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Illegal to intentionally screw with someone's hunt?

W

Wapsi Tree Rat

Well-Known Member
Question for anyone who knows, can't seem to find a clear answer.
Got a riff going on between a couple neighbors. We''ll just call them 1 and 2.

1 has been caught last year shooting over on 2s property, then driving right over on the ranger to retrieve his deer without permission. Apparently #1 was not too happy about getting busted.

Saturday morning I hear 15-20 shots coming from 1 at 6:35 am. (legal light here was 6:46). He was walking the property line firing his 44 into the dirt to scare off any critters that 2 may have a chance at.

At 10:30 neighbor 2 shoots a buck. At 10:40 the sheriff is at his door because 1 claims he shot less than 200 yds from a his house. They went to find the empty shell and it was closer to 400 yds. Sheriff basically told him to try and get along, and left.

Ethically, neighbor 1 is wrong, and quite a jackwagon. Was he legally wrong?
 
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I think 1 is violating the spirit, and probably the letter of the law. Sounds like a douche. Good luck getting a CO to ticket or Prosecutor to file charges.
 
That is exactly the question...what is that "letter of the law".

A little more detail,
Neighbor 2 owns ~30 acres and has been there 35 years.
Neighbor 1 paid 50K for a 1 acre lot and put up a 320K house 3 years ago.

Oh, and neither 1 or 2 is me.

See what's going on here? We all know the type and mentality of #1.
 
Yes it’s illegal to interfere with a hunt. Might have a hard time getting a CO to charge the offender but here is the page taken from the DNR hunting handbook.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Agree that a CO or sheriff might not want to press charges, but they might be willing to have a “conversation” with the guy about the law and the possibility of charges. Won’t make him a friend but might back him off a little. At least he’ll know he’s flirting with getting charged. Good luck!
 
So 1 is basically gun hunting on his one acre lot with the 320K house? I wonder if it’s legal to shoot within 200 yards if it’s his own house!? Haha. That would be a hell of a small hunt area!
 
Yup, you can shoot off your own porch if you want, because you have permission from the owner. The running up & down the fence line shooting is pretty obviously hunter harassment!!! He needs a talking to by a neutral authority figure!!!
 
HorseDoctor said:
Yup, you can shoot off your own porch if you want
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Yup, and that's exactly what he does. My house is line of sight to his at 500 yds. Last year I watched the guy sit on his back porch,
all decked out in blaze orange and gun. I won't say here what else I saw, but it wasn't legal.
 
It's gonna be pretty hard for neighbor 2 to stay 200 yards away from 1's house if he only has 30 acres. That sucks.
 
I had no idea there was law if obstructing a hunt. Should have used that one many years ago
 
arm said:
I had no idea there was law if obstructing a hunt. Should have used that one many years ago
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I'm sure it's a very grey area and difficult to prove. It also tiptoes dangerously close to the state infringing on personal property rights.
Nice they have that law looking out for hunters rights, however I can certainly see some possible unintended consequences as a result of enforcement.
Think this law should be used as a last resort. Just my humble opinion.
 
I had this happen to me in Illinois 5 years ago. Basically the CO said they'd need video evidence to enforce Hunter harassment. If I’d had time to think about it I could have filmed it on my iPhone but it was too late.
 
I think these types of hunter harassment charges were aimed more at PETA types walking through the woods banging pots and pans or following hunters. I agree it would be a very gray area when your talking about someones actions on their own property. If I were hunter # 2 I'd build a berm of down trees and dirt on my side of property line and be done with it.
 
This law has been on the books for several years I’m thinking 10 plus years.

This was passed when many organized protests where going on all over the country. It would be interesting to know if this law has ever been enforced?
We can thank our IBA for helping to get this law passed years ago!
Yes this is a plug for the IBA;)
 
HorseDoctor said:
Agree that a CO or sheriff might not want to press charges, but they might be willing to have a “conversation” with the guy about the law and the possibility of charges. Won’t make him a friend but might back him off a little. At least he’ll know he’s flirting with getting charged. Good luck!
Click to expand...
x2 Sounds like this would be the best option for now
 
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