Can someone with no tag carry my spare rifle?

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
5,659
Location
Sodak
Definitive answer? Let me translate it. -We don't like people carrying guns around that don't have a hunting license but legally there's nothing we can do about it.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Well, except the whole ticket you for hunting without a license. They could do that, and probably take the rifle
 

KSP277

WKR
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
411
Just for shits and giggles, let's forget we even know about this thread, fast forward a couple weeks your in the elk woods. Along comes a hunting party. 2 dudes. 2 rifles. Through conversation you realize there's only one tag. You don't know these people from Adam. It's gonna be a hard sell that the other guy ain't hunting and is packing a spare rifle.

I'm not saying it's illegal, and by the looks of it neither is CO. But it's WAY outside the norm. Any GW worth his salt is gonna spend some time trying to sort that out. As he should. I still say it's up in the air whether you get ticketed or not. I'm not at all implying y'all are out to break the law, but, to me atleast, it's not any different than you standing in your buddies boat holding a fishing pole with out a fishing license in case your buddies pole breaks. Illegal? Probably not. Does it look fishy?? Dang right it does.

Either way. Good luck. And tell everybody else from Alabama nonresident deer license in KY have quadrupled this year and it's illegal to kill basket rack 6 pointers now. It's not on the website yet, just take my word for it. WAR DAMN EAGLE
 

sndmn11

WKR
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
9,166
Location
Morrison, Colorado
Just for shits and giggles, let's forget we even know about this thread, fast forward a couple weeks your in the elk woods. Along comes a hunting party. 2 dudes. 2 rifles. Through conversation you realize there's only one tag. You don't know these people from Adam. It's gonna be a hard sell that the other guy ain't hunting and is packing a spare rifle.

I'm not saying it's illegal, and by the looks of it neither is CO. But it's WAY outside the norm. Any GW worth his salt is gonna spend some time trying to sort that out. As he should. I still say it's up in the air whether you get ticketed or not. I'm not at all implying y'all are out to break the law, but, to me atleast, it's not any different than you standing in your buddies boat holding a fishing pole with out a fishing license in case your buddies pole breaks. Illegal? Probably not. Does it look fishy?? Dang right it does.

How hard would one have to "sell" it to a Parks and Wildlife Officer who has no supporting observations of a violation? It probably looks as fishy as a vehicle leaving a bar parking lot, you can't hook the driver without evidence of of impairment simply because they left the bar. Those guys are darned good investigators because they typically have the luxury of significant amounts of time. I would be shocked if someone walked away from an initial contact with a citation/summons, and even more so after a proper investigation.
 

mtwarden

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Messages
9,485
Location
Montana
it appears Colorado law is the same as Montana law in regards to carrying a firearm in the field during a hunting season, easy answer is you can do it, regardless if you have a license or not

what I can tell you is if a game warden does make contact, he's not simply going to give you a "oh I see, well have a good day" when you explain that you're not actually hunting big game with the .30-06 you have cradled in your arms, that you're just carrying it for a buddy

also damn good advice on telling him/her it's none of his damn business :D
 

KSP277

WKR
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
411
How hard would one have to "sell" it to a Parks and Wildlife Officer who has no supporting observations of a violation? It probably looks as fishy as a vehicle leaving a bar parking lot,

That's not really an apples to apples comparison. Camo. Rifle. Hunting season. Sneaking around the woods. Walking in same footsteps as another guy doing the exact same thing. Who is hunting. With a license. It's not gonna be a 2 minute conversation. He's got more than enough reasonable suspicion to hold em as long as he needs to figure out if everything is on the up and up. "because I can" ain't always the best choice.

Do whatever you think is best OP. I just see some serious "splainin" goin on if you get checked.

It'd probably boil down to what their,"they" being the state of CO, definition of "hunting" is.

To all you wanting to see this thread die, my apologies. I'm in the same boat, it's like a train wreck just couldn't stop watching. Deuces I'm out
 

204guy

WKR
Joined
Mar 4, 2013
Messages
1,292
Location
WY
Just for shits and giggles, let's forget we even know about this thread, fast forward a couple weeks your in the elk woods. Along comes a hunting party. 2 dudes. 2 rifles. Through conversation you realize there's only one tag. You don't know these people from Adam. It's gonna be a hard sell that the other guy ain't hunting and is packing a spare rifle.

I'm not saying it's illegal, and by the looks of it neither is CO. But it's WAY outside the norm. Any GW worth his salt is gonna spend some time trying to sort that out. As he should. I still say it's up in the air whether you get ticketed or not. I'm not at all implying y'all are out to break the law, but, to me atleast, it's not any different than you standing in your buddies boat holding a fishing pole with out a fishing license in case your buddies pole breaks. Illegal? Probably not. Does it look fishy?? Dang right it does.

Either way. Good luck. And tell everybody else from Alabama nonresident deer license in KY have quadrupled this year and it's illegal to kill basket rack 6 pointers now. It's not on the website yet, just take my word for it. WAR DAMN EAGLE
Well said. I just find it amusing that if we make the state, MT, WY, ID or AK and add one word, "grizzly", there would be no debate about how likely the friend is to be a poacher. Instead the debate would be about how big a rifle he should be carrying.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
385
Let's just skip this whole farce, and take one rifle. IMO it's ridiculous to take a spare. You must have really good buddies to carry a spare that is almost certainly not needed. Are you carrying spare boots, pack, bag, tent, food, bladder, GPS, etc...?
 

GotDraw?

