livbucks

Looks like the GC just ruined a perfectly good hunter.

Jimmy S

Who said the kid was ruined? If he was a perfectly good hunter, it never would have happened.

killer243

well i don't know if any of you have looked at a junior combo tag but in their their is a bear tag. however you still need to get a sticker or else the tag dosen't mean anything. however i do agree they should have made sure he was legal

mauser06

even my adult liscense has some bear tag thing attached i think.....a temperary one or something...its in the truck or id look....but i could sworn i saw a bear tag on there of some sort......for what? i have no clue....dont bear hunt....but i know it says you NEED a bear liscense and tag to hunt bears....and the dad should have read about the combo license thing instead of assuming......assumption is the mother of all $#@!ers....it was an honest mistake....but it was all because noone read up on anything....i feel bad for the kid...but the kids father should have checked things out first...terrible.....but he broke the law in my eyes....i wonder why they put bear tags on there.....i can see the confusion it could have caused.....every other tag that comes with your liscnese is useable....hmmmmm..too bad for the kid and his dad.....thats a sad thing.....but the law is the law someone should have read up on it.......

Duckmastor2

I was wondering when the "holyer than thou, i've never made a mistake, the kid should've known better" crowd would rear its head. [:@]

There is such a thing as a warning for a 1st offense and in this case it sounds obvious that it was simple misunderstanding of the combo liscence and tags. If it was an attempt to poach, they would have never tried to check the bear in the 1st place. The fact that other members of the party were willing to sacrifce their tags to ensure that only the correct number of bears would be taken, (thats what the tags are for right? only 'x' amount of tags issued so only 'y' amount of bears are taken) should have squared things up. To fine a 12 year old $500 and take his ability to get a Bear for 3 years on a 1st offense is obscence! I dont care what you all say. Another future hunter lost.

I have an Idea, lets really teach him a lesson! Ask killer where this all took place. I'll go out and buy a couple of 4X4's and some nails. Then we can all head on down and crucify the kid. If we let all the PETA members in the area know, I'm sure we'll get a good turn out!

Come on guys! Lets support young hunters and give the kid a break!

killer243

i also just got looking at my combo tag it carries everything except bear and migritory birds but like i said it has a bear tag in their that i guess your supposed to put on it's ear and have the sticker in the tag holder but the only way you would know this is to look in the game book and their is one little line saying so. i can easily how they got messed up.

the part that really gets me is taking his tag away for 3 years! by the time he can hunt again he will be driveing and may have no intrest in tring to take the sport up again.

matter of fact, i was 14 and i didn't realise that i needed a bear tag either because it said i had one in the combo tag. guess it was a good thing i didn't shoot a bear! then when the season was over i found out that i never really had a bear tag. so every year sence i have made sure i have my bear tag and all of the other stuff in their is good.

duckmastor here in pa we have some of the biggest bears anywhere trouble is some people shoot some really small bears "example: one night at the weigh in station a guy had a garbage bag in the back of his truck, with not one or two yet three bears! i think if you added all three of them up it still wouldn't be close to 200 pounds." so while a 200 pound bear is on the small side i don't get upset seeing one when half the bears that come in are under 100. this year the two biggest bears i saw where 861 pounds dressed and one just over 600. and i have seen at least 8 bears this summer that had to go at least 500.

so i don't think that the game officers where mad about it's size

registernow

From the warden's perspective, the hunter didn't have a bear tag and thats poaching. Did the hunter really think he had a tag, or was he overcome by the moment and took the bear knowing he didn't have a tag? The Warden at the check in has no way of knowing. Throw in the fact that its a youth hunter and that makes one want to reduce the punishment , but the laws don't allow for the warden to do that. Since the warden was in the presence of other people, there's really not much he can do to "sweep this under the rug". If there is ambiguity in how the licenses/tags are handled then the father/kid should appeal to the F&W or court to see if the situation/misunderstanding can be fixed.

The problem with one of the other guys using his tag is that it influences the success rate.

hunter Leo

What happens if this kids parents dont have much $$$ and this 12 year old cant come up with the $500 fine? What happens then? I dont know to many 12 year olds who have $500 laying around. I hope this kid has strong will power and is able to overcome this matter at hand and continue hunting after his 3 years is over with. I hope they live close to a nieghboring state so they can purchase licenses there so they can hunt. Its worth a try.

Bearclaw Crislap

If the Game Warden had no other choice under the law but cite the young man, then I understand. If it were within his power to issue a warning, but he chose instead to nail the kid to the wall, then the Game Warden is a bunghole.

NY Bowhunter

Then the kid should pay attention to his tags a little more.

Yeah it's a shame that a young hunter had an unfortunate incident like this, but the law is the law. Personally I can't believe the people that would have liked to see the "sweep it under the rug" theory. I think it would send a horrible message to the youngster(as well as the adults around him) that it's "ok" to shoot something without proper tags. Just have one of your buddies tag it? NAH not for me. Unfortunate yes, but lifes tough learn a lesson and move on.

It's like a police officer pulling over a cara full of 16 year olds. The driver is drunk and gets arrested for it but the other 3 in the car are sober. Should the cop have just let one of the others jump in the drivers seat and let them go on their way?