2015 WDFW Proposed Legislation: Hunting Under the Influence

[Alchase]

My concern would be in the "liberal" interpretations we have seen of other laws, that could influence how this law was enforced.
Does this "only" effect in the act of hunting?
Drunk and carrying?
Or even in you own home having a few, and picking up you weapon to protect you or your family?

[idahohuntr]

Drinking and hunting ain't my thing,  but I got lot's of hunting friends that like to take a nip of fireball or crack a beer while sitting with their back to a tree and I can't see a problem with it.

WA goes too far,  WDFW goes too far.


The way I see it if WDFW is ineffective at curtailing DUI's so how are they going to enforce this crazy law?   

The hunters at large are going to continue to nip their fireball and crack their beers; WDFW police are going to use it to hammer people on a very small scale,  doing nothing to curb the greater issue (drunk hunters) but seriously pissing off the tiny fraction of hunters affected by it. 

The public will loose more confidence in WDFW and this will likely drive an even bigger wedge between WDFW and hunters.


There are more hunters that drink while hunting than there is hunters who abstain until they get back to camp.

but then WDFW doesn't exactly rely on hunters dollars for funding do they?   WDFW= "hrm - screw the hunters we'll still get paid!!" 

I hardly ever drink, but I am now firmly opposed to this legislation.  The scenarios others have described point out some of the issues...a guy has a beer in hunting camp...could a LEO claim you were technically hunting if its still daylight and a gun is nearby?  Probably, if he wants to be a jerk. A couple guys pheasant hunting have a mid-afternoon break with a beer, resume hunting after lunch...now they all lose their license for 2 years if a LEO wants to be a jackwagon?  No thanks.   I would actually be terrified to even have alcohol in a hunting camp if this law passes.

This is defnitely one of those laws that affects the honest guy way more than it will anybody that actually poses a public safety problem.

[Stein]

(b) Hunting while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs in the first degree is a class C felony. Upon conviction, the department shall revoke and suspend all of the person's hunting licenses and privileges for ten years.

If you are a felon, you are also going to lose your right to own a weapon and any concealed carry permit you have as well as potentially 5 years in prison - not to mention tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

I don't see anything that prevents someone from getting into a huge heap of trouble for shooting at a squirrel in their backyard with a bb gun after having a few beers.  I'm trying not to blow this out of proportion, but it seems to be very, very underthought.  Or, thought out very well depending on where you stand.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

No they draw your blood under the implied consent law.  If you drive on a public roadway you give consent for the Leo to forcibly draw your blood.  Is this wrong bigtex?

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.20.308

I don't believe that's true. Even if you decline to give a Breathalizer, you have to give consent for a blood test or the arresting officer must get a search warrant.

I think your right.  But if I refuse is it auto suspension of hunting privileges?  Like with driving?  I personally know people that have had their blood taken by force.  So it has happened and I think the case bigtex referred to was when it stopped.  This is a joke of a bill, from the way it was written to the way it gets presented.  Even on this site.  I doubt this gets past any part of the senate or house.

[pianoman9701]

No they draw your blood under the implied consent law.  If you drive on a public roadway you give consent for the Leo to forcibly draw your blood.  Is this wrong bigtex?

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.20.308

I don't believe that's true. Even if you decline to give a Breathalizer, you have to give consent for a blood test or the arresting officer must get a search warrant.

I think your right.  But if I refuse is it auto suspension of hunting privileges?  Like with driving?  I personally know people that have had their blood taken by force.  So it has happened and I think the case bigtex referred to was when it stopped.  This is a joke of a bill, from the way it was written to the way it gets presented.  Even on this site.  I doubt this gets past any part of the senate or house.

No, if they don't have a warrant and you refuse, that's it. If they get a warrant, you don't to refuse.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

I think they just say they can see visually that your high or drunk and get a warrant.  And then you can't refuse?  They take it by force?

[pianoman9701]

I think they just say they can see visually that your high or drunk and get a warrant.  And then you can't refuse?  They take it by force?