WKR
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
1,296
Location
Maryland
^^^Agree.

Here's a better question to ask: Of the thousands of hunters on this site, how many guys actually lug around an entire spare rifle on their backpacking elk hunt?

Better to have that buddy carry 95mm optics and tripod so you can better find elk to shoot.

Or even better yet, have him travel fast and light to check other ridges and scan for elk so you can cover 2x as much ground.

JL



Let's just skip this whole farce, and take one rifle. IMO it's ridiculous to take a spare. You must have really good buddies to carry a spare that is almost certainly not needed. Are you carrying spare boots, pack, bag, tent, food, bladder, GPS, etc...?
 

gelton

WKR
Joined
May 15, 2013
Messages
2,511
Location
Central Texas
^^^Agree.

Here's a better question to ask: Of the thousands of hunters on this site, how many guys actually lug around an entire spare rifle on their backpacking elk hunt?

Better to have that buddy carry 95mm optics and tripod so you can better find elk to shoot.

Or even better yet, have him travel fast and light to check other ridges and scan for elk so you can cover 2x as much ground.

JL

IMO there is something more to this story. Like maybe the partner is worried about bears and wants to carry the rifle instead of a handgun. The response from the DOW is very telling as they focus on personal protection not a backup rifle.

So most probably the question was posed differently here than it was to DOW. Just using context clues of course.
 

hflier

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
Mar 18, 2012
Messages
3,293
Location
Tulsa, OK
Never heard of carrying a spare rifle. If I thought my rifle would fail, I would take a different rifle. If in Grizzly country and that was a worry, I would say a shotgun would be better for the 2nd guy. If Colorado, I would be more concerned about protection from humans and a handgun would be my choice. This thread is odd lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
ChrisAU

ChrisAU

WKR
Joined
Jan 12, 2018
Messages
6,053
Location
SE Alabama
IMO there is something more to this story. Like maybe the partner is worried about bears and wants to carry the rifle instead of a handgun. The response from the DOW is very telling as they focus on personal protection not a backup rifle.

So most probably the question was posed differently here than it was to DOW. Just using context clues of course.

I'm out to trick everybody in CO.

VbK8AAa.png
 

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
5,659
Location
Sodak
I was talking to my wife about plans for our upcoming seasons. Deer and antelope. Our conversation turned to whether or not we need to carry two rifles and enough stuff to stay out over night when all we do is spot and stalk, always stay together, and only one person shoots at a time.

I assured her that in an effort to challenge gender norms in our relationship I would have to insist she carry the rifle. She on the other hand assured me that she is a traditional girl, who likes to see her man flex his muscles. We are at an impasse it appears. :)
 

sndmn11

WKR
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
9,166
Location
Morrison, Colorado
I'm out to trick everybody in CO.

VbK8AAa.png

Like I said before, there is absolutely no law preventing the carrying or possession of a firearm during a hunting season. I would be surprised if you were even contacted if that were all that is taking place. Be mindful of your friends ACTIONS, and you will be just fine if he keeps those in check. Let us know how it goes.
 

cnelk

WKR
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
6,798
Location
Colorado
Its obviously many have not been questioned/interrogated by a CPW warden.

When it happens, they will not only question the 'extra' rifle, but will question everything about you, your friend(s), go thru your camp, go thru your your vehicles, check every last detail.

Sure it may be 'legal' to carry the extra rifle, but your day will be turned upside down for several hours.
And if you encounter them again on your trip, expect it to happen again

Choose wisely
 
Joined
Jan 16, 2018
Messages
1,033
How does this conversation continue?
(Said as I add to it!)

It's been covered options are as follow:
#1. Trade your two questionable rifles for 1 solid setup and be happy.
#2. Leave the extra in your truck (under the seat)
#3. Remove the bolt or clip and keep those items along with all ammo on the hunter.

Option 1 is the best, 2 and three have drawbacks but alleviate most of the major concerns. A warden seeing a gun with no bolt strapped to a pack followed by the hunter with a tag producing the bolt (preferably at length from the bottom of his pack) will still ask questions and poke around, but will be much more inclined to believe the story.
I'm guessing you will opt for option 3. Please start a new thread after season and let us all know how it went!
 

sndmn11

WKR
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
9,166
Location
Morrison, Colorado
Its obviously many have not been questioned/interrogated by a CPW warden.

When it happens, they will not only question the 'extra' rifle, but will question everything about you, your friend(s), go thru your camp, go thru your your vehicles, check every last detail.

Sure it may be 'legal' to carry the extra rifle, but your day will be turned upside down for several hours.
And if you encounter them again on your trip, expect it to happen again

Choose wisely

Again, the question posed is not a violation of the law. That is like claiming that any jogger after dark needs to get shaken down, or every vehicle during the daytime needs stopped to see if their head lights work. Law Enforcement Officers can't just make up laws as they go along.
 

KSP277

WKR
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
411
3 more posts to break a 100. Don’t let it die now!

Hell go ahead and take an extra. We gotta see what happens at this point.
 

mtwarden

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Messages
9,485
Location
Montana
Again, the question posed is not a violation of the law. That is like claiming that any jogger after dark needs to get shaken down, or every vehicle during the daytime needs stopped to see if their head lights work. Law Enforcement Officers can't just make up laws as they go along.

I'll see if I can help break the 100 post mark :D

they aren't "just making up law", they are investigating something that appears hinky- that's what they/we are paid to do; if you don't think there will be some questions about a fella toting a big game rifle, during a big game season in an area with big game- you're being naive
 
Top