Bag Limit vs Possession limit

[csaws]

From reading the other thread it would seem processed game shouldn't count. However, from reading books by retired Minnesota DNR officer Tom Chapin, he arrested many folks that had been fishing in Minnesota and had over their possession limit fish that had already been processed and frozen. (Yes, I know Minnesota is a different state so the laws may be different.)


As far as DNR officers knowing or not knowing all the laws, they are like any other profession and some are going to be better at some things than others. No one can know everything about everything in their field. Years ago as a licensed electrician, I knew other electricians that knew very little about the National Electric Code. I knew state and city inspectors that knew almost nothing about the NEC and yet they were enforcing it. They had the job title but lacked in knowledge of their chosen profession. (I am not saying that I know everything about my profession. Far from it and every day I hope my current employer doesn’t figure that out…)

Last winter I argued with an Indiana State biologist who was telling folks in my college class it was perfectly legal to raise crops such as wheat, sunflowers, and corn, mow them down, and hunt over them. I told him and the class I personally knew Indiana Conservation Officers that would arrest them for doing that very thing.

The blurb on page five of the 2009-2010 Hunting and Trapping Guide doesn't differentiate processed game from unprocessed. But, the guide isn't all the laws of the land so it may be spelled out more clearly elsewhere. If it were me, I would seek out someone well versed in state law in the DNR and ask for the definition of possession and how it relates to game being processed.

Then why is it not illegal to hunt a cornfield edge? It is no different hunting the field edge or near an oak tree

 

[Lawguns]

Reminds me of my dad telling duck hunting stories....... where ever up north (Michigan) he would go duck hunting, the local guys up there would have one group shooting, and one group processing so they kept that 'bag limit' in check... or something like that.

My cousin and Uncle went out to South Dakota (I think) snow goose hunting 2 years ago. They both go tickets for mutilating the geese before returning home. What they were doing is cleaning them in the hotel parking lot (as I have been known to do as well.) The CO out there told them that they had to leave a head or wing on until they got home which is the rule. How ever my cousin felt that home was the hotel (the rule is to get out of the field.) The CO told them that home was Michigan and so they could not breast them out like they were doing.
Just my story (actually my cousins) that I thought I would share.

 

[Joe Williams]

I *believe that possession limit only refers to what you have on you/vehicle/camp while you're out hunting.

What you have in your freezer can't (and shouldn't) be included in that count.

I mean, who is to say that the frozen game didn't come from last season? Or represent multiple hunters?

*I'm not even close to being a lawyer. But I do have a step-cousin who's in his first semester of law school.

-J-

You are not correct. I emailed DNR a while back about just this issue, and the response was that possession limit meant all the animals you have, including the ones in your freezer. IOW, if you've got 10 squirrels in your freezer, you've got 10 squirrels in your possession.

 

[pftraining_in]

Indiana Administrative Code:

“Possession” means on or about a person’s body or clothing, or in any purse, backpack, cooler, sack, carrier, or other
container carried by the person or under that person’s direct and immediate control.

 

[finity]

Indiana Administrative Code:

“Possession” means on or about a person’s body or clothing, or in any purse, backpack, cooler, sack, carrier, or other
container carried by the person or under that person’s direct and immediate control.

Where did you find this in the IAC?

Here is what I found on the IAC website (as I posted above):

Possession is defined as:

Quote:
[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold][FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold]

312 IAC 9-1-12 "Possession" defined​

[/FONT][/FONT]

Authority: IC 14-11-2-1; IC 14-22-2-6
Affected: IC 14-22
Sec. 12. "Possession" means to have direct physical control or to knowingly have the power and the intention to exercise
dominion or control.​

[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Italic][FONT=TimesNewRoman,Italic](Natural Resources Commission; 312 IAC 9-1-12; filed May 12, 1997, 10:00 a.m.: 20 IR 2699; readopted filed[/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Italic][FONT=TimesNewRoman,Italic]
Jul 28, 2003, 12:00 p.m.: 27 IR 286; readopted filed Nov 24, 2008, 11:08 a.m.: 20081210-IR-312080672RFA)[/FONT][/FONT]

As you can see, there is a significant discrepancy between the two versions.

 

[pftraining_in]

The definition you posted applies to title 14, the one I posted applies to firearms, stun guns and alcohol.


80 IAC 4-4-2 Definitions
Authority: IC 15-1.5-2-8
Affected: IC 15-1.5-2; IC 15-1.5-5; IC 35-47-1-5; IC 35-47-8-1; IC 35-47-8-3

(4) “Possession” means on or about a person’s body or clothing, or in any purse, backpack, cooler, sack, carrier, or other
container carried by the person or under that person’s direct and immediate control.

 

[CountryBoy19]

You are not correct. I emailed DNR a while back about just this issue, and the response was that possession limit meant all the animals you have, including the ones in your freezer. IOW, if you've got 10 squirrels in your freezer, you've got 10 squirrels in your possession.

So what about processed? If I have a bag full of rabbit meat that is cut into strips for jerky can I possess 12 rabbits in that bag? Its absolutely ridiculous to say that I can't. Every year my friends and I do a lot of rabbit hunting. We normally get between 10 and 30 rabbits in a single day. We go home and process them, and then do it all over again the next day. Then one person makes jerky out of all of it to share with the rest of the group next time we go out. So is the person making jerky in violation of the law because the other friends left their rabbit meat to have jerky made?

 

[AGarbers]

CSAWS, MK18 explained it best when referring to baiting

"When it comes to food plots as in sunflowers or mylow, if a common agricultural practice for the crop does not include mowing them down instead of harvesting with equipment or by hand you are in violation. You may hunt over these crops or plants after they are harvested by hand or mechanical means or if left in the field and not disturbed. Hunting over agricultural waste, grain spills or trash piles from a combine, is also legal as long as you do not move the pile or disturb it in any way."

What I was told by a seasoned CO was almost exactly that. You can grow sunflowers, corn, beans, etc as a food plot but you must either harvest it or leave it alone. Cutting them down to broadcast the seed to make it a giant birdfeeder or deerfeeder is a no-no.