3CATSAILOR
Well-Known Member
No doubt our St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and Maryland State Police is the best. They do outstanding work with the limited manpower they have. Our DNR Police is supposed to enforce our wildlife laws. I think most of them are pretty good as well. But, one of them, I find to be a little "shady".
I woke up at the crack of dawn by gun fire one morning. It souded like the Duck hunters were using an AK 47. I went down to where I heard the shots coming from. The homeowner closest to the shots was already up and out of bed. The hunters were in a camoflaged boat very close to shore at a neigbhor's house. The hunters left a trail of shells from their boat all the way across the Creek and to the shore based on the wind direction blowing the shells. I called the DNR police. They sent out an officer.
The first thing he did was bring out his lap top and said that the State improperly issued a permit for a Duck hunter very close to a house in a Creek. The officer said it was a violation of the law to hunt close to a house. He also said it was a violation of the law to not pick up his shells. They are shell casings of plastic and metal. The DNR officer said he was a hunter himself. Thereby, it appeared he had sympathy for the hunters for some reason. For some reason he did NOT tell the hunters to pick up their shells, although he admitted the hunters violated the law. I wonder how many other DNR police officers are hunters? I think the vast majority of the DNR police officers are excellent officers. However, the one I talked to did not seem interested in enforcing any laws. Instead, he told the guy that owned the house close to where the hunters are to purchase a duck blind permit so the hunters would not hunt near his properly. Well, if it was illegal to hunt close to his house in the first place, why would he need a duck blind permit? The homeowner did purchase the permit. The homeowner was left with no choice. Either purchase the permit or the hunters at 5AM will come back. Is this a form of extortion? No. This is because the State admits that they made a mistake on their computer by issuing an illegal permit. It was just an accident. There was no ill intent. But, I still cannot figure out why the DNR officer would tell the homeonwer to purchase a duck blind permit if the location was too close to his house? Why not have the State just fix the initial problem that created the issue in the first place? Perhaps at some point they will. Currently we have very few ducks left of any kind. Over hunting appears to be a significant issue at least for here. One thing of note what the DNR officer said. The hunters were NOT from the County. They were from a different County. Therefore, they can get their bag limit from one County then go to a creek in another County. The hunter assumes if DNR is called, it would be a different officer for a different County. Perhaps a risky assumption.
I woke up at the crack of dawn by gun fire one morning. It souded like the Duck hunters were using an AK 47. I went down to where I heard the shots coming from. The homeowner closest to the shots was already up and out of bed. The hunters were in a camoflaged boat very close to shore at a neigbhor's house. The hunters left a trail of shells from their boat all the way across the Creek and to the shore based on the wind direction blowing the shells. I called the DNR police. They sent out an officer.
The first thing he did was bring out his lap top and said that the State improperly issued a permit for a Duck hunter very close to a house in a Creek. The officer said it was a violation of the law to hunt close to a house. He also said it was a violation of the law to not pick up his shells. They are shell casings of plastic and metal. The DNR officer said he was a hunter himself. Thereby, it appeared he had sympathy for the hunters for some reason. For some reason he did NOT tell the hunters to pick up their shells, although he admitted the hunters violated the law. I wonder how many other DNR police officers are hunters? I think the vast majority of the DNR police officers are excellent officers. However, the one I talked to did not seem interested in enforcing any laws. Instead, he told the guy that owned the house close to where the hunters are to purchase a duck blind permit so the hunters would not hunt near his properly. Well, if it was illegal to hunt close to his house in the first place, why would he need a duck blind permit? The homeowner did purchase the permit. The homeowner was left with no choice. Either purchase the permit or the hunters at 5AM will come back. Is this a form of extortion? No. This is because the State admits that they made a mistake on their computer by issuing an illegal permit. It was just an accident. There was no ill intent. But, I still cannot figure out why the DNR officer would tell the homeonwer to purchase a duck blind permit if the location was too close to his house? Why not have the State just fix the initial problem that created the issue in the first place? Perhaps at some point they will. Currently we have very few ducks left of any kind. Over hunting appears to be a significant issue at least for here. One thing of note what the DNR officer said. The hunters were NOT from the County. They were from a different County. Therefore, they can get their bag limit from one County then go to a creek in another County. The hunter assumes if DNR is called, it would be a different officer for a different County. Perhaps a risky assumption.
