Welcome to Fist Full of Dirt, the official podcast of Moffio Properties. Whether you own a small farm, please land, or just love hanging in your backyard. We're all about the outdoor lifestyle and how to get the most from your time in God's great outdoors. Now here's your host, Ronnie Godstrickland.
SPEAKER_02Am I alive from the camel phase?
SPEAKER_01Am I alive?
SPEAKER_02That's the hottest you can ever remember it being alarm.
SPEAKER_01Well as a little I'd walk outside of my glasses with fog because I'd been in the air conditioning and it'd be so hot outside of it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's just uh I remember those days too. Is everybody thought, oh, it's global warming? No, it's no, it's not. It's summer.
SPEAKER_01It's summer.
SPEAKER_02Every time you put pull your phone up and scroll, everybody's talking about it's this, it's this, it's coming in, and the ice caps. People relax.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's summertime. And it ain't just Mississippi, it's all over the place. The heat domes, but it's summer. Hey, this too shall pass.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_02No doubt about it. And uh even though it's hot, there's all kinds of people doing uh deer prep as we speak. Now, I'm the older I get, the wiser I am, and I do mine early morning or late afternoon.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_02I've never had heat exhaustion or uh but one time, and we had a back when we were producing a whole bunch of TV, and we had the best field producers in the world. You know, Stephen Bush and Yacht and Hunter, all those people were here. We met shit. It was like the 18th.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And the only time we weren't working was during the summer. And Fred Law invited us over to Enan Plantation.
SPEAKER_04Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02Because man, that we they had a swimming pool over there. They had a you could shoot trap. They had a nine-hole golf course.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know all that.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it was phenomenal. He said, Hey, y'all just come over here and hang out. And we all went over and hung out. And uh and every one of these guys thought they were a golfer. Big Steve was there. Everybody.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02And I was the oldest one of the bunch, and I was trying to hang in there with them kids and playing golf, and there wasn't no cars, we were walking and talking.
SPEAKER_01You were bigger back then too.
SPEAKER_02Way bigger. And buddy, that afternoon I got so sick. I I thought I I didn't know what was going on with me.
SPEAKER_01What is he? Like, I know it should get too hot, but what are your physical symptoms?
SPEAKER_02Lightheaded, very nauseous.
SPEAKER_01Oh.
SPEAKER_02Cold chills, then burning up with sweats, nauseous again. I didn't know what was wrong with it. They took me to the doctor and I he said, Man, you you on the verge of having a heat stroke.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I have learned from that experience from the others, just calm down. Matter of fact, there's a cool spell. When I say cool spell, it's gonna get under 90 next week. Up into the 80s. That's right. Everybody's like the ice cap ain't melting. It's just summertime.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we live in Mississippi. Calm down.
SPEAKER_02Calm down. But anyway, I got a phone call the other day. I was talking to uh, you know, we have a cousin that's a judge in Mississippi and had more fun hunting with him. And we we did what we call the law dog hunt.
SPEAKER_04That's right.
SPEAKER_02Eric Corn at the Mississippi had him and uh Sheriff Mike Canadal and Bart Adams. And I was talking to my bride, Miss Pammy, about this and that, and we were talking about that. She said, You should get him on the podcast to talk about uh wildlife violations because he sees a lot, and I was like, what a cool idea. I've never had anybody to talk about poaching and all kinds of stuff, you know, fine feet just to see what the common people are getting, you know, tickets for and all that. So we're about to go interview one of my buddies, but I can tell you this he's a big deal. I mean, he's a prosecutor, whatever whatever he does, he's big time. Yeah. Several counties up in North Mississippi. He is a absolute bona fide turkey thug.
SPEAKER_01I know. That's gonna be interesting to hear that side of it, because you can't bust a turkey thug if you are a like you know what I mean? You're not gonna get anything past him.
