DNR visit

Cecil, someone "liked" this post and it came back up on my screen. You've said a lot of dumbass things but I hope you revisit your remark and see what America had come TODAY. "Some rights are worth fighting. Some are not." That's why America is under attack today. People like you thinking that rights should be gauged by priority and some aren't worth fighting for. People LIKE YOU have led us to this point in American history where ALL your rights have been slowly eroded so that when they take them, no one will hardly notice. Sure they are "doing their job". Does that relinquish you from insuring they do their job CORRECTLY? What about YOUR JOB in protecting your own rights. The day when the "peaceful" vegans show up and toss a couple gallons of malathion into your ponds, let us know how some of your rights weren't worth the effort.

 

Here in MD I get cked once a year most the time , definitely every 2 years . I have had no issues as we have a book that we have to put everything in that comes thru the door must go in that book . That said I make the client fill that book out with his info and tags , as if it’s a lie I didn’t write it . Also when my clients try to I tell me there hunting story I stop them and tell them i don’t want to hear it as if I find it to be illegal then I could be used to testify against them if they are prosecuted. I can’t tell if I don’t know . It doesn’t bother me that DNR comes by to ck for one it’s on my License , that I must agree to let them at a reasonable time and 2nd I’m not and I don’t take in anything illegal, it’s not worth loosing my license and I hate poachers. But I do have rights and tell them if they empty my freezer it’s like a puzzle and they better get it to fit all back in or go buy me another freezer.

 

Interesting comment, and very true.

 

had a CO come to my shop looking for some penned up wild hogs they thought I was releasing.. apparently a member on here took aprils fools post seriously and turned me in ... dont know how they connected taxnet user name with mine.... when he started threatening my licenses I simply told him this talk is done.

 

all you need to show them is record book and showroom they cannot go in freezers anymore

 

Not sure where your from but in MD they can and do .

 

They sure do here also!!!!

 

Thats not true. Please take time to read the findings of a federal district court in the Mike Showers case. The ruling explicitly states that officers CANNOT "inspect" areas not in plain view of the public.
Now understand, this ruling was from the 3rd District Court which covers Pennsylvania and Delaware while Maryland is under the 4th District Court. HOWEVER, since it was a Federal District ruling, it applies nationwide until or unless it is challenged in the US Supreme Court. Every taxidermist should keep a copy of this ruling on their desks. If the officer demands to see the freezer contents, hand the findings to him, tell him what it says, and then allow him to decide a course of action. Do NOT interfere if he demands to search your freezers. After he leaves, just call a good lawyer and explain to the clerk you have just had a warrantless search conducted. It won't cost you a penny. Do you know how many lawyers live for the opportunity to sue state and local governments?
Many of you think that you need to play nice with the DNR and they'll be your buddy. That's a chicken and fox situation. They didn't come by your shop on a social visit. They came there looking for a reason to charge you. For those who make the dumb remark that "if you don't have anything to hide, you have no worries", you need to wise up and accept the fact that if the officer thought you had nothing to hide, he wouldn't have felt the need to search your freezers.

Two years ago we had a taxidermist here in Delaware arrested. DNREC made sure to have it put in headlines in the local paper. He allowed them in his freezer. He had a game farm quail of his own in there without a tag and then he was charged with having a CITES protected animal without documentation. When i saw that, I called DNREC as that is a federal violation and I wanted to pass that along to several other taxidermists here. Not surprisingly the wardens didn't want to discuss it. I called the DNR director. He told me that the CITES animal was a BLACK BEAR KILLED IN MAINE. That lead to a discussion of how boneheaded his officers were. He meekly admitted the charges had been dropped. I asked if they were printing a retraction and apology to the paper. He said they weren't until I told him I was writing the DNREC Secretary a letter that explained Showers and CITES and would forward the included in a letter to the editor. They printed a retraction, returned the animals and he got a call from the director apologizing.

13 Point is absolutely correct about the hunting stories. The man I sold my business to was served with a warrant last week. A month ago, officers came by with a search warrant for a deer that had been poached. They confiscated the hide and antlers and gave him the receipt. He told the officers of the conversation with the client and gave them the certified state registration info. His warrant tells him that he will be a witness for the state during the trial of the poacher. Conversations have consequences.

