Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Disputing a Deer baiting Citation - A Little Help?

Good luck TGray and welcome to AlDeer. Sounds like an honest mistake to me, but I'm not a judge, just a fellow hunter.

Yep. I was talking to a fellow last week that told me he was about to report his neighbors to the police for something (I won't mention what) they were doing on their own property. When he told me how far over the line it was I asked him how he knew this information. He told me he got pictures of them on his game cam that he had over there. ???? I told him it sounded to me like he would probably end up being charged with trespassing. And rightfully so.

Good luck. Stupid law in my opinion regarding the blocks. The GW that wrote the citation in my opinion should have been a little more understanding. If you say you are sandwiched between corn fields, that little mineral block was doing nothing. I think the biggest worry for me here would be the neighbor. I'd chalk the GW up as an @ss and take it to court....Let us know.

The Law is the Law.

Funny how you guys sway......

Go and plead guilty and pay your buddy's fine.

THEN, read the Rules and Regulations before next season.
Just being frank and to the point.
It is an unfortunate situation that your friend is in and I sympathize. But, ignorance of the Law on YOUR part is no excuse.

Thanks, Hogwild.

That is precisly the input I earlier mentioned was niether requested nor desired. I guess you just couldn't help yourself. It's all good. I deserve it and I can take it.

Now, considering that the appearance date has passed and now my friend has a trail date, do you have anything that we could find useful? Any help would be appreciated. Respectfully, TGray.

Not true.

Trophy Rock is just as illegal as a mineral block by law, and the DCNR's own literature condones it's use.

Funny how you guys sway.

It's a nit-picking pick-pocket scheme that has nothing to do with conservation of wildlife. He just used the wrong commercial product brand.

Just being frank and to the point.

TGray,

Here's the fine schedule for your info. Add court costs of course:



Supreme Court's Schedule of Fines

Link to Archie Phillip's story in his case

Don't worry about Hogwild, TGray. He's an Auburn fan so he lacks basic reading comprehension skills

Seriously tho I feel bad about your situation. Hope it ends well.

OK.....

I see. You feel like you are entitled to an exception.

Sorry for the confusion!

So, where in this admission of guilt (ignorance of the Law does not constitute being innocent) is the loophole that you guys are looking for to try and get a Not Guilty verdict???

What's truly sad here is your buddy will probably never want to hunt again. Even if he does, he's always going to have a bad taste in his mouth when he thinks of his first hunt. I just wish the GW had used a little better judgement. I agree with some of 49er's points. It's kinda crazy that the guy sitting there staring at a 55 gallon drum feeder waiting on a deer and your buddy are considered as equals when it comes to hunting over bait. I know the law is the law, and GW's are sworn to uphold the law, just an unfortunate situation.

Oh no! I'm gonna agree with 49er. If our new Al deer friend had used a Trophy Rock, he'd have been legal. . A judge and /or jury might just say Phillips case applies and might look on your block as same as a throphy rock. Not condoning what went down, just what might happen in real world / real court. My 2cents.
Why should Trophy Rock have a monopoly? Aren't government condoned monopolys illegal?

Hmmm. I did not realize Trophy Rock was legal. I was thinking a white salt block was the only thing legal. So what happens when you put down a mineral block in March and it's gone by October 15th and the deer have dug a huge hole. Is it then legal to hunt the area?? I'd bet there are still minerals from the block in the soil. Crazy.

Yep, the minerals I use are same as trophy rock, just more concentrated. Di-calcium phosphate mixed with red trace mineral.
Here's the real kicker, per the regs / law, white salt is NOT legal. But for years boys in DCNR / GWs say it is. more
Oh don't forget, bush hogging or running perfectly good $7+ bushel corn straight through a combine is normal farming practice. yep, some more

Did not know that about salt. How about Come-ere deer or whatever it's called? I read somewhere it's just rice-bran. For that matter, how about rice-bran? I've put out a few trophy rocks and they dig the ground up around them.....I just wish the GW had used some discretion here. Kinda like doing 57 mph in a 55 zone, maybe a warning or something. As much as we hear about introducing folks to hunting and hunting license sells are down, ect ect, this guy took his buddy out to introduce him to hunting and this happens. Unfortunate.

Yep, I really hate it for that first time hunter. Best I can tell, the Come-ere deer / rice bran stuff is illegal, as it should be. The DCNR is just like Alabama weather, in more ways than one. Don't like the laws / regs, it'll change any day now. And everyone talks bout it, but no one ever does anything.

Thanks, 49er. That's the kind of info I was looking for.

Interesting. The Supreme Court fine schedule shows $250 for baiting. My buddys ticket is $500. Same code - #244. I wonder if this is and old schedule.

We were told by the lawyer that had just left the DA's office in Tuscaloosa that was asked to address this year's meeting on hunting rules and regs that the court cost can be as much as the fine. He went on to say that if you ask for a trial with a jury, it can take up to three years for the trial to be heard in Tuscaloosa County.

Hunting privileges would remain intact during the wait according to Capt. Sanford with the DCNR Div. III. I doubt if your buddy is worried about hunting privileges now though, and it may not even be a factor in a baiting case. I dont' know.
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Edit:

Here's what the law says about the penalty:



You certainly need to talk to a lawyer. Your friend faces the maximum sentence at the discretion of the court. If you accept the blame and take a conviction instead of him, you need to look at the penalty you would face for a second conviction if you continue to hunt. As you have seen, it would be very easy to find yourself with a second conviction if you were not very careful to avoid it.

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Don't listen to the bad advice to plead guilty. Making them take the time and spend the money it takes to pursue their case is a deterent to keeping this law on the books according to their own report.
A lawyer may also be able to get the fines and court costs reduced even if there is a conviction, making it even less beneficial for them to pursue cases like yours. Don't throw in the towel and make their case easy for them if you want to help put an end to this pick-pocket scheme.

Call your senator and representative and ask them to support any bill that might come before the legislature this year that proposes and end to this corrupted piece of ... (I'll just call it legislation). I think the original intent of the law was to promote ethical hunting. In it's present form as ammended and interpreted, ethics have given way to unethical political coniving.

if that sum of $500 came from the ticket itself(bail bond) it has nothing to do with the fine as ordered by a court. Was that amount written on the ticket by the GW???

troy

I'll keep all of that in mind, 49er. Thanks for the input.

Fred - that $500 was written on the citation. He was given an option to simply pay the fine as an admission of guilt and have the offense on his record. He choose not to do that. Now he has a trail date.