Looking for a citation on a PAGC law/reg/policy

[87th PVI]

What if an injured deer goes onto the neighboring property to expire & the property owner won't give you permission to retrieve the harvest?

I respect the private property rights of the owner & as a result I just figured that the hunter would be out of luck in that instance.

However, the subject came up while talking to a guy who was doing some work in my house recently & he said that in that instance the hunter can call the game commission & a WCO will escort you onto the property to retrieve the harvest & the property owner can't do anything about it.

When I did my hunter's safety course last year, they said that all PA wildlife is under the jurisdiction of the game commission regardless of wheteher it's on public or private property, & that a WCO can come on to private property to check hunters, investigate poaching reports, etc...

Although to me that sounds like a violation of the laws regarding the need for a warrant, etc, if that is true that they can come on to private property to check a hunter regardless of what the property owner says, then why couldn't they help a hunter recover a deer that crossed into another property...


I can't find anything about it on the PAGC site or in a web search. I know there is a WCO or two on here... How bout a definate answer to this curiosity with citation.

[knight0334]

If a landowner prohibits your ingress/egress, then a WCO cannot escort you onto another person's property to retrieve a harvest. You are poop out of luck and it is lost game.

If you are in the act of hunting(or poaching) a WCO can come check to see if you are in compliance without a warrant. Just witnessing you in the act of hunting/poaching is RAS enough to not need a warrant.

[bronco]

The digest goes as far as to say that when recovering game you need permission to enter private property. It's near the bottom of page 17 here
http://www.statehuntandfishregs.com/PA/

[R.W.J]

Knight and Bronco are correct

[Dredly]

I'm not entirely sure... I know you aren't getting that deer however if there is a wounded animal clearly visible the PGC may put it down (ie: you shot a buck in the spine and it managed to crawl across property line where it is now just laying but still alive...