# Duck Hunting/Fishing different Creeks



## BassAssassin21 (Dec 20, 2013)

Alright fellas, this maybe a dumb question but I can't find the answer on the web. Is it legal if I put a canoe in a creek and paddle up and hunt? Even if I stay in the boat? I don't want to go do this and get shot or worse. Any ideas? I know it's okay if your on the river.


----------



## Headsortails (Dec 20, 2013)

For a creek to be open to public use, it must be navigatable. When this stops, public use stops.


----------



## steelshotslayer (Dec 20, 2013)

Headsortails said:


> For a creek to be open to public use, it must be navigatable. When this stops, public use stops.



Navigable is defined as presently or historically even if that included portages.  So a creek used during the fur trade, transporting crops, transporting people, etc. is navigable. 

This is a very sensitive topic with some of your GWs not even being very familiar with the laws.  Your best option is if the landowner owns both sides and you know they are gonna make a fuss don't go.  That being said IF the birds are there or the fishing is prime personally I would take the risk.

One more point if the stream is not navigable and  the landowner owns both side of the land doesn't mean he owns the water.  You can float through you just can not anchor or get out of your boat.


----------



## BassAssassin21 (Dec 20, 2013)

Thanks guys! I guess I'm gonna take the risk. I know there are ALOT of birds where I want to go


----------



## LIB MR ducks (Dec 20, 2013)

It would be a good idea to call your local DNR office and ask about the specific area you want to go. I would not use some advice you got off the internet as a guide. That could get real expensive.


----------



## T-N-T (Dec 20, 2013)

LIB MR ducks said:


> It would be a good idea to call your local DNR office and ask about the specific area you want to go. I would not use some advice you got off the internet as a guide. That could get real expensive.



What do your mean?  The internet is not always a sure bet?!


----------



## T-N-T (Dec 20, 2013)

The land owner does not own the water.  You cannot just dam up flowing water without a permit for this reason.  I would give it a go, if it were me.


----------



## jay sullivent (Dec 20, 2013)

Be ready to get a hunting without permission charge.


----------



## BassAssassin21 (Dec 20, 2013)

I just got off the phone with DNR and the response was "if the flow of water is navigable without you having to set foot out of boat you are fine and as long as the landowner doesn't own both sides of it .


----------



## jay sullivent (Dec 20, 2013)

BassAssassin21 said:


> I just got off the phone with DNR and the response was "if the flow of water is navigable without you having to set foot out of boat you are fine and as long as the landowner doesn't own both sides of it .



You better know his name and have his number.
That is not entirely true.
Look up what is "vavigable"
According to law has to do with wether or not it can be used for shipping and transport of goods.
Like I said, be ready to get a hunting without permission charge


----------



## jay sullivent (Dec 20, 2013)

Who did you talk too?
You can't just talk to DNR


----------



## steelshotslayer (Dec 20, 2013)

http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Portals/39/docs/regulatory/regs/33cfr329.pdf 
Theres the link to the legal definition and tests to determine if a waterway is navigable set forth by the corp of engineers. NO I wouldn't trust everything you hear off the internet, but some things on the internet can be correct.  I highly recommend anyone hunting or fishing creeks and rivers read this full article.


----------



## jay sullivent (Dec 20, 2013)

This does not address Ga law.
All the confusion is with the ga  law.
If you read the 3rd paragraph it says its up to the interpretation of the law by different jurisdictions.


----------



## T-N-T (Dec 20, 2013)

This seems to be a very fuzzy subject.


----------



## steelshotslayer (Dec 20, 2013)

Yea like I said in my first post its a very sensitive topic.  Lots of gray area and undetermined waterways.  I have found most of the time you don't have issues with landowners.  There are a total of two places in my area that you can catch flak from, but if I'm fishing o well they will get over it I don't anchor I won't hunt those areas cause nothing will ruin a good hunt like arguing with some nut over if its legal for me to be there.


