Funny.
I haven’t met a CO that I haven’t liked or could say was un professional. There’s been some I haven’t agreed with, but I don’t always agree with my FW either.
Now that I think about it, there isn’t too many people from IOWA that I don’t like. 
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Can a dnr officer jump in your boat without permission and start opening compartments without permission?
Every time I have ever been stopped by the dnr they have stayed in their boat and asked for all the normal stuff. But yesterday I had two officers pull up next to me which is what they normally do but then one of them just jumped into my boat…. never had that happen much less opening my compartments.
The short answer is “usually not.” However…
Wardens have very broad lattitude and they are generally granted considerably more slack by judges when it comes to the line between what is/is not a legal search.
My guess is that the warden’s claim in your case would be:
A. Normally, he would (and should) ask for permission to board, but weather conditions, boat traffic, insert other excuse here, put his safety at risk, so therefore he felt entitled to board without gaining permission first.
B. Searching closed compartments would generally require probable cause. But what constitutes “probable cause” for a warden is different from a police officer. The warden could say that he believed he saw from a distance that you were putting fish into one of the compartments because you caught multiple fish, but he could not see you return them to the water.
IMO, it’s better and more will be accomplished if you file an official complaint later rather than risk a confrontation on the water. Unfortunately, there is a “give an inch / take a mile” at play with some officers when it comes to what’s in bounds. The only way to correct this attitude is through remedial training and the only way that will happen is through official complaints.
Grouse
I have a long time friend who has been taking taking law courses for two years now. He said even with a search warrant, what they are searching for has to be relevant to what their looking for. In other words if their looking for any fish where they more then likely won’t be, that won’t hold up in court. If they start looking in a glove box, under the dash panel or under the motor cover that’s real borderline searching. A live well is searchable but the search has to be relevant to what their looking for.
Its like a search warrant is served because their looking for a human. They can’t open drawers because a person won’t fit into a drawer, it has to be relevant to what their looking for.
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I’ve yet to meet a CO where I thought afterwards, what a prick. )
I can’t say I haven’t had that experience 
Back in on Memorial weekend of 2004, I had my boat beached because one of my friends at the time wanted to make a beer run for him and our other buddy. I dropped my one buddy off on shore and While me and my other buddy were sitting there the CO approached us an asked us all the basic questions, and had me tear apart my boat to show them jackets, throwable etc.. I realized the I only had 2 life jackets, but we had 3 guys. So I said to the CO, that since we weren’t even on the water, I could call by buddy and have him stop by his house and pick an extra one up. The CO said no, and proceeded to give me a $150 ticket even though we were beached and not technically on the water
He was in the boat before he got out, right? I wasn’t there, but I can imagine the CO is thinking, “What if I hadn’t stopped them”. You’d be out on the water with 2 jackets. I know what you mean, but I can see his side too.
Guy sounds like a ____ to me. Still whoever is running
the boat should insure there are enough vest for all…
Even good swimmers need em…Where I live the temp of the
river can do you in even in summer. Just never know when
something can go wrong and folks end up in the drink
Guy does sound like a jerk. But I can understand why he did it… like pug said, if he hadn’t stopped you the other guy would have came and you would have been 1 jacket short.
I believe in giving people a chance to make things right (exactly the opposite of what the CO did) so I guess that is why I have a criminal justice degree and no job.
I believe in giving people a chance to make things right (exactly the opposite of what the CO did) so I guess that is why I have a criminal justice degree and no job. [/quote
]
Really, That’s why you don’t have a job?
I have worked with and rode with DNR officers in Iowa and I do know they have a lot more liberal set of rules when it comes to going on property & opening closed doors over regular law enforcement. Also here and I assume all other states they are appointed as a federal officer and carry a badge to that effect. I believe it has something to do with the migratory bird act and interstate transport of game.
Always had positive things to say about CO till 2 years ago. Had a bad experience in 2011 & 2012. Neither time cost me any $$$ but sure left a bad feeling behind about CO that is supposed to be a role model.
All I know is that my daughter loves when the DNR come over to our boat. The last two times she recieved a coupon for a free ice cream cone at DQ for wearing her PFD onboard. 
It has been part of her boating enjoyment.
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All I know is that my daughter loves when the DNR come over to our boat. The last two times she recieved a coupon for a free ice cream cone at DQ for wearing her PFD onboard.
AWESOME and wearing the PFD is a good thing. It will keep you ALIVE!!! 
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Always had positive things to say about CO till 2 years ago. Had a bad experience in 2011 & 2012. Neither time cost me any $$$ but sure left a bad feeling behind
X2
I’d say 90% of encounters with COs have been positive, but somehow the remaining 10% seem to have the ability to poison “more than one-tenth” of my perception.
gramma used ta have some saying about apples and a barrel ! … hmmm, just how did that go again ?
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Although there is always a bit of uneasiness when the GW in brown britches approaches.(You know that reference?)
I sure do, Phil.
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Although there is always a bit of uneasiness when the GW in brown britches approaches.(You know that reference?)
