20 mallards over the limit

[IFallsRon]

Six hunters face charges of taking too many mallards

Associated Press

NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. - Six hunters are accused of shooting too many ducks in Eddy County.

Authorities have charged Benjamin Dietz, 18, and Bradley Dietz, 49, both of Fargo; Brian Miller, 21, of Kilkenny, Minn.; Marc Peterson, 53, and Joe Peterson, 20, both of Montgomery, Minn., and a juvenile with exceeding the limit by shooting 20 mallards too many. They are scheduled to appear in court in Eddy County on Oct. 19.

Bruce Burkett, a game warden for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said he watched the hunters shoot the ducks in a harvested grain field southwest of Warwick last weekend. When he checked the hunters, Burkett said, he counted 50 mallards and one pintail.

North Dakota's daily duck limit is six, but hunters can shoot only five mallards and no more than two hens daily. Burkett said that means the six were 20 mallards over the daily limit. The hunters had shot 27 mallard hens and 23 drakes, he said.

Gene Masse, a game warden for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in New Rockford, assisted Burkett with the case. He said he confiscated the ducks and donated them to the New Rockford Volunteer Fire Department.

Masse said the incident could cost the hunters more than $2,000 in total fines if they plead guilty to the Class B misdemeanor charge of exceeding the limit.

The two wardens allowed the hunters to keep their shotguns pending the court's ruling, Masse said.

[Powerstroke]

I can't believe they let them keep their shotguns. They are pretty soft in ND then. This doens't help the Non-resident issue between MN and ND.

If this would've happened in MN they would've taken the guns, decoys, blinds......etc. $2000 is nothing to scoff at, but cmon. You took the ducks and some money and leave them with the tools that committed the crime.

[Mark Christianson]

....and just think how many people just like those clowns don't get caught.

What a shame.
Put the TIP number in your cell phones.
The CO's can't do it alone.

[hanson]

Judging by their ages and last names, I'm guessing a couple fathers with their kids. So much for leading by example.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Too bad this stuff happens. There is enough strife between the MN and ND non res hunting without this adding fuel to the fire.

As far as leading by example goes, what a shame. At least the younger ones get a chance to see, first hand, what happens when you throw ethics and the law out the window. If nothing else maybe they learned a lesson they can pass down to their own kids.