RSSDenver Colorado Wildlife Lawyers Blog
Trespassing
Trespassing even if done inadvertently can ruin your day. Take the case of an unnamed hunter in Colorado who was hunting in an area of 5-20 acre homes and home sites mixed with a smattering of national forest.
He thought he knew his way around the private land from the forest service map that he had taken along.
The hunter, let’s call him Joe, was quietly still hunting through the semi-open ponderosa pine forest, enjoying the early morning as the sun peaked over the distant mountains. Joe was seeing a lot of signs and was starting to see some does heading for their bedding area. As Joe moved along the low ridgeline hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the big bucks he heard roamed this stretch of woods.
Joe was a little concerned with the lack of fences and terrain features on his forest service map, he was a little unsure of whether or not he was encroaching into private land. But Joe thinking that his ignorance and lack of other people around made it safe for him to continue his hunt.
As Joe crested the ridge he saw a nice 4X4 mule deer buck looking at him. Joe took a knee and fired. Upon approaching the downed buck he could see that he had shot a very nice buck. After dressing the buck Joe made the short drag to the road and while loading the deer into his pickup the game warden pulled up.
The game warden admired Joe’s deer and after a little chit chat he asked Joe to show him where he had killed the buck. Joe took the warden to the spot and the warden marked the "gut pile" on his GPS. The warden then informed Joe that he was on private land and that the landowner had filed a trespass complaint.
Joe’s nightmare was just starting, he was charged with trespassing, illegally taking a deer and ultimately under the "Samson Law" charged with illegally taking a trophy animal. Joe’s fines ended up totaling $22,000 and after a Colorado Parks and Wildlife administration hearing Joe’s hunting privileges were suspended for five years. Joe’s privileges were also suspended in the 37 other states that are members of an interstate compact of which Colorado is a member. See compact http://wildlife.state.co.us/RulesRegs/LawEnforcement/InterstateWildlifeViolatorCompact/Pages/InterstateWildlifeViolatorCompact.aspx
Part II JOE SHOULD HAVE…
Mentoring
My grandson, John, who just turned 12 at the beginning of the year and just old enough to start hunting big game, took a week off school to hunt javelina with me here in Arizona. It was quite a trip for him as it was his first time flying alone (he came from Colorado) and his first big game hunt. His prior hunting experience was tagging along on his grandmothers mule deer and antelope hunts with a few dead chipmunks’ of his own thrown in.
The week started out with a storm that brought 3 inches of rain, not totally out of the ordinary but a lot for the Arizona desert none the less. The good thing is that any tracks we would find while hunting would be very fresh.
We started out in a new area, new to me anyways, and covered nearly five miles the first day. We were onto fresh tracks right from the truck. Well five days later we were still following tracks but were never able to catch up the elusive little pigs.
John and I had a great time that week, we discovered a cave, he learned some tracking skills, and we or mostly I napped in some of the most beautiful country to be found. We covered nearly twenty miles that week looking for javelina talking and laughing a lot and just enjoying being out in God’s creation.
I’m sure John was disappointed that he didn’t get to shot at a javelina but I explained to him that is why we call it hunting and that we had a lot of years of hunting ahead and would surely get one next year.
Mentoring the next generation of hunters pays dividends throughout the youngster’s life in that it instills an appreciation for wildlife and conservation of the land they live on. It gets them away from their video games and out of the house for a few hours teaching them skills that have been used since Cain and Abel.
Mentoring is not just for the young hunter, it really does bring joy to us older hunters who take the time to take a youngster out and teach them the necessary skills they need to become sportsmen. Do yourself a favor and take someone new to the sport out hunting.
License Fees
While pondering and agonizing about which states I would apply to hoping for a big game tag for the 2013 season it struck me that I would have to mostly apply for preference points because of the cost of these tags.
Applying for tags anymore is a nightmare; you need a service such as Cabelas and a good www.wildlifelawyer.com to figure out the seasons, dates, amounts, and whether you need a tag and a license or just a license. It’s crazy, add to that the rescue fees, habitat fees, hunter safety fees, and nonresident fees, and here is where the wildlife lawyer comes in, contracting with an outfitter for a guided hunt. Where does all end?
In fairness, I see that some states now have fee schedules that give a discount for families and also for youths under the age of 17. But typically if you and your wife or older school-aged son want to go on an elk hunt in Arizona, Colorado, or any western state for that matter, you are going to be spending around $1200 just for licenses and tags for the two of you. That’s doesn’t take into account the travel, lodging, food, etc.
In Colorado we have the Division of Wildlife being taken over by Colorado Parks, who do you think the cash cow is here? Are hunters paying more so that jet skiers have a place to put in? Or so those recreationists have a place to camp next to a lake?
How about mountain bikers and hikers and bird watchers who pay no rescue fees and yet use the same land we hunters do, who’s funding their rescues? I’m not proposing a battle with other outdoor recreationists as I pursue these other sports as well but I do not think the hunter should shoulder the whole financial burden of funding these pursuits.
