[SiouxperDave]

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/?id=20992

Officials: Hunters possess 300 ducks

By Tom Pantera
[email protected]
The Forum - 10/18/2002

Federal and North Dakota wildlife officials are investigating three out-of-state hunters who were found Tuesday with up to 300 duck carcasses.

Bruce Burkett, state game warden supervisor, said three out-of-state men were found with a large amount of frozen meat in a vehicle after being stopped early Tuesday at the Carrington Stop-N-Go.

Burkett said he couldn't say exactly how many birds the hunters had, but it was "a significant quantity."

Carrington Police Officer Charles Zink said officials estimated the three had 250 to 300 birds in their possession.

The daily limit is six ducks, with a maximum of 12 in possession per hunter, Burkett said. He said the investigation resulted from a tip.

Nobody has been charged in the case. Since it was a joint state-federal investigation, criminal charges are likely to come in federal court, Burkett said.

Rich Grosz, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the hunters could be charged with violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

That act doesn't set bag limits, but offers maximum limits states must follow, Grosz said.

Burkett said if the hunters are arrested and convicted, they could face losing their vehicles and guns under state law.

 

[Bronco]

I heard this story this morning on the radio :eyeroll: UNBELEIVABLE! I hope they throw the book at these idiots! It only takes 3 to reflect negatively on a whole bunch of people! "Hats off" to the officials who caught these jerks! :sniper:

 

[Nick Roehl]

Doesn't shock me. Glad they finally caught some of these IDIOTS though. :beer:

 

[Qwack]

Maybe the guys were from Wisconsin and they were shooting coots? Guess they would still be over their possession limit. Hats off also to whoever reported them.

 

[tealtamer]

sorry to the residents,this is what helps fuel the NR fire on hunting there ,its obvious these guys were killers and not hunters....i mean how many recipes can a guy use on ducks to eat that many ...im glad they got them and they should raffle or sale the gear to repay the price it costs to get that many ducks raised

 

[mjollnir]

Word is out at Stop and Go that all of their stuff was confiscated including their dog. Betcha it's glad, that poor thing is probably tired.

The tip was most likly from someone in a bar over hearing them bragging.

Oh and they were from North Carolina.

And if convicted their gear will be on auction at the annual seize property auction.

 

[MRN]

all of their stuff was confiscated including their dog. Betcha it's glad, that poor thing is probably tired. [endquote]

That's pretty funny, but it brings to mind what economic value these guys brought to town. They probably bought ammo by the case, bags and bags of ice, several coolers - a veritable windfall for the local economy.

This has nothing to do with NR hunters (these guys were pigs), but I am chalking one up for the economic development aspect of hunting.

M.

 

[Dan Bueide]

Tealtamer, though I've been active in the pressure issues, I won't hold this or any other isolated incident against nonres'es. This incident has nothing to do with and shouldn't fuel the fire about the res'es concerns over pressure. If the facts bear out, these guys were slobs regardless of what plate was on their vehicle. As paticular examples of poor behavior have been noted in several posts, there are bad apples in every crowd on all sorts of issues. These guys hurt the reputation of all hunters, res and nonres alike.

 

[muzzy]

Just a little clarification on the seizure part of the case. The gear is seized as evidence used in a crime, just as it would be if someone was arrested for drug possession and had say a firearm in the truck. Once court is over they may get it back. It is solely up to the judge whether they loose their hunting priviliges and hunting gear. They could be convicted and just get fined. A lot of our judges do a poor job of sentencing of game and fish violations. Judges and states attorneys often do not view these as important as domestic cases or drug cases. Sportsmen and their groups need to lean on the judges and states attorneys to really nail these guys. Remember, your judges and states attorneys are elected officials. Also, I doubt their dog was seized as none of the wardens would want to take care of it, and if something happened to the dog while it was in custody and it was awarded back, guess who would be liable for damages. What they might have done was a paper confiscation where the owner keeps control over the animal but has to surrender it if the court demands so. Confiscating an animal would not typically be normal procedure

 

[Robert A. Langager]

That is too bad. I have lived in NC now for almost 2 years and I can tell you these people are a different breed than good old midwesterners. I was born in Fargo and lived there until I was 10 or so, then moved to MN. Chris can vouch that I really don't like it here in NC. I ended up here after my wife chose UNC to do her graduate work. I will say, although I don't really like it here I am glad that I am here and working on my degree at NC State. The same NC State that whooped UNC last week and is ranked #10 in football. But as SOON as we are done with school we are so out of here and back to the frozen tundra! The duck hunting here is very locked down by hunt clubs and the like. Plus, there really aren't that many birds to be had.

I don't want to dog all North Carolinians, some are great. But like anywhere, there are you fair share of asswipes. They just seem to be more prevalent here. I have been called a yankee quite a few times (they are serious, get over it, you lost the war).

 

[Eric Hustad]

What would you want with that many ducks??? Duck isn't that great to eat!!! This doesn't reflect on the average guy that comes out of state to hunt. No matter what sport it is you have your slobs. On my folks lake in Minnesota they caught some people from another state with something like over 600 sunfish or some crazy number like that. My question is why?? If you are that much in need of food go get another job. Again it's sad but you always have your low-class, greedy, slobs of both residents and non. :eyeroll:

 

[MRN]

Eric,

"Why" is a very interesting question. I don't think it has anything to do with food. I believe it was a (perverted) trophy - a dysfunctional machismo/bravado thing - not skirting the law, but in what "good hunters" they were.

Many folks measure success by how many birds they bag: a great hunt means a limit, and anything less means it wasn't a great hunt. The bigger the pile of dead birds, the better the picture. Some, perhaps, believe it a testament to their prowess- the "real man among real men" kinda thing. These guys just took it too far, perhaps thinking some birds are good, more birds are better (or I'm better at hunting...). I believe their motivation wasn't terribly uncommon, just their self-control far too underdeveloped for a free society. If they don't have long records its only because there aren't enough game wardens.

M.

 

[mallard]

Muzzy,What are the chances of this going to federal court?

 

[Davigreenhead]

These guys are absoulute idiots and have no business hunting again!! I was actually camping next to these guys at the carrington park. And found out later from the park worker about this affair. What Pigs. The hunting was tough for my dad and I. Only bagging a few birds that we had to work pretty hard in bagging. And to hear of pigs like these make me sick!

 

[muzzy]

If the feds are involved as the press release had a quote from Rich Grosz, pretty good chance of ending up in federal court

 

[mallard]

It seams like that when a wildlife related violation goes to federal court that the violators are given much stiffer penalties than state courts.Is this normally true muzzy?

 

[muzzy]

Yep, district court is usually a joke. It seems like most district judges and states attorneys don't want to spend much time on something unless it is drug related or some type of serious felony. If you have a judge that likes to hunt, it may be a little better, but for the most part they are pretty much out of tune with the outdoor issues.

 

[mjollnir]

Just thought I'd bring this up one more time.

There was a report that the state is doing genetic testing on the meat conficated from this guys. The motive is to see if they shot any banned birds like Canvas Backs.