Run in with Florida FWC (game) officer

[HootmonSccy]

I had a FWC Officer (Fish and Game) come up on me and my friend as we were coming back to the parking lot from Bow hunting (You must carry concealed while bow hunting)..

He said something like Hey guys.. We said Hi, and then he said, do you guys have weapons on you..
We both said yes, and we have concealed permits..
He then said, It would have been nice if you had told me..

What???

He said Hi and the 1st words out of my mouth was supposed to be Hi, I'm packing???

He was a very young officer.

After much other conversation, I tried to educate him by reverse questioning.. I said, I'm just trying to understand, I know several states have a requirement to inform an officer, but I believe that I am NOT required in Florida to inform you if I'm conceal carrying here in Florida, although it is a courtesy.

He said that I was correct...

I said, now if you had asked me for my license, I likely would have provided my permit at the same time (actually I'm not sure I would have), But I'm not required correct, even though it would be a courtesy.. He again agreed..

 

[father-of-three]

You are quite the diplomat!
Nicely done!

 

[HootmonSccy]

You are quite the diplomat!
Nicely done!

Thanx Fo3

 

[Islander]

Cool, calm and collected. Good job. He'll know better next time too, and he won't have a bad memory to remind him. Again, good job.

 

[marionandjohn]

well done and two thumbs up. I have heard of people being rude and I must ask why would you ask for trouble? If your polite they will most likely be polite. Again well done and I think a great example for all to learn from.

 

[tismejb3d]

Some Officers Especially the new or Young one just feel that they need to exert there power or authority, they need to show you that they are in charge. you handled that right. he may think twice before working someone in that manner again.:no:

 

[HootmonSccy]

he may think twice before working someone in that manner again.:no:

Thanx for the support guys..
The officer was not rude about it, or say it in a nasty way, more in a matter of fact way.. I wasn't offended, I just couldn't figure out WHEN he expected me to tell him???
Funny, my friend was carrying two guns, a .357 on his hip and then he forgot he had his .380 Keltec in his pocket.. After I had surrendered my gun and he had surrendered his .357, my friend then says to the officer.. Oh, I forgot that I have a second pistol..
Hopefully the officer will learn something from that as well.. Just because we surrendered our weapons does NOT mean we are unarmed.. If we were people with bad intentions, he might have put hims in a bad situation.

 

[Hubs]

Well done on your part. Seems to me he was trying to catch you without concealed permits, but that sure was a sneaky way of doing it.

 

[.38 girl]

HootmonSccy,

You handled that perfectly! As stated earlier, the officer will hopefully have learned something from the encounter.

I just got my Florida resident license recently (only took 2 weeks wow!) and I hope to not have a run in with LEO, but if I do, I will remember your encounter and how you handled it.

Thanks for sharing and stay safe!

 

[Islander]

I just got my Florida resident license recently (only took 2 weeks wow!) ...EDITED FOR BREVITYQUOTE]

Sorry for a small hijack:

Just to make it clear to forum readers, Florida does not differentiate between resident and non-resident licenses. They are so serious about this that they don't even print your address on your license any more. (THEY JUST RECENTLY STARTED OMMITTING THE ADDRESS, SO IF YOURS IS OVER A YEAR OLD, IT MAY HAVE YOUR ADDRESS ON YOUR LICENSE)

So for those who do not live in FL and want a license that covers a lot of states, lasts for 7 years, and can be obtained in 2 weeks or less lately (got mine in 5 working days), highly recommended.

 

[wooddoctor]

I just got my Florida resident license recently (only took 2 weeks wow!) ...EDITED FOR BREVITYQUOTE]

Sorry for a small hijack:

Just to make it clear to forum readers, Florida does not differentiate between resident and non-resident licenses. They are so serious about this that they don't even print your address on your license.

So for those who do not live in FL and want a license that covers a lot of states, lasts for 7 years, and can be obtained in 2 weeks or less lately (got mine in 5 working days), highly recommended.

Islander,
I am not sure of what you are saying. I live in Georgia and frequent Florida quite often and canceal carry. Georgia and Florida honor cc. Are you suggesting that there is an advantage to having a Fla. permit if i live in Ga?

