Questions about ticket from Game and Fish and WLO

[Semi_Sweet_Loni]

Sorry if this gets long, I realize it's my first post but I'm sort of lost in translation here, and would really appreciate any and all advice.


Well, here goes nothing...

My guy friend took me and 2 other (male) friends of his out 2 nights ago to go hog hunting with him. We were on private land (and had permission to be), and he'd been hunting there every week for a while now.

Anyway, it was dark out, we saw eyes glow just a little ways down from where we had tried to shoot a hog earlier that evening, and one of the guys shot.... Turned out it was a deer... CRAP! Apparently it is legal to hunt hogs at night, but not deer (I'm not a hunter, so I have no idea of all the laws, ect. involved with it)

Not 2 mins. later there are two police Jeep's with spotlights that meet us at the back of the 80 acre field.

We explained what happened, boys were taken to the jail, I had to drive the truck back to pick them up.

All three recieved a ticket from the game and fish com.


Now here are my questions.

1) The ticket said bond $650 dollars, but they let the boys go that night and we didn't have to pay anything... So is that thier ticket price or ??

2) What are they looking at facing when they go to court? Are they going to jail again and that's why bond was listed, or are they just going to have to pay the fine, or ???

3) The officer kept all three guns, but gave the boys a slip/recipt for them... Now everyone is saying they will not get thier guns back. Is that true or ?

4) Seeing as this was a mistake, when they go to court would it be in thier best interest to plead not guilty and try to explain or just guilty and pay thier dues?

5) I was always under the impression that an officer couldn't just go on private property without a search warrent or permission.... They had neither, any info in this area appreciated as well.


Thanks in advance for any advice, I know this is long and probably more questions for a WLO instead of a "reg." officer, but I'm stressed and hoping for some answers/help.

I swear I'm never going hunting again!

[retdetsgt]

Now here are my questions.

1) The ticket said bond $650 dollars, but they let the boys go that night and we didn't have to pay anything... So is that thier ticket price or ??

Probably the maximum fine, depends on the state though

2) What are they looking at facing when they go to court? Are they going to jail again and that's why bond was listed, or are they just going to have to pay the fine, or ???

Depends on the state law. I would suggest using Google to look it up

3) The officer kept all three guns, but gave the boys a slip/recipt for them... Now everyone is saying they will not get thier guns back. Is that true or ?

In a lot of states, guns, etc are automatically forfeited. In Oregon, he could have lost the truck too.

4) Seeing as this was a mistake, when they go to court would it be in thier best interest to plead not guilty and try to explain or just guilty and pay thier dues?

Get a lawyer who is familiar with the court system there.

5) I was always under the impression that an officer couldn't just go on private property without a search warrent or permission.... They had neither, any info in this area appreciated as well.

If there are game on the property, game officers can go on it to enforce the laws. You can't raise deer to hunt on your own property whenever you want.

Thanks in advance for any advice, I know this is long and probably more questions for a WLO instead of a "reg." officer, but I'm stressed and hoping for some answers/help.

I swear I'm never going hunting again!

Answers imbedded. At least go hunting with someone who knows what they're doing. BTW, hogs eyes don't glow when hit by spotlights. Only hogs and humans have that feature.

[Semi_Sweet_Loni]

We are in Arkansas.

Thanks for the info.
I thought the pigs eyes did glow, but the first ones we saw I was pretty sure had a little more of a red tent to them.... anyway, I guess that part is a mute point.

What type of lawyer would handle this sort of situation?


(oh, and also, the WLO wasn't there at first, it was the two (I believe sheriffs dept.) and then they called the WLO... If that makes any difference)

[retdetsgt]

We are in Arkansas.

Thanks for the info.
I thought the pigs eyes did glow, but the first ones we saw I was pretty sure had a little more of a red tent to them.... anyway, I guess that part is a mute point.

What type of lawyer would handle this sort of situation?


(oh, and also, the WLO wasn't there at first, it was the two (I believe sheriffs dept.) and then they called the WLO... If that makes any difference)

Check with your local Bar Association. They generally have a service that will refer you to a lawyer familiar with your problem.

