Is walking in the woods with a loaded gun considered hunting

[Beans&Bullets]

I went to shoot at my local range the other day, there was a group using the facility for a meeting and the range was closed. So, without going to my car, I went walking in the woods. I had a 22 caliber pistol on me in a holster. I was not hunting, not going to shoot at anything. However, my question is this. Had a Conservation Officer stopped me in the woods and questioned me, would I have been in trouble or violating any laws? I don't have a hunting license? Thanks for your input.

 

[IndyMonkey]

no

 

[redneckmedic]

It is during hunting season...kind of. When we asked about illegal hunting with the DNR, having in possession on person or car while driving at night and "spotting" a deer, you are considered illegally hunting, even if the firearm is locked in the trunk. I called and asked DNR directly, they said the way the law was written, yes. So I would assume, the same "logic" could apply here. However Officer Digression goes along way too.

However, I'm not sure that hunting is considered hunting, until game has been taken.

 

[ironjaw]

you wouldn't be in trouble unless you didn't have a LTCH for said pistol..

 

[IndyMonkey]

It is during hunting season...kind of. When we asked about illegal hunting with the DNR, having in possession on person or car while driving at night and "spotting" a deer, you are considered illegally hunting, even if the firearm is locked in the trunk. I called and asked DNR directly, they said the way the law was written, yes. So I would assume, the same "logic" could apply here. However Officer Digression goes along way too.

However, I'm not sure that hunting is considered hunting, until game has been taken.

No it is not, you cant have a gun in your car any time of the year when your out spotlighting.

 

[redneckmedic]

No it is not, you cant have a gun in your car any time of the year when your out spotlighting.

I'm not sure exactly what you're addressing here. However DNR considered spotlighting turning down your road at night and "beaming" a deer. Whether you meant to or not.

 

[Uconas]

if you are in the woods with a gun, you are hunting. thats how a CO is going to look at it.

 

[redneckmedic]

if you are in the woods with a gun, you are hunting. thats how a CO is going to look at it.

That sounds like your opinion to me, we are looking for a law definition to keep folks from fines, jail time, and getting their LTCH revoked.
Straight off the DNR Website

Indiana Firearms Regulations
No license is required to possess a rifle, shotgun or muzzleloading firearm (including muzzleloading handguns). Hunters must have a permit to carry and/or hunt with a handgun. Landowners may hunt on their own property without a handgun permit.It is legal to carry a concealed handgun while hunting, if you possess a personal protection permit.
Apply for a handgun permit at your local county sheriff or city police office, or begin the registration process online at ISP: Home. You must be at least 18 years old to obtain a handgun permit. Non-residents using a handgun must have a permit issued by their home state. If their home state does not issue handgun permits, they cannot hunt with a handgun in Indiana. For a complete listing of Indiana firearm regulations, see Indiana Code 35-47-2-1 at IN.gov/legislative.

Key Definitions
Antlered deer: A deer with at least one antler that is at least three inches long
Antlerless deer: Any deer other than an antlered deer. Bag limit: The quantity of individual wild animals that may be taken in any one day of the specified season for a specified wild animal or during the entire season.
Baiting: Placing a food product in the field for consumption to attract wildlife to an area being hunted. Examples of baits include salt, mineral blocks, solid licks, grains, and liquids or powders spread on the ground for the purpose of being eaten by animals.
Furbearer: Indiana furbearing game animals include beaver, coyote, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, red fox and skunk.
Game bird: Indiana game birds include ring-necked pheasant, bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse, wild turkey and mourning dove.
Hunt: To take any wild animal except by trapping.
Motor driven conveyance: An automobile, truck, tractor, combine, wagon, bus, off-road vehicle, ATV, recreational vehicle, motorcycle, moped, dune buggy, go-cart, motorboat, airplane, or other motorized conveyance capable of transporting an individual.
Possession limit: Two times the daily bag limit or the bag limit for the entire season depending on the species.
Take: To pursue, shoot, kill, trap, capture, collect, catch, or otherwise take or attempt to take.

 

[ironjaw]

That sounds like your opinion to me, we are looking for a law definition to keep folks from fines, jail time, and getting their LTCH revoked.
Straight off the DNR Website

refer to post #4.....

 

[Hoosierbuck]

if you are in the woods with a gun, you are hunting. thats how a CO is going to look at it.

