North Woods Law (2012) - full transcript

♪♪

♪♪

All I know is a nurse
found a finger.

Like a severed human finger.

Check.

Somebody could have been
murdered up here.

♪♪

[ siren wailing ]

You zoomed by
like five white signs.

It couldn't have been
any clearer to you.

- I wasn't thinking.
- Guess not.



♪♪

Is first blood going to be here?

Well, yeah, there was...
There was some.

I'm not seeing
a whole lot of evidence.

Find that blood.

The hunter,
he's acting very nervous.

He's acting a little suspicious.

[ bird screeches ]

Narrator: From the white
mountains of the northeast

To the shores
of the atlantic ocean,

The conservation officers
of new hampshire

Stop at nothing
to protect the wildlife...

There's no point in lying.
You shot the deer.

...Preserve the resources...



[ gunshot ] there's a gun!

...Catch the violators...

Man: Do you want to end up
in handcuffs?

Narrator:
...And serve the citizens

Of the "live free or die" state.

- One, two, three.
- Patrick!

If you weren't there, then
it's not gonna be you, right?

Hawk looks pretty healthy.

Success.

I'm not gonna cut you
any more slack
from here on out.

It's like I'm talking to a wall.

Show me something.

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪♪

What's up, fellas?

You have all
the information on this?

No, not really.

All I know is a nurse
found a finger.

Or what appears to be a finger.

That's all I know. - Yeah. Yeah.

I've been called
to monadnock state park

For kind of an unusual call.

Apparently, last night a hiker
was hiking the mountain

And got off-trail a little bit

And discovered what looks like
a severed human finger.

♪♪

I've seen the photograph. - Yep.

- It looks like a finger.
- It would appear to be

A human finger. - Yeah.

♪♪

I'm the lucky winner.

- You are the lucky winner.
- [ laughs ] hi.

Hannett:
The witness has agreed
to bring us back

Up to the spot
where she located it

And so a state police officer
and I are going

To go up with her
and he has a cadaver dog

And so, basically,
just go up and find it

And, hopefully, figure out
whether it's real or not.

And did you see
anything else
out there? Like...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sure, absolutely.

Like cut.

Yeah. And you're a nurse?

And I'm sure you've seen...

Yeah. Okay.

Alright, well, get ready
to hike up there.

♪♪

You know, the fact that,
where it is logistically,

It's on top of mount monadnock,
essentially,

So it's not easy
to do an investigation.

We got to try to figure out

Why there's a finger
on the mountain.

Was it somebody that was,
you know, abducted

Or somebody that was murdered

And that was a piece
of their finger?

We certainly got our work
cut out for us.

♪♪

- Good morning.
- How's it going?

Oh, not too bad.

Arriving over at the
old toll road,

It's a staffed parking area.

We got to go up top.
We're going to go hiking.

Apparently, this lady behind us

Found a finger

Last night in the woods.

Has anybody told you guys
about it yet?

Can you check
with your powers to be

And just make sure like
nobody was injured recently

And lost a finger,
that you guys know about?

Would you? Alright.

He's gonna ask some other
people from the park.

If they said that, "oh, yeah,
we had a guy two days ago

That, you know, got his finger
chopped off, somehow,"

We could certainly rule it out.

♪♪

Okay.

Yeah, yeah. - Yeah.

Somebody said that the
hospitals were called.

- They called the hospitals.
- All like the ones south, too?

I don't know south
because we had

Different guys on last night.

While the troopers are gonna
check with some local hospitals,

The witness,
trooper devlin, and I

Are gonna start walking up.

♪♪

Oh, okay. Gotcha, gotcha.

No, no, I don't
suppose you would.

It's not your typical call.

I've never got a call
for a found severed finger

In my entire 16-year career.

There's potential that somebody

Could have been
murdered up here.

♪♪

♪♪

[ musical ringtone ]

Hello.

This is.

Hey, dana. What's going on?

