NC DNR Sucks

[gundogguru]

Well where do I start. We where at the Backwoods HRC test Saturday when the man come up and starts giving $200 ticket out to the gunners and the judges for not havivng a NC hunting lic. He gave Huntlabs one and he was one of the judges. Then they yell every one that was handling a dog that they needed one also. So everybody heads for town to pay $70 for a 6 day non Res. lic. Then they tell use since the club did not have a feild trial permit. That we could not have the test on Sunday. So the club told everybody that bought a nonres lic. that they would refund everybody's money and entries. So I can'tsay anything bad about the club. they are a great bunch of people.And we WILL got back for any test's they have.

[Sasha and Abby]

What a bunch of assholes.

[Duckman#1]

What I want to know is how they can write a judge a ticket whan he was armed with pencil and paper? NO GUN! Thats Bull SHIT! As for the officer that walked in the store and laughed at all the people standing in line to buy a license should have his ass kicked. He's employed by the people and was being disrespectful and unprofessional.
Also he could have wrote a temporary permit and givin the club a warning.That would be fair.

[Huntlabs]

My ticket charged me with "taking wild birds without an appropriate license". I did not have a gun, only a pencil and a notebook to write the qualifications of the dogs I judged. The birds that we used were sold to us by a businessman in NC, who makes his living raising these ducks. They were dispatched by the hunt test committee early in the morning before the hunt test began. Anything but wild birds. I have a problem with the DNR agents who came to the sight and disrupted the efforts of people who are probably the biggest supporters of Natural Resourses in our states. As retriever trainers we all are concerned about conserving our resources, ducks, and we are willing to make many sacrifices, money and time, to protect them. There were 250 people there from SC, NC, GA, VA, WI, and MN, that are members of DU and other conservation groups that I know for sure will now have a bad taste in their mouth for the NC Department of Natural Resources. The problem was no Field Trial permit, the ticket should have said "NO field trial permit". The people from NC that were in charge of the hunt test and should have gotten the permit were not ticketed, only those judges and gunners that were nonresidents and were unaware of the fact that NC DNR permits were not obtained were ticketed. Good work NC DNR your agents are really on the ball!!!!

[Sasha and Abby]

I will wager that none of our own DNR would have acted in such a way toward the one group that does support them. Talking about biting the hand that feeds you...

[Catdaddy]

That sucks but unknowingly you were breaking the law.

Why?.....because Backwoods HRC tried to save $25.00 by skimping on the field trial fee. The purpose of the permit is to protect out of state participants. They were totally at fault for the problems.

They should pay for everyone's license and ANY FINE that you or anyone else was assessed. Every club knows about having a permit and they certainly did.

[Maverick]

It was a total mess. Good thing I'm not running dogs yet. But all this still didnt keep me from havin a great time watching all the good dogs work. GunDog, the pictures should be on tonight, we looked at them last night when we got home, and there were a couple good ones.

[Huntlabs]

Ok, Cat you got me. I ran out there before the crowd got there and stabbed a wild mallard in the head with my pencil.

[Huntlabs]

Sorry Cat, I'm not taking it out on you, but some things just don't pass the common sence test. If you need a permit to have a field trial and you don't get one then someone should be held responsible. If someone doesn't get a permit you don't give a ticket to all the out of state people that are at the test for taking wild birds when there weren't any wild birds and nobody was taking any. It's all made up, and any law that says we will only punish the nonresidents when our residents are the people at fault is absurd.

[Duckman#1]

My ticket charged me with "taking wild birds without an appropriate license". I did not have a gun, only a pencil and a notebook to write the qualifications of the dogs I judged.

That is WRONG plain and simple and I don't give a damn who you are!! The officers could have written a temporary permit and either written the "club" a ticket or warning. Thats fair!

Point: If you get in someone elses boat and get checked and don't have the proper safty gear then who gets the ticket? The operator of the vessel!

[Moatsy]

I carried NC licenses for years... and I wish I could say that I was surprised.

[Sasha and Abby]

I would go to court... I can't believe they did not give a ticket for hunting out of season...