SPEAKER_02Look, you you know, I've been with so many people. When you go with people like, yeah, he's a good hunter, and he's you know, he kills a turkey too. When you go with somebody that walks correctly and it's just like totally silent the whole time. And and when they want to you stop and have prayer meeting from time to time, you know, you get to me and he leans over and he whispers and and makes all the calls correctly. It's like this dude's a turkey though. And so and I've been lucky enough to hunt with him a bunch over the last five or six or seven years, and I was like, I bet you he's good at what he does.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because he he thinks his way through the woods and he's got all them tools. And I was like, at some point I'm gonna ask him, has he ever had somebody in front of him who got arrested doing a turkey violation that was trying to they ain't aware he's such a turkey though? Anyway, this ought to be a good one. I got some good questions, and hey, everybody, we're gonna brush up on our law and order. We're gonna go visit one of my good turkey hunting buddies who's a uh county prosecuting attorney or whatever he is up in North Mississippi, Bart Adams. Hey, Gus. Is this Bart Adams? The one and only. My turkey hunting, buddy.
SPEAKER_06That's right, that's right.
SPEAKER_02You are a busy fella. I was telling Lauren, I said, man, Bart stayed so busy, it's crazy. And she said, Well, I guess criminals don't really take vacations, so you just you just roll year round, don't you?
SPEAKER_06I tell you, it's it's a constant, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Well, bless your heart. I was trying to count up how many turkeys we sing die together, but that's a whole nother podcast, but I just wanted to get that out of the way to let everybody know that you're a big county attorney, a three-piece suit and all that, but you a turkey thug. I think I don't know if ducks or turkeys are number one. What is it? Or is it a tie?
SPEAKER_06It's a real close race. Most of the time I would tell you ducks. Uh, I deal with less snakes, duck hunting is probably the reason for that. But uh turkeys are a real close race. I love it.
SPEAKER_02That makes good sense talking about island deals. Well, look, look, I know you're busy. We've been trying to run you down for a while. I appreciate you taking an hour. Did you get a chance to eat some lunch or you ending right back in the courtroom?
SPEAKER_06I know. I had a had got out of court a little bit early and had a meeting that had to go speak to some folks, and now I am yours. I've got about an hour and a half for you. So I got a little extra time if we need it.
SPEAKER_02Bless your heart. Well, let's get everybody that ain't been turgent with you familiar with uh and and and I know some of this stuff. I don't know any of the law stuff, but tell me a little bit about growing up and where you grew up.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I uh I'm originally from Sinnatoga, Mississippi. Uh that's where all my family was from. And then uh I have moved around a little bit, but wound up in Ripley my freshman year of high school, and uh have this has been home ever since. I met my wife while I was in high school. We dated through high school and college and dated through law school, and she hung around long enough for me finally to bite the bullet and get married right after we got out of law school. Right after I got out of law school and uh moved back to Ripley. My game plan all along was to go back and practice law with my dad in Cinatobia. Uh I wanted to get a little experience outside of his practice first. So I took a job over here in Ripley and um then my dad was ready to retire. He was a prosecutor in Tate County, Mississippi for 40 years almost. When he got ready to retire, I was ready to head back that way. And Amy told me I was welcome to go, but she and the boys were staying here. So I I changed gears. I bet you did.
SPEAKER_02Well, bless your heart.
SPEAKER_06Where'd you go to law school? I went to law school at Mississippi College.
SPEAKER_02Mississippi. So you're a Mississippi boy in education and everything else.
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. I went to Ole Miss undergrad and then wound up at Mississippi College for law school, and probably a good thing. I I don't know that I wouldn't have had too much fun and not made it very far in law school if I'd stayed at Ole Miss.
