Locking your fish house?

[mnhunter2]

Can I lock my fishouse when I’m in it?

[leech~~]

Not sure what the law is now but it use to be no so a Game Warden could make a check by just knocking and opening the door.

[delcecchi]

There was a case in 2002 that changed that.   I just looked and the regs say nothing about not latching the door only that it must open outwards.    Asking the DNR might be best.   

[leech~~]

26 minutes ago, delcecchi said:

There was a case in 2002 that changed that.   I just looked and the regs say nothing about not latching the door only that it must open outwards.    Asking the DNR might be best.   

Del, latching and locking are different.  When you open and close the door it latches. You have to manually lock it.

But, you may be right about the law change. The last time we were up on LOW's how ever we did have a Warden walk up, knock, yell Game Warden and open the door.

Edited January 1, 2018 by leech~~

[delcecchi]

26 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

Del, latching and locking are different.  When you open and close the door it latches. You have to manually lock it.

But, you may be right about the law change. The last time we were up on LOW's how ever we did have a Warden walk up, knock, yell Game Warden and open the door.

The last I heard, it is like your house.   Same search deal.  So you can lock it and they have to wait until you unlock it and can't barge in.  But that may have changed more recently.    I should have said, lock.    Like if I were in a sleeper or a wheelhouse in the middle of the night, I would want to lock the door.   

[smurfy]

i'm of the opinion if your not doing anything wrong, why do ya need to lock it????????????????????

[Big Dave2]

2 hours ago, smurfy said:

i'm of the opinion if your not doing anything wrong, why do ya need to lock it????????????????????

Do you ever lock the door of your house? 

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, smurfy said:

i'm of the opinion if your not doing anything wrong, why do ya need to lock it????????????????????

Del and Big Dave are trying to keep these guys out at night!

 

Edited January 1, 2018 by leech~~

[smurfy]

8 minutes ago, Big Dave2 said:

Do you ever lock the door of your house? 

only when we leave!!!!!!!!! i'm a poor union guy.............don't got nuttin to take!!!!!!!!!!

 

and 2 totally different things here!!!!!!!!!!!

[Snowbound]

From MN DNR

First of all, we can’t walk into your house and search your freezers like most people think. We would need consent from the homeowner or have a search warrant (“homeowner”, that also means occupant, lessee, etc.). Where our search authority comes into play is while a person is hunting or fishing. The best way to explain this is to give you an example – if you are out on the ice fishing and I observe you fishing. I also observe you catching fish but never throwing them back into the water. When I talk to you on the ice, you say you don’t have any fish in possession. This is where our authority comes into play – I observed you catching fish and not throwing them back – I have the authority to check all containers that could potentially hide those fish (coolers, containers, and even vehicles). Our authority would stop at the ice house which is treated like your residence when it comes to search authority. We typically just get a search warrant if we feel the violation is significant. 

 

 

[Wanderer]

5 hours ago, smurfy said:

i'm of the opinion if your not doing anything wrong, why do ya need to lock it????????????????????

If the wife and I are feeling the need to, um, do something else besides fish, we would lock the door.

I THINK our lock works... 

[leech~~]

3 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

If the wife and I are feeling the need to, um, do something else besides fish, we would lock the door.

I THINK our lock works... 

"TMI"  Haven't you guys been married long enough now to just fish when your out there?  Seeech.

[Wanderer]

1 minute ago, leech~~ said:

"TMI"  Haven't you guys been married long enough now to just fish when your out there?  Seeech.

Yes! 

[smurfy]

18 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

If the wife and I are feeling the need to, um, do something else besides fish, we would lock the door.

I THINK our lock works... 

My wife doesn't like fishing with me!

14 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

"TMI"  Haven't you guys been married long enough now to just fish when your out there?  Seeech.

Still fun to make a run!!

[Big Dave2]

3 hours ago, smurfy said:

only when we leave!!!!!!!!! i'm a poor union guy.............don't got nuttin to take!!!!!!!!!!

 

and 2 totally different things here!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't have much worth stealing either so that's why I do the opposite of you. We leave the doors unlocked during the day sometimes but I always lock the doors when we sleep to protect my family. I would expect to be able to do the same thing in my fish house out on the ice.

[smurfy]

Guess I have a totally different perspective then you. But then my fishhouses are canvas collapsible houses so not sure what a lock would do. I also tend to fish lakes with not much traffic and when I hear someone coming my way I get out.

[Paradice]

If you've never been checked by a game warden, I'd advise you not lock your house, at least during normal fishing hours.  The art of the CO visit is a quick and quiet pounce on you.  If they come up to your house and the door is locked, your visit just started off very badly.  You better hope you have your Ps & Qs in order because you just raised his red flags to dig further.  

I also wouldn't argue the constitution with them either.  It's a police state on the ice.  Might as well just let them in and get their check done.  