----------



## 440Mopar (Dec 20, 2013)

I can tell u from being a landowner of a small creek .I own both sides of creek for a couple miles .it doesn't touch the river but if u paddle up mine for anyreason ducks or not the dnr is going to be the last person on your mind. I don't mess with fishermen at the bridge going over it but I will tell them not to go past the tree line in right of way


----------



## creekrocket (Dec 20, 2013)

You fresh water guys think it's confusing,,,? try the salt water "LAND"owners... They think that Kings Grant gives them free reign on the mud on the bottom....


----------



## triton196 (Dec 20, 2013)

I wouldn't try it I would contact your local dnr ranger.


----------



## RUTTNBUCK (Dec 20, 2013)

This link deals mostly with fishing, but contains a lot of good information.

http://www.georgiariverfishing.com/GAarticles/WhoOwnsRiver.htm


And as discussed here.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=622878&highlight=navigable+waters

I would think that a landowner would be more sensitive to someone shooting ducks than someone tossing a cricket under a limb.


Read, and make your own decision


----------



## jakebuddy (Dec 21, 2013)

Definitely a grey area, where I live the creek must be navigable 12 months out of the year. Expect to be at least checked by the GW and make an enemy of the land owner, not worth it for a few ducks. My 2 cents.


----------



## vowell462 (Dec 21, 2013)

440Mopar said:


> I can tell u from being a landowner of a small creek .I own both sides of creek for a couple miles .it doesn't touch the river but if u paddle up mine for anyreason ducks or not the dnr is going to be the last person on your mind. I don't mess with fishermen at the bridge going over it but I will tell them not to go past the tree line in right of way



Does this mean your going to shoot at them or something? Honest question, are you giving a threat here?


----------



## 440Mopar (Dec 21, 2013)

Come on man shoot somebody? Over some ducks , deer, or fish i dont think so.I am trying to give the guy some perspective of a landowner.


----------



## bigdawg (Dec 21, 2013)

Happened last duck season to me. I was setting up to hunt at our club on a South Georgia river. We own both sides of the river. Young ambitious hunters came in with several kayaks and was in my spot. They said it was navigable waters and I told them it same owner on both sides. I was nice did not want to argue and told them to hunt in one spot to help both of us out. Called the gw after we hunted to verify that the specific spot was not navigable.  Just be nice and check with the local dnr. Duck hunting is expensive enough without fines.


----------



## vowell462 (Dec 22, 2013)

440Mopar said:


> Come on man shoot somebody? Over some ducks , deer, or fish i dont think so.I am trying to give the guy some perspective of a landowner.



Ok. Not trying to start an argument at all, but when you say if someone paddles up my creek the dnr is going to be the last thing on your mind, it insinuates bad things happening. So I guess im just asking what those bad things are going to be.

Ive never hunted creeks or areas where I wasn't sure, but ive heard of horror stories from landowners shooting, fighting, arguing, with hunters and fisherman. So from the landowners perspective, what do you do? Just ask them to leave?


----------



## 440Mopar (Dec 22, 2013)

Yea I'm as nice as the tresspassers are about tresspassing.I found three deer stands on my property this year from some florida leasers on the ajoining property .they we straight up and realised they didn't know where the line was even though it is clearly marked .they were nice and humble and so was I .so next year we are getting together and bow hunting together on my property .that being said I will confront tresspasers face to face I don't call dnr or loes .I find this way to work a lot better mono e mono u know what I mean


----------



## steelshotslayer (Dec 22, 2013)

Trespassing deer hunting is a totally different ball game than paddling a boat up a creek from a public put in.  I fully agree with you on stepping off on to your property I would be highly upset in that same situation, but as for a boat in a creek that got there via a public put in as long as that person isn't out walking around on your land I don't feel you have a right to get mad about it.  That would be like every land owner on the hooch getting mad about some guy "trespassing" in his bass boat after he put in at West Point and ran up the river.


