Dirty tactics once again from the AZGFD! Now you'll know why to never trust them

[hawkeye]

What I can't understand is, why is everyone surprised? From my 58 years of living and hunting in Arizona, I have seen the AZGFD go from a wildlife conservation Dept. to a big money machine. Corrupt at every level, and without any moral mind set. The whole thing stinks and the head of the snake is the Governor. She is the one who appoints the corrupt lot. Everyone is against voting for our commissioners, but until there is some kind of checks and balance brought to the Dept. it will just continue to grow out of control.

I myself have had enough, and am going to retire to a state with a hunter friendly environment. I realize nothing is perfect but I am tired of the fight.

[huntlines]

This is unbelievable! Everyone involved should be held accountable in one way or another. The supervisors who completely screwed up the investigation should be held accountable as well. Heads should roll for this one but I bet nothing comes of it. Supervisors should know exactly how to handle an internal investigation and garrity rights are well known. How they could be so incompetent is mind blowing. Public trust has been lost in this one therefor none of the officers involved should be allowed to work. How can they ever go before a judge and testify in a case? Any defense layer worth a cent will bring up this incident to use against any of them involved.

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Plain and simple....it just ain't right and kinda stinks........may the pile of rocks not land on me for thinkin so........but I bet in the same situation........the rocks would land on me....

[wardsoutfitters]

Here are a few things I pulled right out of the reg's

 

Possess Unlawfully Taken Wildlife

(A.R.S. 17-309 A 16) Page 111

Any wildlife that is unlawfully taken, may not

be legally possessed. So even though you may

not have been involved in the illegal taking of

wildlife, you cannot legally possess unlawfully

taken wildlife or parts thereof.

 

Improper Tagging of Big Game

(R12-4-302) Page 124

All big game taken shall be immediately tagged

in accordance with the instructions on the back

of the permit-tag and pursuant to Commission

Rule, R12-4-302.

 

License Revocation

(A.R.S. 17-340) Page 112

You can have your license privileges revoked

by the Commission for up to five years for

a conviction of:

• unlawful taking, selling, bartering or possession

of wildlife

 

A.R.S. 17-309

Violations; classification

16. Possess or transport any wildlife or parts of the wildlife

that was unlawfully taken.

17. Possess or transport the carcass of big game without

a valid tag being attached

B. Unless a different or other penalty or punishment is specifically

prescribed a person who violates any provision

of this title, or who violates or fails to comply with a lawful

order or rule of the commission, is guilty of a class 2

misdemeanor.

E. A peace officer who knowingly fails to enforce a lawful

rule of the commission or this title is guilty of a class 2

misdemeanor.

 

A.R.S. 17-314

Civil liability for illegally taking or wounding

wildlife; recovery of damages

A. The commission or any officer charged with enforcement

of the laws relating to game and fish, if so directed

by the commission, may bring a civil action in the

name of the state against any person unlawfully taking,

wounding or killing, or unlawfully in possession of, any

of the following wildlife, or part thereof, and seek to

recover the following minimum sums as damage:

3. For each elk or eagle, other than trophy or endangered

species $2,500.00

 

 

A.R.S. 17-340

Revocation, suspension and denial of privilege

of taking wildlife; notice; violation;

classification

5. Knowingly allowing another person to use the person’s

big game tag, except as provided by section 17

332, subsection D.

 

A.R.S. 17-332

Form and contents of license; duplicate

licenses; period of validity

D. No license or permit is transferable, nor shall such

license or permit be used by anyone except the person

to whom such license or permit was issued, except that:

 

R12-4-302

Use of Tags

E. Except as permitted under R12-4-217, an individual shall

not:

1. Allow their tag to be attached to wildlife killed by

another individual,

2. Allow their tag to be possessed by another individual

who is in a hunt area,

3. Attach their tag to wildlife killed by another individual,

4. Attach a tag issued to another individual to wildlife,

or

5. Possess a tag issued to another individual while in a

hunt area.

[Guest 300ultramag.]

I just want my bonus point back from when I forgot to sign my sheep app. 4 years ago

[Non-Typical Solutions]

I just want my bonus point back from when I forgot to sign my sheep app. 4 years ago

 

I think under the current approach to enforcement you oughta get it......that is funny....

[Snapshot]

When it come to State and Federal Departments, what is good for the Goose, will get us Ganders. put before a judge.

