind law, which is to force people into a day of prayer seems, somewhat aqnarchaic.

mobow

By definition, yes. In MO it PLAINLY states that the gun MUST be plugged....Whether you have 3 or even 2 in it is completely irrelevant.

I will say that there are much more blatant viloations than others....but that's the definition.

jomolloy

hey mobow, what are you the frickin chief of the Missouri fish and game department. So the great and wise administrators of the MO fish and game laws establish the bright line rules. Does MO allow hunting on Sunday? If yes, why, morally, is it wrong to hunt on Sunday in my (admittedly crappy) state.

IA hunter, because in Boylston MA (and 50 or so other towns) I can hunt w/o landowner permission in my town I can't (BTW, I hunt state land, my own land or land that I have written permisson to hunt). If it is equally safe to do so in both, why is it morally wrong to hunt w/o permission in a town that prohibits it.