Judge rules much of Mississippi River off limits to anglers

[waterbug]

I'll take a dozen of those crickets. Will they work on piranha as well?

[Dingy]

One more thing:

Yes it is legal to wade in the water between the banks.

What if I boat to an area that I want to hunt but there is no decent cover to hide the boat well and I'd be better off sitting on a stool underneath a small overhanging bush. Can I stash my boat down the shore and hunt in said location as long as I keep my feet wet?

[YazooValley]

Wading in the water, decoy weights or boat anchors touching the bottom or touching a tree in the water has been declared a normal part of the hunting process. No, you cannot cut down trees or hunt from the dry land. It is also illegal to hunt deer from a boat in MS.

Who has declared that? The AG? The DEQ? I would suggest that this is an open question until a landowner prosecutes a purported trespasser and the courts have finally decided one way or the other.

I hate to drag this out but this is a useful thread.

The law is that property owners have the right to exclude others from using their real property. Seemingly incidental trespasses matter. The Mississippi Supreme Court has said:

“In legal as well as surveying theory, a boundary enjoys exactness and may be so fixed. When theory translates into fact, right becomes entitlement to exclude, which is as great on the periphery as at the core. Each landowner is entitled to exclude all others from the square inch most near the edge, as from the home place or fertile fields near the center.”

Given that, my question is how can we square (1) the trespass rule that the landowner can exclude others from every inch of his property (including his willow trees and his private dirt under public water) with (2) law enforcement officers' apparent interpretation that a duck hunter can touch the bottom or the trees as a necessary part of hunting as long as the water itself is public?

I don’t know that we can.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

AG opinions support what Wingman said about the legality of standing in the water, touching the bottoms with decoy weights, tying off to a tree, etc.

[Wingman]

Can I stash my boat down the shore and hunt in said location as long as I keep my feet wet?

As long as you are in the water, you should be fine. We're not talking football rules where only your feet need to be across the line. I wouldn't lay on the bank with my toes in the water...that is pushing it in my opinion.

YazooValley, we'll never know for sure until the courts rule on every single oxbow in the State. Until then, I'm sticking with the AG opinions and what the SC has said in previous cases about public waterways and oxbows.

[waterbug]

Just be sure to either tie the boat to a tree or anchor it etc... if you pull it up onto dry land then you would be trespassing on private land

[Wingman]

Just be sure to either tie the boat to a tree or anchor it etc... if you pull it up onto dry land then you would be trespassing on private land

Good point. I have never thought about that. I guess you could get somebody that would take you to court over that if they were really ticky.

[chadrideduck]

We done here?

[waterbug]

Nope.

Could a GW give Big H20 a ticket for simultaneously standing on a definite boundary line between LA and MS on the big muddy while taking a dump during the LA season?

This question goes to the very meaning of trespass for some private landowners who call in the lawdawgs when you are tied up to a willow tree in the water on the river. I speak from personal experience... and yes I have sheEat on an indefenite boundary line.

[Don Miller]

Nope.

Could a GW give Big H20 a ticket for simultaneously standing on a definite boundary line between LA and MS on the big muddy while taking a dump during the LA season.

No but that may fall under the jurisdiction of the EPA and be designated a Super Fund clean up site.

[LawDog]

In two sittings I have read this whole thing. I think my head is going to explode now. Alas, poor LawDog, ye hardly knew him.

[Grommet]

I think this one has about played out. If Wingman did not get his interpertation across to anyone then they will never understand.