Federal Agents And Elk.....

[GloryDaze]

We ended up floating Pruitt to Mt. Hershey this weekend- Has anyone else had a run-in with agents in that area?? Mine was unpleasant to say the least-

First of all, I am a law abiding citizen that loves the rivers and outdoors as much as anyone. I don't expect to be treated like I have done something wrong even before I get on the river.

Here's the story in a nutshell (sort of)- we ge to Pruitt around 6:15 Friday night and pull down on the gravel bar to unload our kayaks. No sooner did we get out of the car and an agent and his trainee pull up, walk over and start the interrogation:

Not even a how are you doing, or hello, instead- Can I see your fishing license please? My buddy had his on paper and I had called and got mine on the way down and then forgot the # they gave me (my fault) I explained to him I was in the system but forgot the #- He demanded our drivers license and then sat in his car for 5 minutes. He comes back and tells us we are both in the system but he was giving me a break since I did not have the piece of paper.

Then he proceeds to not so nicely tell me that where I am parked on the gravel bar is illegal and that I drove over an embankment to get to the gravel bar. He admits they could do a better job of signage, so I really couldn't have known but none the less I was still illegaly parked.

The rest of the conversation was him asking me questions- "Have any glass on you?", "Is this car registered to you so if I run your plates it will come back in your name?", "Do you have any trash sacks with you?" and on and on and on..........

- By the time we got on the river, I was pretty frustrated with the whole exchange and figured it was justa slow day and he needed something to do or show off in front of his trainee-

I do have a question about the fishing license though- What is the law around when I need to have purchased one? Is it when I have physically cast one time into the river? Or is it when I step foot on a gravel bar? Or is just having poles in my possession without a license illegal??

Other than that the trip was beautiful and we enjoyed that stretch of river with decent weather- The most excitement we had on the trip, other than my buddy flipping his canoe about a half-mile down from Carver (just after the tree that has the wooden pallot hanging in it about 10' in the air)

Was Sunday morning, we came around a bend and I looked to the left to see a female Elk just laying on the bank soaking it all in. She just sat there as we paddled closer and closer- We got within 10' and took a bunch of pics and some video. She eventually ran up under the fence and into a field. But being a city boy from Kansas City, it was quite exciting to see her in the wild like that!! ( I will post some pics tomorrow)

Thanks everyone for all the advice about the trip in advanca!!

Oh, by the way Bobber-

I will not post any pics of the fish we caught, but I will say your Cyber-fishing guide service was pretty accurate.....

[hoglaw]

Too bad the guy was a jerk, but it's nice to know they're grilling people about trash and glass. Lots of dumping takes place, especially in the Mt. Hershey area since it's a little more remote.

As far as the fishing license requirement, the law doesn't provide much clarity. You must have a license in order to attempt to take fish by any means. If you're still by the truck setting up camp and you just happen to have some rods in the cab, that's a tough sell. If you're loading up a canoe getting ready to float and you have rods with you, I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that you're about to attempt to take fish. They don't have to actually catch you in the act, but there has to be some significant circumstantial evidence that you're fishing or attempting to fish.

It's kinda like having to have a license to hunt. I don't have to have a license to walk through the woods wearing camo and orange during modern gun season. If I have a large caliber pistol with me, however, it's a pretty tough sell to argue that I wasn't out there hunting. The agent doesn't actually have to witness me shooting at anything.

One of the funnier AGFC license tickets I heard about was a friend's mother. They live on lake Hamilton and have a dock with a couple of boats. She was cleaning the dock and the boats. In the process, she grabbed a handfull of ultra-lites (strung up and ready to go) off of the party barge and set them by the ramp. The wildlife officer saw her carrying the rods and came by and checked her. She didn't have a license, and kindly explained the situation to the officer who promptly wrote her a ticket.

[bobber]

too bad that's what your trip had to start off with!....... But send the BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER Park Service. HARRISON ARKANSAS an email about what happened ...... and just Let it out! ................> ~~BUT, GLAD TO HAVE HELPED YOU OUT ON THE REST!~~ the arkansas canoe guys are floating woolum to bakers ford the weekend of the 20 th as an overnighter, (but it could be done as a day trip) . and you can't find better folks than that bunch, too bad they don't fish.