Closed Roads
Just a heads up to all sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts that the National Forest Service is alive and well and working against our interest as forest users. They are in the process of closing roads and camping areas throughout the west.
I was out the other day with a buddy sighting in his new Winchester .22-250 varmint rifle at a place that shooters have been using for years. I’ll admit the place does get trashy from time to time by those slobs that have little or no common sense. But there are those of us that usually take out more than we bring in so all in all it stays pretty clean. But I digress, while we were shooting a guy came walking by exercising his German short hair bird dog and he told us that the road we had used to access the shooting area had been closed. He said we could be facing large fines if we were caught using the road. I had wondered why most everyone had started shooting just up the main road from where we were now, well now I know.
It got me to thinking as a sportsman who uses the national forest a lot, how we as outdoor enthusiasts have been asleep while the forest service just keeps closing roads and making it harder for older people and those with disabilities to enjoy our public lands.
Here’s where I put in a plug for wildlifelawyer.com, keep their phone number in your wallet as it may come in handy if you are ever caught on the wrong road (it is your responsibility to know which roads are closed even if they are not marked) the fines could be stiff and if you are hunting at the time there could be points added against your hunting license. It seems to be a trend with state and federal game and fish agencies to pile on charges whenever possible.
Here in Arizona the forest service has made some peculiar exceptions, if you shoot an elk you can use a closed road or even go off the road altogether with your ATV to retrieve it. That exception doesn’t work for deer, bear, or mountain lion you have to pack these out on your back. Also, woodcutters get a pass, they can drive where ever they like as long as they can demonstrate that there is a dead tree to be cut. Campers are restricted to camping no more than 30 feet off the road in long stretches of open forest roads.
Have you ever been camping off of a forest road when there is a slight breeze blowing from the road toward your campsite? Well if so you know that the dust can be horrendous at times even when you are 100 feet off the road let alone 30 feet. This rule will make it nearly impossible to camp along many miles of forest roads.
It’s time to take a stand and let our voices be heard, it’s important that sportsmen, whenever possible, attend state fish and game and USFS public meetings because without our input they are implementing rules that negatively affect us now and for the future generations of hunters.
Guns and Family; A Grampa’s Perspective on our Youth
My father, a hunter for sixty years, gun advocate, ex-hunter safety instructor, and patriarch of generations of outdoorsmen wrote an interesting take on today’s perception of our youth and the hysteria involving gun legislation, which I had to share. This is what we do not see in the media, read in the papers, or hear about on the evening news; an 18-year-old high school kid posting a picture on Facebook holding a shotgun (he received for a birthday present) because he is proud of his hunting heritage, not because of some evil intentions.
From a proud Grampa:
Last Sunday, my middle grandson Aaron, posted a picture on Facebook of his 18th birthday present. A 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun! Good all-around gun, 28-inch barrel, modified choke, vent rib, with duck plug in it!
Why is this important?
For many reasons; especially in this era of gun control debates, anti-gun hysteria, and family breakdown in all areas of life.
A few points to consider:
- Aaron is a good student, a high school athlete, musician, and was voted "heart of his highschool" by his peers. In other words a nice, sensitive, well rounded young man, and he hunts!
- In our family guns are a "right of passage to adulthood", just like driver’s license or high school diploma. Aaron has been target shooting on our property in Bailey since he was 11-12 years old! Rifles, pistols, bows, and even a slingshot…all potentially lethal weapons. He got a .22 for his 14th birthday for target shooting and small game like squirrels & rabbits, a 30-06 for deer & elk at 16, and now a 12 gauge for birds & water fowl.
- In spite of what is posted in our papers or shown on television, many families like ours, own guns because we enjoy hunting as well as the taste of the game we have taken. Anyone who has tasted a young elk steak or pheasant in wild rice knows exactly what I mean and a freezer full of elk meat means a long winter of good food. Even when we are not successful in taking game, we enjoy the family time and the male bonding that takes place around the campfire or cafe.
- I am proud that Aaron appreciated his gift enough to post it on a social medium that is not typically conservative or pro-hunting. He is standing up for his rights and his family heritage. That’s what he has been raised and taught to do! To the gun-control people, this is the exact opposite of what they preach about our youth. We know that Aaron has been trained well and respects that guns are lethal, but he also knows the joy of bagging a big game animal. He has had a lot of good things happen in his life but I think he would agree that one of the biggest was knocking down his first elk last fall.
- Finally, when our hunting pictures flash up on our digital photo frame, I can smell the leaves, burning logs, and all those smells of nature, which take me back to those days in the woods where my son & grandsons, grew to be men & hunters!
Thanks to my nephew Aaron for the inspiration and to my father for the words! Chad M. Biggerstaff, Esq.
Dangerous Gun Bill
For all of us outdoorsmen who possess firearms this is a MUST READ!
