Sobriety checkpoint....and shakedown....

[hornyheadchub]

Ok explain this.Go to a Managed Deer Hunt,only one way in and out,drinking done in Camp,not in hunting area.

Just before Lunch time Law sets up a Safty Check Point catching Guys coming in for Lunch.Most tickets are for no Seatbelts.Now this is on a basically one lane gravel road.

oneshot

What's to explain? If you drink and drive on a public road and get stopped, you have broken the law, and you should pay the price. If you aren't wearing your seat belt and you get stopped, you have broken the law and you will pay the price. You'll get no sympathy from me when you get a ticket. Maybe because I have lost more than one friend to an irresponsible idiot who drank and then drove and hit and killed an innocent person. Further, if booze is provided or even allowed at a managed hunt, I have to call into question the ethics of those who put the "Managed" hunt together. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

[brownieman]

a big 'ditto' to that hhc...

piss poor management in more ways than one.

i have a few friends that would still be around if it were not for being drunken fools...and young and bullet proof, lol.

[jscheetz]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but if a cop stops me I have nothing to hide - I don't necessarily like being hassled, but if you are doing nothing wrong then you will most of the time be sent on your way. It seems like the guys who don't want any police presence are usually the guys that are "bending" the rules a bit.

In June, a sobriety checkpoint on the Niangua River netted a total of 26 drug arrests and seven underage drinkers

Wow - our world has gotten to a point where someone actually posts this and talks about it like it's a bad thing......

Shame those pesky corrupt cops are picking on those fine upstanding potheads and underaged drinkers who are doing so much good for society !!

I think the only way to resolve this is pick one river - and give it to the partiers - just like they gave em party cove - then ban alcohol on the other rivers - I'd vote for that. I mean we have bars and stuff where you can go get drunk and take your clothes off - but you can't do it everywhere. So make it one river then everyone would know if you want to do that you go there. Not many people go to party cove to do serious fishing.

and btw - it most definitely IS against the law to operate a boat while intoxicated.

JS

JS

[fishinwrench]

if you are doing nothing wrong then you will most of the time be sent on your way.

Yep, you are right. "most of the time"... But if you ever are lucky enough to experience just one of those..."other times". Then the way you sing that song (pardon the pun) will change abruptly.

For God sake, what's the big deal with a 19y/o sneakin' a few beers ? Or even (dare I say) smokin' a joint on a float trip with buddys. If he gets carried away and actually causes some trouble, then that's one thing...but don't go out hunting them down, and then slapping felonys on his record that will screw up his future for many-many years. C'mon guys ! Don't act so self-rightous....I'm guessing that there's a few on here that suffer a considerable amount of memory loss.

JS, I really am not aware of it being illegal to paddle a canoe, or float in a tube, with a buzz on. Operating a "licensed motored craft" is a different story.

[fishinwrench]

Shame those pesky corrupt cops are picking on those fine upstanding potheads and underaged drinkers who are doing so much good for society !!

OMG...you inflame me with that remark...seriously ! A guy in possession of a joint is not NECESSARILY a "pothead", anymore than you are a "pin-cushion head-banger". And just pick one person you know that has done something "in favor of society", and ask them when they first tasted alcohol.

Dang ! I am totally out of my league here.

[Flysmallie]

For God sake, what's the big deal with a 19y/o sneakin' a few beers ? Or even (dare I say) smokin' a joint on a float trip with buddys.

It's against the law, period. Just the same as running a red light, speeding or murder. I'm not afraid to say that I have done both. But if I would have got caught I wouldn't have been crying about it not being a big deal.

Used to be you could get by with a lot more than you can now. The reason is because it is so much worse now. My wife and one of my daughters were at the mall last night and today I hear that two guys were shot outside of Dillards last night at about the same time they were leaving. But I guess if they would have got caught in a stray bullets path, it wouldn't be any big deal, just today's kids being kids.

I've had it with the way a lot of these punks act on the river, and I'm usually not afraid to ask them to move on. My wife and Daughters love to float but it's getting harder and harder to find a place that isn't R or even X rated to take them. You can offend me all you want, I'll probably just move on. But when my wife and kids are around you had better watch how you act. Maybe stupid, but when it comes to my girls, I'm not afraid of anything/anyone.