Narrator:
In boscawen, new hampshire,

Conservation officer
josiah towne receives a call

From the principal
at his sons' school.

Oh!

Oh...

They did nest.

Okay.

Okay.

Let me call
our turtle biologist.

I'll talk to him and then,
I'll take a ride over.

Sounds good. Thanks.

Yeah. Bye.

When the school's principal
called and was like,

"we had an interesting recess,"
I'm like, "alright,

'north woods law'
doesn't need to hear

What my kids just did."

[ laughing ]

I'm glad that it was
something professional

He was calling me for.

Last spring, the principal
from the school called me.

A turtle came up and nested
on the playground.

I got some stakes.

I'll put just four stakes around

And then just
some flagging tape.

♪♪

Sounds like
they all hatched out.

My concern is just that
these turtles make it.

I'm gonna call one
of the biologists right now

And see how long I need

To keep the children
away from these nests.

[ ring ]

Hey, josh. It's josiah towne.

How are you?

Good.
Hey, back in the springtime,

The local school
had a snapping turtle

Laying eggs on the playground

And today, baby turtles erupted
everywhere on the playground

While the kids were out there.

Once they start, I mean,

Should they all hatch
around the same time or...?

Okay, so I'm gonna tell them
probably just to stay off it

For a couple of days.
Is that...?

That sounds good.

No problem. Thanks for the info.

Have a good one.

Bye.

They're not endangered species.

There's plenty
of snapping turtles around,

But it's a great learning
experience for the kids,

You know, learning to share
their environment with wildlife.

And I can take a ride over.

Maybe my kids, they can help
remind their classmates

Not to go where
the turtles are hatching.

♪♪

We're close to the summit
of mount monadnock,

So we're close to being
at the site.

Narrator:
Back in dublin,
officer hannett

And state trooper devlin
climb to the top

Of mount monadnock with a hiker

Who reportedly found
a severed human finger.

If it turns out that this
is a homicide,

Then major crimes needs to be
contacted and be brought up.

And it's a hike.

It's pretty technical.

It's pretty rocky,
so, to get people up here,

It's gonna be
potentially difficult

[ indistinct ]
to get to the top.

♪♪

[ whines ] go on up.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Apparently, she got
a little off-trail

And I think it was
at the summit.

♪♪

The fact that she was off-trail,

I think it adds a little bit
more to the credibility of it.

This spot is kind of a drainage.

It's kind of a, you know,
a natural funnel.

It appears that's where people
will go to get off the trail,

To use the bathroom
or to do whatever.

So, if somebody
were waiting somewhere

To try to abduct somebody,

To try to engage in some kind
of a deviant behavior,

That would probably be
a good spot.

♪♪

Yeah! Come on. Check.

Trooper devlin
is starting his search.

♪♪

My canine, wyatt,
is a five-year-old bloodhound

Who's certified in search
and rescue and cadaver as well.

Check, check.

Right now, we're just looking
for target odor,

Which, in this case,
is cadaver odor.

Come on, buddy.

It's a little windy,
especially in this crevice here,

So it's swirling a lot,

So it's a little bit harder
for him to locate it.

But I'm watching
how he works the wind.

♪♪

What do you think, bud?

♪♪

Right in there. - Yeah.

Check.

♪♪

Good. Good check.

You guys find it?

Good boy.

♪♪

Check.

♪♪

Good. Good check.

You guys find it?

Good boy.

Narrator:
On new hampshire's
mount monadnock,

Conservation officer
eric hannett,

State trooper kevin devlin,
and his k-9 wyatt

Locate what appears to be
a severed human finger.

♪♪

I don't have a glove on me.

It's in my pack.

♪♪

Anh-anh-anh.

Off.

Off. Good.

♪♪

Oh, yeah, that's not human.

♪♪

Hannett:
It's pretty
realistic-looking.

We had the officer
run the dog around it.

Dog had no interest
in it, whatsoever.

