Got caught hunting without a licence. Please read and give your input

[Big A]

When you encountered the CO two cases were started against you. The first was the tag and that is dealt with in the criminal court system. The second was the seizure of the gun and that is in the civil court system.

In order to have any chance at all of getting the gun back you have to follow the instructions on the sheet you were given about the seizure of the gun. The first thing you have to do is to appeal that seizure and there are time limits that you have to follow to be able to even start the process. I suspect that you may be beyond the time limit. If not read the instructions and do what it says. If you do it correctly you will end up in front of a judge who may or may not chose to return your gun. BTW there are some court fees for filing the stuff so be prepared to spend some money to get things going.

[LightningBG]

So hears a question regarding something that may or may not have happened to someone I know in another state.

Get an out of state license. Go hunt. All is good. Success is had. Registration place says its open until 8pm. Web says it, sign on door says it. Get to registration station, closed...at 6pm. Have to go home that night, no other registration stations even remotely close that are still open (within 50 miles).

What do you do with the animal that is sitting in the back of your truck? You have nowhere to leave it in that state and if you go home, your transporting an unregistered animal out of state. No option to register by phone or internet.

What to do?

[Big A]

Wait it out till they open and hope for a free hat or tshirt for the inconvenience!

there is not a lot else that can be done based on your description.. stinks.. but it is what it is.

[LightningBG]

Wait it out till they open and hope for a free hat or tshirt for the inconvenience!

there is not a lot else that can be done based on your description.. stinks.. but it is what it is.

Wait it out, like sit in your car for the next 14 hours until they reopen?

[ARNE]

TALK TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY !!!!!

[pulleye16]

How spoiled and lazy have we gotten...why does everything have to be catered to us? Tough beans the store isn't open to register your deer, its part of hunting. Tough beans you waited until the last minute to buy a liscens.

sorry to hear about the gun but you caused it yourself. hunting is a privleage not a right. Buy it back at the next auction.

[Tom Buckles]

How spoiled and lazy have we gotten...why does everything have to be catered to us? Tough beans the store isn't open to register your deer, its part of hunting. Tough beans you waited until the last minute to buy a liscens.

sorry to hear about the gun but you caused it yourself. hunting is a privleage not a right. Buy it back at the next auction.

Awesome!!

[Big A]

Wait it out, like sit in your car for the next 14 hours until they reopen?

Yep. Prob be a good idea to make some calls and try to find other options if possible. But otherwise... get comfortable

[Goldy33]

How spoiled and lazy have we gotten...why does everything have to be catered to us? Tough beans the store isn't open to register your deer, its part of hunting. Tough beans you waited until the last minute to buy a liscens.

sorry to hear about the gun but you caused it yourself. hunting is a privleage not a right. Buy it back at the next auction.

It was last minute, but it was still before the deadline. If a store closes the hours are posted and it's that person fault. There can be traffic, bad roads that causes the person late and in this case that was a broke college student and not knowing where I would hunt. And In this case to get a license the store closed at midnight and I wad still there BEFORE it closed and it was their fault the information was incorrect. I just walked out of the courtroom and the charges were dropped from my record. I have to work with the DNR to get my gun back (hopefully).

[LightningBG]

How spoiled and lazy have we gotten...why does everything have to be catered to us? Tough beans the store isn't open to register your deer, its part of hunting. Tough beans you waited until the last minute to buy a liscens.

I dont think its always spoiled or lazy. Its a situation that does not allow you to follow the letter of the law. Its out of your control (in the case of registering) and has happened through no fault of your own. The truly sad part is, a person is probably better off just not following the regulation fully, than making an attempt to remedy the situation after (ie. your better off taking the animal home and shutting up vs. calling the state the next day and telling them the situation)

[LightningBG]

I just walked out of the courtroom and the charges were dropped from my record. I have to work with the DNR to get my gun back (hopefully).

AWESOME - best of luck getting the gun back. You might have a better chance since the criminal charges were dropped.

[magnum mike]

Good Luck Goldy.

[archerystud]

Good luck Goldy and I hope you get your gun back.

I'm a software engineer and will vouch that systems are rarely perfect!

[harvey lee]

Good luck and I hope it all works out for you.

[harvey lee]

It was last minute, but it was still before the deadline. If a store closes the hours are posted and it's that person fault. There can be traffic, bad roads that causes the person late and in this case that was a broke college student and not knowing where I would hunt. And In this case to get a license the store closed at midnight and I wad still there BEFORE it closed and it was their fault the information was incorrect. I just walked out of the courtroom and the charges were dropped from my record. I have to work with the DNR to get my gun back (hopefully).

Maybe a bad deal for you but you cannot wait that long or hours before the season opens to get a license. That's not anybody elses fault.

