Can the game warden come on to your land?

[Alpo]

There's a man in Louisiana that does not think he can and is suing the state because of it.

 

He asked the game warden what his probable cause was for being on his property. The warden said that the fact that the man was hunting was all the reason the game wereWARDEN needed.

 

The man said that if the police want to crawl in your bedroom window and look through your house they need a search warrant. Yet for the game warden to climb over your fence and look through your land they don't need one? He's pretty sure the 4th amendment says they do.

 

https://www.wbrz.com/news/east-feliciana-parish-timber-land-owner-sues-the-state-believes-his-fourth-amendment-rights-are-being-violated

Edited March 21 by Alpo

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

In the states I have hunting experience in (over 10) , Game Wardens do not need a warrant if they believe you have violated a hunting/fishing law.

[Eyesa Horg]

They don't seem to need a warrant around here! The fact you are hunting, seems to give them the probable cause. Guilty until proven innocent ya know!

[Texas Maverick]

I have been visited a number of times while hunting or just sitting in my RV while on my land. They come and check to see if I am hunting and if I got anything. I had one visit me around 9:00 pm one night. I saw the headlights coming into my RV while I was sitting and watching TV. I opened the door with a gun in my hand. He took a few steps back and identified himself. We talked for a few minutes and then he left. I had been hunting but hadn't gotten anything yet. He never came back by that late again. He always made sure it was during the day and if I had something he looked it over and the tag I had placed on it. 

 

TM

[Steel-eye Steve SASS #40674]

In Wisconsin, it used to that the warden didn't need permission, the context was that the game animals on the property belonged to the people of the State, not the land owner. Recently that has changed somewhat to more favor the land owner, though I don't the details.

Edited March 22 by Steel-eye Steve SASS #40674

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Don’t know about everywhere as I have only hunted in 4 states (CO, WY, KS, SD) but in KS and WY both were on private land and the warden (professional and polite) came to our camp to check on us. Same in CO, both public and private land have had them stop in and see how things were going. Didn’t see any wardens in the field in SD though did go through a roadside checkpoint on the way home. Never a problem, just figured it was normal. 
Regards

    

Gateway Kid

[Dantankerous]

Funny how the deer belong to a state yet when you nail one with your car on the road the state doesn't pay for damages THEIR property caused. Yet if a farmer's cow gets out on the road and you hit it with your car the land owner is liable.

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

If you hit a cow out here and you are honest, you come to an agreement with the landowner - paying for the cow.

[Alpo]

The deer do belong to the state. That's obvious. If it was my deer, I could shoot it anytime of the year, I could shoot it anytime of the day, I could shoot it no matter how old it was, I could shoot it no matter what sex it was, and I could shoot it with anything from a 22 short to a 577 tyrannosaur. Because it's my deer. I can butcher my cow like that. I can butcher my pig like that. I can butcher my sheep like that. But I can't butcher my deer like that. Because it's not my deer. It's the state's, and they make the rules.

 

But whether the deer belongs to me or the state, it is still my property.

 

I got a ticket from code enforcement one time. They said I had an abandoned vehicle. I told them that it was my truck and it was parked in my front yard so how could it be abandoned? They said it did not have a current license plate, which by Florida law made it abandoned. I wanted to know how he knew it did not have a current license plate, and he said he looked.

 

I back my trucks in. It's easier to get into my yard while backing, and easier to get out of my yard by driving straight out. So I back in. The only way he can see my license plate, or lack thereof, would be to get his happy ass out of his cop car and walk up into my yard and go around behind my truck and look.

 

I did not invite him into my yard, which makes that trespass - a misdemeanor.

 

He was wearing a gun, which makes that armed trespass, which is a felony in the state of Florida.

 

I wonder what would have happened if I had pulled a gun on him and tried to make a citizen's arrest?

 

Actually I'm pretty sure what would happen. I would end up down at the gray bar Hotel.

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

Open land, not part of the residence or curtilage, is typically searchable without a warrant in most states.  

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

The deer do belong to the state. That's obvious. If it was my deer, I could shoot it anytime of the year, I could shoot it anytime of the day, I could shoot it no matter how old it was, I could shoot it no matter what sex it was, and I could shoot it with anything from a 22 short to a 577 tyrannosaur. Because it's my deer. I can butcher my cow like that. I can butcher my pig like that. I can butcher my sheep like that. But I can't butcher my deer like that. Because it's not my deer. It's the state's, and they make the rules.

 

But whether the deer belongs to me or the state, it is still my property.