Does that look like
a Halloween thing to you?

It does from here.

It's plastic. It's fake.

-No, that's okay.
-That's alright.
Hey, you know what?

It's better to see something,
say something, report it...

-Absolutely.
-...Than just kind of kick it
to the side and say,

"hey, what if this was a lost
hiker from a long time ago?"

I think... - yeah.

No, no.

You did the right thing.

No. It's... I mean.

The witness shouldn't
beat herself up at all.

Had she picked the thing up
and played around with it,

She potentially could've
ruined evidence

Or, you know, changed the scene

And made it harder to solve
the case for investigators.

She did everything right
and, really, nothing wrong,

As far as I'm concerned.

What do you think, buddy?

- [ barks ]
- good boy!

[ laughs ] it's a good day.

Whenever I get to work
my dog, it's a good day.

I'm glad it's not a real finger.

You know, obviously,
that would mean that somebody

Was either hurt
or potentially killed.

Devlin: At they end of the day,
you just think

It's best-case scenario, right?

Everyone's okay.

Off. Get gee, get gee, get gee.
Come on, get gee.

Ultimately, we take the finger,
keep it as a trophy, I guess,

For later on, to laugh about,

And get out of here,
come down the mountain.

Good boy.

♪♪

♪♪

Towne: Well, here now.

See these turtles.

Narrator: Back in bristol,

Officer josiah towne arrives
at his sons' school,

Where a group
of snapping turtles

Have just hatched
on the playground.

My plan here today is just
to talk to principal andrews

And see if I can figure out
if they've all hatched or not

And I'm gonna pull out
my youngest son

And see if he
can give me a hand.

It's almost the end
of the day, anyways.

Alright, let's do this quickly,

Before everyone gets out,
alright, levi?

Okay.

Yeah, there's one right there.

See his little head sticking out?
-Yeah.

I talked to the biologist
and he said snapping turtles

Typically lay between 20
and 40 eggs at a time.

He said that they won't all
come out at once,

But they should be out
within a couple days.

- Okay.
- They should all be out, so.

My main concern is the safety
of these hatchlings

And just making sure that

They can get into the woods
as quickly as possible.

Turtles take up to 20 years
to reach sexual maturity,

Which means they're not
gonna reproduce

Until they're 20 years old.

They'll live to be
100 years old.

So anytime I can help
and get these turtles back

Into their natural habitat
and make sure that they're safe,

I'll go out of my way
to do that.

That's pretty cool.
You ever seen one so small?

You see its little head
sticking out?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm sure it was.

This is an area where there's
gonna be a lot of kids,

So I want to make sure

That they know to leave
these hatchlings alone.

Pretty cool, huh? Uh-huh.

Oh, there's another one
hatching now.

There's another one
coming out of the sand.

Oh.

Come this way, okay?
So that, when they go out,

They have a clear way
to go down there.

My other two sons
have also come over,

So they're gonna be able
to see the hatchling as well.

Yeah, it's alright.
We should probably

- Pick him up?
- Put him in the woods that way.

This one snapping turtle
is going towards the road.

Right now, school is letting out

And there's a lot
of traffic, though.

Rather than let it get run over,

You know,
within minutes of hatching,

I'm gonna try and put it
down into a habitat

That's more suitable for it.

I'm gonna go put him
in the woods.

♪♪

Okay, boys, come down here.

♪♪

I'll put him right down here.

This is a good spot for him.

Nice and shady,
but he can find some sun.

Don't go on that side, okay?
That's the way he's gonna go.

Get behind me, okay, boys?

So we know that he goes
in the right direction.

Yeah. That's a muddy area.
That's where they belong.

This is all good habitat.

- Dad.
- Yeah. See that?

Mom? After she laid her eggs,

She came back out
into this marsh.

No, because they're reptiles.

These guys will hatch
and they'll be able

To survive on their own.

- And they can eat...
- Yep, yep.

No one has to teach
them anything.

