| AUGUST 2004 | SOUTH SHORE WATERFOWLERS ASSOCIATION |
PAGE 5 |
| Food For Thought |
| In
recent duck hunting seasons there seems to have been some
increase in the contact between duck hunters and the
various law enforcement groups that exist here on Long
Island. To my way of thinking, it kind of puts all of us
in a "fish bowl" when we are hunting. You never
know who is watching you while you are trying to pursue
your sport. Besides NYSDEC law enforcement, there are NYS
Troopers, County Police, Village and Town Police, the
Coast Guard, Harbor Masters, and Bay Constables who can
all interrupt your hunt to check your license and so on.
To add insult to injury, the last thing any of us needs
is to receive a summons from one of these people as a
result of being checked. Most of us, I am sure, have a valid hunting license, Federal waterfowl stamp, and NYS HIP number when we go duck hunting. (Imagine that you can get a summons for not participating in a survey! - whatever happened to the first amendment? But that is another discussion.) I am equally sure that we are not shooting lead anymore, and that the magazines of our pumps and semi-autos are plugged to receive a maximum of three shells. But for all of us who own duck boats, and tow them with a trailer, there is a lot more to pay attention to than just that. If you put a motor on your duck boat, no matter how small your boat is, it must be registered with DMV, and you must display your boat registration numbers where they are visible, on the bow of the boat. The lettering must be at least 3 inches high, and capable of being seen from 100 feet away! There are also Coast Guard requirements for motorboats fewer than 16 feet long. A biggie is to have a PFD (personal flotation device) for each hunter in your boat, and a throwable floating cushion (the kind most of us carry to sit on) doesn’t count, except as a throwable. There are also some other mandatory safety requirements as well. If you are motoring across open water in the pre-dawn, or after sunset, your vessel is supposed to be equipped with running lights. If you are stopped in the dark, you are also supposed to have distress signal equipment on board, and yes fans, you can receive a ticket for not having them. Last, but not least, is the trailer that we pull our duck boats with. The state did most of us a favor a few years ago, by allowing us to register our boat trailers for only a part of the year. If your trailer is dedicated to only be used with your duck boat, |
then you only need to register it in the fall before the season starts. Sadly, all boat registrations still expire on December 31 each year. Duck hunters must remember to re-register their boat trailers in the middle of every duck-hunting season. The state makes this very easy to do. They send your renewal
forms in the mail, and they also encourage you to renew
online. You no longer have to produce proof that your
trailer has been inspected in order to renew, but that is
the trap! There is a declaration on the form that implies
that you are responsible for getting your trailer
inspected every year, and when you sign on the dotted
line, you are agreeing to do just that. If you are
stopped and checked, you can be ticketed for an
uninspected vehicle if your trailer inspection isn’t
current (within the last 12 months). Ron Sineo
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