BigGameHoundsmen.com

New decision from the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeal "THE PEOPLE VS BOUHN MAIKHIO". This was handed down in Jan 2010. The way I am reading it, it Basically states that a warden cannot stop you in your vehicle to check your hunting license and cannot search your vehicle unless they have an "articuable" suspicion of illegal activity. No more stopping you driving down a road with your dog box just to see what you are up to. This case involves a warden in San Diego who watched Bouhn using a hand line fishing. Bouhn caught something which the warden could not see. The warden waited until he drove away, stopped him, and searched his car finding an illegally taken lobster. The court threw it out stating the warden should have contacted Bouhn while he was fishing, and that he fish and game code does not give them a blanket right to stop and search everyone. I would advise any hunter to consult their attorney and research this case. When a warden stops me they will get my CDL, Hunting license, any game I have taken and nothing more. I will not answer their questions nor submit to their searches. I will ensure that their contact with me is in a reasonable time frame.

thats good info bear hunter thanks!

i keep a copy of this in my wallet and one stapled to my truck registration and simply hand it to them when im stopped

I hereby invoke and refuse to waive all of the following rights and
privileges afforded to me by the U.S. Constitution:
• I invoke and refuse to waive my Fifth Amendment right to
remain silent. Do not ask me any questions.
• I invoke and refuse to waive my Sixth Amendment right to an
attorney of my choice. Do not ask me any questions without my
attorney present.
• I invoke and refuse to waive all privileges and rights pursuant
to the case Miranda v. Arizona. Do not ask me any questions or make
any comment to me about this decision.
• I invoke and refuse to waive my Fourth Amendment right to be
free from unreasonable searches and seizures. I do not consent to
any search or seizure of myself, my home, or of any property in my
possession. Do not ask me about my ownership interest in any
property. I do not consent to this contact with you. If I am not
presently under arrest or under investigatory detention, please allow
me to leave.
• Any statement I make, or alleged consent I give, in response
to your questions is hereby made under protest and under duress and
in submission to your claim of lawful authority to force me to provide
you with information.

Boss Hog, thanks for posting that. From you guys comments, seems CA. Is a pain with the wardens there, and the laws, no treeing switch, garmin etc. WI is a heavy hunting state, and most these wardens, in N. WI. are pretty decent, they have a job to do, and are now being trained to be decent to the public, not to say they all do, but its much better here, then twenty years ago.

I have the decision in .pdf (which this site does not allow for some reason), so anyone interested in a copy should PM me their email address.

That is what I have been trying to say. The Wardens didn't loose anything, they never had it to begin with. What they do and what is legal can easily be two different things. I am sure they push the envelope often and hope to compile enough evidence to bully a plea bargain. The real problem is that even if you win, you still loose. So even when they break the law the average guy is just happy to have the charges go away. If you are innocent and have your constitutional rights violated, it would be nice to go after them for it. But in reality it just costs to much and isn't really worth it for the average guy to pursue.

In a perfect world the guy that illegally took a lobster would be convicted even if the Game Warden performed an illegal stop. After all the guy was fishing illegally right. But on the other side of the coin if a Warden illegally stopped and searched someone and couldn't find anything incriminating, the Warden should be held personally accountable. That would slow down the violating of our constitutional rights.

The problem George is that until this decision they did have the authority because lower courts were ruling that fish and game sections 1006 and 2012 authorized the detention and search of persons enganged in hunting and even went so far as saying that when a hunter or fisherman engaged in the activity they were basically giving up their rights. This decision changes all that and affirms our rights.
The bottom line is if you break the law you should expect a ticket or an arrest. However contrary to most fish and game wardens opinions not all houndsmen are poachers. There is no doubt wardens have a tough and dangerous job. If they get their act togethar and start enforcing the law equally and fairly I will support them. When I made an arrest I treated everyone fairly from the traffic violater on up to the guy who sodomized his step sons with a broom stick, beat them so badly it ruptured the kids liver, shot their mom, and then tried to shoot me. It was not my job to form an opinion, it was my job to gather facts and make an arrest. There have been many times where I have gone back and checked on a suspects family for them after I took them to jail. Many times I have given money to suspects or their families. You do not have to treat people badly to get the job done.

You and I are on the same page Bear Hunter. I just prefer to word it a little different.

I have a lot of respect for law enforcement, they are a necessity and quite often are performing a thankless job. I feel the same, they need to do their job and preferably do it well. Just leave us law abiding citizens to do what the law allows.

I really agree with alot of what you guys say but I also wonder why you are so worried Just follow the law and they will get tired of harassing you. I know thats not the way it should be but some of these guys just see way too much B.S. from us.