Well, they usually eat
like little bugs

And minnows and fish.

So what do you say, levi?

Power!

That's right.

I hope that
my children understand

And take away the lesson
from this that, you know,

It's up to us to conserve
these species of wildlife

And make sure that they
continue into the future

And, if we can give them
a helping hand, we'll do that,

But to know not to interfere
with nature at the same time.

No problem. Have fun.

- Bye, pa.
- Love you.

-Ew! -Love you. -See ya.

♪♪

Narrator:
In hillsborough county,

Conservation officer
nick masucci heads

To register a hunter's bear.

♪♪

Some of the things that I try
and look for

On these bear registrations...
Any type of foul play.

If the hunter says
he shot it with a bow,

But, in fact,
there's no bow shot on it

Because, actually,
it was shot with a rifle,

I might think that
he was lying to me about it.

Maybe the bear had cubs,
it was lactating.

Maybe there's cubs
out in the forest.

I got to go and see
what's going on with them.

But, for the most part,

I try to see if there's any
illegal activity at play here.

♪♪

How's it going? Brad, right?

Perfect. Got the tag
on the bear, still? Okay.

Yeah.

Okay. That's fine.

Here, in the state
of new hampshire,

Every bear has to registered
with a conservation officer

Within 24 hours of the kill.

In this particular incident,
I was very busy the day prior,

So lieutenant bill boudreau
gave this man permission

To skin the bear out prior
to me showing up.

That's a good-size bear.

♪♪

Alright. Perfect.

Cool. I'm just gonna go
right back out here,

Fill out all the paperwork
on the table.
-Okay.

♪♪

County where killed...
Right here in hillsborough?

Yeah. Who's property
up there was it on?

Okay. I know where
you're talking about.

No kidding.

No kidding.

It's a little suspicious to me.

He's telling me
he shot the bear with a bow

While he was carrying a very
large tree stand on his back.

To draw back that bow, you need

A lot of range of motion
with your shoulder,

So I kind of want
to follow up on it.

So whereabouts did you shoot it?

Use some shot on it or...?

Oh, okay, so you kind of like...
It was kind of like

A gut shot on it?

Was it?

Did it? Okay.

The hunter is acting
very nervous.

He's acting a little weird,
a little suspicious.

I'd like to do
a little more digging.

I've asked the hunter
if he could take me back

To the site where he killed it.

He's voluntarily agreed.

I'll just follow you
right down, alright?

Perfect.

Something I'm looking
for here is

If the hunter took it over bait,

If he shot it
too close to the road.

I'm just looking for anything
that pretty much

Does not line up
with the story he gave me.

If it did not happen
the way he told me,

There might be some more
to the picture

That I'm not seeing,
that he might be trying to hide.

♪♪

♪♪

So, right now, we're just
pulling up for the hunter here

To go look at his
kill site quickly.

Narrator:
In hillsborough, new hampshire,

Conservation officer
nick masucci investigates

A bow hunter who may have
taken a bear illegally.

♪♪

- Hey.
- Hey.

♪♪

So whereabouts were you
when you shot the bear?

You were right there?
Okay, yeah.

Okay.

So, now that I'm out here,

I'm actually with the hunter
at the kill site,

I'm looking for tracks.

I'm looking for broken branches.

I'm looking for blood.

Anything that can tell me that
that animal was here,

Where the hunter said he was.

♪♪

You were right there?

Okay. So, now,
he was right behind here.

So is first blood going
to be here?

Okay.

[ laughing ]

Yeah.

I'm not seeing
a whole lot of evidence

I'm not seeing blood.
I'm not seeing tracks.

He's a little nervous.

That's alright.

Um...

The longer that we're looking,

We're not seeing a blood
or blood trail,

It's making me think that
the bear was not killed here.

♪♪

Today, pretty rainy, dreary.

I find, on days like this,
a lot of times,

The atv riders will still ride.