[Professor]

Originally posted by Catdaddy:
That sucks but unknowingly you were breaking the law.

Why?.....because Backwoods HRC tried to save $25.00 by skimping on the field trial fee. The purpose of the permit is to protect out of state participants. They were totally at fault for the problems.

They should pay for everyone's license and ANY FINE that you or anyone else was assessed. Every club knows about having a permit and they certainly did.

Cat,
The permit was FREE!! I'm not taking up for the club, because they should have had it, but, they've been running tests for years without a permit and nothing was ever said. Fortunately, I wasn't fined, but the DNR officers handled it very poorly. After everyone had to get a license (just to finish running on Saturday), they made Backwoods cancel the test for Sunday, because you can't hunt in NC on Sunday. What a crock!
I am wondering if this club was not "set up" by the likes of PETA or some other dispicable animal rights organization. It is hard for me to fathom any DNR acting like these wardens did. NC can't be that hard up for money!
Professor

[Shotunderit]

Have ya'll thought about contacting an attorney ?

[Huntlabs]

S & A, I guess we were luckey not to get charged with shooting ducks with an unplugged pencil, over the limit, and out of season.

[Sasha and Abby]

Huntlabs... They are watching you now... Wait until next time.

[Low Country Sandlapper]

I would request a jury trial.

[dubshot]

Is the fine worth the drive to court and the time missed from work? Maybe everyone that got a ticket could hire the same lawyer for a small amount each. He probaly can handle it with out yall returning to NC. I do think you can get this thrown out, if the judge is not on the take and this is not a poor county. Good luck and what county were you in?

[deadriver]

Class action case!

I am contacting the pres of all NC HRCs to try to organize some unified response to this rediculous fucking case! A certain amount of jusgement is warranted here. If any one is at fault it is the club, and they should have been the only people dealt with by the DNR, and argualbly they should have just left it alone. God forbid and group of sportmen and sportwomen try to encourage the ethical revovery of downed game by encouraging the proficient training of retrievers. I am going to be moving up there and that already makes me think there are two GW that i don't ever want to see. Probably would plant something on your truck just to write you a ticket.

The tickets that i read, said very contradictory shit. Comments like reference= hunt test, then charge= taking of wild quail without a liscense. The quail were in throwers, never even own the ground on there on 2 feet. The mallards were not being taken, unless you count buying a bird from a pen and ringing its neck as taking!!!!! So if i go down to the jockey lot and buy a mallard and ring its neck, i am hunting. What a dumb ass.

The one warden was bragging about how Gung Ho he was, then made the comment that the younger game warden was so gung ho, " he hears gun shots in his sleep".

Not looking forward to being a hunter in NC next year!

[tradorion]

Not going to play armchair quarterback and say "He (the GW) was WRONG!!" i will point out my thoughts...

#1- be pissed at the club as well as the officer... if they had done the right thing there would be no issue here (the right thing being defined as researching and explaining to the participants all needed permits licenses etc) just b/c someone "has done it that way for years" makes it no less of an offense.

#2 research the law and see what definitions apply where- such as in SC you can be hunting and have no weapon in hand- so look into what you were charged with and why. your ducks may be qualified as "wild birds" under NC law or the interaction with/supervision of the hunt may be a factor.

#3 contact the officer first and if no resolution can be reached then check with his supervisor THEN a lawyer... this is the cheapest route and often works best...

#4 having done all of the above and found no resolution to the issue- be ready to fight with all resources available... it might be a pain, but i like my good name and hate settlements that do not resolve the issue in full truth- if i was innocent (this goes back to checking the law) you can bet your ass i would have my day in court.

Finally, someone noted that an SC Game Warden would not have done this... not necessarily true- ANY officer can make a poor call based on observations at times... as for "biting the hand that feeds you" my check is paid for by the state nad NO SPORTING GROUP or other entity "feeds me" thus there are no hands that i worry about biting. Illegal is illegal. I checked a prominent DU member this year and was told "We're the good guys" I replied "you get checked like the rest of the guys"...

It has been my experience with many "beneficial groups" that they take more than their share of legal leeway b/c they feel since they support the resource they deserve more.

Just my $.02

T