[1lessdog]

A few yrs ago I was on Lida fishing all alone. I had to do a #2 so out comes the garbage bag and 5 gallon bucket. As I'm doing my business comes a knock on the door. He identified himself and I say I'm going to the bathroom. A few mins latter I open the door. He said you went kidding were you. I said no I wasnt, he said thats a first for him to hear that one. The house was kind of stinky.

I still smile when I think about it.

[delcecchi]

11 hours ago, Paradice said:

If you've never been checked by a game warden, I'd advise you not lock your house, at least during normal fishing hours.  The art of the CO visit is a quick and quiet pounce on you.  If they come up to your house and the door is locked, your visit just started off very badly.  You better hope you have your Ps & Qs in order because you just raised his red flags to dig further.  

I also wouldn't argue the constitution with them either.  It's a police state on the ice.  Might as well just let them in and get their check done.  

If they come and the door is locked, they can knock and ask to come in.   Any officer who gets all riled up over that needs to be retrained or removed.     Even the DNR now recognizes that buying a fishing license doesn't abrogate our rights.     And all you need to do is video the whole episode, while saying no, I do not consent to any search.   The judge will take it from there if there is an issue.   

A search warrant requires cause, and specification of what is being looked for.   And a judge has to sign off on it.   DNR lost a big poaching case due to not getting a warrant to track a guy.   I hope they learned a lesson.

www.startribune.com/judge-tosses-out-dnr-poaching-bust-over-tracking-device/375486921/

A west-central Minnesota judge has tossed out the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ highest-profile deer-poaching bust in recent memory, saying a GPS device that conservation officers attached to the suspect’s pickup was illegal.

DNR officers had obtained a “tracking order” to surreptitiously attach an electronic gadget to Joshua Dwight Liebl’s truck at his home in Dawson, Minn., on Oct. 8, 2014.

But that order was insufficient, District Judge Thomas Van Hon ruled Monday, saying a search warrant was needed instead.

(more at link)

[Big Dave2]

48 minutes ago, delcecchi said:

If they come and the door is locked, they can knock and ask to come in.   Any officer who gets all riled up over that needs to be retrained or removed.     Even the DNR now recognizes that buying a fishing license doesn't abrogate our rights.     And all you need to do is video the whole episode, while saying no, I do not consent to any search.   The judge will take it from there if there is an issue.   

A search warrant requires cause, and specification of what is being looked for.   And a judge has to sign off on it.   DNR lost a big poaching case due to not getting a warrant to track a guy.   I hope they learned a lesson.

www.startribune.com/judge-tosses-out-dnr-poaching-bust-over-tracking-device/375486921/

A west-central Minnesota judge has tossed out the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ highest-profile deer-poaching bust in recent memory, saying a GPS device that conservation officers attached to the suspect’s pickup was illegal.

DNR officers had obtained a “tracking order” to surreptitiously attach an electronic gadget to Joshua Dwight Liebl’s truck at his home in Dawson, Minn., on Oct. 8, 2014.

But that order was insufficient, District Judge Thomas Van Hon ruled Monday, saying a search warrant was needed instead.

(more at link)

 

[delcecchi]

4 hours ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

Even conservatives support the constitution.   Don't have to go full whacko.  

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I think this is pretty simple....if you want to lock your house do so. I don't think it will be that big of a deal to a DNR guy if he stopped to check. He might take a bit longer and look a bit more, but not like a guy would really care.

For the most part if a guy was out in the middle of the lake and a vehicle was pulling up.....your going to have a pretty decent warning time. Usually from my experiance if the DNR is out going door to door on wheel houses..........something is up or a tip was called in about a certain house or group. The other "random" checks were for show. If they are trying to just catch poachers simple search and checks at the ramps are much more successful for them. Another red alarm is when you've got a wheel house that's been on a lake for days with people coming and going from it like its the local Walmart with those people bringing limits or a bunch of fish off the lake. 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

5 hours ago, Agronomist_at_IA said:

For the most part if a guy was out in the middle of the lake and a vehicle was pulling up.....your going to have a pretty decent warning time.

I always thought this to be true, until I was up on Winnie last year.  In the middle of the day a very skilled DNR officer came flying up from directly in front of my house (blind side), parked 5' from my door, and was out of his truck before it even stopped moving.  He was looking in the windows literally instantly.  Once he saw I had 1 line down, checked my license and nearly empty fish bucket, he was on his way to blind side the next house.  It was kind of cool watching him...he was quite strategic about it.  

[Wanderer]

^^^

I’ve witnessed similar actions. 

[Hoey]

40 minutes ago, Lip_Ripper Guy said:

In the middle of the day a very skilled DNR officer came flying up from directly in front of my house (blind side), parked 5' from my door, and was out of his truck before it even stopped moving.  He was looking in the windows literally instantly.  

The COs can be on you in an unexpected instant.  I have experienced and seen this happen many times.  Always be ready for them to knock on the door at anytime, without warning.