Ever heard of this...

[A Gaskins Boy]

A friend of mine has a dove field and GW's showed up and everyone was legal, but they ended up writing a fine for "preparing a field for baiting". So does that mean if I buy a 12 pack from the gas station and get in my truck then I am preparing for a DUI. And just to add they found no bait and the fine was over $400.

[12341234]

Had they disked or cut anything with in the 10 or 14 day period leading up to that day?

[mhogancu]

yea i have heard of it, how did they prep their field? did they put out bait, and disk it in inside the 10 day window?

[A Gaskins Boy]

Not sure

[12341234]

You are not allowed to manipulate (cut or disk) the feild within 10 days. Here are all the rules.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/pubs/doveguide.pdf

[A Gaskins Boy]

I do not think they did but I will try to fid out

[CUbowhunter]

I believe you can disk or cut within the 10 days or even the day of if you want to. You just can't plant or top sow any seed. Will ask a GW tomorrow when I see him to clarify, but I am pretty sure thats what he told me several weeks ago.

[Goin Coastal]

You are not allowed to cut, disc, ect for ten days after all "bait" has been removed. So as to expose any bait that may have been settled in. The 10 day rule does not apply to normal agricultural practices. Interpretation is the key. Check with the Clemson Extension for normal agricultural practice guidelines.

[CUbowhunter]

"In freshly plowed or disked fields, be suspicious. This
may be a field affected by the 10 Day Rule. That is, bait
was placed in the field , the bait was removed, and then
the field was plowed. The field is still not legal until 10
days after removal of all bait"

Im pretty sure as long as nothing was added to the field, you can manipulate (disk or cut) a field anytime you want.

[A Gaskins Boy]

The field was planted in millet, sesame, and sorghum.

[A Gaskins Boy]

No bait was placed in the field other than what came off the crops.

[buckshot1224]

Something sounds fishy. That ticket isn't written w/o evidence of activity within 10 days of the citation. Sounds to me like some seed added then plowed under.....just a guess. Let us know how it goes, id be curious to know the whole story from the court.

[A Gaskins Boy]

I also hunt these fields but I was working so I missed this hunt I can say there was no bait that I know of but I do not know exactly what all happened.

[A Gaskins Boy]

There was a disced line to control burning but I don't think that is illegal.

[SCSwitchback]

There was a disced line to control burning but I don't think that is illegal.

A disced line is fine, as long as no bait has been added to the field.

[btduckcall]

the boys down that way, dont write for nothing, i belive something was not right, trust me. they do not just walk and write they look the field in question for a while they where problay tipped to something by someone or they noticed while it was going on prior

[budro westmoreland]

It sucks "discretion of the wildlife officer" It may cost some money but I would call my lawyer. I think you could beat it.

[Mergie Master]

"preparing a field for baiting"

That just sounds crazy to me. If it hadn't been baited then no crime was committed. I mean come on, how can they fine someone that hasn't done anything illegal. That's like a pre-crime ticket. There's no way they know whether the crime will ever be committed. I'm having trouble getting my head around this one.

Something ain't right with that.

[JacksonsHuntingDuke]

Same thing happened to the field we hunt last year. GW said they came in within the ten days and found some seed in the road going down by the field, but they said the field was legal. They wrote the guys who ran the field a ticket for that and let us hunt. I know the GW's that came in and they were very nice about it. We had about 10 to fifteen kids with us and they took and gave them some neat little stuff and left. The guy that got the ticket was a little sore about it but said the GW said he could have shut the field down but didn't because they were all impressed with all the youth we had. The guys learned a lesson and this year didn't have any problems of course we had no birds either. I spoke with a GW this afternoon and she told me they ran into alot of baited fields this time, i guess with it being so dry people just wanted to keep their birds at home.

[Splashdance]

the boys down that way, dont write for nothing,r

^^^This^^^

A Gaskins Boy.

We're fortunate to have some great LEO's in our area. If you really want to know why/what happened, call DNR and ask to have one of the local LEO's call you back. They will go out of their way to make sure you understand the law exactly....

Charleston LEO office: 843-953-9307