[123456]

Sounds like you are doing just that. Defending game and fish and justifying it. So far you are the only one on various websites to think this was completely ok. Even being game and fish doesn't mean they have the right to change the law in the moment for their benefit. There are various laws they broke. Never at any point is an officer allowed to break a law and it be ok. You and I both know that.

 

They can make exceptions based on field observations. i.e. If an animal is wounded, and tracked into the night, some game managers will give you permission to finish the animal off even though it is illegal to take said game at night.

[standman]

redman,

when my little brother first started hunting and was 10 or 11 had his first javy tag i was also carring it, and we were hunting together and were stopped , and i NOT ONLY GOT AN EARFULL I GOT A CITATION AND HAD TO GO TO COURT. for possessing the big game tag of another!!! yep POSSESSING a big game tag fo someone else, my 10 year old brother who i was mentoring and hunting with!!!.. wagner BROKE the law when he handed it over to someone else. plain and simple!

At the unit 1 junior turkey camp this situation was discussed and the law is being changed so adults and mentors can carry the tags.

 

Brian

[wardsoutfitters]

Sounds like you are doing just that. Defending game and fish and justifying it. So far you are the only one on various websites to think this was completely ok. Even being game and fish doesn't mean they have the right to change the law in the moment for their benefit. There are various laws they broke. Never at any point is an officer allowed to break a law and it be ok. You and I both know that.

They can make exceptions based on field observations. i.e. If an animal is wounded, and tracked into the night, some game managers will give you permission to finish the animal off even though it is illegal to take said game at night.

That's a bunch of crap, that's the issue a law is a law and should be followed to a T.

[123456]

With that mentality, every car would be pulled over for speeding even if they were 1 mile over the speed limit. Then everyone would complain that the officer was being a prick and giving you a ticket for one mile per hour over.

[Shawn Wagner]

I would like to thank those of you who took the time out of your busy lives to actually read the 14 page judgment. Understand that this is 14 pages summarizing a 1,400 page trial transcript. So, obviously there are many more facts to the case than could possibly be presented in the ruling. However, the Judge heard all the facts when he rendered his decision.

Many of you have raised very good points regarding laws, intent, who can have a tag, who “killed” the elk, etc. Most of those points were raised by one side or the other during the two day trial and the Judge heard all the arguments.

It appears that many of you think this case is about the elk hunt. It is not. This case is solely about the Department violating the Arizona Whistleblower law and taking reprisal against me because I brought violations of policy and statute to its attention. If any of your rights were violated, I hope you would fight for them, too.

Many of you seem to be convinced that myself and the others involved in the elk hunt committed some kind of violation. I will be the first to say that everyone is entitled to their opinion of whether or not the actions we took on the elk hunt were proper based on the facts they have. However, after reviewing all the facts, the Judge in Superior Court ruled that the actions taken were legal and justified. And he ruled that the actions taken by the Department were not.

We asked the Department to issue us a citation if they felt we had done something wrong. We were prepared to be treated like anyone else. We would have gone to court like any of you and had a judge hear the case. The Department refused to issue us a citation and instead violated policy and state laws in conducting its investigation of us. None of you would have tolerated that, I’m certain.

Some of you call this a “cover up”. We were telling our supervisor and other officers during the entire incident, who all agreed in how we were resolving the unplanned circumstances. No one was covering anything. I have told lots of people in the public about this.

Contrary to some posts, we all did get disciplined. In fact, our pay lost, and litigation costs far exceeded any fines we would have gotten if we were convicted on a citation.

Some of you have raised the issue of how you would have been treated. I would have never written a citation in this situation. In fact, I have had almost this same situation in the past and helped pack out the meat and get the animal to the rightful owner. I can only hope you are always treated with respect, common sense and reasonableness with a consideration for whether or not you were trying to do something illegal or not, when contacted by our officers.

So, Mr. Owens, please write your letters. That is your right. I agree the Governor and the Attorney General should know what all occurred in this matter. Thank you for caring enough about hunting to have an opinion. But if you (or anyone else) would like, you can contact me to get actual facts to make sure what you write is accurate. My personal cell phone is (928) 699-1745. This is my only post.

-Shawn

[Jcubed]

Thank you Shawn. Once again people on this forum jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. Surprisingly they don't learn from their past mistakes and posts.

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Ineteresting letter.....gonna have to spend some time running that through my gizzard maybe even a phonecall.

[Ernesto C]

Thank you Shawn. Once again people on this forum jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. Surprisingly they don't learn from their past mistakes and posts.

 

I would say.."some people on this forum"..."some"

 

Ernesto C