It's got so bad that even when I float & camp with my buddies we take a handgun. It pretty much stays in a case, but it's the first thing that gets unpacked as soon as the tent is up. It still stays in the case, but the clip is in, one in the chamber and the hammer back. We had a bad experience one night on the Buffalo, and this was from a group of about 15 really drunk under age punks. We did not have a gun with us that night, but that was the last time. They finally wised up and decided that none of them wanted to be seriously injured that night.

And as far as part cove, they can keep that cess pool. The way I see it, if we just let them do wahtever they want up there, they will eventually kill themselves. How many people have to drown on that lake before they shut that down???

[fishinwrench]

it's the first thing that gets unpacked as soon as the tent is up. It still stays in the case, but the clip is in, one in the chamber and the hammer back.

Jesus !

[Thom]

flysmallie:

You are right they brought it on themselves. I don't like govt interference either but the rights of other stops when it interferes with my own. I can understand what some of the poster are saying about law enforcement abuse. Several years ago I was in the Upholsty business and my supplier was in St Louis right next to the stroll. I got stopped almost every time I went down there. Most times I would explain to the officer why I was there and that was that. On one occasion one officer put me through hell. I was in a hurry and coming out of the alley where the entrance was to Matthew Hinsman and he stopped me and detained me for more than 30 minutes even tough I had the supplies and bill of sale from the purchase. HOWEVER

Not all officer are like that so I won't place them in the category with that cowboy.

Another time at Busch Wildlife there was a man woman and two children giving the geese there a fit. They were drinking and the kids were out of control to the extent of chasing the geese in the picnic area and hitting them with rocks and sticks. I just politely told them that It was illegal to harrass the animals there and they went balllistic. The woman wanted to whup up on my wife and the guy came to my car and tried to smash the window. Luckly I was able to reach under the seat and raise my handgun within sight and drive and he was so smashed that he didn't pursue. Unfortunately there are a lot of those kind roaming around messing it up for everyone else. On the Beach in Texas last year a guy was running up and down the beach on a go cart while his small son was shooting at the birds with a paint ball gun. When I told him that that was illegal he couldn't believe it. His words " Gosh you can't do anything anymore with your kids with out there being a law against it' Can anyone spell "DRIVE BY" ? I probally kept him from getting a large fine because Padre Island is a national refuge and patrolled heavily.

I don't want my kids exposed to nudity, profane language and drunkedness in a park or tax supported sanctury.

Yes I did some stupid things when I was a kid, but and a bit BUT when I got caught I paid for it dearly both by the authorities and then again by my Italian Mom when I got home. Guess what "I deserved it"

[oneshot]

What's to explain? If you drink and drive on a public road and get stopped, you have broken the law, and you should pay the price. If you aren't wearing your seat belt and you get stopped, you have broken the law and you will pay the price. You'll get no sympathy from me when you get a ticket. Maybe because I have lost more than one friend to an irresponsible idiot who drank and then drove and hit and killed an innocent person. Further, if booze is provided or even allowed at a managed hunt, I have to call into question the ethics of those who put the "Managed" hunt together. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

I didn't say they was stopping them for DUI it was just for Seat Belts,lousy $10 fine.Seems overkill bringing MHP,MDC,and other Law Enforcement just to hassel a bunch of guys for Seatbelt Violation.

I didn't get stopped because I stayed out all day.My wife thought someone had gotten shot as many Law Enforcement they had in there.They didn't do anything in the Camp Area.

Plus I don't know where your from but there is drinking in several Deer Camps after a day of hunting.Which I have no problem with long as all Firearms are Unloaded and put up.

oneshot

[BrianK]

I've been following this thread and can't believe it's really being discussed. Look at all the other threads on the Current R, Eleven Point and the Spring R in Arkansas. Everyone was posting how we wished law enforcement would patrol the rivers more intensely and take them back so that we can take our kids out on a Saturday.

The Niangua is becoming the worst party river in the state. From reading those previous threads, I think the vast majority of folks on this forum support measures to make our rivers safer and more enjoyable and that takes checkpoints or some type of law enforcement.

I say good job to the MDC for cracking down.

The underlying issue is whether that enforcement is done fairly or is corrupt. As someone mentioned earlier, there are bad apples in every organization and someone will always have a bad experience with one of them. No one wants that.