SPEAKER_02Well, look, I can't tell you how fascinated I was and how much fun I had at the we had a hunt and it wasn't planned. It just ended up there was all lawmen in there. You and Sheriff Mike Nadal. I mean, we just had the best time, and I know I wore y'all out because I was fascinated, you know, talking about this and that and this and that, and and Lauren said, You got you got to get barred on the podcast. So uh I'm just gonna start flying some questions at you if that's okay, because this is something we have never talked about on a fistful of dirt. Yeah, absolutely. Fire away. Yes, sir. Now, as a a county attorney, you deal with all kinds of stuff, felonies and misdemeanors and all that, but we're kind of leaning toward wildlife, because you know, a lot of hunters on this listening to this thing. What's as far as wildlife, what's the most common cases that you see?
SPEAKER_06You know, because that has really kind of shifted a little bit over the years. I've been prosecuting now, I'm in my fifth term, so I'm I've been at it for about 19 years, and that's shifted a little uh just because of all the CWD and the the feeding regulations and all that, you know. So now anybody that puts out a bag of corn in my area is baiting. Uh and it it's not a baiting charge anymore, it's a supplemental feeding charge. So I see a lot of that. Um but trespassing is a big one. Um it's inevitable that somebody is going to wind up across the line at some point. You know, turkey hunters are kind of notorious for that, unfortunately. No. Um yeah. So that you know, that's probably the big ones uh would be would be uh the supplemental feeding stuff and and trespassing. I don't know why, but folks just can't stay on their side of the fence a lot of times.
SPEAKER_02Hey, and that ain't a Mississippi thing. And and y'all keep in mind that Bart's representing Mississippi, not and this this is not legal advice in any way, but a lot of you know, state to state's different, and I'm just picking his brain about our state because that's where I live. How how many of the people you see in the court? And again, I'm just pulling general numbers, percentage, how many of 'em are repeat offenders? Because that's kind of serious.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, the repeat offenders We really don't have that many. Most of them get the hint the first time around. Good. Um I I would like to say they may just learn how to avoid the problem the next time. We don't have a huge repeat offender list, so that that's a good thing in that in that situation for sure.
SPEAKER_02Again, we're talking about wildlife cases and stuff like that. Are most of them deer or turkey or fishing? Which ones are are they kind of equally divided out?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it's fairly equal. You know, I am in Tippah County. We have a steak lake here, we have Tippa County Lake. Um, so I get a lot of fishing related citations. Um, you know, people not getting the proper permit or not paying the boat launch fee or, you know, not having the right license when they go go fishing. Uh you know, those are easy ones that can be avoided very simply, and it's a whole lot cheaper to buy your hunting license or your fishing license rather than get the ticket because the way our law is written, if you get a ticket for no hunting license or no fishing license, then even if you go get that license, you still have to pay the fee for the no license and the fines that are associated with it. So it it's definitely cheaper just to get it on the front end.
SPEAKER_02So do you see um do you see a lot of turkey and deer more than fishing or more fishing?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, no, it it's it's obviously I I guess just because of the popularity of it, it's uh it's definitely more turkeys, and then probably deer is right behind that.
SPEAKER_02Um turkeys will make somebody lose their mind. You know that. That that that's that isn't that's not surprising to me at all.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it it really is. It's I guess there's more ways to get yourself in trouble turkey hunting. Um, you know, there's you're there are a lot of people that think they can't kill a turkey without putting out a sack of corn.
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_06Um I don't I don't get it, but that's their thing and that's the way they do it. You know, and then like I said, turkey hunters are just notorious for for crossing that fence line. That bird's gobbling on the other side, and it's just gonna be easier if I cross that fence rather than calling him over to me. Uh of course we have a lot of government woods up here too. It I'm also the prosecutor in Benton County, and um, you know, we have a lot of national forest up our our way, and goodness people will have a ten-acre block that they're trying to turkey hunt on, and they wind up on the neighbor often.
SPEAKER_02I just had a f this ain't uh this ain't no question I had pre-planned and all, but if I was just thinking I'd hate to be a turkey violator standing in front of you if they didn't know you were a turkey thug. Have you ever had anybody in front of you that didn't know at what level of turkey experience you had?
