DuckSouth.com

So this teal season i was stopped by old GW. They came and asked to see our birds asked how many we killed and went through there normal steps with checking us out. So they asked for our guns to make sure they only held 1 + 2 in the tube. When the GW first checked my gun he used my ammo 3" shells... Gave it back said was good to go and thanks. I said no worries. Then his partner asked the GW that checked my gun checked it with 2 3/4" shells. he said no and then asked to see my gun again. I handed him it again because in my mind i knew my gun wouldn't hold 3 shells in the tube. the GW put 2 2 3/4 shells in my gun and then slammed the 3 one in and told him we had issues. i answered why is that? he says your gun holds 1 + 3 and it cant. Quick recap my gun was good to go with the ammo i was using and there was no 2 3/4" shells on the boat... bottom line i got my ducks taken and a ticket.. I'm still waiting to see how much the ticket is going to be. With all this being said the GW seemed to be upset with right of the bat when he asked for my ID and i handed him my military ID due to not having my drivers license on me because i didn't drive that day. I volunteer my time with the MS marine patrol and I'm active duty military with the Coast Guard. I never would hunt with an gun that was not ready to hunt with. I just have lost all trust with GW's now because of this. I WAS trying to get hired as a GW when I get out of the CG but I'm not sure i could work with such booty holes that couldn't give a warning. I would understand if my gun didn't have a plug but my gun did. Either way why I am writing this and letting people know is double check all your stuff. Also the GW said to always check your gun with the smallest ammo your gun will hold even if your not using that ammo to hunt with.

you can get out of that !

how?

I would also like to add that I'm not making this up or changing what truly happened to make the GW look worse then they were... I've worked hand & hand with game wardens before. I am also a law enforcement officer for the CG and i want to believe i would have been more understand if i was the officer in this case.

That ticket is totally bogus! Do a little research on 12ga shell sizes. You can get them as small as 1 3/4" online and can make them smaller than that. The shells and gun go together as a pair. If you or your buddies had smaller shells(2 3/4) in your possession then I would say the ticket would be legit.

They tried to pull something like that but different on me and a buddy. Plea not guilty show up for court tell the judge what happened and if he has any common sense he will dismiss it. Then hope the gw doesn't lose his temper like he did in my case.

What county were in?
Who were the wardens?

You will not pay that ticket. The other game warden is your best witness.

You just learned a hell of a lesson, wake up call, if you will. That lesson is not about game laws though, its about someone just "being an a hole and being able to get away with it". A common personality trait in that profesion. we have had them try that crap, I just dont accept it.


What county? Certain judges get REAL PISSED, when they see these BS tickets.

Name the ticket writer so we can all see what were dealing with.

I won't speculate or comment on the integrity........of either party.

When you get right down to the law......I think it reads something like.....

MDWFP regulations wrote:When hunting migratory birds, a shotgun must be "plugged" so that it can hold no more than three (3) shells at one loading.

........so that is without regard to what length the hunter is hunting with or has in possession.

Down South.....sorry you had this trouble. Tough lesson to learn. Was the plug in your gun a 'factory' plug? What kind of gun is it? Thanks.

As result of your post, I checked all our guns......none of them will hold more than 2 2-3/4" or 3" shells in the magazine when plugged.

Did you dove hunt with this same gun?

FYI a factory plug in a beretta extrema 1 will hold (3) 2-3/4 shells.. Luckily I wasn't checked before fixing..

LODI QUACKER wrote:What county were in?
Who were the wardens?

You will not pay that ticket. The other game warden is your best witness.

You just learned a hell of a lesson, wake up call, if you will. That lesson is not about game laws though, its about someone just "being an a hole and being able to get away with it". A common personality trait in that profesion. we have had them try that crap, I just dont accept it.


What county? Certain judges get REAL PISSED, when they see these BS tickets.

Name the ticket writer so we can all see what were dealing with.

I hate to break it to you, but.......













It wasn't me.

Now carry on with the warden bashing. The SWAT and street patrol officers need the break.

Wildfowler wrote:Did you dove hunt with this same gun?

Best post on here.

Anatidae wrote:I won't speculate or comment on the integrity........of either party.

When you get right down to the law......I think it reads something like.....

MDWFP regulations wrote:When hunting migratory birds, a shotgun must be "plugged" so that it can hold no more than three (3) shells at one loading.

........so that is without regard to what length the hunter is hunting with or has in possession.

Down South.....sorry you had this trouble. Tough lesson to learn. Was the plug in your gun a 'factory' plug? What kind of gun is it? Thanks.

As result of your post, I checked all our guns......none of them will hold more than 2 2-3/4" or 3" shells in the magazine when plugged.

Anat, how many 1 3/4" shells will your guns hold? There has to be some discretion when enforcing this law...

I think it boils down to what type gun and was it a factory plug. If I were in that situation I might even jerk the barrel off so I could show both officers that it was the factor plug. Not that it is going to make any difference at that particular moment but would allow you to say in court if you were to contest it that you showed both officers the stripped down gun and where you were using the factor plug. If it's not the factory plug but rather dowel or something crafted to fit in magazine then I don't think you stand as good of a chance getting it turned over. I know some factory guns use wooden dowels for plugs. I would take the plug you were using, the factory specs, and show that everything matched up.

I know game warden bashing gets a little chaotic around here this time of year and many of you have had many, many more experiences than I have had with a game warden but my experiences have always been very pleasant. There's always some simple rules I follow when I first see that officer and that is I unload the gun first, lock open the bolt, and start pulling my license and stamps out. I'm showing right off the bat that I'm trying to do right and if I do have violation it is completely unintentional. I also shows that I respect the officer and am going to give him my full attention instead of messing around like I have seen some groups do. A little off target here but I think everyone in a party should do that on first sighting of the officer and no one should load a gun and keep hunting until he has left. I saw some show a few years ago where some guys were teal hunting in Louisiana and the officer slipped in with a pirogue. Instead of everybody stopping everyone in the party kept right on shooing and the host started talking about how the officer had a job to do but they had a job to do as well which was killing ducks. I could tell the officer was not happy every time a gun went off over his head. Just complete disrespect.

I'm not saying you were disrespectful and hope you understand that. There are times where the officer is keyed in on something because of what he has just left. I was checked by a Fed a few years ago and everything checked out until he saw my flashlight in my coat pocket. I'm sure he was thinking lead but I took the coat off an let him search every pocket as long as he wanted. Nothing there and he moved on.

Question to everyone:

How many of these could you fit in your gun?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/255579 ... -box-of-20

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Gamebo ... G1225TG30/