 

I got a ticket from code enforcement one time. They said I had an abandoned vehicle. I told them that it was my truck and it was parked in my front yard so how could it be abandoned? They said it did not have a current license plate, which by Florida law made it abandoned. I wanted to know how he knew it did not have a current license plate, and he said he looked.

 

I back my trucks in. It's easier to get into my yard while backing, and easier to get out of my yard by driving straight out. So I back in. The only way he can see my license plate, or lack thereof, would be to get his happy ass out of his cop car and walk up into my yard and go around behind my truck and look.

 

I did not invite him into my yard, which makes that trespass - a misdemeanor.

 

He was wearing a gun, which makes that armed trespass, which is a felony in the state of Florida.

 

I wonder what would have happened if I had pulled a gun on him and tried to make a citizen's arrest?

 

Actually I'm pretty sure what would happen. I would end up down at the gray bar Hotel.

What has that got to do with Game Wardens and search warrants?

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Anyone can Once .

 

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

1 hour ago, LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L said:

Open land, not part of the residence or curtilage, is typically searchable without a warrant in most states.  

Here a Game Warden has the right to search a residence without a warrant if they suspect a fish & game law has been broken. 

[Michigan Slim]

I was taught to use the word SIR when the warden stops by. They are the authority that can take your gun, your truck and your house if you screw up.

[ORNERY OAF]

4 minutes ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Here a Game Warden has the right to search a residence without a warrant if they suspect a fish & game law has been broken. 

They cannot search a residence without a probable cause warrant, I will need to see the written law on this one, I'm calling BS. If I am wrong, I will gladly apologize,  but the 4th ammendment does not disappear due to game warden suspicion 

[ORNERY OAF]

The land and surrounding curtilage,  if they see you hunting on your land, I am not sure but it would be very good to know

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

4 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

In the states I have hunting experience in (over 10) , Game Wardens do not need a warrant if they believe you have violated a hunting/fishing law.

But they had bet be ready to justify it.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Indeed, a warden can go on your land without probable cause to check on the license status of people hunting and fishing. In most states, anyway. They don't have to believe that a violation has occurred.

 

I was involved in a case once where the wildlife officer saw, with binoculars, a person fishing from a dock across the lake. The lake was surrounded by private homes, with one public access, and was stocked with trout by the State. The dock was obviously on private property. The officer went around the lake, and entered the property to check on the license status of the person seen fishing.

 

A lawsuit ensued,  for various complex reasons. But the right of the officer to be on the property was clearly established under longstanding state law.

 

Wild game are a public resource; not really the same thing as 'owned' by the state. Owned by the public and hunting/fishing regulated by the state would be more accurate.n

Edited March 21 by Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619

[Choctaw Jack]

7 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

In the states I have hunting experience in (over 10) , Game Wardens do not need a warrant if they believe you have violated a hunting/fishing law.

I was told by an LEO, many years ago that a game warden is the only enforcement officer that can come onto your property , conduct a search, and make a seizure of you or your property without a warrant.

I actually had not considered the ramifications of this as concerning the 4th amendment.

Here in New Mexico that's pretty much how poachers are dealt with.

[ORNERY OAF]

Hester v. United States,337 the Court held that the Fourth Amendment did not protect “open fields” and that, therefore, police searches in such areas as pastures, wooded areas, open water, and vacant lots need not comply with the requirements of warrants and probable cause. The Court’s announcement in Katz v. United States338 that the Amendment protects “people not places” cast some doubt on the vitality of the open fields principle, but all such doubts were cast away in Oliver v. United States.339 Invoking Hester’s reliance on the literal wording of the Fourth Amendment (open fields are not “effects”) and distinguishing Katz, the Court ruled that the open fields exception applies to fields that are fenced and posted. “[A]n individual may not legitimately demand privacy for activities conducted out of doors in fields, except in the area immediately surrounding the home.

 

So not your house...

Fields and surrounding open space, not residential where you have an expectation of privacy 

Edited March 21 by ORNERY OAF

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

Section 12.103(a), Parks and Wildlife Code, allows Texas Game Wardens to enter on any land or water where wild game or fish are known to range or stray to enforce the game and fish laws of the state. The default rule under the Texas and U.S. constitutions is that a police officer (or game warden) needs a warrant to enter and search your house. However, there are many exceptions to this general rule. A common exception is consent. If the game warden has your consent he can enter you home without a warrant. Another common exception is the plain view doctrine. More typically, game warden interactions are in the field and not in your home. Especially in a vehicle or watercraft there are many exceptions to the warrant requirement.