SPEAKER_06I I have, yes, sir. I've had them try to explain to me, you know, how this happened and why that happened, and I'm like, yeah, that's not the way that works. I I've uh fortunately I've been there and done that, and uh that that's not the way it's supposed to go down.
SPEAKER_02I would love to have been a fly on the wall with that person talking to you because I like we have shared many turkey hunts. Do you uh now you can't answer for game wardens and all that, but you kind of got to see the case from get-go to the very end and all that. Is there a fairly large number of tips that come from the public, or is it all just game wardens doing boots on the ground work? Or do you you think you get some tips?
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. I would say a large percentage of their cases start from tips. And I don't know that they necessarily are intended as tips more so than complaints. Um those guys will have people calling in during deer season, there's somebody riding this road every night, I hear gunshots, you know, twice a week at night, and so they start patrolling that area. You know, you may call that a tip, you may just call it a a complaint, but that's the way those guys get to certain places. You know, we we have two game wardens in assigned to each county, and uh they can't be everywhere. So they have to have some reason to work where they're working.
SPEAKER_02That's uh that's kind of sad to me. And the same way down here, one or two game wardens per county, and the county I live in is huge. I don't I don't know how they do it, but uh I'm with you. I'm with you. And I'm a big game and fish guy, especially for our Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks. I was just I had I had a guy up here the other day and we visited for two hours. Sometimes game wardens get a bad rap. I personally in Mississippi I hadn't met a bad one. Of course, I'm pretty much a law-abiding citizen, but uh man, those guys look they go through a lot. And uh I I guess they're in your courtroom a good bit, aren't they?
SPEAKER_06They are, they are. It's um those guys for the most part do a fantastic job, and it it's a pretty thankless job. Everybody wants to see them when they want to see them, and then they just soon not ever see them if if they haven't got a problem. Um, but yes, we've got a really good group up this way in particular. I I don't know, I can't speak for the rest of the state, but we've got a real good group of guys up here and they do pretty good job for us.
SPEAKER_02Ain't that the truth? I learned a long time ago, game warden and a lawyer. People talk bad about them and don't want nothing to do with them until they really need one, and then they're their best friend for as long as long as it takes. I so I can see both sides of that coin. Now, I want to talk a little bit about trespassing because that's just uh ongoing thing, you know. I don't care if if you live in a neighborhood or you got a farm and all that kind of stuff, but through the years, have the laws changed or have the uh you know the circumstances or the penalties has it changed, or has it kind of been the same for the last decade or so?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, for as long as I can remember, we've not had any major overhauls. Uh you know, there's trespassing is a little different animal. There's a whole host of trespassing laws. Uh there's several different ones, and you got to kind of pick and choose which one you're dealing with and be careful about it because there's different requirements for some. There's some that require notice, there's some that don't. Um, you know, people need to understand that in Mississippi I'm not required to put a posted sign on my property. Uh you're required to know that you have permission and be able to come on to the property. And you know, if you are stopped and ask and you have to produce some evidence that you're entitled to be there. Or you're probably gonna get a ticket from one of our friendly wardens. Um written permission in Mississippi. That's right. That's right. It is written permission in Mississippi. Um, you know, we're not we're not one of the states, you know, some of the uh states in the north. I I go uh like I said earlier, I'm I'm a big duck hunter, so I've been all over and you know, you can go to North Dakota and if they don't have it marked, you can go hunt. Now that's not the proper thing to do. The proper thing to do is go talk to the farmer and tell them what you're doing and ask for permission, and you know, most all of them are helpful about that, but it's not required or wasn't required. I think they've actually changed the law since I've been up there. Um but in Mississippi that's not the case. You cannot be on the property if you are not supposed to be there.
SPEAKER_02Mississippian Texas don't play around with the trespassing stuff, in my opinion. But I, you know, I've been in Maine in the same way. If it's not posted, you got permission. And in some states it's purple paint. It's just you have to know from state to state what's going on, and ignorance isn't as uh generally no excuse. Am I right?
