Has anyone called the fish cops on themselves?

[gloszz]

This may be funny to some and I actually laughed as well.

So yesterday I went out with my dad to bowhunt a zone just north west of Edmonton that has no rifle season until November 1st. I had permission on some land to bowhunt that and as we were walking toward our blind I heard gunshots that appeared to be on the land we have permission to hunt. As we sat down in our spot the gun shots sounded as if they were very close, in fact on the piece of land we had permission to hunt. These were not shotgun shots, these sounded like rifle shots. Anywho... I got upset and decided to report trespassers to the fish and wildlife office and they sure as heck came but the poachers were gone by the time they got there. The cop literally sat on the road staring at us and nothing came out to shoot at. We decided to pack up and he blocked us in and asked for our info and such. I told him straight up that I was the one that reported and thanked him for ruining my hunt. Nice guy to be honest because I was missing my bowhunting permit ( paper copy) but he let me go since I had all my tags and he probably felt bad for ruining a hunt.

I did learn though that they are allowed to go on private property to do an investigation but cannot do a search without a search warrant. I was always under the impression that they have no right to come on private property unless the landowner lets them? I guess you learn something new everyday.

So has anyone called in poachers and got interviewed instead?

[Sledhead71]

The term poacher is used way too much, could have been someone throwing lead at any animal such as a coyote...

Just because there is shots, does not mean someone is doing illegal activities..

Only thing that was remotely proven as being not above board was your bow hunting permit being absent when requested...

Just saying

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

The term poacher is used way too much, could have been someone throwing lead at any animal such as a coyote...

Just because there is shots, does not mean someone is doing illegal activities..

Only thing that was remotely proven as being not above board was your bow hunting permit being absent when requested...

Just saying

I doubt that. No one is allowed to hunt this property. The neighbors that were interviewed by the officer claim to not have heard any guns shots so it makes me look like the bad guy.

Regarding my permit I showed him my online copy and he said no worries since he ran mine when he did a check. He wasn't too worried so I assume he didnt know you have to have it on your person? Was a young guy like me, looked 20-somthing?

Not only that but it is unsafe to shoot a rifle since there are occupied buildings in almost every direction and cattle walking around.

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by gloszz

I doubt that. No one is allowed to hunt this property. The neighbors that were interviewed by the officer claim to not have heard any guns shots so it makes me look like the bad guy.

Regarding my permit I showed him my online copy and he said no worries since he ran mine when he did a check. He wasn't too worried so I assume he didnt know you have to have it on your person? Was a young guy like me, looked 20-somthing?

You would be surprized at how much sound travels, glad your officer was reasonable and your encounter was positive.

[AB2506]

Originally Posted by gloszz

I doubt that. No one is allowed to hunt this property. The neighbors that were interviewed by the officer claim to not have heard any guns shots so it makes me look like the bad guy.

Regarding my permit I showed him my online copy and he said no worries since he ran mine when he did a check. He wasn't too worried so I assume he didnt know you have to have it on your person? Was a young guy like me, looked 20-somthing?

Not only that but it is unsafe to shoot a rifle since there are occupied buildings in almost every direction and cattle walking around.

OMG! So many things in this post, but I'll only comment on one.

You didn't have you bow permit on you, but you showed him on your phone (I assume) that you had purchased one, and the officer had already checked and confirmed you had a permit, yet you assume he didn't know the law because he didn't right you a ticket for not having the permit on your person? You profiled him because of his age? Unbelievable!

Now days, a young F&W officer has an Applied Bachelor's degree in Resource Management and Conservation Enforcement (I'm not looking up the current degree title). Four long years of study, summers working for peanuts trying to gain experience. Perhaps years of seasonal and contract work before he won the lottery and got his dream job. He knew the law, but he had confirmed you had a permit and had misplaced it. Having your tags with you, he knew you made a mistake forgetting the permit, but he chose to exercise discretion and not charge you. This is the type of human officer we want in enforcement.

I've worked in enforcement 28 years. I could write tickets every day all day long, but enforcement is more than writing tickets. Educating the public about the laws is probably job one. Then I can utilize verbal warnings, written warnings, remedial orders with tickets taking a backseat to all that, depending on the circumstance. Some calls are not founded. It's all enforcement. Most people or corporations that are issued tickets committed acts intentionally or by negligence that caused harm to the environment or City infrastructure and/or did not comply with the instructions on the written warnings or remedial orders. Others talk themselves into tickets. (Be polite to the Officer!)