I sure do, Phil.
the one I’m thinking of has to do with a pirate captain and his red shirt
Bring me my brown pants! 
the only other reference which comes to mind is Storm Troopers; but they were commonly known for their “shirts”, not their britches
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He was in the boat before he got out, right? I wasn’t there, but I can imagine the CO is thinking, “What if I hadn’t stopped them”. You’d be out on the water with 2 jackets. I know what you mean, but I can see his side too.
I do understand his side now, but at the time I was really pissed 
On the otherhand the other CO he was with was one that I knew very well, and had a very good repore with
So I was pretty sure the other guy was new, and he was extremely zelous, just like a cop fresh out of the police academy 
I tried reasoning with him, and was hoping that since we were actually beached when he approached us, he could’ve cut us some slack and made us produce another life jacket before we headed back out
Alass that was not to be and I was stuck paying a $150 ticket 
So word of the wise, make sure you have enough life jackets for all passengers, cause the DNR does not mess around
Joe, something is a rye here.
…if he saw you beach the boat with the three of you in it…ticket-able offense.
If not, how can a person get a ticket for not having enough PFD’s when not ON THE WATER?
…then again, if he knew there were three of you…you had to boat to that location…short a pfd.
Then again, I’m sure you would have fought it if you knew you were in the right…I ‘spose.
CO’s are people too. Like all of us except me, they do make mistakes occasionally.
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CO’s are people too. Like all of us except me, they do make mistakes occasionally.
I’m thinking the FW wasn’t looking over your shoulder while you were typing that
As far as things go, I don’t believe the CO saw us pull up
We were beached, and I saw a bunch of our brothers from south of the boarder scatter when the CO came cause they didn’t have fishing liscenses
My one buddy was walking up the hill, while my other buddy and me were sitting in the boat when the CO approached us.
At that point he decided run us through the drill, and do a liscence / boat check
And being a Rookie CO he probabaly couldn’t wait to write his first ticket
Unfortunatly I just happened to be in the line of fire at the time
I wasn’t there. Could be he was just being….well you know.
Just seems like if that was the case, I could get a ticket for expired boat registration in my drive way. 
An assumption is a lot different then seeing it being done. Did either officer see the guy in the boat when you were on the water, before the boat was at shore. If not the guy could have been standing by the boat just talking to you. Granted their should have been 3 life jackets but he could have given you a written warning, must be short on funding for some project.
I know 2 guys that live here and both were ticketed for something the DNR thought they did. They took it to court because they knew it was a false charge, and when both DNR officers testified what they had seen, the accusations became assumptions and the guys won both cases and the DNR had to pay the court costs and legal fees for the lawyers. The first thing a DNR officer wants to learn is if the charge will hold up in court if its taken there, speeding tickets are beaten all the time…
Whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not, as soon as you purchase and sign any game/fishing licence you sign away alot of constitutional rights. Look deep into the language in the law books. If you want to retain rights don’t buy the licence. You will get cited for not having a licence, but you will have more rights in court. You make the call. In my world COs are an inconvenience, I follow the rules and buy my licenses, and tolerate their presence.
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In my world COs are an inconvenience, I follow the rules and buy my licenses, and tolerate their presence.
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In my world COs are an inconvenience, I follow the rules and buy my licenses, and tolerate their presence.
and if you would wear a BIG SIGN that says you are not a violater, then they could just pass you by and wave 
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In my world COs are an inconvenience, I follow the rules and buy my licenses, and tolerate their presence.
I get what you’re saying but it’s a sad state of affairs in a free country.
To think for a minute out of the box. If you are a moral person you do not walk over to your neighbors house with a gun and demand money from them. That is called theft and I would argue few decent human beings would condone such behavior. Now a government is made up of representatives of the people. Representative. You can not delegate a right you don’t have to someone else. In other words it would equally morally wrong for me to send my brother to my neighbors house with a gun to demand money on my behalf. But somehow we’ve decided it’s perfectly morally acceptable that I can elect someone as my representative who could write laws that result in a man in a blue suit walking over to my neighbors house with a gun and demand they submit to a fine or an arrest and if they resist they could be beaten or killed.
Come to the issue of PFD’s which is the topic of this thread. Am I morally justified as a citizen of the United States to pull up to some strangers boat, hop in it, and start rummaging through their live well and checking their life vest. Am I morally justified demanding $150 dollars from them while packing a glock on my hip if they don’t have a life preserver? If I am not morally justified in doing that then how on Earth can I delegate that right to someone else?
So are we to leave it up to individuals to decide what is right and what is wrong? Always?
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So are we to leave it up to individuals to decide what is right and what is wrong? Always?
Ultimately that’s what we have today. If unprovoked murder were made legal tomorrow would you abandon your own moral compass and start gutting people?
Though I do see your point in that today’s society we can’t even see clear realize when basic moral principals are being violated. e.g. Theft is immoral (except when the state does it) Assault is immoral (unless the state does it). We’re a society that jumps all over animal abuse then go home to spank our own children.
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spank our own children
Hippie.
It’s not very often anymore, but my kids still get the swat on the tookus ever now an then. They’ll thank me in 30 years.
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