SPEAKER_06That's exactly right. Yeah, ignorance of the law is definitely not a defense. Um yeah, the purple paint and stuff, it it's several states have those requirements. Um, you know, I do a lot of hunting over in Arkansas, and we're required over there, you've got to have either a sign or purple paint or some kind of a purple marker. You know, a lot of people use uh chemical barrels that are purple. They do all kinds of stuff, and you're required to have it every so often down the property line, and it's you know, that's tough on a landowner. Landowner doesn't want to have to go out and do that, they want to be able to enjoy their property.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What are uh again, we're talking about Mississippi. What what are kind of the starting penalties? Do people get a pass sometimes on their first one, or does it does the penalty get worse if you get caught again and again? What are just man we're talking about Mississippi and not any individual, but what are the penalties?
SPEAKER_06Uh so you know, obviously it's always up to the officer. It's no different than you getting pulled over on the on the road for speeding. It's the officer has the discretion to write you the ticket. They can warn you, they can write you a ticket, they can it's it's up to them. Uh but if you receive the ticket, then there are minimums and maximums that are uh that are provided. For the most part, Mississippi, in my opinion, doesn't really hammer people for trespassing. Um it one statute is a five hundred dollars, is a fine up to five hundred dollars and Or no more than six months in jail. There's another one of our trespassing statutes that uh first offense, it's a $250 fine. Then a second or subsequent offense, it increases that, and then it's a five hundred dollar fine, and you get some jail time. Uh all those, you know, I told you there's several different trespassing laws, and that's why it's important which one you charge, because you may be facing a little more penalty or a little less, and the all these officers need to know which one which one they're trying to get to to figure out how to make the point stick. So some people a fine's enough. Some people it takes jail time, some people don't get the don't get the memo either way. Yeah, I've never been there. I've never been there when they wouldn't let me leave, and I don't want to start now.
SPEAKER_02I've been there one time as a kid, and I probably told told this story, but I was like 12, and I was over on the golf course, and they were I had I was on my bicycle and they were redoing the railroad tracks, and they had laid a bunch of them old telephone poles down that had them glass insulators on them. Uh-huh. Those little cone-shaped things. And buddy, I had me a sack of them things, and the police pulled up and took me to jail as a, you know, because they knew my dad. And I'm telling you what, I ain't never been so scared in my life. My daddy walked in there and I said, I don't know what the jail time's gonna be for me, but it's gonna be worse when I get out, I'm telling you. Without question. That one visit for me was enough. Let me ask you this. Everything down in our part of the world, not just Mississippi, but there's everywhere hunting camps. Everybody's got a hunting camp. You drive by one going to my house. Can somebody that's a member of a hunting camp and they're just leasing land, whether it's from a paper company or an individual, can they legally go up and put posted signs if they have permission from the landowner, or they just kind of gotta be quiet about it?
SPEAKER_06No, one hundred percent. They are absolutely entitled to do that. Uh, it would depend on the lease agreement. And but if they have permission from the landowner, then 100% they can go post that property. They can put all the signs up they want. And even though we're not required to have signs, they help. They help when what when I get in the courtroom, somebody can't say, Oh, well, I thought that was Uncle Johnny's land. No, you didn't. You passed two posted signs to get to where you got to. Um, you know, that that were clear, uh you see a lot of these signs that are clearly marked, you know, no posted property of so-and-so hunting club.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And that they lose an argument there when they show up to court and say, Oh, well, I thought I was on, you know, Bubba's land, and that it turns out they weren't. And they knew they weren't because there's a sign hanging there that says they're on Johnny's land.
SPEAKER_02So use a posted sign. That's a good thing if you have some priority.