Narrator:
In claremont, new hampshire,

Conservation officer
kevin bronson patrols

For atv activity.

We are on a not town-maintained
road right now

Called cat hole road.

It's an atv trail,
usually pretty heavily used.

It's a constant area
where I get complaints.

I don't have
a specific complaint

That I'm working today.

It's just always good
to try to stay on top of it.

♪♪

Looks like a couple machines
are out riding right now.

They don't even have
their windows rolled up.

Let's see if we can't hear them.

♪♪

I'm just gonna try
and figure out who they are

And where they're from and if
they're registered or not.

Quite the trailer.

Things that I'm looking for

When people aren't around
their trucks and trailers

And it's obvious
that they're out riding

Is just blatant violations.

Is there any drugs
that I can see in the car?

Is there any beer cans?

I'm not seeing
anything like that,

So I think these should be
pretty simple checks.

I'm gonna run the license plates

And see who they come back to,

If there's any wants
or warrants,

If they registered
any atvs, dirt bikes,

Or utvs with the state yet.

I got two of them,
both on new hampshire.

Okay. Do you mind running
a 12, toni, for that name?

Looking for ohrvs.

Okay.

Yeah.

Alright. Thank you.

Have a good one.

Bye.

Sounds like this truck

Doesn't have anything
registered to him.

Could be an oversight, somehow,

But it's definitely worth
sitting and waiting

To see what happens.

There's a storm coming,

So that should, in theory,
push them out here shortly.

♪♪

Okay.

Narrator: Back in hillsborough,

Officer masucci continues
to question a hunter

About a suspicious bear hunt.

If we just find
some blood and whatnot,

Maybe track back
to the gut pile?

He was where he says he shot it,
but I'm not seeing any evidence

To say that he did
shoot it here,

So I'm a little skeptical
that he might be lying to me.

Okay.

How far down is that tree?
[ gunshot ]

Yeah. - [ laughs ]

Who's that, your buddies or...?

♪♪

Yep, there's some blood.

Yep. Yep. Here's some.
[ gunshot ]

- [ laughs ]
- here's some.

Wasn't seeing it there,
for a second, but.

No, I don't blame you.
You got to do your job.

I know it's there, but, yeah,

He ran right down through here

And he went...
- Is down further?

Yeah.

The hunter was able to show me
some of the blood

And where the animal was.

We're not done here yet.
I could tell

Something's not right,
just by the hunter's reaction,

So I would like to see
where the animal ran off to,

Where it finally died
and gave in to its injuries.

How much farther, actually,
did he go down before he died?

300 yards?
You mind if we just walk?

Do you have the time
to walk there?

That's alright. I mean,
we'll do the best we can on it.

The hunter's a little hesitant
to take me there,

So I kind of want to push
until a little bit further

And see, actually,
where it died.

Is there a pretty decent drag

From where you shot it
back to the truck?

Because we can probably go
back to the drag mark,

Follow the drag down.

Yeah.

Sometimes certain hunters
think that they can take

Conservation officers
out to fake kill sites

And give us a run-around.

Today's not gonna be
one of them.

Yeah, because I just
wanna go check it out

And just see where it was,
where he dropped.

♪♪

How much farther actually did he
go down before he died?

300 yards? You mind if we just
take the time to walk it?

Narrator:
In hillsborough, new hampshire,

Conservation officer
nick masucci

Tries to get a reluctant hunter

To tell him the truth
about his bear hunt.

I just want to go check it out
and just see where it was,

Where he dropped.

To this story or...?

Yeah.

So the hunter
just came forth to me.

He was a little nervous,

But he said that
he was on posted property

And there's actually
no trespassing allowed,

But he did not know at the time.

This hunter shot the bear
on property

He was legally allowed to be on,
but the bear ran off

To posted property
he was not allowed to be on.

This land is actually a private
pheasant hunting preserve.

Being on that property
could be potentially dangerous.

We could hear gunshots
in the background.

It's a very active hunting site.

