So you think non-hunters view hunters as perfect and beyond making mistakes? How many non-hunters do you think there are out there that have never broken a non-game law?

That is not always the case. I shot a turkey one time that flopped off in the river. I chased the turkey down the bank of the river and wound up go swimming to retrieve the bird. I got a ticket a few minutes later for moving my turkey before a I tagged it. If I would have let it go it would have been wanton waste of game. I hate it when people try to paint subjects like these as black and white and claim they have never made a mistake and they never will. I am pretty sure that non-hunters realize that hunters are human too and it's not going to be a startling revelation for them to find that hunters occaisionally make mistakes also

That's the beauty of living where we do. We get to decide for ourselves what we want to discuss whether you like it or not. I personally feel like to hypocrasy of some gives us a worse reputation than an honest admition of the fact the were are humans who occaisionally make mistakes.

I only broken one law. I forgot my duck plug. I looked for sticks to shove in there but didn't find any. I only keep 3 shells in there at all times. No more than 3. I felt bad but I did the right thing keeping only 3 in. Any more than 3 would be unfair to the ducks. Heck it wouldn't matter I didn't hit any ducks that month anyway!

No deer laws. Only went deer hunting once. I am going again this season now that I can drive.

This is absolutley absurd. Speeding is not a game law! I do speed and that I will not denie. Please look up in the state of maine game laws and be specific about which law in the game regulation says not to speed to you hunting area

http://www.state.me.us/ifw/hunttrap/2003huntlaws.htm



I have no means to test the nanometers of the hunting clothes I wear. I do however replace my jacket about every other or every 3rd season. That being said, If I felt that my clothes were not up to snuff I would get new garments. This I see as more of a safety issue and personal saftey is important to me.

The co opinoin has nothing to do if weather on not I am legal in this situation. A co can not assume that it is not bright enough. For this to stand in court the co would need to take the garment as evidence and have it tested in a lab. If it passed I pass. If not I ante up.

The original question was These are all acts that are not made by mistake with the exception of tresspassing. I know the boarders of the properties I hunt so this isn't an issue either. You caould argure fine details all da long but I stand by the fact that I do not break game laws. I know the regulations where I hunt and I follow them to a tee.

One last note. No where did I call anyone a poacher. If you make an honest mistake, lean and move on. If you are just disreguarding game laws that a poacher designation fits quite well.

Thats why ERASERS were made,,,,,,,,,,,,, people make mistakes... IF YOU DONT, your a machine....... and they even screw up now and then........

You raise alot of questions by the way you argue this point. Just because someone else breaks the law doesn't make it right for me to go out and break the law, no I'm not perfect and never will be but at the same time I do all I can to stay within the law, if I don't then I'll have to suffer the consequences,but I won't use ignorance as my defense. I do all I can to know the hunting regulations and if there is something I don't understand I call the DNR and get it clarified.You should know that if someone is trying to prosecute you they will turn anything they can against you even if your intentions were for the good.
Yes free speech is a beautiful thing but why use it to show your ignorance of not knowing your hunting laws. I thought this board was to be used to help our sport and each other?This type of topic doesn't help either.
As far as I'm concerned this topic is closed for lack of useful information. I hope someone can find something useful here.

I have trimmed a few branches/twigs that I shouldn't have. Does that count?

So, in other words you don't really know if you have broken this law or not.

If the CO's interpretation of a law makes no difference then why did you say Again, you may "TRY" to follow the game laws to a tee but as you stated you have no way to assure that you have followed this law to a tee. If you took a deer while wearing an illegal garment was the game not illegally taken?
We don't get to decide which laws are important and which are not. Laws are laws and the fact remains that a few people always join in on these threads and try to portray themselves as having never broken a gam law. But I spent a grand total of two minutes on your home state's DNR webiste and found a law that you honestly can't say whether you have broken or not. Which was exactly my point. No one can come here and say for sure that they have never broken one single solitary game law of theire state. Why not just drop the "hollier than thou" attitude and say that you try your best to be and honest, upstanding, and ethical hunter and drop the "I have never broken a law" BS????

What's a nanometer?

I've accidentally wandered off an approved property on to unapproved a time or two , but never on purpose .

I am not condoning that anyone go out and break a game law. Not in anyway shape form or fashion. What I am doing is condemning those that come here and claim to be "perfect". Likewise, I have never claimed to be ignorant of a game law and I challenge you to point out an example of my not knowing a game law or my advocation of breaking a game law because I did not know one. I, like you, read my game laws and call the DNR for any questions that may arise. What I don't do is come here and try to portray myself as someone that has never made a mistake. If you don't like the topic, you have, the right to not open, read, or reply to it.

The point is that non-hunters realize that hunters are human just like everyone else. We all mistakes. Not to justify that it is OK for one group to break a law because the other does. But to point out that non-hunters don't look at hunters as some mythical group that never sins and never makes mistakes. Surely, they realize that we are human and capable of mistake, just like they are.