The old "guilty until proven innocent" theory, eh?

That sounds like your opinion to me, we are looking for a law definition to keep folks from fines, jail time, and getting their LTCH revoked.
Straight off the DNR Website

Of course its an opinion, there is no cut and dried answer to a question like this. When you apply a law with some ambiguity to facts that are unknown, how could it be other than an opinion? Doing anything outside of your property with a firearm places you in some jeopardy for some flavor of LEO thinking you are a bad guy and trying to take you down. Walking in the woods with a gun, however, is not automatically defined as hunting. As long as you are not trying to pursue et al, animals, you are not hunting. If a DNR officer wants to think you are just because you were in the woods with a gun, that's not much of a case. What else were you doing that makes him think that? (This is why its an opinion, you are speculating about some unknown officer's opinion about unknown facts.) But you are exposed to some risk, if said officer happens to be a cowboy who thinks of everyone he meets as guilty subjects as opposed to citizens, the risk is higher. We get cases occasionally that show that an officer made assumptions that are not supported by provable facts, so it can happen, but it shouldn't.

 

[samot]

your not "hunting" until there is a dead dear !!!
I cut wood on my land all the time , I dont care what season it is & i promise you I have at least 1 gun ON me & 1 in the truck.
Just because your in the woods & carring a firearm doesnt mean your "hunting" !!
You can still go shooting during deer season ! Just dont shoot a deer !

 

[samot]

hell...... now that i think about it ..... sometimes i sit in a stand and watch critters walk by & yes i am armed ........... am i hunting ? NO !
But i do like to watch the deer from the stand all year round....... & im not sitting in the stand unarmed !!!

 

[John224]

From past experience in another state, it pretty much depends on the current mindset, attitude, location and whether the officer really does not want to have to work that day.

 

[Titanium Man]

Having the experience of an expensive "set-up", I wouldn't trust a CO, or any public servant for that fact, as far as I could throw the vehicle they drove up in.
This is not a:


Given that, I still carry my Judge with me, with a LTCH, whenever I'm in the woods. I feel I still need personal protection even out in my woods, or in the middle of nowhere.

 

[ARGarrison]

I'm not sure exactly what you're addressing here. However DNR considered spotlighting turning down your road at night and "beaming" a deer. Whether you meant to or not.

IC 14-22-6-7
Jacklighting prohibited
Sec. 7. (a) This section does not apply to an employee of the department or an employee of a federal wildlife management agency who:
(1) is acting in the performance of the employee's duties; and
(2) has received the express written consent of the director for the employee's action.
(b) A person may not knowingly throw or cast the rays of any spotlight or other artificial light:
(1) not required by law on a motor vehicle; and
(2) in search of or upon any wild bird or wild animal;
from a vehicle while the person possesses a firearm, bow, or crossbow, if by throwing or casting the rays a wild bird or wild animal could be killed. This subsection applies even though the animal is not killed, injured, shot at, or otherwise pursued.
(c) A person may not take any wildlife, except furbearing mammals, with the aid of illumination of any spotlight, searchlight, or other artificial light.
(d) A person may not shine a spotlight, searchlight, or other artificial light for the purpose of taking, attempting to take, or assisting another person to take a deer.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.15. Amended by P.L.13-2007, SEC.1.

Headlights are required by law and thus is not considered Jacklighting under Indiana Code.

 

[Dyerbill]

I'm not sure if I need to but I buy a hunting/fishing license to cover my butt.....I go walking in the woods a lot and I ain't going naked

 

[Rhinestone Pete]

I would say it would depend on the officer who stops you. I had taken my family to Ft. Harrison state park for an outing one day. I was fishing and helping my 5 year old daughter to fish also. While I was removing a bluegill from my daughter's pole, I asked my wife just to hold onto my fishing pole. Just then, a CO walked up and asked for our licenses. My wife did not have one and I explained that she was NOT fishing. But, the CO stated "if you are holding a pole and the line is in the water, you are fishing". My wife then had to walk all the way back to our vehicle, get her driver's license, so the CO could give us a "warning". So, would this mean that you may be considered "hunting" if you are in the woods carrying a firearm? Again, it would probably depend on the officer who stops you. But, I personally would just state you are carrying for personal protection. i.e. wild dogs, etc.