Why don't we just head
back over there

And just take a look at it,
okay?

Yep.

I feel a lot better
about him coming forth on it

Rather than me
finding out the hard way.

But we're not done with it yet.

I still want to see
where the animal died.

Masucci: This was what I want
to try and do.

I want to walk it
exactly how are you saw it.

I want to be in your shoes.

I want to see
how you came on the property.

If you walked right
in front of a posted sign,

That's what I want to see.

If we try to find
one of these stone walls,

We can walk up and down it,
find the blood,

Because that'll tell you exactly
where it went on the property.

Yep.

If there's no signs up,

I can't really hold it
against the hunter

Because he didn't
truthfully know about it.

But if he walked right past
a posted sign

And he continued on the property

Without contacting me
or the landowner,

It will become an issue.

Right here? Yep.

So you shot it down there,
it came up here,

And then went up
and over through here.

So now that I'm out here,
I can see where

The hunter did
cross over onto the property.

There was blood
being dragged over top the wall,

Indicating the bear climbed over
from one property to the next.

The hunter followed right over.

At this location,
there's no posted signs

Indicating that
there's no hunting,

No trespassing allowed.

As soon as the hunter
got the bear out to the road,

He realized
that the property was posted.

At this point, he should have
contacted fish and game

Or the landowner.

The truck should be
right down here.

Give me a few minutes
to a make few phone calls.

I got to go up the hill.

Make a call.

Then I'll follow you
back to your house.

I can walk right down with you
and we'll take off.

My thoughts right now is
I kind of have to

Contact the landowner,
see how he feels about it.

If the landowner does not
want him to be on the property,

I will cite him for trespass.

If the landowner's fine with it,
if he's a hunter,

He understands
how animals take off and run,

I'm just gonna drop it
right here

And just probably cite him
with a warning.

Alright,
see you in a little bit.

♪♪

Sounds like this truck doesn't
have anything registered to him.

Could be an oversight somehow,

But it's definitely worth
sitting and waiting

To see what happens.

Narrator: Back in claremont,
officer bronson

Waits for the owners
of two vehicles

To ensure they're not involved
in illegal atv activity.

[ engines revving ]
they're coming.

I can hear them.

I'm just gonna go
check them quick,

Make sure they're registered.

♪♪

Bronson: How's it going?

Can't complain.

Is this you parked down here?
Yeah? Awesome.

Do you know your window's down?

If you're gonna ride...
Because the storm's coming.

But awesome. I'll just check
that machine registered.

Buried somewhere, I'm sure.

They're somewhere. Awesome.

Have you seen
anybody else riding?

- No, nobody else.
- Not a soul.

Not a soul?

Yeah.

I mean, you're doing it right.

Well, I'll leave you to it.

- Alright.
- See you.

Looks like these two guys
are in compliance.

Everything looks good,

And I'm gonna wait
for the next group.

I can't imagine
they're going to be out

A whole heck of a lot longer
through this storm.

If they get soaked.

Here they are.

♪♪

Man: Whoo!

The first thing I see
is a bunch of people

With their hands up in the air
going probably too fast

Than what they should be.

And there's two real young kids

Without helmet
or eye protection.

♪♪

The first thing I see is a bunch
of people with their hands

Up in the air
going probably too fast

Than what they should be,
and there's two real young kids

Without helmet
or eye protection.

Narrator:
In claremont, new hampshire,

Conservation officer
kevin bronson stops a family

Who are violating multiple
ohrv laws.

You got helmets
for the little ones?

Oh, he got...
But you do have helmets?

Okay. Do you... how old are you?

Okay, do you have your
driver's license with you?

At this point,
I'm gonna just make sure that

The driver of the utv

Is a valid operator
in the state of new hampshire

And check the registration for
this machine to start out with.

Thank you very much.

And you can load it up
and everything.

Don't let me slow you down.

♪♪

834. Could you run
a new hampshire 22-23, please?

Alright. Thank you.