 

Curtis A. Reynolds, Constitutional Law Attorney in Houston, TX

 

[Oak Ridge Regulator]

I have heard of an incident here in VT where a fish and game warden was used to search a house without a warrant due to a known deer jacking, they found a lot more than the deer that was actually shot. In Vt a state police officer cannot arrest you for fish and game violations but a game warden can arrest you for game violation and everything else as well

[SHOOTIN FOX]

Read the small print on your hunting and fishing license application. In many sates you give consent when you sign the application.

[St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905]

Howdy:

 

When I owned land in Arkansas I always welcomed the game warden and gave him a key to the gate on my property.  His visit kept the poachers on their toes.  I even invited him to use his brand new Glock on some target I had set up.

 

STL Suomi

[Texas Maverick]

15 hours ago, Oak Ridge Regulator said:

I have heard of an incident here in VT where a fish and game warden was used to search a house without a warrant due to a known deer jacking, they found a lot more than the deer that was actually shot. In Vt a state police officer cannot arrest you for fish and game violations but a game warden can arrest you for game violation and everything else as well

In Texas our Game Wardens are part of DPS and have the status of the State Patrol Division.

 

TM

[Texas Maverick]

21 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Indeed, a warden can go on your land without probable cause to check on the license status of people hunting and fishing. In most states, anyway. They don't have to believe that a violation has occurred.

 

I was involved in a case once where the wildlife officer saw, with binoculars, a person fishing from a dock across the lake. The lake was surrounded by private homes, with one public access, and was stocked with trout by the State. The dock was obviously on private property. The officer went around the lake, and entered the property to check on the license status of the person seen fishing.

 

A lawsuit ensued,  for various complex reasons. But the right of the officer to be on the property was clearly established under longstanding state law.

 

Wild game are a public resource; not really the same thing as 'owned' by the state. Owned by the public and hunting/fishing regulated by the state would be more accurate.n

Wonder how any of this changes on the high fence ranches here in Texas that have put up the high fences to keep the animals inside their property. Sounds like kidnapping to me since they do not own the animals but they are restricting their movements. 

 

TM

Edited March 22 by Texas Maverick

[Michigan Slim]

19 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said:

Wonder how any of this changes on the high fence ranches here it Texas that have put up the high fences to keep the animals inside their property. Sounds like kidnapping to me since they do not own the animals but they are restricting their movements. 

 

TM

They do own the animals. If they were there when the fence went up, they paid the state for them. Most likely came from a captive breeding facility known to have good genes stock. Farm animals at that point, not wild game.

[Texas Maverick]

1 hour ago, Michigan Slim said:

They do own the animals. If they were there when the fence went up, they paid the state for them. Most likely came from a captive breeding facility known to have good genes stock. Farm animals at that point, not wild game.

Not sure that is true because they still have to follow the state game laws and hunting seasons. We do have game ranches where they did purchase animals and stock their land but we have others that just put up high fences around their property. 

 

TM

[Michigan Slim]

51 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said:

Not sure that is true because they still have to follow the state game laws and hunting seasons. We do have game ranches where they did purchase animals and stock their land but we have others that just put up high fences around their property. 

 

TM

In the few I am familiar with, it is true. A deer can clear an 8' fence. Anything less than 10' is to keep you out. 

[John Kloehr]

Wonder if purple paint on fence posts changes anything...

[Texas Maverick]

2 hours ago, Michigan Slim said:

In the few I am familiar with, it is true. A deer can clear an 8' fence. Anything less than 10' is to keep you out. 

They are definitely over 8' tall and there to keep the animals in.

 

TM

[Texas Maverick]

1 hour ago, John Kloehr said:

Wonder if purple paint on fence posts changes anything...

That is only to designate no trespassing on the property. It takes the place of the signs that people used to put up. 

 

TM

[John Kloehr]

1 hour ago, Texas Maverick said:

That is only to designate no trespassing on the property. It takes the place of the signs that people used to put up. 

Thanks! I came across it in a hunting discussion so thought it was hunting-specific.

[Trigger Mike]

I had poachers on my property once and the game warden said I had to sign a form giving them permission or they couldn’t do anything.

 

this duck season my son said a warden did come see his friends.  Guess it depends 

[watab kid]

bottom line here is YES , they have far more powers than regular law enforcement here , i have an aquaintence thats 93 and still very sharp , he was a life long game warden here , in an area that had them hopping , he has some really fun and interesting stories ,