Who's had bad experiences with Game Commission Officers?

[pahandgunner]

After stonewalling them a few times I consented just to prove a point.
Their short term gratification which worked out better for me in long term gratification. I did nothing illegal, just made one's life difficult because I was in a position I could, his lesson was learned...I hope.

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

[P89]

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

Do to others as you'd like done to you is what it boils down to.

Don't bust someones balls if your in a position to do so just because you think you can. Chances are you may come across that person again in his/her profession and will have to deal with them on their terms.
It worked out for me that way.

[pahandgunner]

Do to others as you'd like done to you is what it boils down to.

Don't bust someones balls if your in a position to do so just because you think you can. Chances are you may come across that person again in his/her profession and will have to deal with them on their terms.
It worked out for me that way.

Gotcha. I try to live by that rule also. Thanks

[Yoder]

These guys protect animals which are much more important than people, that's why the Constitution does not apply. I have lived in four states and have never been harassed or felt violated except for PA.

One year we had the game commission come in our cabin and check all of our firearms without any search warrant or reason. Checked the refrigerator and freezer for illegal game.

Another year we put on a deer drive off of rt 209 by the delaware. We were about 100 yrds off the rd when my dad shot a doe. It was running so he took two or three shots to drop it. Apparently a bear ran across the rd and somebody called in that hunters were shooting at bears. I was only 12. When we came out of woods there were four wardens there screaming at us to put our guns on the truck and step away while they were ready to draw on us. After about an hr of being questioned they told us why they detained us. My dad told them all to go F themselves and he would NEVER hunt there again.

A few yrs ago we were driving from my dad's cabin to my cousins cabin on rt6. They had a road block and asked if you had guns or harvested game. If you answered yes they had you pull into a parking lot and checked to see if your guns were unloaded. I had to present my guns and show they were empty and my cousin had to show his guns, they checked his deer inspected his cooler. All for no reason whatsoever. I felt like we were in a communist country and were being asked for our papers.

I seen a guy get fined $100 or $150 for driving an 80 yr old man up the power line so he could hunt one last year. He maybe went 200 yrds. This was illegal, but give me a break. After he fined the guy he drove off up the power line like he was in a Ford commercial beating the hell out of his truck we bought for him.

I guess you could say I pretty much hate them all. I'm sure there are good ones somewhere I just haven't met any yet.

[27hand]

let me get this straight...

they are trying to post your road on your land as "no motorized vehicles"???

Bad and not so bad story. "No motorized vehicles"

I had hunted just north of Tionesta along East Hickory Creek for more than 20 years and between my buddy and I we have hauled a trailer of some sort to hunt out of for the first 3 days of buck season.

We have pulled the trailer into the same spot for at least 15 years. It is a spot which is very visibly a campsite,with a few fire rings that previous campers have use to contain their campfires and the trash which everyone leaves for me because they know i'll be along to clean up after them.

Three or 4 years ago, I went up alone because my buddy couldn't get off work till the day before.

There are numerous signs posted because this stretch of east hickory is a catch and release, artificial bait only fishing stream. There are no littering signs, do not block access, the artificial bait only, catch and release signs. You get my drift.

I pulled up to the campsite and backed the 24' trailer right where we always do and I set up camp.
I did not check to see if any of the signs were new assuming it was the same as in previous years. I'm not making an excuse for me but when I backed past them, I never went to the road to check them.

Well, our Fish and Boat Commission guy posted a brand new sign right after bear season and before buck season that read "Do not drive on or dig in this land".

There's 27hand sitting by his fire,drinking the first of his 27 cups of coffee that day and along comes the F&B officer and starts writing something. I watched him for about 5 min and got up to talk to him.

He asks if that is my vehicle to which i answer "No officer, it isn't. It is a friends". He then asks if I drove it here and i said I did. He writes me a $111 citation for "driving on". Now he lets me keep the trailer there because it is non motorized but I cannot now park there.

We went through the normal conversation of a man trying to get out of a ticket which we all know almost never works.
My pistol is just barely concealed and I am turned slightly so I think he doesn't see it. I got too nervous that he might and told him I had a license TCF and was in fact carrying. He was pretty cool about it and asked where it was, what I carried and I seriously thought it was going positively for me to escape the $111.

He handed me the ticket, I signed it, moved the van to the other side of the road as I was directed to do, sat down and had another cup of caff.

I did ask him with an ever so slightly sarcastic question if he would cite me again when I backed in to hook up. He smiled a bit. said no and drove off to get more money.

Three months later, I'm doing a water line tie in somewhere in Squirrel Hill and I get a call on my cell phone.

A guy asks if I am in fact 27hand and i answer I am. He says, I don't know if you remember me but I'm the F&B officer that cited you in Endeavor Pa. last Nov. I remembered his name and said i did.

He goes on to tell me that the Army Corps of Engineers had installed 4 new campsite access roads which could accommodate a trailer and the area was only about a half mile down the road from where we "met".

I thanked him as we didn't know where we would park the next season and had planned a trip just to scout a new location.

I don't remember giving him my cell # but with a little research and my name being a distinctly German name, I guess it wasn't hard to find.

So the guy sticks it to me by not warning me and turns around and calls me to give me this info which he really didn't have to do.

So there's my "sweet,sour" moment.

Other than that, I had a Game commission officer give me a ride to my truck.
He stopped when he saw 4 of us after we came out of the woods. I recognized him as the officer who was at mine and my sons Hunter safety course. He didn't check guns or licenses.

