Hunting violation question

Discussion in 'Sportsman's Paradise' started by CagedTiger, Feb 9, 2023.

  1. CagedTiger

    CagedTiger Freshman

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    First time on this forum and I'm just trying to help a friend of mine. My friend has two sons that are sophomores in high school and were talked into doing something really stupid by their buddies this past weekend. Well, the game warden caught the two boys and a couple of other friends spotlighting for deer on some 4-wheelers. There guns were loaded, but they had not shot at anything. The parents were contacted and nothing was confiscated, but the parents were given a citation and have to appear in court next week. Apparently that is when they will find out the amount of fines they will have to pay and possible classes the boys may have to attend. I'm not a hunter, but do any of you have any clue what amount of fine they are looking at and anything else they may get nailed with?

    Sad part about it is the boys are great kids that never get in trouble, but they are not going to get off easy, especially with the parents. The parents plan to sell their guns and they have been removed from the football team.
     
  2. BAY0U BENGAL

    BAY0U BENGAL I'm a Chinese Bandit

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    I bet it’ll be a couple hundred dollars. Maybe license suspension for a year. Maybe not.
     
  3. CagedTiger

    CagedTiger Freshman

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    Just spoke to the mother and she's just as hot as the day it happened. She's hoping it doesn't exceed a thousand, but she says whatever the amount, her boys are going to pay for it with sweat doing work on the large piece of land they live on!
     
  4. jvalhenson

    jvalhenson Founding Member

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    Assume this was in LA? What all were they written up for. It’s normally more than 1 thing in most cases. Can’t speak for LA but In MS just the spotlighting is up to $5000 and loss of license for 3 years. Very lucky to not lose the guns. My brother got popped for that when he was about 17 or so. They just made him go to hunter safety class instead of suspending license and do something like 300 hours community service with the game wardens instead of a fine but that was over 20 years ago.

    good chance they had other violations too though. Hunting from public road? Where the using guns legal for that date(reg rifle during primitive weapons etc), was the season even still open at all? Lucky they hadn’t shot a deer or would have had possession of illegal deer too. Would assume LA fines are gonna be similar to MS since a lot of them are based around the Lacey act now
     
  5. CagedTiger

    CagedTiger Freshman

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    My friend stated her sons were cited for spotlighting and something have to do with carrying a loaded gun. My friend stated they met with an attorney and he advised them to plead guilty if the boys were going to being tried as youths and plead not guilty if they are being charged as an adult. The attorney added that even if the boys were tried as youths, they should be prepared to pay hefty fines.
     
  6. BAY0U BENGAL

    BAY0U BENGAL I'm a Chinese Bandit

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    Is this how you wrote up the official report?
     
  7. CagedTiger

    CagedTiger Freshman

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    The good news is they're going to be tried as juveniles. The bad news is the parents still had to hire an attorney after the courts tried to slap each son with a fine of $3600 a piece. Apparently, two other teenagers were also caught and those parents have also hired an attorney. Court officials tried to tell the parents that was the standard amount for getting caught for spotlighting and hunting from a public road in possession of a loaded gun. I'm not a hunter, but I thought the amount was a little extreme considering this is the first time the two boys had ever gotten in trouble. My friends were expecting a $1,000 fine combined as a worst case scenario, but almost passed out when they heard $7,200! It will be interesting to see how all this plays out!
     
  8. BAY0U BENGAL

    BAY0U BENGAL I'm a Chinese Bandit

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    That sounds about right. It’s going to be high. Game and fish laws are notoriously high cost and high penalty.
     
    shane0911 likes this.
  9. CagedTiger

    CagedTiger Freshman

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    After thinking about it, I think it's probably good that the fines are high because it will teach these young kids that if you break the law, there are serious consequences. The way this crazy world is, anything we can do to get the attention of these teenagers and keep them on the right track is a good thing.
     

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