Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Game Wardern's "Open Fields Doctrine" Ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The general ruling is, if you have time to get a search warrant you get the warrant. In the TN case, from the little information provided in the article, if the Wardens had information concerning illegal activity on the property and they found time to place the cameras they may have had time to apply for a search warrant before placing the cameras. I know this is a general conclusion but time is the consideration taken into account when applying for a warrant or not applying.

/I would agree, again if they have R/S, P/C to believe illegal activity is afoot, etc. then by all means enter the property. if it's a "hunch and they wanta fishing expedition that they need to set up cameras on different story. it can be argued that if they see something like an illegal bait pile, they would probably eb coverd in placing a camera to watch they would be covered in setting up physical human based surveillance over same

I can only surmise from reading your comment that you have no idea, either from experience or observation, what a wood duck roost hunt is like.

Yeah, fences cut and winter wheat driven over to retrieve a road killed illegal deer off my farm, Possum Cop says they don't have enough personnel to be responsive.

"I need to do a better job of posting", really? But they can sneak on your land and put up cell service cameras IN CASE you violate a law on your own property, with your tax dollars? GMAFB

It certainly is.

Is it legal to plant a flag directly in front of the lens of any agency's camera lens so as to obstruct the view?

Pretty hard to get a warrant when you have a cell phone, car radio, car computer, cb radio, and a personal cell phone. Heck, you probably have a pager too. Don't want to bother the judge....then you know you may be violating someone's rights.

Easy for game wardens to run over you as they have immunity and federal prosecutors, federal judges, and federal LEO to assist them in prosecuting you at no cost to them. Hard to fight them (feds) when they have unlimited resources. If I have immunity why would I care about your rights??

Those cameras sound like a very good target to shoot at...

Poachers and game wardens go where the game is, or the fish are. Illegal activity takes place very often quickly and then the scene is vacated.

As to this camera situation on private property, I've done that myself. Usually on land leased from timber companies most of which had provisions that law enforcement was welcome. In the case at hand we simply do not have enough information. There is way more left unsaid than said.

But having good communications does not compensate for the need to go in quickly with no time for a warrant.

We aren't talking about going in someone's house or even barn or storage shed.

The law is clearly on the side of game agents routinely patrolling private land. Until SCOTUS overturns precedent that is the way it is.

I truly understand some officers abuse their office but that has to be dealt with individually.

By the way.Louisiana law clearly states there are 4 classes of people the cannot be treated as trespassers in performance of their duties. 1. Firefighters 2. Medical Personnel 3. Utility workers 4. and you guessed it LAW ENFORCEMENT

The law isn't clear. SCOTUS made a poor ruling, just like upholding slavery across state lines.

You are terrible and those that are like you are terrible. I'd rather see 1,000 poachers go free than you violate one landowner's rights. PERIOD.

Last encounter I had with a game warden, a warden wrote me a ticket for riding my ATV on my own property saying it "disturbed my neighbor's turkey hunt". 1, he had no right to do so. 2, didn't ticket the neighbor for hunting outside of hours.

I wadded up the ticket and threw it at his face, told him to get off my property and never come back. For some reason, the warden didn't have the balls to show up to court. It was dismissed. I can't tell you how many times I'd called them for poachers spotlighting on our land when we DID give the warden permission to come and they wouldn't do jack. I have no use for the entire profession.

For the record, if a warden sets up a camera on my property without permission, I agree with the solution above...

Sorry you had problems. Some game wardens are sorry people, most aren't.

Were you purposely trying to disrupt your neighbor's turkey hunt by running up and down the property line and admit you were trying to stop him from killing a turkey?

I'm terrible? I bet 90% of the hunters and fishermen I dealt with in my 30 years would disagree with you. Even a lot of the ones that got cited. But you made a judgement without much information.

I'd be willing to bet that 95% of cases that GW's make are called in to them by somebody that's pissed off, don't like you, or just jealous.

Around here anymore a GW won't come out unless there's a complaint.

Sorry, but if I find a game cam or stand or whatever unpermitted on property where I'm in charge, that stuff is down. Trespassing is trespassing, period. Never mind GPS and cadastral records make finding property owners a total cakewalk, easy peasy.
FWP wants data, fine, but they dang well better ask first. They're the good guys, they should ACT like good guys, right?

I don't know about 95%, that seems a little high. But any law enforcements greatest asset is informants, some of whom are as sorry as goose [bleep]. Rest assured LEOs know informants have motive for ratting out someone. It could be patriotism or good citizen desire to help out. In most cases we understood the informant didn't like the person he was informing on and had motive not necessarily good for informing. I didn't much concern myself with an informants motive near as much as I did his truthfulness. Informants are often criminals themselves and will lie or exaggerate for a variety of reasons.

An informant is understood to not like the one he is informing on or at least not liking his behavior.

History is on the side of whomever wins the battle. So the government jack booted thugs won a court case in a court appointed and run by the jack booted thugs. And your validation for doing such things is the jack booted thugs said I could?

history is full of examples ya know.

so.... after some research the Feds dismissed the claims, but allowed state claims to go through lower courts. The US disctrict Court found that under Bivens both officers acted within the law. mind you the landowner was on federal Probation for lacey act violations and the cameras were placed due to information that he had been guiding turkey hunts in vioation of his terms of probation. the feds concluded both officers were acting as federal officers which is why Bivens came int play. i'm willing to bet this gets kicked up and very likely barring explicit language in the Tenn state constiution this wont be an issue in the future

Of course I hadn't attempted to disrupt another's hunt nor would I admit to such. I wad driving my woods road as I did every single day of the year outside of firearms deer season.

Any who violates property rights without a warrant is, frankly terrible. Its anti-American.

I can promise you that professionals can out wit your so called professionals that “thoroughly investigated”. A little magic dust and bada bing the script goes off like a broadway play.

Good day sir