ARREST THREAT FOR CHOTARD HUNTERS

[Wildfowler]

For those of you who think this is a trivial issue or that it doesn't affect you, think again.

No kidding. Thanks for this update. Here's the ruling:
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pu ... V0.wpd.pdf

[pntailhntr]

If Tara/Willowpoint have the area clearly marked as you say, then the guys who got tickets are just STUPID and deserved them!! If the land is CLEARLY and LEGALLY marked then that is fine. BUT, it needs to be marked from the LEGAL property line and not on the edge of the woods.

LA is taking this to the extreme. Once again, the rich bastads are taking away our duck hunting. They did it when the limits went to 6 ducks and now they continue!!!

[Wildfowler]

Where did that post go? That got deleted quick, I couldn't even quote it.


It was previously stated by a brand new user of this website that the Louisiana property lines for Tara extend all the way to the center of the lake bed.

Is this really true? I thought that there was so much gray area that no one really knows where the property boundaries are.

[Marlin642]

Just an FYI for you guy………

I personally spoke with the sheriffs after they cited the Duck Hunters hunting on Tara/Willow Point…....some of you might have also had a visit from the K9 I can assure you they have evidence of EXACLY where each one of the hunters were when they were cited.

Don’t get me wrong as I am also a duck hunter but give me break! The boundaries of Willow Point are clearly marked and it’s private property. If one of you guys has about $15,000,000 laying around and wants to go buy and pay the taxes on that land, go make them an offer. Until then, hunt your own land or legally hunt public land/water. I know some of us aren’t too smart but I know damn well we all understand property rights. Those buck deer hunters over there at Tara/Willow Point pay good money to do a little buck deer hunting and the last thing they want is some poachers coming in and blasting a bunch of 3.5's in their ear from 80 yards.

Were talking about LA and not MS…the state line runs down the middle of that oxbow…if you’re standing/wading around on the Tara/Willow Point side of the oxbow…you’re trespassing in LA. I think the water was at 27’ last week and rising. How did it get to 25’ now? BR549 – You are exactly right…best thing for everybody to do is get a hold of there emotions before someone gets locked up and they shut it down all together. I can assure you that none of you want to get locked up in LA. There aren’t any Jails in Louisiana ….only prisons. Call and check if you don’t believe me! Judge doesn’t even have to set your bail for 3 days and if you act a fool with the law…he’s going to make damn sure you’re in there for as long as the LA law will allow. You get a free hair cut and all.

[Jelly]

if the river is not at flood stage, you CAN hunt as long as you don't get out of the boat.. If you own land on a public lake, you own the land under the lake out ot the middle of the lake but not the water on top of it. Tell me where I am wrong

[Wildfowler]

or legally hunt public land/water....

Were talking about LA and not MS…the state line runs down the middle of that oxbow…if you’re standing/wading around on the Tara/Willow Point side of the oxbow…you’re trespassing in LA.

That's not what this says: http://www.mdwfp.com/Level2/Law/pdf/AlbermarleLake.pdf

Now, if the folks who were cited were wading out of the boat, then I agree. Send them down the river to Angola.

I'd like to see the legal description of the property to know for sure. I wonder if anyone can make that available online?

In the mean time, I don't guess I want my mug shot here:
http://ecsheriff.com/

[Marlin642]

"LA is taking this to the extreme. Once again, the rich bastads are taking away our duck hunting. They did it when the limits went to 6 ducks and now they continue!!!"


I don’t believe it has anything to do with money....just has to do with what’s right or wrong and legal and illegal.

They (Tara) have allowed it to go on for a lot of years. People are pissed because they got something for nothing for a long time and they finally said enough was enough. You can thank the old as-holes in the boat that were blasting caps about 60 yards from one of the bow hunters. One of the guides walk over and politely asked the hunters to move to another spot and they dog cussed him and told him they weren’t going anyway…..next thin you know, you got the LA Sherriff in there writing them a ticket.

People should thank those folks over at Tara/Willow Point for letting it go on as long as it did!

[pntailhntr]

Marllin, how do you know so much about what started all this??? I'm sure we would all like to know your involvement??? Just curious

I'm curious to know how much change there has been on Chotard and Albamarle since the state boundry in that photo link was made back in 1932.

[Jelly]

"LA is taking this to the extreme. Once again, the rich bastads are taking away our duck hunting. They did it when the limits went to 6 ducks and now they continue!!!"


I don’t believe it has anything to do with money....just has to do with what’s right or wrong and legal and illegal.

