Disabled Vet
Well-Known Member
- Jurisdiction
- Indiana
There is a hunting trial ( driving with truck/car ) in place for people with disabilities. For years we have been working with the National forest people to get this trail fixed. Currently if you drive down the trail branches will scrape the side of your auto. This has been going on since 2006. At one point members of their unit came to the trail and did some great work on it. Now all those people are gone and those that have taken their place are not keeping this trail up to date. Since they don't allow ATV or OHV on the trail I have always said " Since I use my ATV/OHV out there sometimes my truck doesn't get scraped " Of course they remind me that ATV/OHV are not allowed.
Last friday a friend from my military days flew in from Texas to spend the weekend hunting with me. He and I pulled up to the gate to this area. You have to have a key issued to gain access to this trail. At the same time a federal conservation office vehicle pulled up behind us. We got out and i knew one of the guys in the truck. He and I were talking... I told him that those ATV tracks around the gate and thru the woods were not mine. I stated to him that i would only use my atv/ohv on the trail if i had it out there. He stated " Yes we are looking into atv/ohv use" I said " Not mine are you? Since you know i have used mined out there." We both laughed... I got in my truck to pull thru the gate. About this time the Federal Conservation officer walked up to my truck. He asked... Did i hear you correctly, did you say that you have used your atv/ohv out here. I said "Yes, as a matter of fact i have had forest personal ride in it as well." So he asked for my driver license. Any way... he issued a ticket for using my atv/ohv on the trail. Now.... I didn't have the atv with me at the time. Nor has anyone seen me ride my atv/ohv out there. So i didn't have to sign the ticket. But after he issued the ticket he told me he needed my SSN as well. He wrote that down in a notebook. I took the ticket, smiled and continued down the trail in my truck. That was a friday.... The following Monday he called me stating we needed to meet to talk about information he failed to get from me. He wanted me to meet him back out at the trail. I honestly am to busy with the passing of my mother to travel back out there. So he wanted to make i date in the future... so i told him pick a day... so 2 weeks from now we are to meet back out there. Question... can they issue a ticket for saying that i had used a atv/ohv out there in the past. Will the ticket stick when i fight it. Am i required to go back out there for a meeting to give him more information?
Thanks for your input.
Last friday a friend from my military days flew in from Texas to spend the weekend hunting with me. He and I pulled up to the gate to this area. You have to have a key issued to gain access to this trail. At the same time a federal conservation office vehicle pulled up behind us. We got out and i knew one of the guys in the truck. He and I were talking... I told him that those ATV tracks around the gate and thru the woods were not mine. I stated to him that i would only use my atv/ohv on the trail if i had it out there. He stated " Yes we are looking into atv/ohv use" I said " Not mine are you? Since you know i have used mined out there." We both laughed... I got in my truck to pull thru the gate. About this time the Federal Conservation officer walked up to my truck. He asked... Did i hear you correctly, did you say that you have used your atv/ohv out here. I said "Yes, as a matter of fact i have had forest personal ride in it as well." So he asked for my driver license. Any way... he issued a ticket for using my atv/ohv on the trail. Now.... I didn't have the atv with me at the time. Nor has anyone seen me ride my atv/ohv out there. So i didn't have to sign the ticket. But after he issued the ticket he told me he needed my SSN as well. He wrote that down in a notebook. I took the ticket, smiled and continued down the trail in my truck. That was a friday.... The following Monday he called me stating we needed to meet to talk about information he failed to get from me. He wanted me to meet him back out at the trail. I honestly am to busy with the passing of my mother to travel back out there. So he wanted to make i date in the future... so i told him pick a day... so 2 weeks from now we are to meet back out there. Question... can they issue a ticket for saying that i had used a atv/ohv out there in the past. Will the ticket stick when i fight it. Am i required to go back out there for a meeting to give him more information?
Thanks for your input.