huntingkidPA

this is what i took from the story.
-this guy shoots buck with bow
-neighbor hears a shot, calls DNR
- patted him down and found the doe tag that the man forgot to use on his deer a month ago. when he shot his doe a month ago The man said he went to track and find it the next morning but forgot the tag in his other pants. When he got home with the deer he probably completely forgot about the tag being in that pair of pants, and by coincidence wore the same pants with the doe tag in them on the day he got stopped by the DNR.
-he then told the DNR he shot a doe earlier in the month
- they found an unused tag

I don't know if i'm reading it right but the whole story sounds legit to me, and a complete accident. why would a guy post a fake story on this forum just for the possibility of being flamed.

If the game officer asked him if he got anything this year before he found the tag it would be impossible to lie and say he didn't, because he had no intentions to double up on a tag.

At least your hunting license is only gone for the rest of this year, its over in less than a month.

Buckyou

just say you were bragging and didn't get one. no proof no fine

NebBuckHunter

Sounds like a reasonable fine. Could have been much worse.

I once had to pay $148.50 for taking a pee outside.....

Topgun 3006

Okay, if it was the arraignment you only enter a guilty or not guilty plea after being read the charges. By pleading guilty you lost your chance to at least have a pretrial conference with the Prosecutor's staff to explain the situation thoroughly to them. Then they could have decided to drop the case or offer a plea bargain in which maybe they would have asked the Judge to issue a minimal fine. By pleading guilty you left it completely up to the Judge and obviously he figured that if the DNR Officer issued you a ticket that there was a good reason for it and he issued the fine he did. You made several mistakes besides not tagging the deer. Get over it, learn from your mistakes, and get on with your life!

a_kraker99

Yeah,i realized I should have pleaded not guilty afterwards. The whole process us intimidating to a first offender

MZS

In WI, we must tag before we even move the deer from where it drops. And believe me, if you are on state land, you tag it before you move it. And if you move the deer in a vehicle without tagging, in addition to a stiff fine and revocation of license they might take your weapon, vehicle, or your first born child. Sounds like they are a bit more reasonable in MI.

Topgun 3006

"Yeah,i realized I should have pleaded not guilty afterwards. The whole process us intimidating to a first offender"

The only reason I'm able to tell you all of this, and I do sympathize with you, is because I was in several different law enforcement positions with the state of MI Dept of Ag for over 30 years before I retired in 2002. I wish we could have gotten together by phone or email such that I could have offered a little more advice to you before things went the way they did!

Champlain Islander

Perhaps you can write up the whole story and send it to the prosecutor to better inform him of your side of the story. Tell him the truth and ask for a meeting to discuss it. Better yet if it is still sitting bad in your craw hire a lawyer to fight the charges and the whole process. Since the arresting officer wasn’t there at the arraignment pleading innocent and asking for a trial might have given you a chance to tell your side of the story. If he didn’t show for the trial it is case dismissed. I would have fought it because at this point you have a reported Fish and Wildlife violation on your record….forever.

sachiko

My husband is a criminal defense lawyer in Michigan and he agrees with Topgun that you should have pled not guilty at the arraignment. They are more or less a formality and noone expects anything to happen.

Had you gone to the preexam conference in District Court, you could have explained yourself to an assistant prosecutor at least.

Since there is no preliminary exam for a misdemeanor, your choice would have been to take the plea bargain or go to trial.

But he says $210 is probably not out of line since it includes not only a fine but court costs as well.

My husband also pointed out that, while Topgun is correct, it can be risky taking legal advice from someone who is not a lawyer.

Topgun 3006

"My husband also pointed out that, while Topgun is correct, it can be risky taking legal advice from someone who is not a lawyer."

That is spot on, but what your husband doesn't know is that my good hunting buddy here in Allegan is also a criminal defense lawyer of 40+ years and I get a lot of free legal advice as a bennie, LOL!