They (Tara) have allowed it to go on for a lot of years. People are pissed because they got something for nothing for a long time and they finally said enough was enough. You can thank the old as-holes in the boat that were blasting caps about 60 yards from one of the bow hunters. One of the guides walk over and politely asked the hunters to move to another spot and they dog cussed him and told him they weren’t going anyway…..next thin you know, you got the LA Sherriff in there writing them a ticket.

People should thank those folks over at Tara/Willow Point for letting it go on as long as it did!

My booty. Just for the record, I've never hunted there and never will. Yeah, what is your invlovlment there Marlin

[DanP]

How did it get to 25’ now?

Excuse me, it was 28.82 and falling on Saturday the 29th and still within the "natural banks" with the exception of a couple of ditches that run in. If the parties in question were in a boat and not wading, then they have every right to be there. I'm not going to thank anybody for letting me hunt/fish public water but on the other hand I'm going to be respectful, reasonable, and understanding if someone is hunting on adjacent private property. Just because a few trees are flooded does not mean it's outside the natural banks. Just look at a topo, geological survey, aerial photos and then it's pretty evident where the natural banks are.

[BIG TIMBER]

Dan P

Excuse me, it was 28.82 and falling on Saturday the 29th and still within the "natural banks" with the exception of a couple of ditches that run in. If the parties in question were in a boat and not wading, then they have every right to be there. I'm not going to thank anybody for letting me hunt/fish public water but on the other hand I'm going to be respectful, reasonable, and understanding if someone is hunting on adjacent private property. Just because a few trees are flooded does not mean it's outside the natural banks. Just look at a topo, geological survey, aerial photos and then it's pretty evident where the natural banks are.

Amen, what is so hard to understand about this!!

[Buckwabit]

And Marlin, Why don't you fill out all your info. Where your from and all. That would probably help Matters.

[BR549]

Im sorry guys but I beg to differ with you on the lake boundrys. I've been hunting and fishing those lakes for damn near 50 years. It was that way before Tara came there. There just wasn't the hunting pressure it is now and no one tried to enforce it. The top bank on the west side of Chotard is just barely inside the willows. It's a low back cause it's on the inside bend of the old river channel. The level is about 15 ft on the Vicksburg guage. These banks have not changed in my lifetime. The only place it's real definitive is across from Laney's landing. The rest is so gradual you can hardly find it. You've just got to know where it's at. I have no qurrel with Tara but by god I will stand up and say it's wrong to keep harrassing them over what is rightfully their property. Yes their deed does go to the center of the old oxbow but the can't stop you from utilizing it till you can exceed the natural banks of the lake. This has been debated for years. Been tried in numerous courts. MDWFP didn't want to get involved in it because of what it would take to enforce. And it's not the La law that's a problem it's a federal law. It's was called the federal navigation act of 1979. It states that if you cross a known posted boundry line subect to temporary periodic flooding that you are willingly, willfully, and maliciously commiting the act of trespass!

[Wildfowler]

The top bank on the west side of Chotard is just barely inside the willows.

I can't seem to look at this map and come to the same conclusion that you have stated here.



I've outlined in red an area that must have been an old sandbar. Wouldn't the western edge of the area illustrated in red approximately indicate the original low bank property boundary? Aren't sandbars formed, among other ways, within the natural banks of a river? That's what this picture seems to illustrate to me.

If my opinion is legally accurate, I wouldn't consider the natural bank on the west side to be "just inside" the willows. Looks like it could be a couple 100 yards or more.

[Marlin642]

My involvement with Tara/Willow Point is that I'm a paying, legal hunter on their property. If they offered duck hunts, I would pay them to duck hunt there but they don't ...so I don't.
I know those guys at Willow Point pretty good and have been hunting over there for a long time and bottom line...they are good folks!! If I knew you guys and you guys are good folks...I'd defend you too and Id hope you would do the same. They aren't a bunch of money hungry a-- holes and it gets under my skin a little bit when I see people talking smack about this stuff when they are wrong, whether they know it or not.
Its public water when its on public land but when the water rises past the boundary lines (sign are on trees where the boundary line is...not at the wood line) its no longer public water. If someone was staying in their boat in one/two feet of water and not wading and that water was up past the boundary lines...they knew it was wrong to be in there in the first place. A hunter can hunt in the water..or on the shore for that matter outside those boundary lines all they want. Anything inside them....wet or dry is trespassing. Why do I know this?? because I asked the sheriff office. I knew by posting with a different opinion that some guys would get a rise out of it. I'm just relaying the facts of the matter which I got from some of the horses mouths. I figured the guys on here that weren't involved would appreciate it.
If I didn't know the law and got a $425 ticket, Id be pissed off too...but I'd damn well learn from it and know the law next time. For the guys who were "Politely" asked to leave and didn't and started cussing the man....don't feel sorry for them a bit.