Would you report this suspected overlimit?

Randy Wieland wrote:

However, I am against people over-reacting and reporting on the first thing they see without taking a deep look. I’ve been reported and checked out a few times.

Randy, this is what I was thinking as well. I hate people who stretch or break the rules as they see fit, but I also think people over-reacting sometimes is another annoyance. Im NOT saying that is happening in this case, but something to think about.
I had a guy continually harass me on pheasant opener a couple years ago. I was walking public land and he was walking private land. The second I stepped into the field he was reading me the riot act about staying on the public land or he would call the warden. I told him to worry about himself and that I wouldn’t set foot on his land. My dog went about 5 feet away from the boundary line and he yells to his buddy “Call TIP, CALL TIP, his dog is coming over”. Calmly I whistled and my dog made a turn and went the other direction away from the boundary. I was so annoyed by this guy and his paranoia.
I wasn’t doing anything wrong and he completely ruined the hunt for me but he sure looked like a fool.

biggill wrote:

I agree with the above posts but I just have to play devils advocate.

Do you see the situation differently when the law has no power?

I don’t. We should be drastically reducing the possession limits.

What if he is breaking the law? If you don’t report it, he will continue to do so and he will teach his children (if he has any) to do so.

Report it and leave it alone. That is your obligation as a sportsman. Don’t write the guy and let him have a chance to destroy any evidence. Don’t post on his wall and confront him. Just report it to the CO and let the authorities determine if a law was broken.

^^ Just as I would expect someone to do to me if I was breaking the law.

lhprop1 wrote:

What if he is breaking the law? If you don’t report it, he will continue to do so and he will teach his children (if he has any) to do so.

Report it and leave it alone. That is your obligation as a sportsman. Don’t write the guy and let him have a chance to destroy any evidence. Don’t post on his wall and confront him. Just report it to the CO and let the authorities determine if a law was broken.

Exactly.

There is no question based on this guy’s postings, that a reasonable person certainly can conclude that this guy may be way over the possession limit given the numbers of fish and the frequency with which he’s posting on social media. Reasonable suspicion is enough.

Investigating and taking legal action if required all all the job of the CO. The job of the sportsman is to protect the sport and game first. The only way to do that is to report this guy.

These posts about hunter harassment, etc are all beside the point. To Captain Musky, I’d say if any loudmouth @sshole tried to pull on me the crap that happened to you, I WOULD call the CO myself! Harassing hunters in legal pursuit of game is a crime in itself, in MN and WI I know this for sure. I’d get the CO to pay that a-hole a visit and then see if Mr. Loudmouth wants to keep up the BS and get slapped with a nice court date.

Grouse

lhprop1 wrote:

What if he is breaking the law? If you don’t report it, he will continue to do so and he will teach his children (if he has any) to do so.

Report it and leave it alone. That is your obligation as a sportsman. Don’t write the guy and let him have a chance to destroy any evidence. Don’t post on his wall and confront him. Just report it to the CO and let the authorities determine if a law was broken.

And that is exactly the steps I took. The CO thanked me for the tip, said he was familiar with the guy as he was the one who wrote him the ticket back in 2011. Told me to let him know if I see anything else.

I don’t. We should be drastically reducing the possession limits.. ………..
Wade. You have to be kidding.? … You are only allowed one limit in possession now.!!! ..So that would mean when I came to the dock with a limit of fish I would be over my possession limit .?? Or what are you trying to say..??.? for my 2 cents they should UP the Possession limit. Who wants to come to minn from out state, an spend 100’s of tourist dollars an cant take more than a limit home now. …. rrr.

Minnesota needs to drop the verbiage of “daily” limit. We truely have a possession limit in this state. If they are in your livewell, you possess them. If they are in your chest freezer 100 miles away, you possess them. Then to top it off, if you have 2 in your freezer, depending on which lake you go to, you could be over the limit by 1 already or under by 4 ?!!! I think they should write laws that can be followed…

big_g wrote:

Minnesota needs to drop the verbiage of “daily” limit. We truely have a possession limit in this state. If they are in your livewell, you possess them. If they are in your chest freezer 100 miles away, you possess them. Then to top it off, if you have 2 in your freezer, depending on which lake you go to, you could be over the limit by 1 already or under by 4 ?!!! I think they should write laws that can be followed…

I like this idea. Simple rule to follow. BUT, Minnesota just can’t seem to have anything simple. Between the legislature and the DNR a rule like this would be one sentence a mile long full of ifs, buts, ands, ors and otherwises.

First off, Congrats to Jon for doing what I believe is the right thing!

Far too many folk just say “watch your own bobber”, but if someone stole $5. out of their wallet would be a little unhappy. I think a fish is worth more then $5.

Each lake is unique. It’s impossible to manage them all the same.
Just like deer zones areas in MN grow fish, more specifically walleyes differently. Take a look at the new pike rules for different areas of the State.

Let’s just not talk about the border water rules though…

My take on the DNR and the MN Legislature.

Our DNR hates, just hates it when the Legislature makes laws and (in my words) over rides the DNR.

On the other hand the Legislature (in my opinion) really would like the DNR to make the rules and laws.

There are times when a person needs to step around the DNR and talk with the Legislature although this seems to be less and less of an occurrence at least from what I’ve heard (and I’m sure I haven’t heard everything).

Case in point would be the 10 bullhead rule. We were told it would take about 2 years to make this possible. At about 6 years we went to the Legislature to have them make this a law instead of a rule. Following the rule making process it was about 8 months before this was enacted. A rule that the DNR said was ok 6 years earlier.

I prefer to have the DNR make the laws and rules because we are paying them to be the experts. Just sometimes they get bogged down with priorities, red tape and to some extent politics.

Just my 2 cents worth. Your mileage may vary.

river rat randy wrote:

I don’t. We should be drastically reducing the possession limits.. ………..
Wade. You have to be kidding.? … You are only allowed one limit in possession now.!!! ..So that would mean when I came to the dock with a limit of fish I would be over my possession limit .?? Or what are you trying to say..??.? for my 2 cents they should UP the Possession limit. Who wants to come to minn from out state, an spend 100’s of tourist dollars an cant take more than a limit home now. …. rrr.

I’m dead serious. Possession limit should be 2 walleye. Maybe 3 MAX. No reason to put fish in the freezer. Keep a meal and that’s it.

You may not be accurate with your assumption regarding tourists as well. Myself and many many other outdoorsman go to Ontario every year, buy a conservation license, eat fish daily for a few days and then come home with 0 fish in our cooler.

Jonesy wrote:

And that is exactly the steps I took. The CO thanked me for the tip, said he was familiar with the guy as he was the one who wrote him the ticket back in 2011. Told me to let him know if I see anything else.

As a fellow sportsman, thank you for doing that.

I’ve never called on someone but I keep the TIP number in my contacts if it’s ever needed.

I think the reason I never see this is because I prefer to pick my own spots out of the way. A friend of mine likes to chase the crowd and he tells me things that make me shake my head.

For example, he just returned from a weekend fishing lakes around the west side of Mille Lacs. Said he ran into a group of locals that were bunched together catching crappies. They told him that they regularly get their limits and they are out there every day.

Had I witnessed this I would have been tempted to place a call.

I will never understand that mentality.