Be careful notching those tags.

[croix]

A buddy of mine received a ticket from the game warded the other day. The GW inspected his deer and promptly wrote him a $150 ticket for not properly notching his tag. He had notched the correct month and the correct day, but you could still see a tiny part of the N in NOV and a tiny part of the V.

Sounds pretty chickensh*t to me but the regs state "Immediately and completely remove the tag notches that indicate the month and day the animal was killed." This is actually listed under "Common Violations".

Be careful!

[X-Force]

That is crap. unless your friend wasn't being cooperative i cant see why a warden would be so nit picky...

[Gobble]

That is crap. unless your friend wasn't being cooperative i cant see why a warden would be so nit picky...

I agree.

[Skyvalhunter]

Have him take it to court to get it thrown out

[coyotemadness]

  Gimmie a break

[ThePascoKid]

I would tell him not to waste his time fighting it, a buddy had the same problem, took it to court, it got postponed 3 times and didn't get dropped.  You could end up being out a lot of pay if you don't watch it.  That's how they like it, it forces people to just pay the tickets so they won't miss work.  By the way his ticket was the same infraction and the ticket was $500 on a WT doe on a disabled hunt.  Needless to say the warden was a prick.

[SW Blacktail]

Power trippers

[bucklucky]

Its been like that for a long time. I have guys that bring stuff in the shop all the time that isnt properly notched and have them re notch there tags .

[croix]

My buddy was completely cooperative. Not sure if he plans to take it to court.

The GW actually said "If I was a jerk I could give you another ticket." The temp was nearing 40 so my buddy had skinned the deer and separated the head. The tag remained on the head (lying right next to the body) and it was the only deer in camp, but the GW said he could ticket for that. The regs are a little fuzzier on this.

"You must transport any big game animal with the proper tag attached. The properly validated tag must remain with the meat until it is eaten (including cold storage). If quartered, the tag should remain with the carcass or the largest portion of the carcass. If you need to take the head to a taxidermist and the meat to be processed, you can complete a taxidermy ledger or invoice, providing information outlined under "Possession and Use of Wildlife" for the taxidermist, and keep the tag with the meat at the processor".

I doubt the GW could have made a ticket stick based on the vagueness of this statement.

As a side note - I also learned this year (from a much more tolerant GW) that a loaded rifle leaned against a tire is considered a loaded weapon in the vehicle. Didn't get a ticket though; just enlightenment.

[hornhunter]

I have a friend that this happened to as well, he went to court and got the fine reduced.  Oh did I mention they game warden took his deer also!

[bucklucky]

About 99% of the people I see that kill bucks are Illegal  . I have never kept my tag on the carcass when the meat is hanging, just kept it on the antlers like most everyone else. I guess the bame department is right in the way they think, all hunters ARE outlaws  

[bigdave]

Wow, I'm a teacher......what would they come in and say to me if I held their kid to the same letter of the law BS. They would want my head on a platter. If there is no way the tag could be used it should not be ticketable. If your buddy notched it as much as you say.....I guess the GW's hemmoroids were bothering him.

[Little Fish]

That sucks. Thanks for the heads up.

[pendoreilleadventures]

This is why i am going to move to idaho where the game department wants me to be sucsessfully and does do bull *censored* things like that to the hunters. I hate washington state fish and game they are a joke of a department.

[blacktail stalker]

As a side note - I also learned this year (from a much more tolerant GW) that a loaded rifle leaned against a tire is considered a loaded weapon in the vehicle. Didn't get a ticket though; just enlightenment.

That sounds like a load of BS.........I wouldn't believe everything you hear from a warden or other LEO's on all matters of laws. That might be a personal interpretation or just something they tell you, though not necessarily true.