I'm surprised to hear that any kind of night hunting is legal. The whole problem is it's so difficult to identify what kind of animal it is just by the eyes. Some experienced hunters can, but not many. Obviously, your friends can't.

As far as the legality of the arrest, the lawyer can tell you that too. But most states give a lot of leeway for enforcing game laws.

As far as a hog's eyes go, I'm not an expert, but my uncle used to be professional hunter for the state of Texas. He told me that and it makes sense, we share more anatomical traits of swine than we like to believe.

Good luck.

[retdetsgt]

deleted, double post

[Semi_Sweet_Loni]

Apparently you can hunt for hogs at night down here (or so what little research I've done says).

There are ALOT of wild hogs, especially in our area.

Our friend (who's land we were hunting on) runs a massive cattle/hay operation and the hogs are destroying the place. They've ruined the hay that was put up in the barn, they rooted up a good portion of the hay pasture and just generally causing problems.


Also a neat thing I learned (in line with night hunting) apparently bow fishing (done at night with lights) is becoming pretty popular around here.



Anyhow, thanks again for the info! I'll be glad when this mess is all over with *wipes sweat from brow*

[retdetsgt]

A
There are ALOT of wild hogs, especially in our area.

Our friend (who's land we were hunting on) runs a massive cattle/hay operation and the hogs are destroying the place. They've ruined the hay that was put up in the barn, they rooted up a good portion of the hay pasture and just generally causing problems.

That's a fairly recent thing (in terms of my age).

I grew up in Texas and when I was a kid, there weren't any wild hogs. Now from what I understand from people I still know, they've become a real pain. I guess some moron(s) decided it would be a good idea to release domestic hogs and see what happens. I can see how they would get old and tiresome real fast.

[PapaBear]

How does one mistake a hog's eyes and a deer's eyes at night? A hog's are probably no higher than two feet off the ground, a deer's are five to six feet off of the ground. I would certainly entertain the idea of refusing to go out at night hunting with a bunch who can't tell the difference.

[Semi_Sweet_Loni]

It was pretty easy not to be able to tell the difference actually. (I know that sounds bad, but honnestly didn't know the difference till we were close enough to inspect)

Where the first hogs we shot at where, it was right by the creek that runs through the field. It has a steep bank (the hogs like the water for the mud and then they rub up on the trees and root around), so with the deer partially in the bank and us farther across the pasture it didn't look far off the ground.

And also, I don't know what kind of deer ya'll have in your part of the country, but thier not generally that big around here... (I've hit 3 this year with me car *sigh*) I think the biggest one I've ever seen around here would of been about 4 1/2 foot tall at the head.

I'm not saying it was right to kill the deer, but it honnestly wasn't our intentions.

[retdetsgt]

It was pretty easy not to be able to tell the difference actually. (I know that sounds bad, but honnestly didn't know the difference till we were close enough to inspect)

The deer out here are a lot bigger than the little whitetails down there.

But no one should ever, and I mean ever pull the trigger on something unless they positively know what it is. That's just dumb and horribly dangerous. Again, that's the reasoning behind laws against spotlighting.

Too many people "guess" what they're shooting at even in the daylight. That's how hunters get killed every year.

[TJMS81]

The deer out here are a lot bigger than the little whitetails down there.

But no one should ever, and I mean ever pull the trigger on something unless they positively know what it is. That's just dumb and horribly dangerous. Again, that's the reasoning behind laws against spotlighting.

Too many people "guess" what they're shooting at even in the daylight. That's how hunters get killed every year.

+1...one of the first rules of gun safety...know what your target is. Shooting at eyes in the dark is retarded. It could've been someone's dog, farm animal or worse yet...a person. I'm biased since I had a spotlighter get away two nights ago but I think they got off easy.

[RoadKingTrooper]

We are in Arkansas.

Thanks for the info.
I thought the pigs eyes did glow, but the first ones we saw I was pretty sure had a little more of a red tent to them.... anyway, I guess that part is a mute point.

What type of lawyer would handle this sort of situation?


LOL I dunno, maybe a Hog lawyer
(oh, and also, the WLO wasn't there at first, it was the two (I believe sheriffs dept.) and then they called the WLO... If that makes any difference)

If you or your "friends" don't have standing then it really doesn't matter does it?