Yes^^^this is correct. License checks, creel, and bag limit checks ...

The US Supreme Court has ruled on the validity and need for these compliance checks in several cases over the years.

I get along great with game officers here in Oregon. Many of them are trappers themselves.

Here's my take on it: When I go into a new area and that warden doesn't know me he has to figure out whether I'm a law abiding trapper or one that bends rules. Once they figure that out they know how to treat you. So I'm always polite and go out of my way to make sure they see I fit into the former category.

The last time I got checked, the trooper asked my hunter how much he paid for the guided trip? They recorded the whole interview, which involved a lot of personal and irrelevant questions. Later that winter the troopers reviewed these tapes and tried to bust my boss on some misstatement ( or misinterpretation) of what I said. He also claimed we did not have the paper work we had. I had my hunter take a picture of his paperwork after the trooper left. If you really want to be hassled, be a hunting/fishing guide.

I have had nothing but good encounters with our COs. In fact I've been an Instructor In the WI DNR warden school.

There was one situation where this female CO got stuck on this property. Well she flagged down the farmer and wanted him to pull her out. He said I'm busy doing some plowing when I get done I'll get you pulled out. She then called a towing service when the tow truck entered the farmers land he turned them away and wouldn't give them permission to to be on his property.

This female warden had a history with screwing over people. She use to sit out on the ice at night and set off your tip ups then wait for the prescribed check time and ticket the fishermen. When we got wind of that we always took the dog with us as a early warning device.
She also use to ticket guys for indecent exosphere when they went behind the shack to relive themselves.
I think she lost her job do to some DWI tickets.

If I remember right in my state a few years ago wardens stoped some duck hunters while they were hunting and wrote them tickets for drugs they found on them while hunting. It went to the state Supreme Court and the duck hunters won because the state had no reason to check them. Due to not observing them with any hunting violations just hunting.

If that is what happened...then that Arkansas court did not follow the ruling of the USSC....which is not uncommon these days.

… they’ll turn sideways and block the road on you down here … then smile and ask if you’ve been huntin

.. they run in male breeding pairs.. one to keep smilin at you while the other looks in the back of your truck

I’ve never had any problems with our GW around here , like said above they have a job to do . The only time I had a issue was one of my sons was coon hunting with his buddies one night and they had a flat when they got back to the truck and didn’t have a jack and he sit there and watching them through night vision to make sure they didn’t put a gun in the truck . The next morning he called me and asked if they made it out of there alright he had noticed they had a flat . Then later on in the conversation he said he watched them through night vision to make sure they didn’t have a gun . That didn’t sit to well with me I fussed for a while on him and basically told him if you seen they didn’t put a firearm in the truck why didn’t you go help they were only kids .

Huntin' on that public land has some extra inconveniences....

I was charged with something stupid years ago. They wanted to take my license and line away.

I hired a criminal defense attorney and fought them in court. Got to keep my license and line.


Other than that, I message my CO all the time and might be going fishing with him next week. When I get stopped I never get checked. Usually they just chat. Only been asked for my license once, and that was a guy I didn't know.

I also don't do anything illegal, so there's that. Never once had anyone look in my livewell, or check anything else.

5A remember and exercise it. All you are required is to show license allow inspection for plug/nonlead shot and game taken.

I will engage any officer in polite conversation but when he/she starts into nosy questions I politely remind them of the 5th and decline to answer any further.

Game Wardens can not get around the constitution as far as probable cause goes. However, the court has ruled that the fact you are hunting, or they have reasonable suspicion that you are or were hunting, is probable cause to ask for license etc..

I'm not a lawyer but I'm going to say your hunter wasn't obligated to answer any of those questions. Compliance with game laws does not mean you have to waive away your 4th, 5th or 6th amendment rights. The burden of establishing proof of guilt is on law enforcement, not your hunter.

I believe if it got past the friendly stage and they were picking at me, I'd be like Danny and ask if I was free to leave or was I being arrested.

Here in Missouri Conservation Agents or game wardens can enforce any law in the state. Drugs, traffic laws, etc............

.. around the house ain’t bad… when I go a county up is where the trouble is lol… that warden and his mate in that county is a big deer hunter and patrols hard around his family land … he’ll tell folks they should’ve let a legal deer grow… I had him so mad one time I thought he was going to draw on me lol

was that Jill?
I have heard some stories about her

I will be polite. Answer a few questions, but if the officer starts asking the same ones I am done talking.

For the most part they have been professional and good guys with me. I did have a real 5" barnyard fith once. I was driving with the kids years ago and there was a 16" wide 8 point that had been hit by a car laying on the edge of the road. I asked th boys if they saw it and they didn and wanted to see it so I turned around and went back. When the lights hit It it decided it was not dead yet and struggled and failed to get up several times. I got out and shot it with my glock then called it in. Took an hour and a half for the warden to show up. He asked what I shot it with wanted to see it and my permit. Asked a ton of questions barny style. What really made me laugh was when he said" I can see its boogered up a little on its neck so your ok. A lot of times I skinn them to be sure they were hit by a car. But I can see the places on its neck so your ok" at that point I was irritated with his little man barnyard approach so pointed out that the busted turn singles and head light in the road were also a good indicator it had been hit by a car but if he really wanted to skimn it out to check I just lived around the corner and he was more than welcome to take it to the house and skin it if he liked;) he declined and wrapped it up telling me not to shoot them and to wait for him to come shoot them. I smiled and told him there was no chance in heck I would ait an hour and a half with a deer flopping around for him to get there and put it down so he was out of luck there.

Miss Heather- she was a smokin hot pain in the arse.

Nothing but good thing to say about wardens around here with many I call friends. Most of those are trappers themselves.