Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Game Warden Kills 76 Year Old Man

What if he did? This isn't a drug crazed felon. Back off and get back up and handle it later.

Agreed, but not sure I would spend 15 minutes arguing with a guy in a tree with a gun either. He would have eventually come down. Last I knew one didn't have charge someone at the moment of the 'crime'

Damn right. That's why the GW should have walked away. He was obviously dealing with an old coot, that did not take chit from anyone. Could have been settled at the road, easily. Even with "threat" charges thrown in with the baiting charge.

isaac - Agreed but the thing that's always bothered me is the fact that GW have more "power" than state or local police. You can't have evidence from a no warrant/illegal search done by a cop admitted into court so how can a GW get away with that?

A 76 year old guy that is still climbing trees is newsworth in and of it's self IMO.

It looks like a collision of two guys with the "You can't do this to me" syndrome with semi-predictable results if no one uses good judgment.

The Game Warden is charged with enforcing the law. It could be that his intention was to get the old guy out of the stand and read him the riot act and send him on his way...However once the old timer refused to co-operate and started issuing threats, its easy to see how things escalated...

Its no point in having LEO's if they back down under intimidation..

If the Old guy climbed down and co-operated, he'd still be alive now...

Thats if the events played out as the media and the GW say they did..

Simple.

Intimidation? How about putting your ego back in your pants and walking away from the crazy old [bleep], and meeting up with him later?

If a GW needed a warrant to catch poachers or folks hunting illegally, they wouldn't come close to catching the minimal 20% of illegal activities that they do stumble upon.

I've had GW's come upon property and inspect on every hunt I've been on in Canada and on some western hunts in the states as well as all my goose blinds in the US.

I've seen them stop by every check station and deer butchering shop to inspect licenses and tags as well.

They couldn't possibly get warrants to inspect all these places and things and do anywhere near an effective enforcement of game laws.

Hence, the leniency as to a warrant requirement.

and the dead man tells no tales.

His grandkids were with him,right?

The WARDEN can't unless he as photos of the bait site as evidence or it is the WARDEN word against the Hunter in court . He could have left and come back with his camera and took photos and then got a warrant for the old mans arrest. If the situation was escalating into a physical confutation then the WARDEN should have backed off and arrest the old man after everything cooled down. He shouldn't have pushed it to the point where he had to kill him , justified or not.

At what point is something 'hunting'? Is it illegal for a man to sit over a pile of corn on his property? Could have have been hunting something else that was in season (raccoon?)

If I'm legally hunting over bait for deer in December and a turkey comes to the bait, it isn't turkey season, it isn't legal to hunt turkey over bait, aren't I hunting illegally? Guess not since I didn't shoot the turkey, so why is it so on April the 11th?

GWs have not usually been considered LEOs in that sense, at least not until recent times. Most of them used to go unarmed to prevent confrontations with people who are armed to begin with.

The modern LEO attitude of establishing dominance (compliance) is a bit dangerous in the woods - and unnecessary as proven by years of experience.

Comply or die works better for bank robbing thugs than 76 year old turkey hunters.

I was walking to the boat in Paradise one fine spring day with a fishing pole and rifle in hand. A game warden was 'hiding' in a Forest Service vehicle. He jumped out and asked to see my hunting license. I told him I didn't have one on me. He said it was bear season, I had a rifle and I was going to the boat.

I told him every month except July and August are bear season. He said I had a rifle and that I must be hunting. I told him I had a condom in my wallet but I wasn't [bleep].


Another time a game warden stopped me on my ATV (had a 30/30 strapped on) and asked if I was hunting, I said NO. He asked what the rifle was for and I asked him what his pistol was for. Since it was deer hunting I must have been hunting, but you can't hunt from the road. So is traveling to a spot to hunt in fact hunting? Would you expect to show your hunting license if you were pulled over on I-10 about 50 miles from where you WERE going hunting? Would you have to show your driver's license if you were sitting in a treestand?

Steelhead,

Thats for the Courts to decide...The GW enforces his aninterpretation of the Law, but its up to the Judge and Jury to pass thefinal judgement.

The issue here isn't whether the old guy broke the law or not, its whether the GW's actions were reasonable in dealing with the situation he found himself in..

On reflection, perhaps it would have been better if had backed off and dealt with the situation once the guy was out of the tree, but I some how doubt the guy would have been more co-operative later..

regards,

Peter

Right at any risk isn't right. Perhaps some are more accustomed to being killed for hunting the Kings game, we aren't.

Bummer. The facts, at least some of the facts, will come out. If the GW were a civilian I wonder if he would have been considered to have escalated the encounter. I realize that argument would be moot for the GW who has a lot of authority, but, still, what a crummy end result.

______________________

Don't know all the facts but I will assume it is illegal to turkey hunt over corn during turkey season as it is in Va and WVa. Don't know though. I also have to assume the guy was only turkey hunting. All these assumptions are what premised me saying that there were too many gaps to render an opinion.

I'm also assuming the old man made an overt act in furtherance of his threat to kill the GW. The GW scrambled for acover for a reason, I suppose. I'm playing along with limited facts,that's all!

Should have just torched the woods and burned the old man out, worked in Waco.