- You're welcome.
- Bye.

I didn't see any helmets.

I really don't care
if they were there or not.

They weren't on the kids.

They need helmet
and eye protection at that age.

And this was the guy

Who's got a warning already
for operating an ohrv

With someone on
without helmet on

That was under 18.

So I think it's time for ticket.

Just doesn't sit well with me

That you're not even gonna throw
a helmet on any of the kids.

Come over.

So I just want to
talk to you over here

So the kids don't think
they've done something wrong.

You're operating
an ohrv with two kids

That need helmets
and eye protection on, okay?

I take it pretty serious
because they need it.

When I saw you blasting
through the trail,

They didn't have helmet
or eye protection on, okay?

They need it the whole entire
time you're riding, okay?

I'm writing you one ticket,
not two,

Because there's two kids, okay?

It's a $62 ticket. Okay?

Do you have any questions
for me on that?

Alright. Have a good ride home.

Yeah, so in my opinion,

There's no excuse.

Everybody has, like,
that one thing,

And it's all
because of life experience.

I am a wicked stickler
because one of my best friends

In elementary school died
in an atv crash, and he was 13.

I don't believe he had a helmet
or anything on and hit a deer

And the four wheeler
flipped on him.

And now he's dead.
Can't get him back.

And it's like totally avoidable.

That's why on those,
I'm never like,

"yeah, go home, knock it off."

So it's worth sitting.

It's nice to give that
attention.

♪♪

[ line rings ]

Narrator: Back in hillsborough,
officer masucci checks in

With the owner
of the posted property

Where he investigated
a bear kill earlier in the day.

Hey, scott, how's it going?

It's nick with fish and game
giving you a quick call.

How you doing today?

I'm not too bad.

Are you familiar with
brad [bleep]?

Okay.

I just did a bear for him.

He shot it on [bleep] property.

It died on your property.

The back side where he walked
onto the property,

There was no posted signs
or anything.

So he did not know that
he was in the wrong there.

I just wanted to call you first,

See if you wanted me
to pursue it further

Or you want me to just
drop it where it was.

Yeah, I mean, it's...

Yeah, he should have
taken the time

To call yourself or me.

I mean, I was hearing the shots.

I mean, you guys sound like
you're shooting over there.

I'm sure it's like a liability
for you guys also

To have a hunter that
you don't know.

Yeah.

Alright, scott, appreciate it.
Have a good one.

So what I'm gonna do now

Is I'm gonna meet back up
with the hunter

And give him a quick
educational lesson,

Cite him with a warning,

And make sure
he does not do this again.

And if he does,
he will have a different outcome

That involves a citation.

♪♪

How's it going, brad?

Basically, I just want to
address a few things with you.

I spoke to the landowner.

He was glad to hear
that you recovered the bear

And it didn't go to waste,
but he would've liked it

If you just called him
ahead of time.

But obviously, it was just
a big safety concern for him.

He has a lot of shooting
out there,

A lot of hunting activity
out there.

So you get the point.

The bear's yours.
I'm not gonna take it.

I'm gonna let this go off
as a warning for right now.

That's gonna be it though.

I mean, it's in the future,
if I bump into it again,

I'm gonna have to
address it properly.

But I want to give you my card
with my phone number on it.

If this happens again,
just give me a call directly.

For this circumstance,
I think give him a warning

Is gonna be enough
for this individual.

From this,
he has learned a lesson.

He now knows,
you know, in the future,

As soon as he finds out
he's in violation of this,

He's got to call myself
or the landowner.

This just helps protect himself,

Helps protect
the landowner's interests,

And it's gonna
help stop properties

From being posted in the future.

Alright, have a good one, brad.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Up north in
stewartstown, new hampshire,

Conservation officer chris egan
is en route

To investigate
an ohrv complaint.

Egan: I had a call relayed to
me, and it was an issue

With ohrvs operating
on a portion of a public road

That's posted 10 miles per hour.

