No Bucks, but scored 10 Bonus Points!

[Payne]

Anyone know of someone that has made a mistake and turned themselves in and what the repercussions were?
... sorry don't mean to jack this thread...   

Ya, 5-6 years ago in Montana I made an honest mistake, not going into details but it was a big game violation.  There is no way my ethics would allow me to leave (waste) an animal I killed, I thought about loading it up in the truck (my buddies truck) and making a break for home, but I weighed the consequences and he could loose his truck and I would get a fine and maybe loose my rifle. I called the game warden, told him what happened, he gave me the address to his office and told me to meet him in a couple of hours.

 I met him, explained what happened and I couldn't BELIEVE what happened next...... he thanked me for not leaving the animal! He said it happened all the time and he truly appreciated turning myself in and not wasting the animal. He wrote me a warning, let me keep the meat, and wrote a note to get me through any check stations and sent me on my way.

Wow! great story, thanks for sharing that! Glad to hear about positive stories like this!

[ctwiggs1]

Anyone know of someone that has made a mistake and turned themselves in and what the repercussions were?
... sorry don't mean to jack this thread...   

Ya, 5-6 years ago in Montana I made an honest mistake, not going into details but it was a big game violation.  There is no way my ethics would allow me to leave (waste) an animal I killed, I thought about loading it up in the truck (my buddies truck) and making a break for home, but I weighed the consequences and he could loose his truck and I would get a fine and maybe loose my rifle. I called the game warden, told him what happened, he gave me the address to his office and told me to meet him in a couple of hours.

 I met him, explained what happened and I couldn't BELIEVE what happened next...... he thanked me for not leaving the animal! He said it happened all the time and he truly appreciated turning myself in and not wasting the animal. He wrote me a warning, let me keep the meat, and wrote a note to get me through any check stations and sent me on my way.

Regardless of the officers actions,  to you!  Good job and way to set an example!

[Band]

Anyone know of someone that has made a mistake and turned themselves in and what the repercussions were?
... sorry don't mean to jack this thread...   

Ya, 5-6 years ago in Montana I made an honest mistake, not going into details but it was a big game violation.  There is no way my ethics would allow me to leave (waste) an animal I killed, I thought about loading it up in the truck (my buddies truck) and making a break for home, but I weighed the consequences and he could loose his truck and I would get a fine and maybe loose my rifle. I called the game warden, told him what happened, he gave me the address to his office and told me to meet him in a couple of hours.

 I met him, explained what happened and I couldn't BELIEVE what happened next...... he thanked me for not leaving the animal! He said it happened all the time and he truly appreciated turning myself in and not wasting the animal. He wrote me a warning, let me keep the meat, and wrote a note to get me through any check stations and sent me on my way.

That is a far cry from what I've heard about game violations in Washington.  Out of respect for the law and fear of penalties, I have learned to pass on any animal that I am not 100% sure is legal (and I've done that plenty of times).  BUT, should I ever inadvertently break a big game law there is no way I would turn myself in.  As long as I didn't see any witnesses I would hot foot it out of there lickity split and never come back.  I would not turn myself in.  No way, no how!  And then I would spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.

[ctwiggs1]

Anyone know of someone that has made a mistake and turned themselves in and what the repercussions were?
... sorry don't mean to jack this thread...   

Ya, 5-6 years ago in Montana I made an honest mistake, not going into details but it was a big game violation.  There is no way my ethics would allow me to leave (waste) an animal I killed, I thought about loading it up in the truck (my buddies truck) and making a break for home, but I weighed the consequences and he could loose his truck and I would get a fine and maybe loose my rifle. I called the game warden, told him what happened, he gave me the address to his office and told me to meet him in a couple of hours.

 I met him, explained what happened and I couldn't BELIEVE what happened next...... he thanked me for not leaving the animal! He said it happened all the time and he truly appreciated turning myself in and not wasting the animal. He wrote me a warning, let me keep the meat, and wrote a note to get me through any check stations and sent me on my way.