SPEAKER_06Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02It helps me in the courtroom for sure. Man, that's that's some good advice. Now, we're gonna get into some hypotheticals now. It's like, uh, because I you you own some land, I own some land, and all that. It's not great, great hunting land. It ain't a giant uh piece of acres and all that. But my wife says, You ask Bart, if you let somebody come out there and they're hunting on your property and they get hurt, fall out of a tree stand, step in a hole, break their leg, whatever, can can they sue that landowner?
SPEAKER_06Well, because I will start by saying I I give you the same answer I give everybody. Anybody can sue anybody for anything.
SPEAKER_02At any time. At any time. That's where that's that's where we live now.
SPEAKER_06It is, it is. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks out there that are willing to file a lawsuit for you just on the hope that they're gonna get something. But uh you know, will they win is the question I try to correct people and get them to. And more than likely the answer to that is no. When you're hunting, there are certain risks you assume. You you climb in a you you put your climber on a pine tree and you go 30 feet up, there's some risk with that. Everybody has some risk with that. And if you choose not to wear a safety harness, then you know, I I can't control that about you. That's your your business. There's no law that requires you to wear one, but if you fall out of that tree and you didn't have a safety harness on and you weren't doing something right in your in your stand, then as a landowner, I don't have any responsibility for that, more than likely.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So it would be rare. It would be rare for them to win a case like that. So it would be very rare.
SPEAKER_06I mean, I have to have some um I have to create have some known danger that I didn't warn you about. If I invite you over to my property and say, hey, let's go chase turkeys on the back 40 over here, and I know that there are there's a dozen old uh wells on that back 40 that are not covered, yeah, and I don't tell you about them, and I tell you to go in there in the dark and you need to go set up over here, knowing that there's one there, and I don't tell you about it, then I may have some liability there. Gotcha. Common sense.
SPEAKER_02That's right. That's right. Which is a superpower nowadays.
SPEAKER_06So I say common sense isn't so common anymore, it doesn't seem like, for sure.
SPEAKER_02You know, old timer builds knives with durability in mind. They also want it to be a tool that is comfortable enough to work with day after day. Since the beginning, old timers made knives for those who don't rely on others to get the job done. I love that. Old timer built for generations. I think it's how to be better with it. They're all about aftermath owners. Use the Omnext step aftermath. Understand that Northwind flows from North. Use that find the layer 15 topographical maps.
SPEAKER_00With presented by property.
SPEAKER_02So if you got a big foot on your property and somebody's coming to hunt, just say, hey, if you go down there, just don't be listening to tree knocks. I get it.
SPEAKER_05That's some good advice for you.
SPEAKER_02Can uh there's a if like and I have gone so many places and I have been to so many lodges back when we were producing TV, and I always had to sign a waiver, even if I wasn't hunting. Does that hold any legal ground in the courtroom if you signed a waiver saying, hey, I'm responsible, I'm not gonna sue this guy if I get hurt? Does that make any difference?
SPEAKER_06It yeah, sure. I mean, it you can waive certain rights. Um, again, if I'm hiding some known danger from you and you get hurt by it, I uh it's hard for me to wave that. Um, you know, but yes, all my friends, every time I go on a hunting trip somewhere and they stick one of those waivers in our face, you know, everybody's happy when they're getting to camp and they're ready to sign, they're ready to hunt. So they start signing stuff and everybody'll turn and start looking at me. Well, you're gonna sign this because if you sign it, I'll sign it. You know, and I seem to be the only one reading the thing.
SPEAKER_02That's hilarious. Let me ask you, my gut tells me that you have at some point in your life been a part of a control burn. Is that a yes or a no?
SPEAKER_06That is a 100% yes. I I I really it's a great management tool.
