Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hunter learns legal lesson the hard way

It has been said he who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer.

This proved to be the case for Russell Carey, who was charged for hunting over bait. Carey had been to court earlier in February, but requested a trial. The trial was held Feb. 15.

The case began with Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dana Stone calling Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Wildlife Officer Ken Key to the stand. Key said he was working the edge of Nevada County on Dec. 10, 2005, on baiting complaints the AG&FC had received.

Bait, he said, is prohibited in wildlife management areas (WMA), and is defined as anything that lures wildlife to a particular area for hunting. A baited area was found, Key told the court, and he and officer Bill Vanscoy monitored it daily for a few weeks.

On Dec. 10, he said, he encountered Carey climbing down a tree stand that was within 18 yards of a baited area. The ground was flat and level. He saw me and got down. He wasnt wearing a hunter orange cap. We talked about the bait and I showed him the area. There was a big pile and it wasnt strewn about.

Key said a rolled up corn sack was under the tree stand. The incident, he added, occurred around 9 a.m. with the bait being visible in a concentrated area, with boot tracks matching the kind Carey wore around the bait. However, Key did not say the boots were Careys.

I issued him a citation and warning (for failure to wear the orange cap), Key said. I believe he knew or shouldve known the bait was there, especially with the proximity of the stand. You could see the bait from the stand.

Carey didnt cross examine Key. Vanscoy was called to the stand. He said he and his partner arrived after the fact, but he saw Keys truck and walked in. At the time Key was talking to Carey. I saw where things were. I could see the bait from where I was standing.

Carey presented the court his work record, showing he hadnt been at the scene for a month, and denied putting the corn out. He testified to taking his girlfriend hunting for her birthday (the day before he was cited), but said they didnt hunt in that area as someone else was there.

Because it was cold, he told his girlfriend she didnt have to come hunting with him on Dec. 10, the day he was cited.

According to Carey, he arrived before daylight and used a small flashlight to find his way to where he put his stand. The corn sack, he said, was camouflaged and he didnt notice it. The corn was behind where I was facing, he told the court, and I didnt know it was there.

His girlfriend took the stand, said they hunted Friday, Dec. 9, and she didnt go back on Dec. 10. Carey, she said, came back early telling her he got a ticket.

Key, returning to the stand, said a person doesnt have to put the bait out to be guilty of the violation. The law is not the place. I cited him because I felt he should have known. It was visible and the stand was facing the corn. If it faced the other way he would have been hunting on private property. The bait was shining like gold.

Careys denial of knowing about the bait fell on deaf ears as he was found guilty and fined $205.