killer243

after hunting till about 11 i went in to the little coffie shop to get some food and see how the guys around town where doing. and i walk in and see my dads friends sitting their with a kid that was maybe 12 or 13 who was cring. long story short: he shot a 200 pound bear and he thought his combo lisence carried the tag. i guess the kid was so excited that he couldn't even sit still or get the smile off his face. so they took it to be weighted and when they did the game officers asked to see the tag. when he said he had a combo tag the guys told him that didn't count he still needed to get a bear lisence. and all of the 7 guys he was hunting with had bear tags and offered to tag it for the kid but the game officers told them that they couldn't because the kid said he shot it.

the kid is going to get something like a $500 fine. his bear taken away. and his tag taken away for 3 years. and his dad that he was hunting with is also getting his tags taken away for 3 years.


now if you ask me that is getting out of hand. the poor kid thought he had a tag in his combo because it says bear tag right in their. then after that the guys wouldn't let his hunting party tag it for him. i mean it is not like he was tring to break the laws, heck i mean they brought it to the weigh in station [:'(] i think that the game commision should have told the kid to be more careful and allow one of his buddies to tag it.

what do you guys think? am i the only one who think this poor kid got in to much trouble for what happened?

killer243

oh yea i forgot. the kids dad is going to bring the case to court. i doubt it will change anything though

Duckmastor2

Ignorance of the law or rules has never been a valid defense. That being said, I still agree with you that the Fish and Game folks were out of line. This is most likely a 1st offense and the fact that others on the party had tags to offer should have been enough to get the kid a warning. I wonder if the game officers were taking it out on the kid because it was a small bear. I've never hunted bears, but from what I've read, 200lbs is quite small.

Anyhow, the sad thing is that this is one youth that now has a pretty sour taste in his mouth about hunting. We need to encourage youngsters to join our ranks. Point out his mistake, he'll learn from it, and become a better hunter. Instead, he might quit hunting and plop his ass infront of a video game or worse get into trouble. Just plain stupid to bust his butt so hard about it.

I do have 1 beef. Why didnt dad read the Regs and the tag a little better? You cant expect a 11 or 12 year old to understand all that stuff. Its the mentors responsibilty to provide the knowledge.

Just my .02.

GREEK HUNTER

well during the testing dodn't they explaine it to the boy what his tags where... i think they should have let t slide... makes me sick i mean not like he was baiting or anything... not like he didn;t want to turn it in... i think maybe at the most give the fine let someone else tag it and then say next time be carfull

cardeer

Where was his dad when he shot it ????????

Rickmur

All the others had tags, why didn't they know the kid didn't ? I assume the dad was with his son when the license was purchashed, how did he end up with a tag and his son didn't and the dad not notice ? The tag should have been filled out before the animal was even moved most likely so if they had followed that simple law (if in fact it is a law where they were hunting) they would have known there was a problem and could have aleaviated it before arriving at the chack in station.

djdkman

I agree with Duckmastor, the dad should have checked evething BEFORE the kid pulled the trigger...but, on the other hand the wardon had a chance to get his piont across without ruining the moment completly for the kid- with a warning but chose to hammer him like he was a mature hunter. These kind of actions and mistakes on both sides of this issue will result in kids not getting into hunting. Hunting liscense numbers have been dropping around the counrty for the past five years at an alarming rate. As hunters we need to invite our youth to hunt with us BY THE BOOK, and pass on the heratige to the next generation. This is not just required to keep hunting alive but to keep the our second amendment right voiced throughout the next generation. Just my opinion.

Pa Trophy Man

The law is the law. It's the kid's responsibilty to make sure he has a tag for what he is pulling the trigger on.

Jimmy S

Had this happened in the woods and the Game Warden approached the kid with his father right after the bear had been shot, then maybe things would have been different, because it would heve been betweenthe three of them. Now you got at least 7 other hunters that know what happened, the Game Warden knows there was a violation, so what was he/she supposed to do? Let everyone be aware that he will not inforce the law because it was "honestly" broken. I have no problem with the way it was handled. Had the father taken the time to ensure everything was in order, then this never would have happened. A lesson learned!

BOWHUNTERCOP

Granted he's just a kid, but he was smarter enough to pass the hunters education class, his father should of installed ethics into his child double check everything, the father also should of checked his sons stuff. But I do feel that they should of let this slid and allow the other hunters to tag the bear for the kid, and I agree this young man will have a sour taste in his mouth towards hunting