That is a far cry from what I've heard about game violations in Washington.  Out of respect for the law and fear of penalties, I have learned to pass on any animal that I am not 100% sure is legal (and I've done that plenty of times).  BUT, should I ever inadvertently break a big game law there is no way I would turn myself in.  As long as I didn't see any witnesses I would hot foot it out of there lickity split and never come back.  I would not turn myself in.  No way, no how!  And then I would spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.

I know of several instances where game wardens have extended grace to people who have accidentally shot the wrong animal.  Probably because I am personal friends with a GW. 

[donimator]

Others around the camp area asked the warden while he was there about that.  It actually comes down to the warden.  Some will be easy, some will still come down hard.  But he did say they all come down as hard as they can when you do what this guy did.  From what I heard, if he would have first off killed it, then tag it and gut it and immediately turn himself in he for sure would have lost his license for the year, got one ticket, and maybe a little more.  Probably would not have lost his gun and might even be able to hunt next year.  Now, that they took his gun and threw the book at him, he will have to lawyer up and pay big time to get his hunting rights restored anytime soon.

[TopOfTheFoodChain]

 

[quadrafire]

My son in his first season, just about pulled the trigger on a Mulie buck during the late season in a whitetail only area. I have often wondered what I would have done in that situation if it had happened??

[Stein]

If they guy gutted and hauled it out and turned it in he at least would have avoided the waste of game violation.  Plus, if he ends up in court pleading it lower it looks entirely different.

[Bows4huntn]

I have seen it go both ways. One time a warning was written but the person was able to keep the meat. The other one resulted in a hundreds of dollar fine loss of tag and the animal so who knows???

[334OKH]

You deserve the points. Now, do lots of research on the unit your going to use them in!

[Payne]

Others around the camp area asked the warden while he was there about that.  It actually comes down to the warden.  Some will be easy, some will still come down hard.  But he did say they all come down as hard as they can when you do what this guy did.  From what I heard, if he would have first off killed it, then tag it and gut it and immediately turn himself in he for sure would have lost his license for the year, got one ticket, and maybe a little more.  Probably would not have lost his gun and might even be able to hunt next year.  Now, that they took his gun and threw the book at him, he will have to lawyer up and pay big time to get his hunting rights restored anytime soon.

Yeah this makes since, I believe that it really does come down to the warden individually... My (small) personal experiences is about 50/50 good/bad. It's just all the other stories I hear that scare me!

Congrats on the points, that guy really should have at least finished the poor deer off.

[Bill W]

I hunted the Sinlahekin Saturday thru Tuesday and legal deer were far and few.  We saw some 2 pts and spikes, a small number of does and two legal bucks.  The bucks appeared to be on private property so we just watched them.

Only heard two shots on the first day.

[JJB11B]

If he had recovered the deer and properly taken care of it, run it down, and then turned it over to the wdfw, and admit his error he'd of probably only lost his tag and or maybe recd a citation, but he did'nt. Honest mistakes are just that; however his actions are a clear display of a lack of character.

I agree that it was horrible that he didn't finish the deer off. But to make a mistake and turn yourself in..!? I've heard way too many stories of people turning themselves in and getting the book thrown at them big time... I'm not defending the guy that shot the deer and left it, just saying... Would you turn yourself in if you thought that you would get a huge fine (in the thousands), loose your license and possibly loose your gun for "doing the right thing" by turning yourself in? I believe that most people would never turn themselves in because of this.

My roommate turned himself in after finishing off a deer wounded by a mutual friend, Field dressed the deer drug it to a road and waited for the game officer, he paid the $300 and was able to hunt the next year, I would be able to look myself in the mirror better knowing that I did the right thing after doing the wrong thing..

[Trailblazer]

Awesome! It is people like that that give all hunters a bad rep!!

[JJB11B]

Awesome! It is people like that that give all hunters a bad rep!!

was that directed to the OP? If so I agree