Game Wardens Might Be Watching You
BY Herschel Smith
2 years, 3 months ago
Field & Stream does a good job outlining the history of the Open Fields Act, the history of this issue, and what’s at stake. It’s in three parts.
In part 3 the author writes the following.
There’s simply no getting around the fact that Hollingworth is a poacher, by definition. He has admitted to, been charged, and/or convicted of the following:
- Chasing coots with a boat and shooting them with lead shot.
- Shooting deer at night from a vehicle (though he insists his buddy pulled the trigger).
- Shooting cliff swallows.
- Shooting beavers at night on public land.
- Baiting migratory game birds.
- Shooting over the limit on ducks.
Hollingsworth told me that he believes that there should be some game laws—but he also said private-property owners should be able to shoot a deer or turkey any time of the year, so long as they use common sense and are shooting it to eat it, and that baiting waterfowl should be legal on private land, too, provided hunters adhere to the bag limits.
All of a sudden, I wasn’t so sympathetic.
That said, no matter how many past violations Hollingsworth has or how inexcusable they are, it is still fair to ask whether the wardens overstepped their bounds in this case. Did they go too far in planting the hidden trail camera? I think they did. And did they really need (as Hollingsworth describes it) to surround his home with multiple officers just to serve a warrant for a “stolen” trail camera? I suspect they didn’t.
Good grief. Do you know how many bird species are included in the migratory bird act? More than 800. If a Woodpecker is tearing a tree apart on your property, and that tree, or group of trees, is (or are) necessary to prevent washes and fissures on your land, too bad. You can’t kill it. Chimney Finches or Chimney Swifts are protected. If one gets into your chimney and dies for whatever reason, you have to live with the smell of death in your house because you didn’t drive it out of there before it died.
If a Killdeer nests in your gravel road, you can’t move it under Federal law. I didn’t say not to kill Woodpeckers killing your trees. I said that under federal law, you cannot do it. These rules are stupid, concocted and promulgated by stupid and wicked men.
As for killing deer out of season, it would be nice for every man to be as well off as every other man, but that won’t happen in time and on earth. Thus, some people just have to do what they have to do to feed their families. I get the issue about modern game management techniques historically increasing herd size. I really do.
But the creature isn’t above the creator. And the creator gave man charge over the animal kingdom. I am opposed to anything that gives government more power, because controlling men are always abusive.
On August 18, 2022 at 10:26 pm, Fred said:
All the game wardens here are control freaks ruling their little fiefdoms. They all joined the TWRA so they could power trip on people just trying to feed their family. They are not God fearing men but Statist trash. Everyone knows it and openly talks about what jerks they are.
TWRA only hires the one profile. You know the one; low intelligence, likes to control people and harm small animals when they think nobody is watching.
People around here all keep their mouth shut about how some folks stay fed, because it’s God that feeds them. Amen
On August 19, 2022 at 6:55 am, Latigo Morgan said:
I reckon if you encounter a game camera on your property that you did not place, the safest thing to do is to shoot it from a distance.
If the game is on your land, it should belong to you, not the state, to manage as you see fit. My state flat out claims all game animals – no matter where they are found.
Now, I will say that without our state game wardens, every big game animal in this state would be killed in 6 months or less by a certain demographic. As it is, 1 in 7 animals are poached.
On August 19, 2022 at 6:46 pm, George said:
Many years ago when I had the opportunity I managed to take deer and give the meat to those who needed it.
To this day I despise the concept of “game wardens” and I don’t care much for game laws.
On August 20, 2022 at 12:15 pm, Mike Z said:
I would like to make a statement RE: woodpeckers killing trees. With many decades of observation and almost 38 years of training and employment in different environmental fields I have nether observed nor read about woodpeckers killing trees. They “peck” at trees to get to a live grub of a beetle that has already attacked a tree which is in some sort of biological stress. The woodpecker is actually reducing the number of beetles that will attack other less stressed trees. They make holes for nesting purposes in trees whose cellular support structure is already compromised due to some other stressor; such as root, storm, insect, disease or fungal damage. The tree is already dying by the time a woodpecker starts working on it.
On August 20, 2022 at 2:45 pm, Daniel Smith said:
At least for the state of North Carolina, If you’re a land owner (not 2-5 acres, but a legitimate land owner. I think it’s like 14+ acres I forget) but if you’re a land owner and you have crops in the ground and you catch deer in the act of depredation, you’re by law, allowed to shoot them no matter the time of day or the means. Technically speaking, a hunting license and a permit only give the hunter to legally transport the carcass off the private land where it was harvested. I believe it’s called “Land Owners Permit”. I could be wrong on the verbiage.