27hand

[Yoder]

I just remembered another good one. The Game Warden that writes everybody up for driving up the power line where we hunt was driving up the power line and stopped to see the two buck we killed. It was me, my dad and his friend. My dad and his friend are both late fifties and a little heavy. We were a mile in, we asked if we could bring the truck in to get the deer and he told us the drag was part of the adventure and drove off. He could have offered to drive us down the trail or just let us bring in a truck but he was a prick. He told us if it was a bear he would make an exception. What's the difference between 250lbs of deer or 250 lbs of bear? We had game Wardens in VA drive us almost to our stands one time since they were going the same way anyway but not here.

[obi-won]

I've seen both the good and the bad. Unfortunately I've witnessed more of the bad.
- a WCO saw a 65 year old farmer up in a tree stand from about 1/2 a mile away (we checked) and when he had nothing to write him for he warned him that his "Orange" vest was too faded to be seen properly. Funny how he saw him from the road.
- a pair of WCO's watched us return from the morning hunt from across the road then quietly snuck up behind us. One guy was wrong in leaning his shotgun against his truck while he unlocked it but he cited me for the same thing although mine was already laying on the case on the backseat.( both were unloaded with the actions open). He stated that he saw me remove my gun from the leaning postion , or his word against mine. Unfortunately since he didn't record the serial number or have sign that it was my gun I got my money back at the hearing.
- one WCO was dumb enough to tangle with my wife while she was in a tree stand on opening day. She not only made him climb up to check her license , she dropped a large doe he bumped out on his way out back to his truck. When he came charging back she looked at him and said "Sure you can help me drag it up the hill!" And he did just what he was told. Even I don't argue with my wife when she's in the woods with a gun

I try and give them all respect any law officer is due. But it's getting harder to be open minded.

[ghogs nightmare]

Had one many years ago while waiting for my dad to meet back at the car. The warden an deputy came driving up an i had my rifle leaning against the car *unloaded*. He asked if it was i told'm yes...at which point, he got out an checked it. After checking it layed it on the ground which was wet..an said he didnt want it to fall an get banged up.
.
After they left i propped it back up, its a 700 and a leupy scope..both are tough enough for that lil bit of fall. An the scope can be fixed anytime. Cheezy excuse.
.
RANGE WARNING: Make sure u have a "safety officer/range off." designated when you go. Heard this is a popular one to. An everyone gets a fine not jus one guy. As cheezy as it sounds, a simple 1sec. comment to check an designate can save every one some clams. Its on that long stupid rule poster so dont forget.

[crakkajakka15]

OK GC STORY


I was at the shooting range in Dauphin County, this past January on NEW YEARS EVE. It was about Noon and i was taking the hi-point out to get some trigger time, I was shooting for about 20 min i see a GC officers truck pull up at the bottom of hill by the gate. I think, Well here it goes......he sat down there for another 10 min then finally walks up the hill, and says SIR i need to speak with you down here....ok kool. ALSO I WAS THE OLNY PERSON THERE TOO. He asked me if that was my car parked by the gate i said yes sir it is, and he said did you know your parked in a handicapped spot, I said No the hanidcapped sign is over there, pointing to a half assed made wooden sign thats 2 ft tall, i said Im parked past the sign. He said that that sign designates a handicapped area....i said Oh well every handicapped sign i have ever seen designates a individual parking spot, but not a problem I will move my car. (It snowed the days before and i didnt want to park down in the regular parking lot across the road in fear i wouldnt be able to get my car out after i went down there, my car is really low and the regular parking lot has a big hill entrance to it) He says no thats a 128.00 fine, you will stay right there while i write a citation, I said Sir no one is even here its not a big deal i can move the car real quick, he once again said no, so after about 45MIN of sitting there watching him start at me from the inside of his truck he comes back with a camera which he took a picutre of my car and the citation which i signed. He wrote me up for "Control of Property" which basically says they dont have to use state issued signs and markings to control their property, basically its their land they do what they want with it and enforce what they deem fit, Kind like another mini state!

Sec. 721. Control of property.

(a) General rule. - The administration of all lands or waters owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the commission shall be under the sole control of the director, and the commission shall promulgate regulations consistent with the purpose of this title for its use and protection as necessary to properly manage these lands or waters. The acquisition, use and management of such lands or waters owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the commission, including timber cutting and crop cultivation, shall not be subject to regulation by counties or municipalities.


Anyhow i paid my fine, i thought if it as a donation to the state.
On another separate incident at that same gun range, the Same officer DOGHERTY (if you see him, beware hes a dickhead). THe range was pretty full there were several of us shooting handguns and a man and a small boy arrived a few min later, and said he wanted to let his son who was like 6 or 7 start shooting the .22, but he didnt wants to shoot out to 100 yards becasue the kid can even see that far, and he didnt want to use the 25 yard range bc alot of people were shooting handguns, so it made a target our of what looked like two small steel rods that he taped a target to and then stuck them in the ground like 3 feet off the ground about 35 yards out, kool. So DOGHERTY come up like 15 min later and starts grilling this guy on how they are having problems with ricochets and his target is CAUSING them because its so low to the ground BS, so the Officer calls clear walks down and retrieves the target and told the man he cannot shoot any longer, and the look on the little boys face was so sad, and he said right in front of the officer, "dad why did that man take my target, i cant shoot anymore today?" Officer DOGHERTY turns and exits left. He then returned to give the man a 120+ dollar ticket for using an ILLEGAL target.

So if you go to the Dauhpin County Range beware of this guy, hes an ass!

[PA Rifleman]

...
On another separate incident at that same gun range, the Same officer DOGHERTY ... come up like 15 min later and starts grilling this guy on how they are having problems with ricochets and his target is CAUSING them...

So if you go to the Dauhpin County Range beware of this guy, ...

Here's another one that's been making news:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rodney+bimber

It only takes one or two bad apples to ruin a bunch - and that goes for the PGC and hunter alike!

This is alleged to be a point of contact for GCO issues:
pgccomments@state.pa.us