Got a ticket

[Darklyte27]

well there ya go.

[resident-shooter]

As for the signs: There are 2 different gates into the area. One is all surrounded by like 7 signs saying wildlife area, no littering and so on. The other gate is 300 yards away in the middle of nowhere and it has the sign about shotshells on it. I guess I could take pics of them and bring it up...


As for attorney: I will get a public defender. Higher chances and free, one way or another....

[jonni]

good luck

[resident-shooter]

Sank yo.

[resident-shooter]

So I remembered about this thread and decided to update it.

The rookie DFG officer did not submit his story to the judge at all. The punishment initially was a $1200 misdemeanor. Since my criminal history is all clean, the "kind" judge offered to reduce it to a $1015 infraction under one small condition,- I had to surrender the rifle. Non of the pro gun organizations that I contacted offered me help for roughly 3 month ( I asked for continuations/delays in the case).

Finally, it was time to go and make up my mind. A firearm related misdemeanor is not a good thing to have on the record, but I had no one to get help from, so I decided to surrender a $200 gun for $185 reduction in fine..... When I walked up and plead "no contest", the judge turned to DA and asked if she should reduce it to an infraction. The DA gave a green light since the history was clean, but no one mentioned surrendering the rifle this time. So uhhh I just kept it. No word about it for the last few months.

[ojisan]

Funny how things work out sometimes.

[bsg]

i'm glad to hear the end was not as bad as the beginning.

i appreciate the story and the implied reminder to pay attention....

[Baxter]

Wanna go shooting?

[antonio]

A ticket is NOT a misdemeanor.

And yes u can be cited for a misdemeanor.... i see it all the time at work

[CSDGuy]

And the ticket is a cite... and you can be cited (arrested) and released for a misdemeanor, and all you'll have in hand at the end of it is the "ticket" that was written. You might not actually realize that you've been technically arrested...

[RandyD]

Because it is OK to hunt there. They posted a sign in the middle of nowhere saying that only shellshots are OK, but I never saw it. The group of signs at the entrance didn't say anything. In fact, I saw a plenty of BULLET holes out there.

Based on this information, you may have a defensible position of lack of notice. If your a student, use your spare time to do some research on the applicable regulations. If an area is off limits to shooting, how is the public notified of this restriction, where and what notice was posted, what was written on the signs, ect. Good luck.

[Donny1]

This is the first I've read of this thread but I'm very glad it worked out to only $$ instead of a permanent mark. Very good news. Yes, Wildlife area should bring up a red flag for anyone and would definitely make me double or triple check the regs.

My last DFG experience was on the Owens river near Bishop. A guy parks his F150 about 500 yards downstream from where I was fishing. He gets out, grabs his fly rod and starts casting. He looks like Joe Yuppie fisherman with all the fancy gear, vest, etc. He makes his way up to me and whips open his vest to expose his badge and gun and says, "Fish and Game, can I see your license". Slippery little fuc*er! I never saw it coming. I did have my license and only got a warning for not having it displayed. He proceeded to talk to me for a while about how he just ticketed some guys for not having licenses and confiscating 1K worth of fishing gear. He also said the reason for his approach was many DFG officers had been shot by poachers.

[SupraMiggs]

A ticket is NOT a misdemeanor.

It certainly could be either an infraction, misdemeanor or both.

[resident-shooter]

Based on this information, you may have a defensible position of lack of notice. If your a student, use your spare time to do some research on the applicable regulations. If an area is off limits to shooting, how is the public notified of this restriction, where and what notice was posted, what was written on the signs, ect. Good luck.

I agree on complete lack of notice on the scene. You can find all the helpful info on the web, but not in the area itself. Thanks for an advise, but like I said in post #80, the case is closed.

This is the first I've read of this thread but I'm very glad it worked out to only $$ instead of a permanent mark. Very good news. Yes, Wildlife area should bring up a red flag for anyone and would definitely make me double or triple check the regs.

Yes, I am so glad that I got to keep the gun and a clean record. I mean $1000 is not a joke, but at least it stopped there.

I can tell you that I will be double checking the regulations too whenever I will be fishing, hunting, or just shooting in any area.

[dmax11]

This is the first I've read of this thread but I'm very glad it worked out to only $$ instead of a permanent mark. Very good news. Yes, Wildlife area should bring up a red flag for anyone and would definitely make me double or triple check the regs.

My last DFG experience was on the Owens river near Bishop. A guy parks his F150 about 500 yards downstream from where I was fishing. He gets out, grabs his fly rod and starts casting. He looks like Joe Yuppie fisherman with all the fancy gear, vest, etc. He makes his way up to me and whips open his vest to expose his badge and gun and says, "Fish and Game, can I see your license". Slippery little fuc*er! I never saw it coming. I did have my license and only got a warning for not having it displayed. He proceeded to talk to me for a while about how he just ticketed some guys for not having licenses and confiscating 1K worth of fishing gear. He also said the reason for his approach was many DFG officers had been shot by poachers.

wow, in all my years fishing i've still never had DFG ask to see my license and i've rarely if ever seen them.

in better news this year they changed the rules and you no longer need to have your license visible while fishing but you still must have it in possession while fishing of course, i read about this change in this years DFG handbook