 

My freezers are in my shop and the way my shop is laid out the public can see all my freezers , and they really don’t tare my freezers apart they open and look at maybe 3-4 things against my book that’s in the hunters writing, George I understand what and where your coming from but , I feel they are just doing there job . You might say BS but if all my books are correct which they are , if they find something there not coming after me there going for the poaching pcs of chit that I wasn’t aware of and I’m fine with that. I have never in 35 years got a ticket from a DNR inspection.

 

George is right ... freezers are not covered under inspections only visible area of shop and books.... If they ask to look in freezer you have the right to say no

 

Having CO's going thru a Taxidermists freezer only causes issues, as what if the CO's would break the tail off a customers fish that is wrapped in a towel. Will the state DNR office replace that fish? If the CO is looking for an item, they can say so. I as a fishing guide and taxidermist will work with the co's to find poachers and to have them removed from our lakes and woods. I have even call CO's on guys breaking state laws.
They could get a warrant for a full scale search of all freezers. Looking over the books is not a big deal.

 

13 Point I understand. Everyone runs their shop the way they see fit. Having spent nearly 20 years as a safety, industrial, and aircraft inspector I was never there to "help" anyone and when i supervised all those positions, I trusted my inspectors even less. I weeded out the zealous ones and got the considerate one promoted. The last people I trust is a game warden sent out to inspect taxidermists. It may shock many of you but a survey conducted recently has found this "service" is becoming inundated with vegan and animal rights activists. A recent graduating class of 10 new officers had only 2 who claimed to be active hunters.

BTW, your freezers may well be in plain sight but their contents are not. This is like a State Trooper stopping your car and demanding you to allow him to search your car without reasonable doubt.

 

[QUOTE="George.....It may shock many of you but a survey conducted recently has found this "service" is becoming inundated with vegan and animal rights activists. A recent graduating class of 10 new officers had only 2 who claimed to be active hunters.


That’s quite alarming to me....much like having communist freedom-haters in public office. Foxes guarding the hen houses.

 

I did a short intership back in 1995 checking exotic weeds on boats for the DNR. (yea, I was that guy, LOL) At that time very few interns had any hunting or fishing experience. They were there to "save" and "protect" the environment.

 

Still at it I see George. Someone has a difference of opinion and you start in with the invectives. I still say paying lawyer fees is not worth it when you have nothing to hide and they are doing their job. Hell as much as lawyers charge they are the biggest criminals. And I guess you missed the part where I said the exception is if they get out of line.

Cheers!

 

And they'll be back with a fed like they did a friend of mine and they WILL find something. Just not worth it IMHO. If you want to raise suspicion in their eyes and cause a problem were there wasn't one that's up to you.

Btw the friend that basically told them to **** off will never do that again. He said it's just not worth it. He spent a small fortune on attorney fees.

 

Btw if a pedestrian has the right of way and pushes it, gets run over, and dies --- was it worth being right?

 

what judge is going to mess around with a search warrant for a freezer ..... I had two county sherrifs stop in with a trumped up warrant about a fine I paid 3 years previously... told them it was paid and said lets take a ride then. my lawyer will meet us at the station.... they quickly changed tune and said they would forget the warrant to look in my shop(separate building) and freezer inside. apparently the lady nieghbor saw me taking pics of a goose mount on my deck and thought I was killing the local geese. showed them my fed permit state lic and offered my record books... they then declined saying it was a mistake...they will pull all kinds of crap to "enforce" thier dootys... had a co tell me they could dissect a bobcat and tell if it was taken in or out of season by the fat layer and stomach contents....uniformed CON artists

 

thats all a big joke as well... exotic weeds snails etc will spread regardless of boats... lake Vadnais in Mn which supplies st paul water supply is choked with milfoil and has not had a boat in its waters for 75 years...plenty of herons egrets ducks geese ....

 

I have to agree with George. I have a little experience with federal law enforcement agents and they are not your "friend." I tell the people I deal with whenever they are asked a question by an agent to answer with "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" BUT nothing more. A lot of times the agent has a piece of a puzzle and needs more pieces and too many times the gift of gab gets people into more trouble than if they just kept their mouth shut. They think they did "nothing wrong" but they don't know what the agent knows and what they are fishing for. My advice is be cordial and say nothing more than necessary.