Ticketed for Shed Hunting with Dogs

[bullwallow]

Need fire power.
I was shed hunting with my 2 labs, which I do just about every weekend in the spring here in Colorado. One has been shed hunting for 6 years and my youngest for 2 years. In March I was ticketed on a State Wildlife area for having a dog off leash. The regulations say that a dog must be on leash unless it is 1. Actively hunting 2.Training a dog for hunting 3.Dog participating in a designated field trial course. The officer said that the regulation does not allow for shed hunting with dogs off leash and was intended for bird or lion hunting dogs. Except nowhere in the regulations does it call out specifics on what type of hunting is allowed and there is no definition of what they consider hunting to be. As all of you on this forum are probably like me and consider our dogs hunting when they are looking for sheds. I am taking this to trial and would like any experiences or suggestions on how I shall win this case. I'm fighting this for our sport of shed hunting with our best friends for the good of everyone on this site.

Background: I arrived at 9 am to shed hunt. At about 5 pm officer pulled up to my truck and walked around my truck an tracked me for a few yards in the opposite direction of my now location. He got in his truck and hid behind a dirt berm. As I figured he wanted to talk to me, I healed my dogs for 1/2 mile plus and when I got about 50 yards from my truck he could see me and I continued to heal them and put them in my truck. Officer pulled up and asked if I was looking for sheds at which time I stated that me and my dogs were. He fined me for one dog off leash which holds a $70 fine plus 5 points off my hunting and fishing privileges of which you get 20 over a five year period, much like a drivers license does. DA thought I had a good argument and called the officer to try and drop the case, but he wouldn't budge. Now I'm going to trial.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all for your time in reading and responding.

[heshen]

Sorry to hear about the trouble the ofiicer gave you. If I were in your posistion I would really be ticked off. Altho I do not have any legal advice for you I am here to say that if you need statements from those that use dogs to find sheds and prove that in fact you are "hunting" with them, I would be willing to write a statement. I am sure that others that hunt sheds with dogs would as well too. There are a few here on the site.

Sounds like the officer was having a bad day and decided to make someone else join him in that venture.

Hope all goes well, but I would fight it to the end if its neccesary. Let me know if there is anything I can do, or others here can do to help you.

[Tonoonyi]

Hate to sound like a downer but all of the definitions for hunt or hunting that I can find, say the pursuit of live game.

That may make it tough to win on that grounds.

[MuleyMadness]

Man that's a tough one for sure, been pretty upset myself if I was in your shoes. Sounds like a classic case of the POWER TRIP to me. If he really felt like you were honestly breaking the law they in this case the most he should have done is simply state to you what the rules/law were and a simple warning would have been sufficient. Sounds like CO has some tough laws on dogs, a guy can't even take his dog out in the hills off leash?? Got to be kidding me, honestly it seems like they obviously have no dog/shed gathering or hunting laws and so he was just being a pain in the butt. Some guys are just like that though.

I'm all for laws to keep dogs from running loose/wild and chasing game on winter ranges etc. but this seems like an extreme case to me. Just my 2 cents. My lab could care less if there was a deer standing right by, she doesn't bark or chase but I'm sure some do.

[Springville Shooter]

I didn't know that the officer had any power to force the DA to do anything. In most cases it's just the opposite, the officer has to beg the DA to pursue a case. At any rate, you got screwed for sure and I hope that you win in court. I would consider filing a FORMAL complaint against the officer if his conduct was in any way out of line. Contrary to popular belief, these complaints do matter, especially when they pile up against an officer. Chances are if he is willing to mess with you, he will mess with many others. Unfortunatly, law enforcement officers need a nudge in the right direction sometimes. Thank goodness most of them are up-front, great folks.-------SS

[waynedevore]

Seems to me the CO was out of line. I would file a complaint, get it on his record.
Got to be better time spent as far as a CO.

[Bowhuntrben]

It looks like Minnesota isn't the only state with crappy DNR officers! I would be very upset if I were in your shoes. Apparently this officer lacks common sense and decency. I would fight it to the end. I wish you the best of luck!!!

[ntspdy]

If the officer acted inappropriately then by all means file a complaint but I didn't read anything in your posts that indicated he did. That's a real crappy law and if it were me I'd just give you a warning but if he acted in a professional manner a complaint would be unfounded. He wrote a ticket for a violation that is on the books.

Prior to trial look up the violation he cited you for and read it. Try to find a loophole in the statue that you can make fit your situation. Identify the terms like "hunting" and find the definition that applies to your statue. Good luck hope it works out in your favor.

[zachvu]

per the Utah shed hunting permit course:

"Utah Code 23-13-2 defines take as to hunt, pursue, harass, catch, capture, possess, angle, seine, trap or kill any protected wildlife or attempt to do any of these actions."

I'm not sure if this will help but it may be a start. I'll keep looking and give whatever I can find!!

[zachvu]

Ooops, just noticed this is from last summer! Let us know what came about from all of it if it's resolved, if not I'll keep browsing!!