We've had two incidents in the Tok/Chicken area of harrassment and verbal baiting. One happened to me and my hunting partner by a State trooper involving caribou meat end of August and the other incident happened just this weekend in the Tok area by USFWS with some duck hunters. Seems the Feds were trying to get the duck hunters to admit to gunning while running in their boat which is illegal. The verbal baiting may be a common practice but this trooper tried for 45 minutes to get us to admit that we left meat at the kill site, which was NOT true. Also, he tried to tell us that it was illegal to shoot either sex, that it was a bull only area (unit 20E) which is nonsense, the registration and regs both say its either sex for residents. Guy didn't even know the regs. The USFWS verbal baiting was done to a co-worker of my hunting partner. The Feds tried for almost an hour to get the duck hunters to admit that they were gunning and running for ducks which was another lie. Ended up that the hunters got pretty pissed off and told them to either take them in for something they didn't do or leave them alone. We all know these LE folks in the state and Feds coordinate things. I hope this isn't something that's being coordinated between the 2 agencies. Anyone else that can relate any incidents, please email the Alaska Outdoor Council at: aoc@alaska.net
If this is going on, it must stop. Us honest hunters don't need this kind of law enforcement up here in the Land of the Free. I was made to feel like I was poaching one of the King's deer from Sherwood Forest. Besides that if the trooper was so interested in the meat, why did he let our meat lying on a tarp for 45 minutes in the sun and with all the flies on it for all that time? Please relate any harrassment known on this forum and email the AOC also.
Yaoughtachoke.