Frequently, machines
are going in excess of that.

And when it gets to a point
where a lot of them

Are continuously
doing it in a row,

Some of the residents
in that area will make a call

Just to see
if we can swing over that way.

♪♪

♪♪

Even if they're going slow,

I like to let them see
I have a radar gun,

Just they know that
we're out here and even the ones

That are doing it right
are doing it right for a reason.

So...

♪♪

Reasonable.

♪♪

We've seen a lot of machines,

But they're all going
very reasonable speeds so far.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm gonna go check that kid.

It's a 10,
and they're going faster now

Than they were
when they got by me.

[ siren wails ]

They're rolling
at 29 right here.

They knew I was there.

♪♪

How we doing?

You guys saw me sitting there,
right?

Back there
it's a 10-mile-an-hour zone,

Then you guys are going 30

Like within five seconds
after you passed me.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

I'm gonna go check that kid.

It's a 10,
and they're going faster now

Than they were
when they got by me.

[ siren wails ]

They're rolling at 29
right here.

Narrator: In stewartstown,
new hampshire,

Conservation officer chris egan

Pulls over two atvs
for speeding.

You guys saw me sitting there,
right?

Back there it's
a 10-mile-an-hour zone,

Then you guys are going 30

Like within five seconds
after you pass me.

Kind of weird, but...

Do you have
a registration for this?

Okay. You have your driver's
license with you?

And is your gun
all unloaded there?

It's not? Okay.

Why don't you give me that?

Why isn't it?

Forgot?

How can you forget
to unload your gun?

It's an officer safety issue

When a law enforcement officer
is approaching someone

On a motor vehicle stop

And they have a loaded
.300 winchester magnum

Slung across their back.

Do you have your license
with you?

Hunting license,
driver's license, any of that?

So you had your gun loaded
inside the house

And you just grabbed it off
the table and threw it on the...

I guess not.

So obviously,
the reason that I stopped you

Is that you're going 30 in a 10.

You just went by
like five white signs

That say 10 miles an hour.

It couldn't have been
any clearer to you

Of what the speed limit was
in this zone.

So I'm just gonna address
the issues we got here.

Obviously, you can't have
a rifle loaded on your atv

While you're driving
down a road.

I mean, that just makes
common sense,

But it's also against the law.

So that's gonna be
addressed with you.

The unregistered is going
to be addressed with you

And you'll likely just get
warnings for your speed.

Alright?
So you can just sit tight

And I'll deal with those issues
and I'll be right back with you.

18 headquarters, d-david.

Most sportsmen that are
out here understand

That game wardens
have a job to do.

This case seems to be
one of those situations

Where these guys
are very cordial.

I believe they know
they were in the wrong

With both of these violations
that they've committed

And want to now do what they can
to make them right.

Alright, well,
I checked you guys' licenses

And your records and stuff,

And you were clear there,

But there's really no need
or excuse to have

That loaded rifle on your back.

I think you realize that.

What I will do, though,
is give you your gun back.

I'm not gonna keep the gun
as evidence.

I just took a picture of it
and the I.D. Number on it.

Obviously just...

Yeah, you're going
to get a ticket

For having a loaded gun
on the wheeler for sure.

Yes.

The fine for having
a loaded gun on the wheeler

Is $124.

The fine for
the unregistered one's $248.

That just went up in September.

The other thing with
the loaded gun on the vehicle,

It does carry with it
a license suspension too

Of your hunting privilege
for a year.

Even if I pay it?
Even if you pay it.

Was there anything you don't
understand or any questions?

Okay.

Sorry to meet you this way,
but thank you for being decent.

And just be careful
on the way back to the camp.

Egan: I think in this instance,
a mistake was made.

They're fairly young hunters,
and they have a long time

Ahead of them
to enjoy the outdoors.

And I think this is something
that they're gonna remember,

And I don't think I'll see
this issue with them again.

♪♪