Its not about being worried. I dont violate the law so have nothing to hide. Now here is where everone is going to write me off as a right wing cook. I am against ANY infringement upon my rights as a citizen of the United States of America. Our forefathers founded this country to be safe from a tyranical government who imposes their will upon the people. The founding fathers wrote a document called the constitution which gaurantees that I will be free from unjust persecution and unlawful search and seizure of my person or property. That includes fish and game or any other law enforcement agency. If we just sit back with the attitude of "if you object then you have something to hide" we will continue to lose more and more rights. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" is a quate that is often attributed to Ben Franklin but was in use 20 years before he said it. Remember it took Rome 1000 years to fall. Look how far America has sunk just in a few hundred years.

AMEN to that BEAR HUNTER!

I am not that worried about it either. And I am far from a right wing wacko. And when it comes down to it I have had more problems with other hunters than game wardens. I have spent a lot of my days in the woods over the last 15 years (not just hunting hounds) and only had a couple bad experiences with game wardens. It has been close to 10 years since I even had a speeding ticket or a bad experience with a policeman. So I guess it is not that big of deal.

I actually enjoyed the stories of busting meth heads that like to go kill stuff and leave it laying in peoples yards. Good work Officer Boyd. But leave the guys that are legally running their hounds alone. A dog box doesn't make you a poacher.

GEORGE I'M ONE OF THOSE GUYS THAT LET MYSELF BE PUSHED INTO A CORNER ON A GAME VIOLATION AND YOUR RIGHT. NOT KNOWING MY LEGAL RIGHTS I WAS PRETTY MUCH UP THE CREEK. BUT BELEIVE THIS I DO KNOW MY RIGHTS NOW AND GUARANTEED I NOW HAVE A TAPE RECORDER IN MY TRUCK AND ALSO A COMPLAINT FORM. GAME WARDENS ONLY HAVE SO MUCH TIME TO HOLD YOU UP TO CHECK YOUR LIC AND WHAT NOT AND AFTER THAT IT IS HARASSMENT. THEY ALSO BETTER NOT PULL YOU OVER A SECOND TIME WITHOUT WRITING A TICKET OTHER WISE THAT IS HARASSMENT AND COMPLAINT FORMS NEED TO BE FILLED OUT AND SENT TO FISH AND GAME THE WARDEN IN QUESTION WILL BE CALLED ON ALL COMPLAINTS BY HIS SUPERIORS THEY DO NOT HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO SEARCH A TRUCK CAR OR HOME WITH OUT A SEARCH WARRANT AND ON THAT WARRANT THEY CAN ONLY SEARCH CERTAIN AREAS AND FOR CERTAIN ITEMS,MAKE SURE YOU READ THE WARRANT IF SERVED.
IF YOU ARE NOT HUNTING THEY ALSO DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO PULL YOU OVER TO CHECK FOR A HUNTING LIC JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DOG BOX [HAVE YOU HEARD OF PROFILING] THAT IS EXACTLEY WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND WILL KEEP DOING UNTIL WE STOP THEM.
WITH THIS NEW SHOW ON TELEVISION THE PUBLIC WILL FORM THERE OWN OPINONS AND PERSONALLY I BELEIVE THEY HAVE SHOT THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT. FISH AND GAME HAVE NOT LOST THERE RIGHTS TO DO THESE THINGS THEY NEVER HAD THEM THEY JUST PUSHED THERE WEGHT AROUND AND WE BACKED UP ITS TIME TO QUIT BACKING UP AND START STANDING OUR GROUND. SOMETHING TO CHEW ON.

Exactly right Bartamenko.

BEAR HUNTER wrote:New decision from the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeal "THE PEOPLE VS BOUHN MAIKHIO". This was handed down in Jan 2010. The way I am reading it, it Basically states that a warden cannot stop you in your vehicle to check your hunting license and cannot search your vehicle unless they have an "articuable" suspicion of illegal activity. No more stopping you driving down a road with your dog box just to see what you are up to. This case involves a warden in San Diego who watched Bouhn using a hand line fishing. Bouhn caught something which the warden could not see. The warden waited until he drove away, stopped him, and searched his car finding an illegally taken lobster. The court threw it out stating the warden should have contacted Bouhn while he was fishing, and that he fish and game code does not give them a blanket right to stop and search everyone. I would advise any hunter to consult their attorney and research this case. When a warden stops me they will get my CDL, Hunting license, any game I have taken and nothing more. I will not answer their questions nor submit to their searches. I will ensure that their contact with me is in a reasonable time frame.

What is the code: Just saying it is not enough.

I'm sorry I dont understand your question. There is "no code". What the decision did was tell Fish and Game that their interpretation of the section they were using was wrong. If you go back and read the full post you will see what I'm talking about. Good huntin.