[QUOTE=rkumetz;364265]Agreed but under normal circumstances you don't have a permit for your kitchen either. I would love to be confident that the courts would uphold our right to privacy today as they did 31 years ago but the judicial climate has changed more than global warming.

Building permits are typically required for kitchens. Nothing in statute authorizes administrative agencies to invade the privacy of the home because one is in possession of a state permit. EXAMPLE: Driving requires a permit but nothing in law authorizes LE to come to your home and submit your vehicles and papers to searched, additionally the state and US Constitutions forbid it just as they do for falconry.

The assertion they use to justify this
(in my opinion unlawful) search is that they are managing game animals
(or in our case birds of prey) which are the property of the state and as such they can check on their property the same way you look in on your kids while they are sleeping.


That a is laughable. Birds in lawful possession by falconers are not a state resource. Nothing in law indicates the birds are not our property. AFC disputed this issue with USFWS several years ago when they attempted to write in regulation they they are not our property. The USFWS consequently publicly declared that they were mistaken and that the birds (wild and domestic bred) are our property. The matter is settled and I will not entertain all the "what if's" that one can imagine.

As I read it, the key is this sentence "The inspections may not exceed the specific limited purpose of enforcing wild game regulations, absent probable cause." I would interpret this as saying that the only thing that
law enforcement (aka the wardens) may be looking for is things that would be a violation of the game laws such as a stockpile that exceeded the limits, species with no legal take, etc. It excludes things like the property owner's pot plants, bomb making supplies and other things which are not relevant to the game laws.

Yes, when they are inspecting a commercial cannery or fish processing facility etc. this is what they are restricted to look for. Not applicable to my office or home.