Extension of bear season (Warren County)...

In the only case I know of, the guy called the PGC to him he shot a bear, and asked where he should take it to get it checked. They told him to call the local WCO, which he did. They arranged to meet at a convenient place. As the WCO looked at the bear, the hunter asked him if he needed to take a tooth and how he was going to weigh the bear. The WCO told him it was an illegal bear.

After the WCO explained the situation, and said he was praying no one would shoot a bear, he said he'd have to take the bear, haul it to Franklin where it would be skinned, and the meat given away. He didn't know what would happen to the head and hide.

The hunter felt awful. He was saddened that a bear had to die because of a mistake in the newspaper. He also was concerned that if a young hunter had done that, it may spoil him for hunting.

Some might criticize the hunter for not checking the rule book, but this was presented as a change that could not be verified by the rule book. Some might criticize him for not checking with the PGC, but he only saw the newspaper just before heading out. There would have been no way to get hold of anyone from the PGC to verify it at that early hour.

The WCO did not fine the hunter. He explained that bear season would re-open in 1B for Wednesday through Saturday, and even issued him a new bear tag in case he decided to hunt there. Well handled by the WCO.

It was obviously a case of the writer's failure to understand what she was told by a representative from the PGC. And the headline, though accurate to the article, put the mistake in big, bold type.

I hope it happened only once. When I see the WCO I'll try to remember to ask. I started this thread only because I wondered how many times it may have happened.

Steve.

RacksnQuacks said:

I looked it up Sunday night on the computer at camp because I saw somebody here mention that their area was open and wanted to check ours. It listed the WMU's that were extended and the dates. I'm not saying I blame the hunter but there was a way to check. Had I been in that WMU I would have probably done the same as the hunter and took the paper at its word. He may not have had service or a way to look it up anyhow.

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If you have a computer and Internet service at camp, you're one of the few who do. Some camps don't even have electricity, and many camps don't have cell access.

When a buddy shows up at camp with a freshly printed newspaper at 5:30 AM on opening day, and the front page story is about an extension of bear season where the camp is, and the camp has no Internet service, the only information you have to go on is the newspaper you're holding. Even if you had cell phone service, not even a phone call to the regional office would verify anything, because the office would not be open. Clearly, in this case, there was no way to verify the information. Most extensions of bear season into deer season were decided in plenty of time to print it in the rules.

6-DASHER said:

He will win that in court, as a matter of fact it won't get that far, any magistrate will toss that out in a second.?Keep us informed those that live in that area.?

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No charges were filed and it will never go to court. Everyone knows the hunter clearly was acting on the best and only information available to him. It's a case of "I'm sorry" and "That's too bad" all around -- the hunter, the WCO, the official misquoted in the article, the PGC, and the newspaper. I just hope it didn't happen more than teh one case I know about.

Steve.