What not to say to Fish and Game

On January 9, 2019 The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee held a public hearing on HB 282 which was introduced to reform the law enforcement operations of New Hampshire Fish and Game by requiring probable cause to search a person instead of the lower burden of proof in current law called reasonable suspicion. NH FG Chief of Law Enforcement Col. Kevin Jordan and NH FG Legal Counsel Paul Sanderson both testified against this important bill.  It is always interesting to see the bureaucrats fight to keep the status quo.  If we weren’t dealing with people’s lives and futures it might even be comical.  But these issues are very serious and reform of Fish and Game is an important issue.  A previous legislature enacted laws that have given Conservation Officers an exemption to the Constitution but HB 282 will right that wrong and force them to demonstrate probable cause just like every other police officer in New Hampshire.   Unfortunately, on January 31, 2019, the House of Representatives voted HB 282 “inexpedient to legislate”.  The bill is dead.

We have reported on Fish and Game’s unconstitutional administrative rules and practices before.  Click here and here.  This report will attempt to provide some guidance on what to do if contacted by a Conservation Officer (CO).

We realize that often times, when approached in the field, people impulsively talk.  Some might even talk to much.  The best thing to do is remain silent, exercise your Fifth Amendment right and let the CO know that you want to speak with your attorney.   Don’t even engage in idle chatter, it can be used against you.  For example, we have heard reports of simple questions that seem harmless like: “how’s the hunting today” or “where exactly were you hunting” prompting a CO to dig deeply into your affairs.  If there are to many acorns on the ground you might even be falsely accused of baiting deer.  Or depending on the time of day or night; you might even be falsely accused of night hunting.  They seem oblivious to the time it takes to hike into or out of the woods before or after legal hunting hours.

Conservation Officers are bureaucrats, they are not your friends.  They are not talking to you to befriend you, they are talking to you so that they can gather information to make a case against you.  We have even heard rumors of conservation officers laughing and joking among themselves about the ‘games’ of entrapping citizens’.

If you register a deer and receive a phone call from anyone at Fish and Game, even someone who says they are a biologist, say “I need to speak with my attorney”.  Ask for their return phone number and tell them that your attorney will respond.  Do not return their voice mail messages, instead, contact your attorney.  COs have been known to look for the slightest error, mistake of facts, or misstatement of the time of day that could be used against you, even if you did everything right.  Maybe your watch was a little off and you shot 31 or 32 minutes before sunrise or 31 or 32 minutes after sunset.  These activities, while technically unlawful, are victimless crimes that differ substantially from shooting 60 or 90 minutes before or after sunrise or sunset.

Northwoods law has clearly shown us that it is very difficult for a CO to find the exact location where wild game was taken, or determine exactly how far off the road a hunter really was and what time a shot was really fired.  They will claim to have witnesses, but there is no way to know if they are telling the truth and everyone has a right to face their accuser.  The New Hampshire Constitution clearly states in Part First, Art. 15 that you have the right to hear the charges.  It is far better to force a CO to prove his case in court then to plea to a crime and lose by default.  Under cross examination by a competent attorney many of these stories usually fall apart.

If everyone responded this way the abuse would end and COs would be forced to actually do their job and properly investigate.  Remember, in the American system of justice suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and have an absolute right not to be compelled to testify against themselves.  However, in many cases COs presume people’s guilt and make them prove their innocence in the field.  This is contrary to long standing principles of jurisprudence.  It is virtually impossible to prove your innocence in the field, everything you say will be used against you.  You cannot win in the field, the best way to address these questions is through a competent attorney.  You have a far better chance in court then you do in the woods.

Don’t post pictures of your successful hunt on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any other social media platform.  Watching the TV show Northwoods Law taught us that Fish and Game trolls social media looking to make cases.  You say, “but wait, I don’t break the rules, I can post my hunt.”  NO YOU CAN’T!!!  Northwoods Law revealed a lot about how the Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division operates.  They are very skilled at making something out of nothing.  Certain officers will grill you, threaten you with arrest, prosecution and maybe even jail time if you don’t tell them what they want to hear.  Ask for a lawyer, it won’t matter because unlike more professional law enforcement agencies, certain, overly aggressive COs will probably keep peppering you with questions.  Keep insisting you have a right to a lawyer; the answer to every question should be, “I want to speak with my attorney”.

