I'm new to the site and new to this State, but I hope I can get some insight from those of you that have been around for a while.

Let me start by saying that I now have a full and complete understanding of hunting regulations within Alabama. I also accept full responsibility for this mess, and I can honestly say that I had no intention to break the law - I was simply ignorant of the law. The problem is I got a completely innocent person cited.

Three months ago I purchased 40 acres situated between two corn fields. It's a nice spot and we intend to build our last home there in about five years. I purchased a protein block at WalMart and placed it along the wood line of the food plot my son and I planted.

I invited a friend to hunt that stand while my son and I hunted from a stand on the other side of the property. It was this mans very first day hunting in his life. It looks like my neighbor to the East reported the violation and the Warden walked up on my friend and cited him for hunting over bait. I am asking him to fight the citation and have offered to pay half of the legal fees wether he wins or losses. I think he's decided to fight it.

So here is the situation: I am the one who placed that bait on the ground - not him. I never told him that I had placed bait in his area, because I was too stupid to understand it was bait. He walked up to the stand in the dark and began hunting. The block was a protein block, brown in color, and would look like an old stump (from a distance of 10 yards) to any reasonable person. He didn't even know what the Warden was looking at when the Warden walked to the exact spot and called him over. So, he did not and could not have known the area was baited.

He is looking like he will go to trial. I will be called as a witness and testify to the facts mentioned above - even if it means I will then be cited. Its just the right thing to do.

My question is: Can anyone on this Forum speak from direct experience with respect to defending against a criminal violation of deer baiting. If you have either settle with the DA prior to trial, or you have gone toe-to-toe with the DA in the court room, please talk about your experience.

I screwed this up. I am not asking for lectures as to how stupid I am. I already got that from my wife.

The Alabama Supreme court retuned a decision regarding this very matter in

PHILLIPS v. State).
Ex parte W.A. PHILLIPS. (Re W.A. Phillips v. State).
1981083. March 10, 2000

The case against Phillip was dismissed and is summarized here:

"Because we conclude that a conviction under � 9-11-244 requires a showing that the defendant either knew or should have known that the area over which he was hunting was baited, the trial court erred in instructing the jury that Phillips could be found guilty even without proof that he baited the field or knew that the field was baited.   Therefore, we remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."



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