If they get a warrant, yes, they take it by force.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I really can not stand to read this crap .. This is nothing more than giving them more reasons to make money and harass the hunters .. I do not drink while hunting but when I get home or to camp I do .. So just like someone said earlier that if you and a couple buddies show up to camp before dark and your dressed in hunting clothes and your having a drink and they pull up I guarantee you they will cite you ... how many hunters in Washington have been shot by a drunk    Doubt that many ..and what really peeeeses me off it all about taking away our freedom ...Plain and simple ..Well I have a few words for them ...... You know the rest  I can not believe we all continue to obey any law they come up with because most of them are a bunch of crap ...just to make money..they copuld careless who got shot in the head ..   I drink to that 

[csaaphill]

I really can not stand to read this crap .. This is nothing more than giving them more reasons to make money and harass the hunters .. I do not drink while hunting but when I get home or to camp I do .. So just like someone said earlier that if you and a couple buddies show up to camp before dark and your dressed in hunting clothes and your having a drink and they pull up I guarantee you they will cite you ... how many hunters in Washington have been shot by a drunk    Doubt that many ..and what really peeeeses me off it all about taking away our freedom ...Plain and simple ..Well I have a few words for them ...... You know the rest  I can not believe we all continue to obey any law they come up with because most of them are a bunch of crap ...just to make money..they copuld careless who got shot in the head ..   I drink to that 

wow truly thefirst one here to truly disagree with this nice one.
We may disagree on other issues but this one I agree.
it's about money and that's it I bet we read if this passed about how some quota hungry warden arrests people in camp at night after hunt was over. OR better yet they got shot because they didnt agree they were doing anything wrong.
but ya money is all these things are about!

[Boss .300 winmag]

So, when would this apply?  When you are busting brush with a round in the chamber or driving out of the forest at night and all your 'hunting' for the day is over?  Just asking...seems that if they pull you over during hunting season in an open GMU and you have hunting gear on you...if you have a hunting license, then you have given consent eventhough you may not have been hunting.  Would that count as 'in the field'?

If you are driving you would be arrested for DUI. If you are out in the brush you would be charged for the hunting offense. That's how it currently works, and that's how it would work in the future.

Lots of camps are in the brush, so those camp can't drink now?

Yet one more crap law we don't need!

I don't think I have ever heard of a person being harmed, wounded, or killed by a hunter drinking or drunk in the state.  Hmmm but I could be wrong. 

[CAMPMEAT]

How about if you're disabled, can't hike/walk very far and you're in camp glassing the area with a loaded gun near you/in your lap, while everybody else is out in the field ? Same scenario without any weapon ?

........and there are bottles on picnic tables etc.

[sakoshooter]

So, when would this apply?  When you are busting brush with a round in the chamber or driving out of the forest at night and all your 'hunting' for the day is over?  Just asking...seems that if they pull you over during hunting season in an open GMU and you have hunting gear on you...if you have a hunting license, then you have given consent eventhough you may not have been hunting.  Would that count as 'in the field'?

Good point. I can see this getting abused if the LEO was inclined.

[Elkaholic daWg]

I really can not stand to read this crap .. This is nothing more than giving them more reasons to make money and harass the hunters .. I do not drink while hunting but when I get home or to camp I do .. So just like someone said earlier that if you and a couple buddies show up to camp before dark and your dressed in hunting clothes and your having a drink and they pull up I guarantee you they will cite you ... how many hunters in Washington have been shot by a drunk    Doubt that many ..and what really peeeeses me off it all about taking away our freedom ...Plain and simple ..Well I have a few words for them ...... You know the rest  I can not believe we all continue to obey any law they come up with because most of them are a bunch of crap ...just to make money..they copuld careless who got shot in the head ..   I drink to that 

I'm with ya  BOWHUNTER.

 From my post on the "director thread.....






 
also, how about a director who asks the legislature for actions beneficial to the game animals the agency was created to protect, instead of the requests to appropriate more money by expanding  DFW LEO's police authority, as the deer, elk and other game species pay the price, since their workload just moved farther from their  original purpose. (AGAIN!)

[snowpack]

One would hope that officer discretion would be what most people consider common sense. But after reading an article posted on here by UCWarden regarding Officer Myers and the mentally challenged kid with the broken fishing rod and beef jerky  , I just don't have much confidence in WDFW being able to use common sense.  Part of the reason I am so against this legislation as written is because of the few like Myers that could really abuse this law and ruin a bunch of peoples' lives.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Every morning when I take a walk into the woods and look at all the country that surrounds me and I can not access it I keep getting more and more disgusted.. Over here on the Wetside we have millions of acres of dense timber and brush and you would think they would find someone who knows what it takes to manage the game ..we have animals in these parts that may have never seen a person but they continue to lock us out . the only game that is getting shot is the ones that come close to the roads or within an average guys walking distance which is not more than a couple miles . We need someone who will take the issues to the table of the ones that need to listen . If they want money to support wildlife and their jobs then we need to be receiving a lot more than we are getting . We all talk about how we need change but what will it take to get it ?