imported post
Hi.
I moved from Colorado to Montana a few years ago primarily because of an ever increasing loss of firearm freedom. For example, I’ve heard quite a few (first hand) stories about recreationalists who were hiking with a firearm being arrested by Game and Fish Officers from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and charged with hunting without a license (and in some cases, if the firearm was a pistol, also being charged with hunting with an inadequate caliber).
I spoke to a Game and Fish Officer at a gun show in Denver, Colorado and specifically asked him about their practice of arresting people for hunting without a license while simply hiking with a firearm, including holstered handguns. He stated that the only burden of proof they need to convict you of hunting without a license is that the offender has the means to hunt. In other words, what this officer was telling me is that if you simply have a firearm, that constitutes having the means to hunt, and you are guilty of hunting without a license. Simple as that, according to this Colorado Game and Fish Officer. He gave me his card and wrote the pertinent Colorado statute numbers down for me to look up later.
According to the Colorado Revised Statues 33-6-107 (3),
33-6-107. Licensing violations - penalties.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in articles 1 to 6 of this title or by rule of the commission, any person, regardless of age, who hunts or takes wildlife in this state shall procure a proper and valid license therefore and shall have the valid license on his or her person when exercising the benefits it confers. A person who violates this subsection (3) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine and an assessment of license suspension points…
And the word “hunt” is defined in C.R.S. 33-1-102 (25.5) as follows:
33-1-102. Definitions.
(25.5) "Hunt" means to pursue, attract, stalk, lie in wait for, or attempt to shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, collect, or take wildlife. "Hunt" does not include stalking, attracting, searching, or lying in wait for wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching or taking photographs of wildlife.
So, according to Colorado statute, hunting is pursuing, stalking, or lying in wait for wildlife. And the text seems to imply, but doesn’t specifically state the hunter must be armed with a firearm.
Could hiking in the woods while bearing arms be considered pursuing or stalking wildlife?
I decided to waltz into the local wildlife office and ask them this exact question. To make a long story short, I was told in no uncertain terms that if I was caught in the National Forest with a gun “when game was around”[/i] I’d be immediately arrested. I was frisked for weapons and told to leave their office or I’d be arrested for trespass.
Because of this and for many other reasons, in 2005, I decided to vote with my feet and moved out of Colorado to the state of Montana.
As a new resident I researched Montana’s firearm and hunting laws. Similar to the Colorado Revised Statutes, the Montana Codes Annotated also gives a definition for the word “hunt.”
It reads, in M.C.A. 87-2-101 Definitions,
(8) "Hunt" means to pursue, shoot, wound, kill, chase, lure, possess, or capture or the act of a person possessing a weapon, as defined in 45-2-101, or using a dog or a bird of prey for the purpose of shooting, wounding, killing, possessing, or capturing wildlife protected by the laws of this state in any location that wildlife may inhabit, whether or not the wildlife is then or subsequently taken. The term includes an attempt to take by any means, including but not limited to pursuing, shooting, wounding, killing, chasing, luring, possessing, or capturing.
M.C.A. 45-2-101. General definitions, defines possession as,
(59) "Possession" is the knowing control of anything for a sufficient time to be able to terminate control.
This begs the following questions,
If the control of “anything (such as a firearm) for a sufficient time to be able to terminate control” (as would be the case while deliberately hiking with a firearm) constitutes “possession”, and hunting is defined as “the act of a person possessing a weapon”, then wouldn’t hiking with a gun be against the law in Montana?
How is Montana an open carry state when they define hunting as “the act of a person possessing a weapon”?
Your thoughts?
Augustin
Hi.
I moved from Colorado to Montana a few years ago primarily because of an ever increasing loss of firearm freedom. For example, I’ve heard quite a few (first hand) stories about recreationalists who were hiking with a firearm being arrested by Game and Fish Officers from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and charged with hunting without a license (and in some cases, if the firearm was a pistol, also being charged with hunting with an inadequate caliber).
I spoke to a Game and Fish Officer at a gun show in Denver, Colorado and specifically asked him about their practice of arresting people for hunting without a license while simply hiking with a firearm, including holstered handguns. He stated that the only burden of proof they need to convict you of hunting without a license is that the offender has the means to hunt. In other words, what this officer was telling me is that if you simply have a firearm, that constitutes having the means to hunt, and you are guilty of hunting without a license. Simple as that, according to this Colorado Game and Fish Officer. He gave me his card and wrote the pertinent Colorado statute numbers down for me to look up later.
According to the Colorado Revised Statues 33-6-107 (3),
33-6-107. Licensing violations - penalties.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in articles 1 to 6 of this title or by rule of the commission, any person, regardless of age, who hunts or takes wildlife in this state shall procure a proper and valid license therefore and shall have the valid license on his or her person when exercising the benefits it confers. A person who violates this subsection (3) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine and an assessment of license suspension points…
And the word “hunt” is defined in C.R.S. 33-1-102 (25.5) as follows:
33-1-102. Definitions.
(25.5) "Hunt" means to pursue, attract, stalk, lie in wait for, or attempt to shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, collect, or take wildlife. "Hunt" does not include stalking, attracting, searching, or lying in wait for wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching or taking photographs of wildlife.
So, according to Colorado statute, hunting is pursuing, stalking, or lying in wait for wildlife. And the text seems to imply, but doesn’t specifically state the hunter must be armed with a firearm.
Could hiking in the woods while bearing arms be considered pursuing or stalking wildlife?
I decided to waltz into the local wildlife office and ask them this exact question. To make a long story short, I was told in no uncertain terms that if I was caught in the National Forest with a gun “when game was around”[/i] I’d be immediately arrested. I was frisked for weapons and told to leave their office or I’d be arrested for trespass.
Because of this and for many other reasons, in 2005, I decided to vote with my feet and moved out of Colorado to the state of Montana.
As a new resident I researched Montana’s firearm and hunting laws. Similar to the Colorado Revised Statutes, the Montana Codes Annotated also gives a definition for the word “hunt.”
It reads, in M.C.A. 87-2-101 Definitions,
(8) "Hunt" means to pursue, shoot, wound, kill, chase, lure, possess, or capture or the act of a person possessing a weapon, as defined in 45-2-101, or using a dog or a bird of prey for the purpose of shooting, wounding, killing, possessing, or capturing wildlife protected by the laws of this state in any location that wildlife may inhabit, whether or not the wildlife is then or subsequently taken. The term includes an attempt to take by any means, including but not limited to pursuing, shooting, wounding, killing, chasing, luring, possessing, or capturing.
M.C.A. 45-2-101. General definitions, defines possession as,
(59) "Possession" is the knowing control of anything for a sufficient time to be able to terminate control.
This begs the following questions,
If the control of “anything (such as a firearm) for a sufficient time to be able to terminate control” (as would be the case while deliberately hiking with a firearm) constitutes “possession”, and hunting is defined as “the act of a person possessing a weapon”, then wouldn’t hiking with a gun be against the law in Montana?
How is Montana an open carry state when they define hunting as “the act of a person possessing a weapon”?
Your thoughts?
Augustin
