# Duck hunting on a river?



## sticky28 (Sep 25, 2007)

Anyone know the specific regs on hunting from a small river?  I found only 2 sentences about this on the DNR website.  They basically said that as long as you stay in your boat that it was legal.  
   But here is a more specific question i have, what about lakes or slough that can be reach by boat from the run of a river?  A lot of the rivers in s. ga are surrounded by plantations that are very protective of their property.  
   Also i have heard something about the river must be navigable.  What exactly does that mean to the game warden?  After all he/she (pc) is the one that writes the tickets. Must it be on a map? Must it have nav bouys?  Or must it be accessable by boat?  Please give me feedback preferably backed up in black and white.  I just want to be sure before I go try this kind of hunting.


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## arrow4u (Sep 25, 2007)

as far as i know what you said is correct, you cant get out of the boat. as long as you can pole or motor through the slough you can hunt it. ( navigable ) to my understanding means you cant go jumping beaver dams to get in there.

just call youre local GW


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## hevishot (Sep 25, 2007)

nope...in the state of Ga, navigable means that commercial traffic such as barges and ships can move up and down it, like the LOWER flint. There is a list of "navigable" waterways and if its not on the list, its not navigable. Sportsmen get screwed in Ga due to this law....doesnt matter if you are floating or standing on the bottom, if a land owner ownes both sides, you can be kept out.stupid law.


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## Mark Brooks (Sep 25, 2007)

Hevishot is correct.

MB


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## Boudreaux (Sep 25, 2007)

That would apply to just about every river inland, including the Chattahoochee.  Good thing someone hasn't been able to buy up property on both sides, or I guess that river would be shut down. 

That's a crazy law.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 25, 2007)

I`ve floated the Flint between Warwick and Albany, and the Oconee from the 280 bridge to the forks of the river for ducks. I know it`s legal there because I`ve been checked by the local wardens.


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## sticky28 (Sep 25, 2007)

This is the link I'm refering to.  Close to the bottom is talking about floating rivers.  It is just so vague and I have not found anyother info on the subject.
   Also you guys that say this can't be done where did your info come from or is it just what you belive to be true.  Please specify. 

http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/content/printversion.asp?txtDocument=97


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## sticky28 (Sep 25, 2007)

I remember down here in sga 10 to 15 yrs ago the plantations in and around thomasville were trying to run barb wire across the Ochlockonee to keep fishermen off the river.  I think what happened was that in the end they had to take down the wire b/c they had the right to stop the actual fishing but not the boats for floating through the property.  If you look at this case it would be easy to infer that one couldn't duck hunt on portions of the river that were private (meaning that one landowner owns both sides of the river).  But that raises another question if you were floating a river, crossing multiple land lines when would you know when you were in private land?  If it was not POSTED how could you know/get in trouble?


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 25, 2007)

> I know it`s legal there because I`ve been checked by the local wardens.



That's the key.


The bottom line is that there is no "legal" definition; it's more a matter of local practice and custom.

The legal definition is that only "navigable" rivers are open to "public" hunting, and for all practical purposes there are no navigable rivers above the fall line in Georgia.  Despite this narrow definition, many rivers above the fall line are routinely hunted by the public.  In particular I'm thinking of the Oconee above Lake Oconee and the Broad River above Clarks Hill.

Conversely, there are many sloughs and dead rivers on the major rivers below the fall line that are private property.  In particular, I'm thinking of the Altamaha, where there are old steam boat stops that are "non-navigable" and thus considered "private".

Bottom line is that unless you are prepared to spend hundreds of dollars on bail and attorney fees, you need to check with the local game warden and hunters about what the local customs are for a particular piece of water.  I don't care what fine arguments you want to make, if a particular piece of property is considered "private" by the local law enforcement establishment, then it is private.


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## sticky28 (Sep 25, 2007)

Good point.  I don't want to take up a cause here just want to do some hunting.  Before i do any shooting I will certainly consult several Wardens.


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## duck chaser (Sep 25, 2007)

Asking your game warden is the easiest way, but I can tell you that most creeks are not considered navigable. I have asked my local gw about a couple of places near me and unless you have permission from the landowner you cannot hunt them even though the creek is accessable from the savannah river.  You could run a 25 ft. boat in one of the creeks but it is considered non navigable.


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## Researcher31726 (Sep 30, 2007)

What about the section of the Flint south of Albany between there and Newton, from Flint River Outpost?
Sue


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## sticky28 (Sep 30, 2007)

That section is "navigable".  Ga law defines navigable as being able to support commercial barges. They use to run cotton barges on that part of the river.  This is highly summarized but it is what i have found on the subject so far.


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## Researcher31726 (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks, Sticky!
Sue


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## Vernon Holt (Oct 1, 2007)

Most of you are making this matter more complicated than it actually is.

Georgia's law on this matter is so vague as to renger it meaningless.  As some have already stated, the local enforcement is based on the interpretation of the local Superior Courts.

The general rule as it is enforced is that all waters of Georgia belong to the State.  The technical question as to whether it is "navigational" is not the determining factor.

If it is public land, then the state owns both the "bottom" and the "water".

If it is private land, the landowner owns the stream "bottom", and thereby does not own the water.
The landowner can prevent tresspass in instances where anyone would attempt to wade on his stream "bottom".

If one can travel by boat or canoe in such an area without violating the "bottom", then he is free to do so.  Steamboats or commercial operations do not enter into the matter.