 

[njsportsman]

They are so serious about this that they don't even print your address on your licens

Well thanks to you Islander you may have saved me from a BIG, BIG hassle. At first when I read your post that they don’t put your address on the license I thought yes they do so, I got my license out and yep there it was my address SPELLED WRONG on my license. Yes they just started doing this with no address. I’ve had mine for over a year now. I didn’t think much of it when I got it because they sent it to the right address. I called and got it corrected and should receive my new one in 7-10 business days. Again thanks if it wasn’t for your post who knows when I would have figured it out.

 

[JSDinTexas]

Game Wardens - gotta love em. Used to look for poachers, but with 911 and so on, they look for terrorists in the woods. I consider them to be 2nd line enforcement now empowered.
In TX during archery hunting season (going on now), which I participate in, you cannot carry a gun while hunting unless you have a CC permit, which I do. Just waiting for one of them to argue that with me.
But yeah, the answer is probably young and new on the job.

 

[tismejb3d]

I Am a Officer

You just proved to me either he was new or young, I hope you are right. I hope he learned. He needs to slow down and approach every situation differently.
We have a lot of new Officers that go all out and try to prove there in charge. Some learn the hard way.:no:

 

[HootmonSccy]

I'll just say he had good reason for talking with us.
In Florida (bow hunting)- Only conceal carry with CWP (concealed).. I think this is funny, because you can Open Carry OR Conceal carry while you fish..
During Gun hunting you can ONLY open carry.. Quirky rules..

I do understand the Bow hunting one.. If you could Open carry.. Then could I open carry with a .44 Mag with a scope?? - Am I really Bow hunting then???
I'm not sure I understand the Open Carry Only during gun, but OK... IF that's the rules.. I'll do my best to comply..

 

[.38 girl]

Islander is absolutely correct. My apologies if I confused anyone.

 

[Old Irishman]

I'll just say he had good reason for talking with us.
In Florida (bow hunting)- Only conceal carry with CWP (concealed).. I think this is funny, because you can Open Carry OR Conceal carry while you fish..
During Gun hunting you can ONLY open carry.. Quirky rules..

I do understand the Bow hunting one.. If you could Open carry.. Then could I open carry with a .44 Mag with a scope?? - Am I really Bow hunting then???
I'm not sure I understand the Open Carry Only during gun, but OK... IF that's the rules.. I'll do my best to comply..

In Florida, if you can legally open carry a loaded firearm while engaged in, or going to and from, Fishing, Hunting, and Camping.

 

[Islander]

Islander,
I am not sure of what you are saying. I live in Georgia and frequent Florida quite often and canceal carry. Georgia and Florida honor cc. Are you suggesting that there is an advantage to having a Fla. permit if i live in Ga?

I did not mean to imply anything about advantages of FL over GA, just noting that it is an easy license to get, covers a lot of states, and lasts a long time. And most importantly, you don't need to be a resident to get it. Note that some states (like my dear South Carolina) do not recognize FL permits unless you are a resident of FL. GA doesn't care, so you then have to consider the pros and cons. You can get a FL license in a couple weeks. You do get about 5 extra states with the FL license. But Georgia is a lot less expensive ($30? vs Florida's $117 if you do everything by mail). FL is good for 7 years, GA for 5 years. Etc.

 

[HootmonSccy]

In Florida, if you can legally open carry a loaded firearm while engaged in, or going to and from, Fishing, Hunting, and Camping.

Well according to the FWC lady I spoke to at the local office, as well as the two FWC Officers I spoke with, they all told me what I wrote... So that's what I'm going to do.. They may be wrong.. But it's easy enough to comply with.. SO, I'm going to comply..

 

[Islander]

Well according to the FWC lady I spoke to at the local office, as well as the two FWC Officers I spoke with, they all told me what I wrote... So that's what I'm going to do.. They may be wrong.. But it's easy enough to comply with.. SO, I'm going to comply..

If you get a wild hair, sure would be nice to know what regulation requires concealed carry while bowhunting (archery hunts). It is certainly not part of FL firearms law, but perhaps a DNR regulation. However, I read the DNR regs and could not find the restriction. I don't live in FL so am not quite motivated enough to hunt down the actual laws on this.