Game wardens and the 4th amendment

[Captain Kyle]

I remember back when i had a boat pulling it out of the water at the dike and without asking a game warden just hopped up on the boat and looked in all the conpartments. I know he was just doing his job but i was kind of mad inside.

What do yall think about game wardens just getting to jump on your boat and look around without a warrant or permission?

[FlatoutFishin]

Think that would piss you off...what if they showed up at your house, or camp and just walked inside?

[Captain Kyle]

Did they do that to you?

[Dawg]

I had a GW once tell me if he thought I was fishing in my bath tub & he suspected that I did not have a license, he could come in my house to check to see if I had one & if I did not, he could write me a ticket. When I see them at the ramp I always invite them to come over to check my boat out.

[Swells]

They're supposed to ask first ... if you say "no" they'll have to come up with some probable cause on their part but they don't need to tell you that. If they didn't ask, no probably cause, no violation - I'd complain to high heaven to the boss about the officer.

Everyone things that a GW has more enforcement power than any other laws but that is not true. We do have the 4th Amendment. Be careful, some of those GW might be hot-heads or having a real bad day.

[Captain Kyle]

It just always made me wonder. What the heck good is the constitution if the government can grant exemptions to whomever they wanted? Im sure the populus would overwhelmingly oppose any law enforcement exemption to the 4th amendment.

[WestEndAngler]

I'm friendly to all the local GW's most of the guys that stop me now I know by name.

[Captain Kyle]

Ive only had that one encounter while fishing. One other time i was asked to show my hunting license while dove hunting.

Im not trying to badmouth them or anything im just questioning the rights that were given to them to bypass the 4th amendment.

[kenny]

In a lifetime of fishing I've only had three game wardens stop me, and one of those was in Louisiana.

[Gater]

I remember back when i had a boat pulling it out of the water at the dike and without asking a game warden just hopped up on the boat and looked in all the conpartments. I know he was just doing his job but i was kind of mad inside.

What do yall think about game wardens just getting to jump on your boat and look around without a warrant or permission?

They don't need your permission, they can search your boat if they want to. Gater

[coachlaw]

I always feed them whatever's on the stove. Makes them happy. Oh, and one of them owes me a case of beer. So until he pays up, I keep him in line.

[Moonpie]

Game Wardens can go in and check anything they want to without a warrant except your domicile(and they can do that WITHOUT a warrant if they see a violation taking place).
Thats why the regular Po-Po always have one along.
Back when I deer hunted it was an everyday thing to have a GW come into camp and search thru ALL the tents, ice chest, vehicles, and cabin.
I can count on one hand the number of times I've been checked while fishing. And its more of a safety gear check than anything.

[Captain Kyle]

This all begs the question are yall ok with a violation of the 4th amendmemt? Because warrantless searches pretty much prove that it is unconstitutional.

Not that i want to poach or anything. It just bothers me that these guys are given the ability to ignore a constitutional amendment.

[Swells]

The game wardens do have a right to search for suspected poaching activity, and if you refuse them they can impound everything and go get a judge to sign a warrant ... most people just say "yes" because they get very agitated if you refuse them.

As to your 4th Amendment rights, look to the Patriot Act that allows domestic spying against us citizens. Some say that's OK given the rise of terrorism ... others say it's too over-reaching and the authorities can search you and your communications, trash, bank accounts, or whatever without a warrant or even probable cause at all.

Chances are that this message is being scanned a lot faster than your fish box!

[SurfnFish]

Wouldn't really matter to me. As long as you are in compliance with laws then you should have nothing to worry about. I'll always support our game wardens and TP&W. They do a lot for us.