SPEAKER_02Oh, there's no question. The closest I come to getting sideways with one of my neighbors is when I first bought my property, and I had a guy out there that was certified. The problem is he had two helpers with him, and I don't think they were they were certified. And the wind changed, and at some point I was I had hooked a I was trying to head this fire off, and I had an eight-foot disc behind my tractor, and I was going so fast that thing was bouncing and hitting the ground about every 50 feet, and we had blankets and all that stuff out. Have you ever had anybody in your courtroom where the control burn got over on them and they sued and all that kind of stuff? Is that a common issue or kind of rare?
SPEAKER_06It's not real common. Um, it definitely happens from time to time. Fortunately, unless there's some intent there, there's no crime associated with it. You have all kinds of civil liability for it, but uh, you know, as long as there's no intent to do some damage or to to burn your neighbor's property, there's no no criminal liability for it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um if you hire if you if you hire like somebody, the Mississippi Forestry guys or somebody like that, if you hire a company to come do that, doesn't that just you you're kind of free of everything at that point, isn't it their responsibility if you hire and pay somebody to do that?
SPEAKER_06Well, it it is their responsibility, but if you're the one that has contracted with them, you are going to be responsible, at least initially. Still more than likely, more than likely, there'll be some kind of a waiver in the they will they will accept some of that responsibility in their contract. And again, you know, it goes back to you can sue anybody for anything. So if you came in to me and told me that your property got burned by your neighbor and wanted to file a lawsuit, and we end up suing, we're gonna sue the neighbor. They're gonna have to prove to me that that they got some kind of a a waiver signed or that there's some reason they're not responsible and that the company is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. People that love to do that, and I get it, I hadn't done it on my place yet. We tried one time, but the people that love to do that, man, it's an addiction. It's like that stuff scares me to death. You know, it just does, and people do it all the time, and I know I need to do it on my place, and I'm like, golly, that's you know, you gotta know what you're doing.
SPEAKER_06You do, and you know, I I've got a couple of different places where I've tried it, and I've got one right by my house that makes me a nervous wreck every time I try to burn.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06It's not a very big burn, it's a small burn, but if it gets out, if my neighbor has uh a bunch of cows, he's got a couple of pastures with a bunch of cows, and you know, I'm terrified I'm gonna burn this pasture up. Um and and that's his livelihood, you know, that's how he feeds his cows. So I I just I see as a lawyer, I guess I see the dollar sign running through my mind every time I do that. And it just really scares me. And then I have another spot that's a much bigger burn, but it's got a pretty good boundary. It's got water on two sides and gravel road on one side, and I know there's not very far for it to go.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06So I, you know, that one's a little easier for me to stomach and I can relax a little bit, but you know, it it's something that you better be on top of for sure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06You know, I when I first got into that stuff, I didn't realize there were all these rules and regulations. I just thought you went and lit a fire and sit back and roast marshmallows. But um, you know, you you get into burn plans and paying attention to wind direction and paying attention to humidity, and there's just a lot that goes into one of those things to do it properly.
SPEAKER_02Country people will set something on fire in a heartbeat. They don't care. They don't they may not want to use a weed eater. They're gonna go burn that ditch, and it's like, man, you you gotta be careful that stuff.
SPEAKER_06Growing up in the country.
SPEAKER_02What uh I gotta ask you this. Do you see a lot of uh I could be trespassing or whatever, are you seeing any trail cam photos in the courtroom used as evidence? Is that starting to be pretty prevalent?
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. That has just become more and more and more of an issue. You know, you have all these cell cams now that people even you know, people used to go take the card out of the cameras. Well, you couldn't prove anything after that because there's no picture. Well, now they go take the card out of the camera. Well, that's we got your picture taking the card out of the camera, or I you know, I just had one, uh I had one of our game wardens call me Saturday, as a matter of fact, where somebody came in and stole stole a man's trail camera, stole two of their trail cameras, and the game warden called me and he's like, I've got two of the best pictures I've ever had of somebody. He said, You can literally count the hairs on the man's beard. You know, he said, it's the best pictures I've ever had. What do I do with it? And I was like, Well, it's no different. Go charge him, you know? Yeah, go, go, go get the guy. Uh so yeah, it they have definitely played a major role in it. And a lot of criminals are not the smartest, cuz. I know that's a surprise to you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but uh It's like shy, it's like Mike and Nadel. We was hunting with him and my cousin, the judge, and he was telling the story, and I said, I can't believe that guy did it. And he said, Hey, cuz these criminals ain't launching the space shuttle. You remember when he said, I do remember that.
