Cliff notes

Ole 3 toes Roy that cut the head off of nuclear plant buck entered into a big buck contest and didn't win.

It should count because it was killed in the "big pen" which is "fair chase" according to some.

Didn't win the contest, b/c it wasn't a full deer. Never got charged with poaching b/c they couldn't prove it. He did get charged with failure to game check the buck to which he plead guilty and hence the rack was confiscated.

$50 and loss of rack is the penalty for not filling out Game Check. That's what I took from it. I would be really mad if I lost a deer I hunted for years just because I forgot to fill out Game check.

Need a cite to the full reg.
Does it actually purport to authorize such an extreme penalty?

Sounds like the judge openly admits to doing it for those who don’t do gamecheck. Judges and game enforcement have a lot of leeway in seizing your stuff. A chance to get it back is going to cost $$$

Note to self: Next time I poach a trophy deer, be sure to fill out the paperwork and radio it in before I stow the whole body in my jonny and paddle across the river

Screw game check. Come get my deer head..... If you can.

Big question was why kill a sure enough trophy buck and ruin your mount? Don't think he could produce rest of deer either.

Only $50 and court costs for failing to check a deer?

What a joke. As usual, no teeth to the penalty. ADEM must've set the fines.





From the story:

Kellenberger eventually charged Anderson with failure to report the buck on Game Check. Jackson County District Court records show that on Aug. 12, Earl Ray Anderson pled guilty to failure to report. He paid the maximum fine of $50, plus $50 in court costs. Judge Don Word ordered the rack confiscated. It is now in possession of WFF.

“Because the fines and court costs are so low, Judge Don Word is declaring the racks of people who fail to report contraband because there is no confirmation number,” Kellenberger said. “He does that on all cases, not just Mr. Anderson’s.”





Not everyone mounts their bucks. Their deer, their choice, their money.

Sounds about right Chucky has to know how many dead deer there are cause he damn sure does not know how many live ones there are!! And other than only one person he has no clue if there is 99.999% compliance to the guvment mandate or if it's 10% compliance, so he has a good thing going there!!

Y’all just do as King Chuck says and it’ll all be fine

I dont like the game check thing anymore than the next guy. However I really dont see how it is any different than most of "tag" states.

I guess it all has to do with perspective, after growing up in an area where states require you to get the animal out whole and show up in person to an official weigh station to have your animal measured and fill out a report on all the details of the kill, just jumping on the app and spending 30 seconds seems like a breeze.

The question is whether the regulation or some other part of the DCNR regs or statutes authorizing the DCNR or the court to confiscate someone's deer for not
registering with Game Check - in addition to the $50 fine.

So far I have not found such authorization anywhere.

Here are some basics I found:

1. DCNR Facebook site says failure to Game Check is a $50 fine - but says nothing of property/game confiscation.

https://m.facebook.com/notes/alabam.../game-check-information/629564277088814/


2. Here is the actual game check regulation, and it does not say what the penalty is for failing to register:

https://casetext.com/regulation/ala...harvest-record-and-reporting-requirement


3. Here is the fine schedule for game and fishing law/reg violations, it has $50 listed for harvest record violations:

https://judicial.alabama.gov/docs/library/rules/JA20_appxB.pdf

*******

I don't see anywhere in the above that authorizes a judge to order confiscation of a deer for a harvest record or game check violation.
I know that there must be such an authorization for illegally poached deer as with night hunting or hunting illegally on someone else's land without permission,
so maybe the judge was going by that?
Don't know.

But confiscating someone's deer for a Game Check ( or harvest record) violation is extreme, and there must be specific authority for the DCNR or judge to do that.
Maybe the authority is in some other catch all part of the DCNR statutes or regulations.


Perhaps Troy and Doekiller can help shed further light on this question.

Judges look at it as it doesn't say I can't.

Was this the guy who was posted on here in his tighty whiteys and dirty socks holding the head up in his living room?

Yes