Unfortunately, due to the indoctrination conducted at mandatory hunter education courses, many hunters think that Conservation Officers are their friends; some are not your friends.  We have received reports of certain civil liberties violating officers confiscating firearms, wild game and suspending your hunting license.  Don’t help them!  Consider this: Most people know that if they are being questioned by the police for a crime (not a motor vehicle violation) to ask for an attorney.  Most professional law enforcement agencies have people sign a waiver of rights form if they are questioning them without an attorney present.  It should be no different with a Conservation  Officer.  Exercise your right to remain silent!

If you don’t post on social media Fish and Game won’t know any of the details of your successful hunt other than what appears on the deer, bear or turkey registration tag.

While we’re on the subject of tags.  Fill out the tag truthfully and completely and if asked any questions by any fish and game employee (even a biologist), tell them the pertinent information is on the registration tag.  If they insist on asking additional questions, just tell them that you need to speak with your attorney.

Please remember that bear hunters are subject to some special rules, we are including part of those rules below, but please do not rely solely on our reprint, click here to refer to the Fish and Game bear hunting page for more information.

• “Successful hunters must notify a Conservation Officer within 12 hours of taking a bear by calling (603) 271-3361 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and may be required to take a department employee to the kill site. Within 24 hours after time of kill, the hunter must exhibit the bear, with reproductive organs intact, to a Conservation Officer. Do not bring bear to a registration station prior to calling Fish and Game at (603) 271-3361 to receive instructions.”

Make sure that you only provide the minimum required information and do not engage in “small talk”.  Fill out the tag truthfully and completely and do not offer any additional information about anything that is not directly related to the bear kill that you are reporting.

Many NHFC Members have reported that they have been told that carrying a firearm and a flashlight in the woods is evidence of poaching.  We think it is evidence of a person who takes their personal safety very seriously while hiking.  If you are a hiker and approached by a CO when entering or leaving the woods or getting into your car and they attempt to detain you they are not being friendly.  Given their historic anti-gun bias, it is not clear to us they are trying to determine if they can find some way to charge you for carrying a self defense firearm.  Fish and Game might patrol the woods but they don’t own the woods; private landowners, the State of New Hampshire and in some areas the Federal Government owns the woods.  Again, just tell them that you would like to speak with your attorney.

Sadly, because most fish and game offenses are violations and misdemeanors many innocent people plead guilty to avoid the financial cost of a trial which is why there is not more publicity about their massive civil liberties violations.  Even when a CO confiscates a gun, ammunition and a deer carcass, the financial cost is still far lower than hiring an attorney and fighting.  This is sad.  What is not sad is that the few people who fight usually win.  Most states reciprocate on license suspensions and revocations so if you plead guilty and lose a New Hampshire hunting license, you will not be able to get one in another state until the period of suspension has expired.  In some cases loss of a hunting license in one state will result in the loss of your hunting and fishing license in other states.

Police recruits are taught that if an agency loses the respect of the community it cannot effectively police the community.  Fish and Game has lost the respect of thousands of hunters.  This is why license sales are down.  People are still hunting; they are just purchasing non resident licenses and hunting in other states where rights are respected.

New Hampshire citizens need to know that since 2014, Conservation Officers have more authority than any other law enforcement in New Hampshire.  Including the State Police Major Crimes Unit.

There is little to no real wildlife crime in New Hampshire so in order to increase the statistics and justify their existence, Fish and Game has become overly aggressive.  Like every bureaucrat, the people who run Fish and Game do not want to give up any of their authority and state funding.  The reality is that it might even be time to consider a significant restructuring of the law enforcement division of Fish and Game, up to and including a complete replacement of the Executive Director and command staff with people who will respect Constitutional rights.

On January 31, 2019, the House of Representatives voted HB 282 “inexpedient to legislate”.  This defeat is disappointing and confusing because democrats have history of standing up for civil rights and pushing back against over zealous law enforcement.  Sadly, the democrat majority was joined by 22 republicans in defeating HB 282.  This is equally confusing because republicans claim that support individual civil rights and also claim to be against big government.   However, this is a setback, we will continue to shine the light on Fish and Games unconstitutional actions.  We are even considering a civil liberties violator of the quarter award.  If you know about a Conservation Officer who employs tactics that are violative of Constitution please send us the information on dates, times and places and maybe your local CO will be recognized as a serial civil liberties violator.