A good enforcement officer uses all the tools in his toolbox to enforce the laws he is authorized to enforce in his jurisdiction, following departmental policies and procedures. He remembers how he would like to be treated and treats the citizens with respect. As a supervisor once told us "I could train a monkey to write tickets, but I pay you a good salary to think and exercise discretion".

Instead of assuming this young officer didn't know his job, you should celebrate that he exercised discretion and did not write you a ticket. A lot of older F&W officers would have.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by AB2506

OMG! So many things in this post, but I'll only comment on one.

You didn't have you bow permit on you, but you showed him on your phone (I assume) that you had purchased one, and the officer had already checked and confirmed you had a permit, yet you assume he didn't know the law because he didn't right you a ticket for not having the permit on your person? You profiled him because of his age? Unbelievable!

Now days, a young F&W officer has an Applied Bachelor's degree in Resource Management and Conservation Enforcement (I'm not looking up the current degree title). Four long years of study, summers working for peanuts trying to gain experience. Perhaps years of seasonal and contract work before he won the lottery and got his dream job. He knew the law, but he had confirmed you had a permit and had misplaced it. Having your tags with you, he knew you made a mistake forgetting the permit, but he chose to exercise discretion and not charge you. This is the type of human officer we want in enforcement.

I've worked in enforcement 28 years. I could write tickets every day all day long, but enforcement is more than writing tickets. Educating the public about the laws is probably job one. Then I can utilize verbal warnings, written warnings, remedial orders with tickets taking a backseat to all that, depending on the circumstance. Some calls are not founded. It's all enforcement. Most people or corporations that are issued tickets committed acts intentionally or by negligence that caused harm to the environment or City infrastructure and/or did not comply with the instructions on the written warnings or remedial orders. Others talk themselves into tickets. (Be polite to the Officer!)

A good enforcement officer uses all the tools in his toolbox to enforce the laws he is authorized to enforce in his jurisdiction, following departmental policies and procedures. He remembers how he would like to be treated and treats the citizens with respect. As a supervisor once told us "I could train a monkey to write tickets, but I pay you a good salary to think and exercise discretion".

Instead of assuming this young officer didn't know his job, you should celebrate that he exercised discretion and did not write you a ticket. A lot of older F&W officers would have.

No haha, he checked after I showed him just to be sure. I assumed he was being nice and didn't write me a ticket for either being nice and seeing I was a normal person that made a mistake or he did not know that I have to have a physical copy. I assume I needed a physical copy, same as with a fishing license. I respect him for being a normal person and not trying to be arrogant. We talked about a few questions I had regarding issues I was not too sure about.

[hayseed]

Don't forget about the part of said officer ruining your hunt...

[The moose]

If you heard more then one shot, Probably sighting a rifle in or practice for general season.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by The moose

If you heard more then one shot, Probably sighting a rifle in or practice for general season.

Bingo

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by The moose

If you heard more then one shot, Probably sighting a rifle in or practice for general season.

That is what i thought but it did not sound like that. Plus even if they were, it is rude and not safe as stated in my edited comment.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by gloszz

That is what i thought but it did not sound like that. Plus even if they were, it is rude and not safe as stated in my edited comment.

How do you know that it was unsafe, if you didn't even see the people doing the shooting? You posted that it sounded like they were n the property that you had permission for, but without actually seeing them shooting, you can't know for sure, exactly where they were shooting, what direction they were shooting, or what they were shooting at.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by gloszz

Plus even if they were, it is rude and not safe as stated in my edited comment.

How is sighting in a rifle rude?

[Talking moose]

I used to call myself in a lot for fishing without a licence. The reward was 50 dollars more than the ticket.

[Luckybrand]

you wouldn’t happen to be in 503 would you? And 503 not relevant to this part which is the fact that lot of people do their own load development and that can take hours and hours or even days to perfect. You may perceive it as an inconvenience where you feel entitled to hunt but usually as many shots as you’re talking about is target shooting or load development etc. All normally done in a safe manner, calling the COs because of an assumption and ruining your own hunt was kind of silly and as we all have heard before assuming makes an assout of u and me.

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