[Doc Tom]

It's been a few years but. Another adult and I were taking a group of Boy Scouts on a 5 day float on the lower Buffalo. We didn't know they even allowed motors. We are in kayaks and canoes when a conservation agent and a ranger came screaming up the river in their jon boat with a 25 HP motor wide open. They want to see our fishing license so we dig and finally find them in our packs and show them.

They proceed to ask if we have seen someone with a jon boat and a 15 HP motor.

They are trying to track them down and give them a ticket.

That is BS to me. Since the lower Buffalo is Wilderness and you can't have a mountain bike or chainsaw WHY do they even allow motors and why do the Rangers/ conservation agents get to violate the law?

[creek wader]

I'm sorry all of you had bad experiences with the agents. I personally like seeing agents out checking bad guys. If your doing everything with in the law, you should have no problem. I've encountered many more people violating game laws, then I've encountered agents. Agents are humans, too. You got your nice helpful ones and you have your jerks.

[taxidermist]

Get use to it!! Its going to get worse!! Now you guys are seeing the side most of the locals have seen for years. For the most part I think they are and have been taught to be jerks.

Had one ask to see the Coggins papers on one of my horses once, it was in the truck of course!!! You dont carry a pice of paper that cost $30.00 out on the trail. Hell they dont know the info thats suppose to be on them anyway. Just if it says NEG. on it. And we were looking for someone who was lost!!!!

Had a friend held during turkey season for criminal check, he was putting the canoe in to float down to a field and hunt. the JIC held him until the no warrant check came back from, took over 90 minutes. There was no call to check the man for a crimonal background.

Now with online hunting and fishing license, its going to be worse.

Bottom line it the Park Service dont want people using the park. Many locals havebeen treated like crap for years. Lookslike its starting to hit others too.

[Gavin]

Too bad...sounds like they ran you through the wringer. Used to be a red headed Park Ranger on the Current that was really full of himself. He gave a couple friends of mine tickets for floating the river when the river was supposedly closed a couple years ago. Guess he'd been watching for us for days cuz we went at Baptist on Wednesday and came out at Parker on Sunday...Still remember the look on his face when 16 more canoes rolled around the bend were he'd told Robbie and me to pull our boats off the river so he could have some fun with us. He ended up writing a few tickets and he gave us all a lecture instead of raking us over the coals really hard. We complained, and the tickets were dismissed.

I guess we werent the only ones complaing cuz that guy isnt there anymore. Write a complaint...they just might listen. Cheers.

[ozark trout fisher]

Get use to it!! Its going to get worse!! Now you guys are seeing the side most of the locals have seen for years. For the most part I think they are and have been taught to be jerks.

Had one ask to see the Coggins papers on one of my horses once, it was in the truck of course!!! You dont carry a pice of paper that cost $30.00 out on the trail. Hell they dont know the info thats suppose to be on them anyway. Just if it says NEG. on it. And we were looking for someone who was lost!!!!

Had a friend held during turkey season for criminal check, he was putting the canoe in to float down to a field and hunt. the JIC held him until the no warrant check came back from, took over 90 minutes. There was no call to check the man for a crimonal background.

Now with online hunting and fishing license, its going to be worse.

Bottom line it the Park Service dont want people using the park. Many locals havebeen treated like crap for years. Lookslike its starting to hit others too.

I think the fact of the matter are that there are some good, and some bad. Like someone else said, they are just people. I don't think the majority of them are jerks, I just think you've had a few bad experiences with agents who happened to be jerks.

[creek wader]

I guess most of my experience has been with State game wardens and State conservation agents. Not with the Fed agents. So, maybe that is why I have not had many problems.

[soggyfeet]

The ones that are jerks are that way because we make them that way. From what what you said I didnt see anything jerky about it at all. Now if he gave you a ticket for parking in the wrong place with no signage you might have a complaint but for the most part sounds like he was just doing his job. Granted reading is different than hearing. That officer doesnt know who you, me, or most of the others he will encounter everyday. The questions he asks helps him decide what kind of person you are and IF you start to give him attitude he will give it right back. Now dont get me wrog there are some real jerky people out there the the foct of the matter is most of the jerks you will meet on the water are not officers but other fisherman. I say give the man a break and make his job easier.

I would have ticked you for not haveing the lisence on you weather you were in the system or not ad Im not even an agent or officer