FWC uses special detail for hunting season

            Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation's Division of Law Enforcement policed the opening of small game season earlier this month.

            On Nov. 7 through 9, Officers Woody Cook, Steven Cook, Travis Huckeba, Don Walker, John Allen, Chasen Yarborough, and Lt. Charlie Wood conducted a special detail to coincide with the opening weekend of small game season in Franklin County. Officers patrolled the Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and Crooked Rivers and their tributaries.

            Education and enforcement attention was directed toward boating under the influence of alcohol, vessel safety equipment, vessel navigational lights, vessel overloading, hunting licenses, management area permits, and bag limits for small game. During the detail, 57 vessels were boarded and 128 users were inspected.

            The inspections produced three uniform boating citations for insufficient number of personal flotation devices and improper navigational lights and nine written warnings for various boating safety equipment violations. The inspections also produced two resource citations for no valid resident hunting license, no valid resident freshwater fishing license, and one written warning for possession of undersized fish.

            On Nov. 10, Officers Mike Slotin and Faris Livesay conducted inspections of commercial oyster harvesters and their vessels in Apalachicola Bay. The officers boarded seven vessels inspecting vessel safety equipment, saltwater product licenses and size tolerance on the harvested oysters.

            One resource citation was issued to a harvester for possession of undersized oysters. The bag of oysters inspected contained over 38 percent undersized oysters. Nine written warnings were also issued to other harvesters for violations pertaining to vessel safety equipment.

On Nov. 8, Officer Benjamin Johnson was patrolling the Bradwell Unit of the Wildlife Management Area in Liberty County when he stopped two hunters in a pickup truck. Johnson checked the two subjects and asked them if they had any luck, and they replied, "No."

            He asked them to open the tonneau cover of the truck so it could be inspected for wildlife. The driver said "Might as well get me now, because I've messed up."

Johnson found one spike buck taken with a shotgun during archery season. Proper citations were issued. Buckshot, two shotguns and the deer were taken as evidence.