Situation with PGC

Made mention in that post bout some poor guy gettin shot recently- YA CANT TEACH COMMON SENSE

This is a situation that you need to ask RSB about he would be able to answer this question

He shot it, he found it, he tagged it.

Was there really a need to call a WCO?

ORIGINAL: Dr. Trout

I can't figure this one out at all....

If I find shed antlers I can keep them, do you mean to tell me if I find a deer skeleton I can not keep the skull ????

Sheds are good to go.  I believe dead heads, by law, must be left to lay unless tagged with a valid antlered tag.  Could be wrong but I think that is the case. 

In this case, the fellow states it was tagged. I don't see the issue.

It's probably one of those cases where the law was enacted for a altogether different reason than what took place. The problem is that if the law is on he books and a WCO is made aware of it he may have felt he had no choice but to do what the law stated.
That sounds like another case where WCO discretion came into play and this time WCO discretion gave the PGC a black eye if it happened like we are being told.
Sometimes it is better just to do what you you think is reasonable and say nothing.

I would suspect there is more to this story that isn’t being told.
 
It would not be illegal to place your tag on a deer you took during a legal season and with a legal weapon. It is not illegal to pick up a naturally shed antler. It is illegal to remove a deer skull and antlers that were not legally shed.
 
As I said, I believe there has to be more to this story since there would be no way for a District Judge to make any ruling on the matter unless there was also a citation involved.
 R.S. Bodenhorn

ORIGINAL: Goodsy

No more to the story.....I talked to him tonight and the PGC is giving the antlers back. They must have determined no laws were broken.

Apparently the reason he called the PGC to begin with is because he figured the harvest date was in October and he did not report it until January. He wanted to clear up the fact that he did not call within the 10 days required. I guess the harvest date could have been in January when he finally found it, but he did not look at it that way.

 
Ok, that sounds a lot better and pretty much the way if should have worked out if the entire story was as originally posted.
 
As for those that that worry about getting fine if they forgot to send in their report card within the 10 days, they don’t have to worry about get a fine for being late if they just send it in. Anyone who forgot can still send it and they aren’t going to get a fine for being late. As long as they have the report before the middle of February or even the first of March it would still be data they could enter and worth sending it in.
 
I know people are afraid they will get a fine for mailing it late, but I promise you they will not get a fine for just being late. It is when we can prove that they didn’t send it at all that they get a fine.
 
R.S. Bodenhorn

It's situations like this that create animosity between sportsmen and the regulatory commissions in this state. It also encourages people to be dishonest, and to bend, or even break the laws when they know (or feel) that doing things the way the state wants them to will only lead to unnecessary grief, hassle, and aggravation.

I can be living proof that R.S.B. is correct about not getting fined for turning in harvest report late. I have done it several times. Can't find report card, or just my insistant procrastination. I think though in my 44 years of hunting I have allways reported.

From the 2009-2010 annual report.

"That the investment in training increases the professionalism and technical competence
of Game Commission officers can be seen in our enforcement statistics. Officers
encountered 18,684 violations during this fiscal year through high visibility patrol, selective
enforcement operations, overt and covert investigations, surveillance operations
and complaint response. The enforcement actions taken by officers encountering those
violations resulted in 12,129 warnings and 6,555 citations being issued —a rate of almost
two to one —indicating our officers’ discretion in balancing enforcements effort
to focus on the violations with the most impact to the wildlife resource. Of the violations
cited, the conviction rate was 96 percent, further attesting to the discretion, technical
competence and professionalism of Game Commission officers. The ratio of appeals
of initial convictions was a mere 0.7 percent.
The final measurement of the training investment is the low citizen complaint to
enforcement contact ratio. Only six complaints were received against officers this year,
none of which proved to be founded.
The top 10 violations prosecuted this year were:
1. Unlawful taking or possession of game or wildlife – 704 prosecutions.
2. Operating vehicles on Game Lands in areas closed to travel, primarily ATV violations
– 388 prosecutions.
3. Possession of a loaded firearm in a stationary vehicle – 324 prosecutions.
4. Hunting or taking wildlife through the use of bait or enticement – 316 prosecutions.
5. Safety zone violations – 224 prosecutions.
6. Big game tagging violations – 221 prosecutions.
7. Unlawful use of lights while hunting – 199 prosecutions.
8. Casting a light after 11 p.m. – 190 prosecutions.
9. Possession of a loaded firearm in a moving motor vehicle – 173 prosecutions.
10. Hunting or taking wildlife through use of a motor vehicle – 166 prosecutions."

Doesn't exactly make a case for WCO's being out of control "jackboots"

I have lost my respect for PGC.They always make you feel like you've done something wrong. I've been check by two different wardens in Ohio and both guys where really nice and even offered places to hunt.

Lets face it- Game laws do NOT get their due in court. No matter where ya are.
  Put yourself in the Judges place- HMMMMM here is a docket full of burglars and dopers and assaulters and other crooks with records -now  guy who shot 3 Pheasants instead of 2.
    Well he had a lisense- it was in season- he was legally armed and where he was supposed to be--- compared to the burglars and dopers and other crooks --------
  Court time is very limited compared to the numbers on the docket and the game guy will pay a big number to some charity for a lousy nolle so let it be---Move on to the REAL crooks who prey of people( their opinion-not mine)

Recently found out some interesting news that relates to this thread.  Did you fellows realize that it is illegal to track and tag a game animal after legal shooting hours close?  Whether that is during the night in between two legal days of the season or after the season closes.
 
 
There is a discussion going on a different board that is similar to this.  I guess that is the law but officers usually do not cite because of discretion unless the act of tracking and recovery is occuring way after a season closed which brings in suspician of poaching.
 
So, finding your buck and tagging it a few weeks after the close of the season is an illegal act, by law. Officer discretion determines the outcome.

Yep. Good to do since the act itself is illegal.  Never realized that tracking and recovering a animal after legal shooting hours is an illegal act. Or that finding a buck after the close of the season and tagging it was also illegal.

ORIGINAL: dpms

Recently found out some interesting news that relates to this thread.  Did you fellows realize that it is illegal to track and tag a game animal after legal shooting hours close?  Whether that is during the night in between two legal days of the season or after the season closes.

Yes.  You would have to contact and inform a local WCO of your actions. 

It's kind of crazy that the game law requires all hunters to make every effort to recover game but at the same time hunters are being limited to do so in this situation.

As a bowhunter, I've hunted in the fall season right up to the last minute of shooting hours like everyone else does.  in 2001 I arrowed a decent 8pt. about 15 min. before shooting hr ended.  Took me about 30-40 minutes to recover it which put me in an illegal situation.  Due to the warm weather there was no way in hell I was leaving that animal in the wood somewhere while I go and contact a warden about my intentions.

I dressed him, tagged him and dragged him out well after shooting hr expired.  Had I been stopped by a warden, well I was prepare to suffer the consequences.