Like bigtex said if LEO is called they use the same tech as everyone else and if everything is not updated and you go hunt that same spot you have for 30 years but the title just changed hands a few weeks earlier and is now owned by an anti hunter or whatever,Since you are hunting and trespassing you lose it all.But if you do all the above but are not hunting you dont.This I and most have a problem with.
Where do you get the impression that if you are hunting and trespassing you lose it all?
Additionally, if you can prove that you reasonably believed the land was not privately owned you can't be convicted of hunting while trespassing.
Correct me if im wrong 1)If Im hunting and on private property,I lose my truck,hunting rights for a period,My game if I have it my rifle etc. 2)if im not hunting but am trespassing picking mushrooms,Do you take my truck,next years hunting license,The mushrooms bags or buckets etc?
If you are hunting on private property and are
convicted you will only lose your hunting rights if you killed an animal, or you have previous fish and wildlife convictions within the past 10 years. An officer can take your truck/rifle for any violation if they can tie it to a fish and wildlife offense, notice I said can and not will/must. If someone exceeds the trout limit by 1 an officer is not going to seize the guy's boat. If your caught hunting on private property and haven't killed anything the chances of an officer seizing the gun is slim to none, the truck won't happen. Now if you killed an animal, they may take the gun. But I know of many people who have illegally killed an animal and the officer didn't take the rifle. For many people losing their tag for the season, an animal, and a fine is enough.
For your mushroom pickers an officer can seize the mushrooms, buckets/bags, etc. They cannot take your truck for mushrooms, but they can for wood. If you have two previous forest products convictions in your lifetime your ability to get a forest products permit is suspended for 3 years. They cannot take your hunting license because it has nothing to do with hunting.
Realistically, from a penalty standpoint the brush/berry/mushroom/wood removal from private property is stiffer then the hunting on private property or trespass in the 2nd degree. The forest product violation is up to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail, the hunting and trespass 2nd degree is $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail.
Also need to remember for the hunting violation it is a defense that:
(a) The premises were at the time open to members of the public for the purpose of hunting, and the actor complied with all lawful conditions imposed on access to or remaining on the premises;
(b) The actor reasonably believed that the owner of the premises, or other person empowered to license access thereto, would have licensed him or her to enter or remain on the premises for the purpose of hunting or retrieving hunted wildlife;
(c) The actor reasonably believed that the premises were not privately owned; or
(d) The actor, after making all reasonable attempts to contact the owner of the premises, retrieved the hunted wildlife for the sole purpose of avoiding a violation of the prohibition on the waste of fish and wildlife as provided in RCW 77.15.170. The defense in this subsection only applies to the retrieval of hunted wildlife and not to the actual act of hunting itself
So if the lands truly were sold yesterday and are now closed to the public and you didn't know it, you can't be convicted.
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