It should be said that "tubers" floating most N. GA streams are unable to do so without tresspassing since they often are in touch with the stream bottom.

In instances where a landowner owns only on one side of a stream, GA law allows him to claim to the center of the stream.  He can thus prevent tresspassing on his stream bottom out to the center of the stream.

In cases where larger rivers (as in the lower Altamaha) have oxbow lakes, if a given landowner owns the entire lake, he is able to control access to these lakes.  This is upheld in most counties.

I know of one instance involving Fort Barrington Lake on the lower Altamaha where a hunting and fishing club owns the entire lake.  Many years ago they stretched a cable across the lake where it joined the river and placed "no tresspassing" signs all along the cable.

They employed a full time caretaker who spent virtually full time chasing fishermen out of "their" lake.  All informed local fishermen simply ignored the caretaker and kept on fishing since they were well aware that the local court would not uphold the claim of the landowner.

When hunting on a stream where it is legal to do so, one cannot legally retrieve game in instances where he is required to wade or climb up on the bank to do so.  If you can retrieve game by boat, you are in business.


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## sweet 16 (Oct 1, 2007)

If you look at tax records the landowner is being taxed for the bottom land that has seasonal overflow from sloughs. The local Sheriff will prosecute a trespasser on this land. It is the hunters responsibility to attain permission to hunt on this land.


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## Twenty five ought six (Oct 1, 2007)

> If one can travel by boat or canoe in such an area without violating the "bottom", then he is free to do so.



Regrettably, the Supreme Court of Georgia does not agree with you.



> In an attempt to show the creek is navigable, Givens floated through Ichauway's leasehold on a styrofoam and wood raft that was four feet wide, sixteen feet long, and drew one foot of water. He loaded the raft with a goat, a bale of cotton, and two passengers, disassembling the raft and portaging around the dam. He argues the goat, cotton, and passengers were freight and his trip showed the creek was capable of use for transporting freight under OCGA § 44-8-5 (a), despite the presence of the dam. OCGA § 44-8-5 (a), however, requires that to be deemed navigable, a stream must support freight traffic "in the regular course of trade." Givens does not claim craft such as his are currently used in the regular course of trade but does contend the raft is representative of craft that were so used in the nineteenth century. He argues this shows the creek was formerly navigable under the definition, and that once a stream is susceptible of navigation that status is not lost. He also relies upon this argument to maintain that the creek can be deemed navigable despite the presence of the dam which undisputedly prevents the free passage of boats through the creek.
> 
> Irrespective of whether a stream once regarded as navigable is forever so regarded, the record does not show that this creek was ever navigable under the statutory definition.






> Givens also suggests that there is a public right of common passage on the creek, relying on the following language from Young v. Harrison, 6 Ga. 130, 140--141 (1849):
> 
> Rivers are of three kinds: 1st. Such as are wholly and absolutely private property. 2d. Such as are private property, subject to the servitude of the public interest, by a passage upon them. The distinguishing test between the two is, whether they are susceptible or not of use for a common passage. 3d. Rivers where the tide ebbs and flows, which are called arms of the sea. [Cit.]
> 
> ...


GIVENS v. ICHAUWAY, INC., 268 Ga. 710


This issue has also arisen on the Broad River, the West Fork of the Chattoga, and Toccoa River, and the authorities have found in favor of the landowner.

The lower Altamaha is a case study in the "common law", or "we don't need no stinking law books".  Morgan Lake which is in much the same as the Ft. Barrington Lake is treated as private property.

Same for Hughes Old River, although it was once a steamboat stop, and so clearly "navigable".

OTOH, Penholloway Creek, which could be considered private property, has generally be treated as public access water, as are tributaries such as the Ohoopee.


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## h20fowlin (Oct 1, 2007)

Us folk with Mudmotors could really test the boundries of the definition- "navigable" 

My experience- If you have to ask about a location, then it's probably not somewhere your suppose to be.


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## TurkeyH90 (Oct 3, 2007)

*Duck hunting sloughs*

I can tell you for a fact I was issued a written warning on opening day of last year for hunting on a well known slough known as Graham lake in Twiggs county last year. I had been hunting there for about 6 years without incident. As I trailerd my boat the GW showed up and asked where I had been hunting. I told him the truth. He asked if I knew it was private property. I said this was the first I had heard of it. He proceeded to write myself and my partner a written warning for hunting without permission. One week later I found out that two fellow game wardens are pres and vice pres of hunting club adjoining slough. The law is pretty gray in this area but I can tell you that I was obviously the odd man out.


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## bpintail (Oct 4, 2007)

I had the same questions last year. Any navitagable water actually means any water way that is navitagble by a comercial barge. However I spoke with game warden and he told me that as long as I could power my boat into an area, then I could hunt it. there are specific guidlines for different areas. Take Jackson lake for instance. You can hunt any river flowing in to the lake as long as you are north of hwy 36. Althought this is the law, it is not written anywhere which make it very frustrating for law abiders.
What I alway do is find out who the game warden in charge of the area is and then I try and speak with him/her personally, that way I eliminate the fear of getting ticketed.


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## leeledger (Oct 4, 2007)

*floating a creek*

The state has a  boat ramp  on the Kinchafoonee Creek at the Lee/Terrell county line. 
The only way to float the creek is in a canoe. A motor boat is to  large from much of it.
How can it be illegal to float it to hunt ducks, but legal to fish and have canoe trips?


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