Advice requested: ONT charge - "Unlawfully possess another person's seal"

I suspect if the OP would have had his own licence on him in addition to his son's, things may have gone differently. The optics of it are bad regardless of how innocent it was.
 
It makes my blood boil when I read a story like this. Just because you can be charged, doesn't mean you should be charged. The law doesn't have a lot of really meaningful punitive measures if you're poaching on some other guy's license but I don't know what gives a guy the gall to take away an average days work from someone that's likely honest; why not inform a probably otherwise law-abiding guy of the letter of the law? It's extortion. There are some real losers out there and it seems like in some places the CO's are getting pushed to pick the low hanging fruit. If you have the time/resources/patience to do a dispute, it might be worth a try. You won't win if the CO shows up. He has you hung, drawn and quartered, legally; morally you might have the high ground, but that doesn't really matter for a BS ticket.
 
gixxstar said:
It makes my blood boil when I read a story like this. Just because you can be charged, doesn't mean you should be charged. The law doesn't have a lot of really meaningful punitive measures if you're poaching on some other guy's license but I don't know what gives a guy the gall to take away an average days work from someone that's likely honest; why not inform a probably otherwise law-abiding guy of the letter of the law? It's extortion. There are some real losers out there and it seems like in some places the CO's are getting pushed to pick the low hanging fruit. If you have the time/resources/patience to do a dispute, it might be worth a try. You won't win if the CO shows up. He has you hung, drawn and quartered, legally; morally you might have the high ground, but that doesn't really matter for a BS ticket.
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Just a thought; maybe hes been burned before in this situation?
 
My 14 year old step son is obviously an apprentice hunter, and I carry all the paperwork. Some CO wants to come write me a ticket he can have at it...I will see him in court. If my step son is with me at all times (required as he is an apprentice) then he is in possession of his license, regardless of who's pack it is in.

I would fight it in court. Its a law designed to stop people from giving their deer seal to someone else to fill for them...its not meant to punish fathers for carrying their son's licence and tags for him. CO's need to exercise a bit of common sense and not read the law letter for letter...This is the sort of charge that gives the MNR a bad name, and makes people less likely to cooperate or assist CO's in the future.
 
mvarley84 said:
My 14 year old step son is obviously an apprentice hunter, and I carry all the paperwork. Some CO wants to come write me a ticket he can have at it...I will see him in court. If my step son is with me at all times (required as he is an apprentice) then he is in possession of his license, regardless of who's pack it is in.

I would fight it in court. Its a law designed to stop people from giving their deer seal to someone else to fill for them...its not meant to punish fathers for carrying their son's licence and tags for him. CO's need to exercise a bit of common sense and not read the law letter for letter...This is the sort of charge that gives the MNR a bad name, and makes people less likely to cooperate or assist CO's in the future.
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.....but when you read the original post, the OPs son was NOT with him. He was in the truck, and had been for 45mins. So the OP was in possession of someone elses license and didnt have his own license.
 
blasted_saber said:
.....but when you read the original post, the OPs son was NOT with him. He was in the truck, and had been for 45mins. So the OP was in possession of someone elses license and didnt have his own license.
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Actually, he stated he was carrying his STEP-SON's license, who was hunting with a different party. This has nothing to do with the apprentice license. He was charged for carrying the stepson's license.
 
mvarley84 said:
My 14 year old step son is obviously an apprentice hunter, and I carry all the paperwork. Some CO wants to come write me a ticket he can have at it...I will see him in court. If my step son is with me at all times (required as he is an apprentice) then he is in possession of his license, regardless of who's pack it is in.
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If you read the first post again, he was charged for carrying the step-son's license, not the apprentice's.
 
gixxstar said:
It makes my blood boil when I read a story like this. Just because you can be charged, doesn't mean you should be charged. The law doesn't have a lot of really meaningful punitive measures if you're poaching on some other guy's license but I don't know what gives a guy the gall to take away an average days work from someone that's likely honest; why not inform a probably otherwise law-abiding guy of the letter of the law? It's extortion. There are some real losers out there and it seems like in some places the CO's are getting pushed to pick the low hanging fruit. If you have the time/resources/patience to do a dispute, it might be worth a try. You won't win if the CO shows up. He has you hung, drawn and quartered, legally; morally you might have the high ground, but that doesn't really matter for a BS ticket.
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I agree with you if the only problem that the OP had was that he had his stepson's license. Maybe a warning may have been issued if that was the case, but it wasn't the only issue he was having that day, it was one of about 3 or 4 problems he could have been charged with. I would suspect the charge he received was the minimum he could have been charged for, and in that case could be considered a "break" or warning.
 
So let me get this straight...... You were in possession of another person's tag which is illegal. He was hunting in another group, therefor without his tag (and the affixed license) which is also illegal. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the law was being broken here and if a kid is responsible enough to hunt, he or she needs to be responsible enough to carry and hold the correct licenses. As a parent or mentor, I can see having to ask before heading out and that is exactly how I would have handled it. I would say pay the fine (which was minor compared to possible charges) and learn from your mistake.
 
Also, guys need to remember why these charges get laid. The CO has no idea if you are telling him the truth, or you just bought an extra tag in your stepsons name. Lots of guys buy tags in their kid's or wife's name as additionals but forget that this is not legal unless that person is actively involved in the hunt.
 
Chuckbuster said:
Perhaps, but for right now, it will result in a charge.
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Agreed... And well it should... Imop it's like the co is charging him with the lowest possible offence and moving on.... Kind of like when the cops lower your tickets for speeding etc... Seems like the co was reasonable and op should just pay the fine...
 
atr said:
Tell the judge that you are a free man on the land and not subject to admiralty law since you are not a corperation and require no permit from any self appointed authority to forage for food .
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http://1.bp.########.com/_2ipq2a1sFEE/SltuaKnXFZI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/S4LSm70fZuc/s320/muttley01.gif
 
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