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Duck poachers pay fines, lose privileges

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Duck poachers pay fines, lose privileges
Brad Dokken Grand Forks Herald
Published Saturday, December 06, 2008

Three Mississippi hunters and three Alabama hunters have been convicted in Ramsey County, N.D., for shooting too many ducks during an early October trip to the Devils Lake area.

Glen Vaughn, 38, Mathiston, Miss., and Samuel McMinn, 45, Sturgis, Miss., each were fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $225 in court costs and $300 in restitution for exceeding the possession limit of ducks and failing to retain custody of waterfowl when required.

Jeff Vickers, 50, Sturgis, was fined $500 and ordered to pay $225 in court costs and $300 restitution for exceeding the possession limit of ducks. He also paid a $500 fine for failing to retain custody of waterfowl when required.

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Zachary Moore, 26, Kennedy, Ala; Ricky Carroll, 20, Fayette, Ala.; and James Upton, 46, Arab., Ala., each were fined $600 plus $225 in court costs and ordered to pay $300 restitution for exceeding the possession limit of ducks.

All six of the hunters have lost their hunting privileges for a year. A seventh member of the group charged with exceeding the possession limit of ducks is set to appear in Ramsey County Court on Dec. 15.

According to Bruce Burkett, a warden investigator for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, the charges resulted after an Oct. 8 encounter, in which he and district game warden Courtney Poland of Elgin, N.D., observed the three Mississippi hunters shoot more than their daily limit of five ducks each while hunting in a marsh near Devils Lake.

The three hunters came out carrying 13 ducks, Burkett said, but a subsequent check turned up 10 additional birds the men had breasted, wrapped in plastic bags and hidden in the marsh to retrieve later.

Burkett said his golden Lab, who’s trained to detect firearms and game, found the field-dressed birds the hunters had stowed in the marsh, and the hunters were cited for exceeding the daily limit and failing to retain custody of the remaining 10 birds.

Figuring the hunters might have more ducks, Burkett contacted district game warden Chris Knutson, Devils Lake, who conducted a search of the motel where the Mississippi hunters and the Alabama hunters were staying. That search produced 96 ducks that were breasted and bagged, Burkett said.

After a final count, the seven hunters had 123 ducks in their possession — 53 more than their possession limit of 10 birds each allowed.

The Alabama hunters were part of the same group, Burkett said, but they weren’t hunting together that day. That’s why they weren’t charged with failing to retain custody of waterfowl when required.

Burkett said wardens couldn’t determine the species of the ducks back at the room because the birds were breasted, and all wings or other identifying marks had been removed.

Without the dog, he said, the wardens might not have found the birds the Mississippi hunters had hidden.

“She’s generally with me all the time,” Burkett said. “When I do a field inspection, I ask if there are any birds here, then I let the dog out and we do a sweep.

“It’s an important tool if used right,” he said.



Anyone know these guys?

A couple of things here...and I'm not familiar with the state laws over there but how can they charge the guys for the breasted birds that were in their hotel room? Wouldn't that be like a warden coming to your house and citing you for having some duck breasts in your freezer? Also, if he is supposed to be protecting the natural resources, and please dont jump me for saying this cause it happened to my dad, why would he sit and watch them shoot over the limit? My dad watched some guys shoot 2 birds over the limit and when they went to court they tried to say in their defense that he should have stopped them and checked them then.

Can't have more than the poss. limit which is 10 in that state. So the law is if you got 10 in the freezer you ain't supposed to be shooting ducks.

got ya, guess I never really considered birds in the freezer to count towards a possesion limit....ignorance...on my part? ?

Thats the way I always understood the rules, if I am wrong someone point them out.

Your allowed X amount of birds and can legally have twice the daily bag limit ( 6 bird limit would allow
you to have 12 birds in the freezer).

Is this the way everyone understands the rules, I could be wrong and would like to know?

Yes that is true but in the state this was in only allows five ducks a day

so if you kill a limit the first two days of the season and breast them out, then if you kill a limit the rest of the days of the season you are supposed to eat or get rid of 6 ducks a day for the whole season. is this correct? thats a lot of duck

wrdabney wrote:so if you kill a limit the first two days of the season and breast them out, then if you kill a limit the rest of the days of the season you are supposed to eat or get rid of 6 ducks a day for the whole season. is this correct? thats a lot of duck

i do believe that is correct, however it could be come even more complicated say you and your son both duck hunted and there were 2 possession limits in the freezer.

possibly Simliar scenario as to you and your buddy having two limits of ducks in the same tether and you carrying them out, your technically the responsible one for both limits even though you only shot your limit.

I don't know how the situation would be handled if they checked a families freezer.

im all about abiding by the law and knowing it as well as i can, but isn't one of the purposes of hunting supposed to be to provide meat for our families. what if you have a big family but only 1 or 2 people who killed the ducks. it just doesn't add up. oh well, the law is the law, i suppose

a game warden will have way more insight on this subject but i think something like this would fall more into the gray area of "at his discretion". depends on if he was easy to get along with or wanting to be a d*ck. Then again if somebody is abiding by the law then, i would think the game warden wouldn't be at a hunter's house searching the freezer

ScottyLee wrote:a game warden will have way more insight on this subject but i think something like this would fall more into the gray area of "at his discretion". depends on if he was easy to get along with or wanting to be a d*ck. Then again if somebody is abiding by the law then, i would think the game warden wouldn't be at a hunter's house searching the freezer

very true, you make a good point

Well i don't know the guys but it looks like it wouldn't be much fun to go all the way to North Dakota to just kill 10 ducks cause i been there before and you can kill 10 off your back porch and i've never heard of a freezer getting searched. I bet most people who duck hunt and are any good at it prolly got more than 12 ducks in their freezer.

I know they will do it without a warrant.. Thats why you eat what you kill daily at camp.....

My brother in law guides at a Quail Preserve, he brings us quail everytime he comes to visit. I'd hate to know that I can get a ticket for having them in the freezer waiting to be eaten. But i guess you are right, don't break the law and they will have no right to search your freezer.

Most wardens I know have commen since and are pretty good guys, and I do not imaginge they would be writing anyone a ticket for ducks in the freezer. After all, if they are checking your freezer then you probably done something to deserve it anyway.