----------



## The Longhunter (Dec 22, 2013)

steelshotslayer said:


> Navigable is defined as presently or historically even if that included portages.  So a creek used during the fur trade, transporting crops, transporting people, etc. is navigable.
> 
> This is a very sensitive topic with some of your GWs not even being very familiar with the laws.  Your best option is if the landowner owns both sides and you know they are gonna make a fuss don't go.  That being said IF the birds are there or the fishing is prime personally I would take the risk.
> 
> One more point if the stream is not navigable and  the landowner owns both side of the land doesn't mean he owns the water.  You can float through you just can not anchor or get out of your boat.



This argument has been specifically REJECTED by the Georgia Supreme Court on at least two different occasions. Anyone who intends to rely on it should have deeper pockets than the Coca Cola company, who put the last proponent of this argument in jail.


As anyone who regularly visits Woodys by now should know, generically calling "DNR" is about the worse way to get serious information about a legal question the answer to which may have a serious impact on your wallet or liberty.


----------



## Carl Cooke (Dec 23, 2013)

anybody farmiliar with any west Georgia(carrollton) creeks/rivers? like the little Tallapoosa, buck creek, buffalo creek, the hooch in whitesburg at the bridge put in?


----------



## Nicodemus (Dec 23, 2013)

steelshotslayer said:


> Trespassing deer hunting is a totally different ball game than paddling a boat up a creek from a public put in.  I fully agree with you on stepping off on to your property I would be highly upset in that same situation, but as for a boat in a creek that got there via a public put in as long as that person isn't out walking around on your land I don't feel you have a right to get mad about it.  That would be like every land owner on the hooch getting mad about some guy "trespassing" in his bass boat after he put in at West Point and ran up the river.





Ever heard of Ichauway Nochaway Creek down here in southwest Georgia?


----------



## steelshotslayer (Dec 23, 2013)

Nicodemus said:


> Ever heard of Ichauway Nochaway Creek down here in southwest Georgia?



Sure haven't fill me in please sir.


----------



## Nicodemus (Dec 23, 2013)

steelshotslayer said:


> Sure haven't fill me in please sir.





To make a long story short, an ol` boy I used to be acquainted with and another man made a raft and floated it down the above mentioned creek. They started at a bridge above the plantation landlines that border this creek on both side down the creek a ways from where they put in at. On this raft, they had a live goat, a bale of cotton, and maybe a few other things relevant to the time. They floated this down to the HWY 91 bridge, to prove that it was a navigable creek. They still got locked up. Fairly big deal at the time and made a lot of news. I`m surprised you haven`t heard about it.

Bottom line is do whatever you`re brave enough to do but have somebody to bail you out of jail when you get caught.


----------



## steelshotslayer (Dec 23, 2013)

I appreciate the back story.  Luckily I don't have issues with landowners and creeks most people around my parts are civil.  I definitely don't agree with the law on that one though.


----------



## Nicodemus (Dec 23, 2013)

Here`s some more information. 

http://www.leagle.com/decision/1997641493SE2d148_1618


----------



## The Longhunter (Dec 24, 2013)

Nicodemus said:


> Here`s some more information.
> 
> http://www.leagle.com/decision/1997641493SE2d148_1618



Dang, there you go again, messing up a perfectly good argument with facts.  Where's the fun in that?

Ichauway Plantation = Robert Woodruff = Coca Cola.


Anyone who wants to educate themselves about the "they (the landowner) doesn't own the water" argument should read the case cited in the Ichauway case, Georgia Canoeing Assn. v. Henry, 263 Ga. 77, 78-79, 428 S.E.2d 336 (1993)


----------



## Dr. Strangelove (Dec 24, 2013)

NC is a state owns the water state, so it took me a while to get used to that trout fishing here.

In GA, as stated above in several places, "Navigable" means "Historically Navigable", not "I can float a boat in it".


----------



## T-N-T (Dec 24, 2013)

Nicodemus said:


> Here`s some more information.
> 
> http://www.leagle.com/decision/1997641493SE2d148_1618



No No:

Seems that you cannot hunt streams creeks and the like at all.
Only public "land"  
Too many variables to keep straight. 
To the OP,  You might just be able to get permission from land owners though.  That is, after deer season closes...  People are real particular about their deer.


----------

