I am new to GON, so thank you for your help/posts.
I have an issue where i was charged with shooting a bear out of season in Georgia last month and i would like to find more legal information. I was in the right for shooting due to self defense/property defense. I have googled this many times and not come up with many results, so I am looking for more help or advice to exonerate myself in court next month. I am a life long law abiding licensed hunter/fisher with no priors. It is unfortunate this happened, but I was protecting my dog. That is the only reason I shot.
Here is my back story: A aggressive yearling male bear was foraging for food at my cabin in the N. Ga. mountains (i am not the only documented case. this has been a recent problem all over the county). The bear got into some cleaned recyclables and dug up a few yellow jackets nests. My dog, a 20lb beagle, got out and started messing with the bear. I yelled and made noise, the dog didn't listen, nor did the bear leave. I have a CCW permit, so i grabbed my glock and went to separate the 2. My dog bit the bear on the rear, the bear turned to go after the dog, and then i shot the bear once in the head and killed it. The bear was 2ft from the dog when i shot it. In addition, this all happened 10-15ft from the porch of my house on private property. I called DNR, reported it, asked for disposal help, and they cited me with a $150 fine and a violation of 27-3-15 (taking game out of season). I never admitted guilt on wrong doing on anything.
Does any one have any legal presidents on this issue or know of any laws to help? All the CCW laws I have found online all pertain to forcible felonies against people. I have also looked through all 27-3-x georgia laws and found no help. I just dont see how I cannot protect myself and my animals from dangerous game on my property. I surely cannot be the first person with this issue in georgia. DNR also said they did me the “favor” of only citing me with a small fine because of my compliance and suggest next time to just let the bear attack the dog (sickening). I just want to give my best effort to not go on record as a poacher from now on. I have a military service commitment coming up in a few months and I do not want to have to disclose this charge and have it possibly effect that.
All advice/comments welcome, but this is NOT a debate on the issue. The bear is dead and my dog is safe, so now I am just looking for information to help.
Thank you
I have an issue where i was charged with shooting a bear out of season in Georgia last month and i would like to find more legal information. I was in the right for shooting due to self defense/property defense. I have googled this many times and not come up with many results, so I am looking for more help or advice to exonerate myself in court next month. I am a life long law abiding licensed hunter/fisher with no priors. It is unfortunate this happened, but I was protecting my dog. That is the only reason I shot.
Here is my back story: A aggressive yearling male bear was foraging for food at my cabin in the N. Ga. mountains (i am not the only documented case. this has been a recent problem all over the county). The bear got into some cleaned recyclables and dug up a few yellow jackets nests. My dog, a 20lb beagle, got out and started messing with the bear. I yelled and made noise, the dog didn't listen, nor did the bear leave. I have a CCW permit, so i grabbed my glock and went to separate the 2. My dog bit the bear on the rear, the bear turned to go after the dog, and then i shot the bear once in the head and killed it. The bear was 2ft from the dog when i shot it. In addition, this all happened 10-15ft from the porch of my house on private property. I called DNR, reported it, asked for disposal help, and they cited me with a $150 fine and a violation of 27-3-15 (taking game out of season). I never admitted guilt on wrong doing on anything.
Does any one have any legal presidents on this issue or know of any laws to help? All the CCW laws I have found online all pertain to forcible felonies against people. I have also looked through all 27-3-x georgia laws and found no help. I just dont see how I cannot protect myself and my animals from dangerous game on my property. I surely cannot be the first person with this issue in georgia. DNR also said they did me the “favor” of only citing me with a small fine because of my compliance and suggest next time to just let the bear attack the dog (sickening). I just want to give my best effort to not go on record as a poacher from now on. I have a military service commitment coming up in a few months and I do not want to have to disclose this charge and have it possibly effect that.
All advice/comments welcome, but this is NOT a debate on the issue. The bear is dead and my dog is safe, so now I am just looking for information to help.
Thank you