All,
Before I start this thread, I would like to fully acknowledge that I was in willful violation
of PA's hunting laws. However, there are constitutional protections that apply to all of us.
That being said, I'm interested in hearing about ways to defend myself using my rights as
a basis for defense. If you are not interested in helping feel free to click on another link and
not waste either of our time. Here's the scoop:
I was hunting on posted, private land. I am the land owner and I've given permission to no one
to hunt on my land. I was hunting on a baited site that had "residue" so I was cited for hunting
in a baited area. The game warden had me dead to rights. I'm not refuting that. Here's the interesting
part. Approximately 4 weeks before the open of Archery season (Late Aug, early Sept time frame).
Someone stole my trail camera from near my hunting location. I did some quick detective work and figured
there was no way a bear took the camera as there was no damage to the tree it was attached nor broken
pieces of camera in the vicinity. I put up a new camera and locked it. Lesson learned. On the first day of
rifle season, the game warden parked directly behind my vehicle, followed my 4 wheeler trail directly to my
stand, cited me then walked directly back to their vehicle. For the game warden to know I was on my
land violating the law, I can only come up with 2 scenarios.
1) Someone trespassed on private property, stole my camera and reported my actions to the game commission.
2) The game commissioner in question profiled my vehicle from a separate albeit recent encounter, and just
followed my trail.
As I understand it, PA Game Wardens have the right to come onto private land in the performance of their duties,
but is there not a need for probable cause or reasonable suspicion for a LEO to enter private property? What about
"fruit of the forbidden tree" (ie. someone trespassed in order to obtain evidence to report a violation). It was obvious
that the game warden was not on any type of "patrol" nor would they have a reason to patrol land that was posted.
Any information relevant to this particular incident is greatly appreciated.
Before I start this thread, I would like to fully acknowledge that I was in willful violation
of PA's hunting laws. However, there are constitutional protections that apply to all of us.
That being said, I'm interested in hearing about ways to defend myself using my rights as
a basis for defense. If you are not interested in helping feel free to click on another link and
not waste either of our time. Here's the scoop:
I was hunting on posted, private land. I am the land owner and I've given permission to no one
to hunt on my land. I was hunting on a baited site that had "residue" so I was cited for hunting
in a baited area. The game warden had me dead to rights. I'm not refuting that. Here's the interesting
part. Approximately 4 weeks before the open of Archery season (Late Aug, early Sept time frame).
Someone stole my trail camera from near my hunting location. I did some quick detective work and figured
there was no way a bear took the camera as there was no damage to the tree it was attached nor broken
pieces of camera in the vicinity. I put up a new camera and locked it. Lesson learned. On the first day of
rifle season, the game warden parked directly behind my vehicle, followed my 4 wheeler trail directly to my
stand, cited me then walked directly back to their vehicle. For the game warden to know I was on my
land violating the law, I can only come up with 2 scenarios.
1) Someone trespassed on private property, stole my camera and reported my actions to the game commission.
2) The game commissioner in question profiled my vehicle from a separate albeit recent encounter, and just
followed my trail.
As I understand it, PA Game Wardens have the right to come onto private land in the performance of their duties,
but is there not a need for probable cause or reasonable suspicion for a LEO to enter private property? What about
"fruit of the forbidden tree" (ie. someone trespassed in order to obtain evidence to report a violation). It was obvious
that the game warden was not on any type of "patrol" nor would they have a reason to patrol land that was posted.
Any information relevant to this particular incident is greatly appreciated.