firelt72

Did most of those take place in Al or from all over? I ask because here in Indiana I work with them some in water rescue and accidents and I used to be with the state park system here and our guys are top notch. They were fair and balanced; ever the pro (At least the 20-30 I knew).

The point in this case though is this...if the 76 y/o guy gets out of the tree, handles himself in a calm mannor, doesn't point a gun at anyone and just follows direction he is alive today. Even if the GW was a moron and rude I am pretty sure most GW/CO's don't just blow someone away for nothing.

wingchaser_labs

He was responding to a baiting situation. Must have been reportedor known of somehow. "that the officer was investigating a baited area." Thats his job and he did his job end of story.Obviously the hunter didn't do his job and paid dearly for it. Doesn't matter if its baiting, license, or whatever it all has the same priorities and just because its easier to check people at public land areas that doesn't give private land owners less priority over public because it is safer.

I beleive the only way a warden can come ontoprivate land is to investigate a report of illegal activity. They don't just wonder around on any public land looking for things that are wrong. WCL

doall hunter

I dont' get it why would a 76 yr old man try to harm a game warden? But I don't know. And I also hope he's killn' the biggest bird of his second life right now upstaris too Oneshot.

Lanse couche couche

The reports say that the game warden was patrolling the area, but then states that he was supposed to be investigating a baiting in the area. Kind of unclear whether he had direct information that the property in question was specifically where it was occurring or if he was just wandering about the general area. Will be interesting to see all the facts, so we are all kind of speculating at this point. No matter, it just seems to me that a GW in camo going onto private property over a pile of corn is kind of like sending a SWAT team in on someone for an unpaid parking ticket. Like I said though, it is kind of a moot point since they do have authority to do stuff like this. See comments below.

As a general rule, game wardens have the authority to enter all privately held lands and public lands in the course of their duties. This power is kind of vaguely stated in the hunting regs,but it is generally taken that they can enter private or public ground at will and check hunters even if they are interupting their hunting. For example,a few years ago, the front page of a local newspaper here in Ohio had a picture of a game warden checking a hunters license, while he was in his tree stand, on public ground. I think that there are a number of members here who in the past have talked about encountering GW's who were patrolling private property. There was a recent court case in Ohio which possibly indicated that the GW's power to enter private property should be limited to when they actually know that people are hunting there. I can no longer find the link for this case, but will post it if i do.

Todd1700

Sadly yes, all in AL. The guiding principle for hiring game wardens in our state seems to be, "It takes a criminal to catch a criminal."

Glad to hear it. Shake their hand for me. I wish we had them.

firelt72

I will when I see one of them again! BE safe Todd!!

MattressMLB

WOW remind me to never hunt with most of you guys. I belive the game warden has every right to come on any piece of property private or not they need to be able to up hold the law. I don't know about you guys but every time I have had a run in with a GW they have been great nice kind not a gun toting trigger happy freak that you guys make them out to be!!! SO what if the guy is 76 or 17 if he was breaking the law and threatend the GW than he had every right to do what he did I am sure that was the last thing he wanted to do He even tryed giving the guy CPR!!! after he shot him. its not like he kicked him in the face and put another bullet in him for good measure!!! This last deer season a friend of mine owns a farm and has feeders out all year for the deer when deer season came he just blocked the feeders and never emptyed them the first moring of shotgun opener about 5 wardens showed up and wrote seven guys tickets for baiting.And one of the guys didn't even have a deer tag dumb ass.did any body get shot NO did the wardens pull there guns NO so the morel of the story is do what your supposed to and no body gets hurt act stupid well I pray for you. I am just glad I decided not to hunt with my friends last year I had no idea they were doing that.I am glad they got caughtthats my two cents worth have a great day.

excalibur43

Well. first off, if you are going to point your gun at someone, you better be willing to use it. If he had, this would have been a different story; " Game Warden shot, mistaken for game while on private property without knowledge of the landowner". Only one guy there to tell what happened, the 76 year old turkey hunter!

kpatte26

Such a sad day for everyone involved...
Here is my .02 cents on what I have read.
I wonder why the family was allowed to put a piece in the paper on how great a person the 76 y/o man was. For instance there was a 16 y/o boy shot and killed in a neighboring town.The family and friends said the boy was such a wonderful person. The newspaper discoveredYouTube video of the kid belonging to a gang and in addition after the police investigation was completed it showed the kid was involved in an armed robbery... How wonderful is that?
I have to agree with FIRELT that if you keep your cool, remain calm, and do as you’re told it is rare you will get injured.
When it comes to wildlife officials being able to enter property here in PA I do believe they can go on without a warrant. Personally I would rather have a warrant... it just makes a case stronger.
Whether he was wearing camo or a full uniform is aside from the point... It may make it harder to identify but I am sure that the officer can provide identification if asked for it. I am sure he would have his badge along with department identification if he was conducting an investigation.
I would also like to verbally blast the people who are disrespecting the LEO in this situation. We as hunters, trappers, and outdoorsmen should strive to uphold the game laws every second of our lives. Whether we agree with them or not... Here in PA we have antler restrictions, do I like it?Not really but I obey the law.
We also need to remember that if someone points a gun at you what your initial reaction might be... I can honestly say that if someone points a gun at me I plan on going home to my family, friends, and my beloved pets.

Chuck7

I /m a teacher and deal with all kinds..most of my kids get anger management ..I as a professional can push their buttons and get them to act out ; which results in a suspension for them or.. I can work with them and try to defuse every situation..I do that..I've seen cops on Cops do the same..most exert their authority but some display a compasionate heart and try to defuse the situation..

Most of us know the effective range of a turkey shot gun..When the GW realized what he was dealing with..he could have backed up out of the kill zone and radioed for help.Many 75 year old folks are on medication and probably aren't thinking so sharply. Usually time will help this situation ...I just think dealing with some folks you need to have a little more patience..You can 't use the same tactics in dealing with everyone..not if your the least bit interested in people's lives.
C7