The License machine could be down for license sales and you could also have not purchased a license.

[pureinsanity]

In reference to the tagging of the big game. most places you can register your game via online now a days. Use your smart phone or a computer and register it. If not wait it out, or drive that extra 50 miles to the other tag station.

[merkman]

I just walked out of the courtroom and the charges were dropped from my record. I have to work with the DNR to get my gun back (hopefully).

Good to hear you are getting it worked out.

I would love to see you get all your stuff back as long as you have learned from this incident.

Even if you do walk away without paying a fine and you do get all your possesions back, the time and stress are things that you will not recover.

It is good that you shared this story with others here on the internet too.

It may save them the time and hastle you went though.

Ultimately it is very clear, if you don't have a licence don't bring your gun or help those who are hunting.

I hope you and others have learned that lesson.

So now the $10,000 Question.

What will you do next year?

[NoWiser]

So now the $10,000 Question.

What will you do next year?

Lifetime deer license??

[Tom Buckles]

Good news Goldy. Im happy to hear the charges were dropped. Good luck getting your gun back. I hope it all works out for you.

[BobT]

It was last minute, but it was still before the deadline. If a store closes the hours are posted and it's that person fault. There can be traffic, bad roads that causes the person late and in this case that was a broke college student and not knowing where I would hunt. And In this case to get a license the store closed at midnight and I wad still there BEFORE it closed and it was their fault the information was incorrect. I just walked out of the courtroom and the charges were dropped from my record. I have to work with the DNR to get my gun back (hopefully).

Maybe a bad deal for you but you cannot wait that long or hours before the season opens to get a license. That's not anybody elses fault.

The License machine could be down for license sales and you could also have not purchased a license.

Agred. You can't blame the license agent for you not hunting legally.

If for some reason a retailer chooses to close early, so what? It would be disappointing for sure but there is no law that requires they honor their posted store hours. If they do that too much it'll be their loss as they'll lose customers.

The only reason they keep your records on their system is out of convenience. In your situation, it wasn’t so convenient because an error was made. That too is unfortunate.

Chalk it up to a learning experience, learn to not be such a procrastinator, and be sure to prepare at least a day or two earlier next year. You mentioned that you are a college student. One thing I hope you gain from your college education is how NOT to procrastinate or you’ll struggle big time in your field of study after graduation.

[ANYFISH2]

Goldy glad hear how this is currently turning out.

Here is my story of a similar situation. This past fall I went to get a trout stamp for our trip but the system would not except my D.L. or DNR # to get the stamp. Called St. Paul with he problem, they gave me a number(like a confermation #) and the persons name, and told me to pay the retailer (if trusted) for the license and get a recipt to carry with me. And If checked to present that info, as at the time they could not get me a license. I was able to get my stamp the next day as the system was working then, bu essentialy I did the same thing only I was able to talk to the powers that be before hand.

Good luck with your efforts to recover you gun.

[Surface Tension]

The point is.

One should be able to purchase a hunting license without delay. Makes no difference if your a procrastinator.

You have up to midnight before the Opener to purchase that license. Not being able to hunt because of an error by the DNR records is not acceptable.

[BobT]

The point is.

One should be able to purchase a hunting license without delay. Makes no difference if your a procrastinator.

You have up to midnight before the Opener to purchase that license. Not being able to hunt because of an error by the DNR records is not acceptable.

That might be but it doesn't justify hunting illegally. Yesterday I slid through a red light because it was icy. I am still guilty of running the red light even though the city hadn't applied any salt/sand. The fault does not fall on the city because I failed to drive appropriately for the conditions. It is still my own fault and not the city's.

[Tom7227]

I have nothing against this young man, don't know who he is, where he lives, and don't really want to dump on him.

BUT - the outcome of this case is exactly the type of thing that happens way too often when game and fish violations are presented in court. For over 10 years I was the 'go to' guy for hunting and fishing cases in the City of Saint Paul and I can count on my fingers the number of cases present for prosecution. A CO told me one time that just about none of the cases result in any meaningful sanction. There's a lot of reasons for this but the point I'm trying to make is that IMO until there are significant enough consequences the deterrence effect just isn't there.

The standard fine for deer hunting without a license is $378, resident or non-resident.

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding the "atta boys" that are being posted.

[bobbymalone]

It was last minute, but it was still before the deadline. If a store closes the hours are posted and it's that person fault. There can be traffic, bad roads that causes the person late and in this case that was a broke college student and not knowing where I would hunt. And In this case to get a license the store closed at midnight and I wad still there BEFORE it closed and it was their fault the information was incorrect. I just walked out of the courtroom and the charges were dropped from my record. I have to work with the DNR to get my gun back (hopefully).