RANT!!!!
 

I just left a Rant in the off season, so I figured I would leave one here for my Bowhunting Brothern..
This all started3 years ago to a guy I know,he is a die hard bowhunter,he had 3 big racks at a taxidermist,all bow kills,the local Conservation Officer came in one day and seen them and made the comment that there was no way one guy killed 3 big bucks with a bow, they were from 2 different years and 3 different states, so withouta warrant he confiscated them..
The local officer pursued it for 6 months and came up with nothing, he was trying to charge this guy with killing one of the big bucks in ILL and transporting it to North Dakota and tagging it there and then transporting it back to ILL!! He tried to convince the DNR in N.D. to go after this guy and they refused, saying there was no merit to the charges.
So the local officer contacted the U.S. Game and Fish, they could pursue this around the U.S. So they wentto 6 different states and questioned 25 people who had hunted with this guy and asked them if they ever seen him do anything wrong, they all said no, they were trying to charge him with a felony for crossing state lines with an illegal deer..
This guy finally got tired of the harrassment and hired a lawyer, he got all the papers on the chargesthat the USGF had, now this invetigation was 2.5 years in the making, the deer antlers in question, the ones they said was killed illegally in ILL and transported to N.D. and tagged and then brought back to ILL-- WERE MULE DEER ANTLERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There hasnt been a mule deer in ILL in over 100 years..
Charges were dropped, but this guy didnt get to hunt for over 2 years cause they told him he couldnt since he had a pending felony, they questioned 25 people and said things to them that werent true and this guy was running a outfitting business, but after this everyone that hunted with him was nervous, they basically scared his clients away.
So his lawyer through the Freedom of Information Act filed to see all the paper work to do with this case, 2 USGF officers flew to6 different states, rented cars, motel rooms, meals to question these people, spent $62,000.00 over 2.5 years, to try and fine this guy $2500.00!!!
HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE!!!!!! THIS IS WHY THIS GOVERMENT IS BROKE!!!!!!

OK this was my rant, sorry, just made me mad to see such an abuse of power!!!!

RE: RANT!!!!
 

He must be an officer that transferred out from PA. Thats how they all are around my neck of the woods. Cant stand a single one of them.

RE: RANT!!!!
 

dbl post

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The Lacey Act is the most dangerous tool in the arsenal of any F&W enforcement agency or officer. It basically strips the accused of any of their constitutional rights including protection from unwarranted search and seizure. By saying thatthe accusedcrossed state lines the officer kicked in the Lacey Act which gave him sweeping and unmitigated powers that should never have been brought into existance in this country. This act is seriously abused by every enforcement agency in the US and should be eliminated entirely if not severely revamped to be brought in line with the US Constitution. The only way that's going to happen though is if enough of these abuses of power are documented and brought to the attention of caring senators. Unfortunately not enough of them survived the democrat's gutting of our pro hunting, pro personal rightsactivists in congress this last year...

RE: RANT!!!!
 

You need to type/post in a more regular font (please). It makes it easieron the eyes;)
Derek

RE: RANT!!!!
 

No doubt Darin, crap like that is enough to make you sick!

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And why wasn't this DCNR officer not only fired but sued, fined and humiliated? Truly sad!

RE: RANT!!!!
 

That is So Sad!!!

Dan

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They wouldn't let the guy hunt for 2 years because he had a "pending felony"????? Sorry, but I ain't buying this for one second. I think the whole thing sounds fishy. Sorry.

RE: RANT!!!!
 

I am just telling you how it was.....Sad but True....

Rob, he is trying to pursue a lawsuit, but his lawyer said it is next to impossible, the feds will drag it out for years...

RE: RANT!!!!
 

You can bet he would get humiliated if he done that to me, ever time I seen him somewhere I be yelling,HAY DUMB ASS, YOU SEEN ANY MULE DEER AROUND HERE LATELY!

RE: RANT!!!!
 

If the case was as open and shut as you say, he has very good grounds for a lawsuit and he should get a more ambitious lawyer.

RE: RANT!!!!
 

If it is as cut and dry like you said it is....like others have stated....there is plenty of grounds for a lawsuit.

Why does that sound fishy to you Simp? I think KY is the same way, where if you have broken wildlife laws and regs and the case is still pending you aren't allowed to hunt....A guy I know is going through this over waterfowl hunting near a "baited" barn lot (hunting a pond out behind the cattle barn which is used as a feed lot in the winter)...they took his gear and gun...fined him and he can't hunt atleast until his court date...where he will likely loose the right to hunt for a set period after that. Im not close to the guy or anything, just know of his situation. Not saying he doesn't deserve being fined, but it sometimes seems these officers stick it to the guy trying to follow the rules to the extreme....when they SHOULD be out looking for the real poachers.

