Gross Misdemeanor

[chester]

Honestly wouldnt bother with a lawyer. its gonna be alot of money. most court systems wont push too hard. your more then likely going to go in and state your case. i would expect the the judge will atleast reduce it. i believe failure to tag an animal is 361 dollar fine.(unnotched tag is considered failure to tag) you will spend alot more on a lawyer. and i personally would no longer give the meat locker my business. they probably called you in over some bs.

[ScottyG]

"Tell it to the judge".  We're trying to explain it, and you don't seem to want to hear it.

By some estimates, poachers kill the same number of animals as legal hunters in Washington.  It's a serious problem.  Enforcement officers are stretched thin, and they don't often have much time to hear explanations.

You violated a game law. Man up, face the consequences, learn from it, and move on.

"We're trying to explain it..."  I really hate when someone decides for themselves that they represent the group. 

Bob33... you are speaking only for yourself.  Personally, I think its absurd to think you can glue a notched tag back together and not draw additional attention to it if checked.  I also think that law enforcement should take the time to listen to the situation and make some judgements.  A second year hunter that poked a hole in the day of the kill but missed the month, especially in the rifle season or late bow season deserves the benefit of the doubt.  We have a 10 day rifle season in most parts of the state and a fifteen day late bow season where I hunt.  It would be impossible to reuse that tag if the day was notched.  I suppose a tag that was notched only for the day in an early bow season could be used again in a late bow season but you would be limited to shooting your second animal to the same day of the month as the tag was already notched for.  I really don't understand why reason can't be used to determine when a warning would be the best course of action, unless it truly is all about revenue generation for WDFW.  I'd like to believe that they are about more than revenue generation.

[Bob33]

If you're right then he has nothing to worry about.  The law is flawed and the judge will rule in his favor.

[Steve Jo]

In that vein, why would a poacher glue a notched tag back together when he could simply toss the correctly notched tag in the garbage and go get a replacement license and tag for 5 bucks?

Reporting that he harvested the animal shows that there was intent of lawful action. 

Let's hope common sense prevails...

Brakens: Negligence wont prevail, but I  think you can clearly make a case for having the intent of lawfully notching your tag.  Do you still have the tag in your possession or was it confiscated?

[dirty24d]

In that vein, why would a poacher glue a notched tag back together when he could simply toss the correctly notched tag in the garbage and go get a replacement license and tag for 5 bucks?

Reporting that he harvested the animal shows that there was intent of lawful action. 

Let's hope common sense prevails...

Brakens: Negligence wont prevail, but I  think you can clearly make a case for having the intent of lawfully notching your tag.  Do you still have the tag in your possession or was it confiscated?

Good Call Steve  That is a valid point worth presenting to the judge or d.a.   ...  Good Luck Brackens  thats a bum deal dude..

[blackmouther]

This is the most rediculous ticket I have ever read about.  Butchers have the paperwork that they turn in for every deer they process they have to have proof.  To me the game warden 8itch was looking for an easy ticket to write because she was too stupid to actually get out in the field and do her job.  Only in washington.  Good luck on your trial.  Failing to properly tag an animal is around 380.00 but with the fact you called and reported your kill prior to the ticket you may just pay a court fee.  I know a guy who shot a deer and waited till he got to the road to tag and was caught by a warden with a spotting scope.  He deserved it you didn't.

[ICEMAN]

In that vein, why would a poacher glue a notched tag back together when he could simply toss the correctly notched tag in the garbage and go get a replacement license and tag for 5 bucks?

Reporting that he harvested the animal shows that there was intent of lawful action.  

Let's hope common sense prevails...

Brakens: Negligence wont prevail, but I  think you can clearly make a case for having the intent of lawfully notching your tag.  Do you still have the tag in your possession or was it confiscated?

IMHO, that is like saying that since you slowed down, your intent was to "not" speed. This vague section of the code appears to allow wildlife officers to simply cash in on a mistake. Did he break the law...? Looks like it. Did he intentionally break the law? Doesn't look like it.


My guess would be that if he did report the kill, and he has a clean record with no prior violations....that the judge will pass judgement on it and suspend any jail time, and simply leave a partial fine in place.

Now you need to ask yourself if you want a conviction like this on your record. Is it worth laywering up to attempt to get a dismissal?

[deerslyr]

If your worried about having it on your record, GET a lawyer it will help a significant amount, no question about that at all. Find a way to print off that you reported it and request that the evidence (the tag) be presented to the court. It will show that it was just a lame notching job that you screwed up on unentionally and that you had reported the harvest. A lawyer can present all of this alot better than you ever will with out getting confused by all of the legal lingo.

[chester]

If its his first time for anything. more then likely you can push to have it deferred. probation then its dropped off the record.

[Deep Forks]

I would lawyer up.  A friend of mine had almost the exact violation happen, when he went to court and plead guilty the judge gave him the going rate no expanation excepted, it's not like a traffic ticket, get a lawyer or at least talk to one.  Deferred prosecution would be better than a guilty plea.    Good Luck

[brackens]

confiscated.  I will seek a lawyer out tomorrow for my free sit down and go from there.  Thanks for the posts all.

In that vein, why would a poacher glue a notched tag back together when he could simply toss the correctly notched tag in the garbage and go get a replacement license and tag for 5 bucks?

Reporting that he harvested the animal shows that there was intent of lawful action. 

Let's hope common sense prevails...

Brakens: Negligence wont prevail, but I  think you can clearly make a case for having the intent of lawfully notching your tag.  Do you still have the tag in your possession or was it confiscated?

[bobcat]

I don't understand how you could be cited with unlawful hunting  You weren't hunting! Improper validation of the tag or whatever they want to call it is what the charge should be. If it was me, I think I would at least consider hiring a lawyer, as it seems that the right lawyer should be able to get the case dropped entirely. To me they wrote you up for the wrong thing and therefore you shouldn't have to plead guilty of anything.    

[chester]

DO NOT PLEAD GUILTY!!!!

[canyelk48]

Personally, I'd rather see Game Wardens out in the field trying to catch "real poachers" instead of wasting time and resources nitpicking over something as silly as this!  The entire matter could have been easily resolved at the butcher shop by pointing out this mistake and properly validating the tag prior to releasing the processed meat.

[salmonslayer1]

this is just a stupid ticket.a warning would be in order since the butcher has the tag and you reported your kill.it disturbs me our hard earned dollars pay stupid lazy state officials to give fines to law abiding citizens when so much poaching and crimes to fish and wildlife are occurring on a daily basis. not to mention wasting the courts time and money.get a lawyer or they will stick it to ya.what a biotch.good luck.I'm ready to boycott this state and its forked up policies.