Have any of you ever borrowed a gun or loaned one to someone to use? If the recent Bill proposed in Congress is passed you and the other person may both end up in jail! I am not kidding, you have to read the article by Senator Greg Brophy in today’s Denver Post.
The article also touches on an idea of a "gun registry". In other words, the government wants us to give them a list of each and every gun we own so they can verify that we "law abiding citizens" have a right to possess it. I have posted a link to the article below. Start making some noise gun owners or we may not be gun owners for much longer!
Chad M. Biggerstaff, Esq.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_22673810/gun-bill-dangerous-unnecessary
Tru Shot Bow Site
Just received the new Tru Shot Bow Site from Apik Enterprises – (www.apikenterprise.com) – a space-age advancement over the old pendulum sites off the past. This bow site uses index cam technology and can be shot from either the ground or an elevated tree stand.
The cam on this bow site allows you to use one pin site that is accurate from 0 yards to nearly 40 yards and further depending on the speed of the arrow. The site has index positions that allows for the height of the tree stand or a severe up and down elevation if shooting from the ground.
I’ve found on my bow that I can site in and shoot from 0-32 yards or from 20-42 yards depending on how I site it in. The sweet thing is I now only have one pin to contend with and I don’t have to use my range finder. I just aim and shoot and the rest is in the freezer.
I’ve mounted the site on my bow and have set it up for the upcoming javelina season here in Arizona. I’ll share my hunting adventures chasing the wily javelina with a Tru-Shot Bow Site in the very near future.
Apik Enterprises is owned and operated by Don Kalfayan, a guy who has been shooting bows for 60 years; we didn’t want to give his age away. Don is a great resource, a very savvy bow hunter, and easy to talk to, if you have any questions or would like to order one of his sites give him a call at 906-203-9168.
Intro
Well howdy everyone; just wanted to introduce myself as I will be adding a blog to this website every now and again. I will share some stories from the past, stories as they happen, a little politics and legal situations. I hope to keep it interesting, fun, informative, or maybe all three.
A little background, I have been hunting for nearly 60 years, yes I’m "gittin" old but I did start pretty young. I was following my dad around the squirrel woods when I was 6-years-old, I got my first .22 at 10-years-old and my first deer rifle, a .3030 Winchester model 64, when I was 13. I shot my first deer, a doe, in the woods of northern Michigan at the ripe old age of 14.
Since then I have hunted in eight states and Canada. I killed the second moose ever taken in modern times in Colorado in 1983 maybe 1984. I have hunted mule deer, whitetail deer, Shiras Moose, Alaska-Yukon Moose, Rocky Mt. Goat, Rocky Mt. Big Horn Sheep, black bears, caribou, pronghorn antelope, elk, and not so big game like javelina, turkey, and wild hogs.
All this to say that I’ve been where you’ve been and done the things you’ve done, so my hope is to bring back a few memories, make you more aware of today’s issues and maybe take a stand for your hunting heritage.
Colorado Sportsmen to have their say with the new CPW
Here’s the link to the article by Scott Willoughby at The Denver Post:
Colorado sportsmen get opportunity to have their say – The Denver Post
[Excerpt] "Beginning with the Northwest Regional Sportsmen’s Caucus taking place at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Grand Junction, CPW is embarking on a new era of community outreach, offering hunters and fishermen an opportunity to provide input on wildlife management issues in Colorado. Active hunters and anglers within the state’s four regions will meet to discuss pertinent local wildlife issues with managers, biologists, and agency officials, and will be asked to select two delegates from each region to represent wildlife concerns at the newly formed Sportsmen’s Roundtable meeting for the first time in Denver next month."
Jeffery L. Weeden, Esq.
OHV Fines Increased
On a recent elk hunt I was sitting in my stand, late opening morning, enjoying the peace, quiet, and unusually warm weather, for a November at over nine thousand five hundred feet, when suddenly my serene moment was destroyed as an off highway vehicle(OHV) rolls up the tree line and parks directly across the valley from me. Spending the day sitting on a stand enjoying the beauty that is our Colorado mountains with no phones, televisions, computers, cars, trucks, or other noises that we live with in the city everyday is one of the reasons we get away every year to these secret peaceful hideaways. To have that moment taken from me by someone on an OHV, seeing the damage being done to the habitat and knowing any opportunity for game has been eliminated made me wish for tougher penalties for those who abuse the OHV rules.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has heard the voice of sportsmen who know the importance of protecting habitat and quiet places on our wild public lands by increasing the minimum fines and escalating fines for repeat offenders.
Changes recently made for Colorado BLM Land include:
- Minimum fines increased from $50 to $250.
- Escalating fine structure which includes $250 for 1st offense, $500 for 2nd offense and a mandatory appearance for 3rd offense.
These recent changes are a significant step in the battle to reduce OHV damage to the habitat and the wild country we love to fish and hunt.
Chad M. Biggerstaff, Esq.