But as it goes, for every 10 good officers there is 1 bad one to ruin all of their reputations. Almost all the wildlife officers I know are great guys and awesome to talk to.....they arent out to punish every guy out fishing or hunting. I like running into them out on the river during the summertime, seeing what kind of research project they were working on.


As sad as it is, some of them use their power to carry out personal grudges or whims...regardless if it is right or wrong.

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I killed 3 nice bucks in 2 states this year...if a dumbass like me can do it...why can't he?

RE: RANT!!!!
 

TEmbry-It is like you said, there are some good officers and then there are the Bad ones..

Hardcore- 3 great bucks in 2 states is a feat you should be very proud of, GOOD JOB!!!!!

I do think he has a Very Good case to go after them, but they will drag it out and it will cost this guy money for the lawyer fees and the feds have unlimited money..

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The key difference between the case in question and the case that you mentioned is that there were indeedlaws broken. The guy was hunting next to a feed lot.Solid factual evidence. Not speculation. I thought it sounded fishy because I can't believe that a L.E.O. would confiscate property on the assumption that a law had been violated. Usually there are two sides to every story and we're only hearing one side from a second-hand source. Either there's more to the story that we're not hearing, or the Game Warden is playing Russian Roulette with his job. I just can't believe that a Game Warden would be that stupid. That's all. I think there's more to the story that we're not hearing.

RE: RANT!!!!
 

eveybody has a right to there opinion!!!!!

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"I just can't believe that a Game Warden would be that stupid. "
Why not simp?......because their educated?.. let me tell you education can lead to knowledge but it doesn't guarantee intelligence or common sense! .....I had a neighbor that spent 15 years turning his 200 acres into some very,very nice deer habitat,and he spent a fortune doing it,his pic with some of these bucks ended up finding their way to some local archery and gun shops, our anti-hunting game warden set his sights on this fella, harrassing the crap out of him on his own land..Why because he was a bowhunter and bowhunters can't shoot deer like that... well my neighbor ended up selling his property because this warden wouldn't leave him or anyone on his property alone, it is a sad state we live in today when the people we turn to for help, turn on us instead....and let me say for the record that my neighbor was one of the most ethical hunters I've ever met and had the privilige to hunt with.

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my 2cents, Why are our Goverment agencies and Federal agencies allowed to "drag out" cases? TOTAL BS!

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Well the part of the story I didn't mention about the feed lot case is....two others were charged without being caught. a few guys go hunt the pond that morning, and leave due to no ducks being killed and it was cold. The main guy goes back to get the decoys around lunch, BY HIMSELF, and that is when the warden pulls up. He bullies and threatens, confiscates the guys gun on sight, along with dekes and gear, and asks who else hunted there this morning....the "friend" gave his two partners names and addresses....and the warden goes to there house, rights them a ticket and takes their gun as well. All three have court dates, two of which were not even there when the warden made the bust...the one that was there wasn't even hunting.

Like I said, they don't need cold hard evidence in a lot of cases....whims and assumptions ARE acted on in that field. Not by many of the officers as most are stand up guys...but some will. I think the difference is....the good officers assume you are legal hunters and look for proof of wrong doing....the bad officers go around assuming everybody is a lawbreaking poacher, and he can and should ticket them for anything possible, whether the facts are there or not.


Oh well, they are needed, more of them actually, and really try to help keep it clean out there. I am behind them the entire way in their efforts.


Best of luck to your friend Opel on getting his antlers back and straightening this out....ridiculous as it is, it may just be time to put the past behind him and move on.

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What would a lawsuit really do for him? Look at the people who walk out of the court room with a not guilty
plea they don'twalk out with a check in hand or even i'm sorry had the wrong guy! Or the people that
put in prison for 20 years and then released after dna came along , they get x amount of dollars which
no matter what don't even come close to what they deserves.Sure the guy deserves alot but he will never get it.

RE: RANT!!!!
 

What the Game Warden did in this case was charge the 2 other guysgoing off ofhearsay. Only one problem: Ya can't do it. I can say that you shot a million ducks, but that doesn't mean that he can charge you for shooting a million ducks. He needs evidence. And technically, the guys shouldn't have even been charged with hunting in the feed lot. A good lawyer will get these guys off scot-free. The game warden in this case should be fired as well.