SPEAKER_06I do remember that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was curious if they were showing up in your courtroom. That's interesting.
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. I have uh uh we had somebody this past turkey season that had been charged. It was a it was a continued investigation from Deer Season, but you know, we've got uh the game warden was able to bring in some cell cam photos of the guy dumping a bag of corn one afternoon, walking in with his bow in his hand the next afternoon, and that particular stand you could actually see the guy in the tree. And uh then the next photo he showed was at the same spot. It was apparently a really good wildlife spot because the guy went back and put more corn during turkey season, and the next morning he and his buddy both doubled up and killed two turkeys right there.
SPEAKER_02So all on camera.
SPEAKER_06All on camera. You know, that's as easy as it gets for a prosecutor, let me tell you.
SPEAKER_02Holy cow. Um how many uh how many cases that you that that you oversee actually result in any jail time? Or are they mostly fines and what what dictates one or the other?
SPEAKER_06Well the biggest thing that dictates it is the severity, the nature of the offense, the the demeanor of the defendant. You know, you have we have these guys that come in and they have no remorse about it. They knew what they were doing, they did it on purpose. They're not gonna go to jail the first time they ever go out there and pour out some corn and go shoot a turkey. But you let them do it a couple of times, get warned about it, get caught doing it, get tickets for it, and they continue to do it. You you've gotta have something there. You've got to have some teeth to make them make them believe it. Um I've probably put uh I put a handful, I say I put, they put themselves, the judge puts them in jail, but there's been a handful of folks that have gone to jail in my courtroom for for one wildlife violation or another. You know, some of our statutes require jail time. If you get caught headlighting, there's mandatory jail time for it. So you don't really have a choice. Um that's uh those guys all get jail time.
SPEAKER_02That's a big deterrent. Let me ask you it is. It would be to me. Oh, yeah, absolutely. If I ever go to court for something like that, you can bet I'm gonna show up in a suit and a tie and I'm gonna have a cake for the judge and the district attorney. That's just that's the way I'm gonna roll up in there. What's uh have you ever seen where a landowner has to confront a poacher and there's a bad issue right there? And what's the best way to handle a poacher from a landowner standpoint?
SPEAKER_06Sure. Um, I mean, I know landowners get mad. I I am, you know, like you said, I own land, you own land. If I caught somebody hunting on my property, I would not be real happy about it. Um unfortunately, I've I've gotten to experience that, but uh, you know, I'm not I don't recommend people addressing them personally. That's what law enforcement is for. If you're not if you're not well versed in that, call the law. No different than any other crime being broken that you see. You're not a cop. You know, let them do their job. If uh obviously it it's hard to say, hey, I saw John on my property. If you don't have any proof of it, the game warden's gonna have a hard time charging it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Um but likewise, you know, you don't want to put yourself in a bad situation, particularly with hunters, because they all have guns in their hands.
SPEAKER_02That's what a game warden faces. I was talking and uh I was telling somebody about they were talking about something saying something bad. I said, listen, listen to this. I said, here's what they're up against. They're in the usually in the middle of nowhere. It's probably in the middle of the night. And whoever they're addressing, the fines and and jail time could be strict and they're all armed. Who who wants to do that? But I'm with you. If they're uh if especially if you get trail camera pictures or something, just call them because they're used to dealing with that stuff. And this you know, this ain't the wild, wild west in 1860. It's uh we have laws for that kind of stuff. So that's probably good advice.
SPEAKER_06So yeah, it that that's definitely the case. If you've got trail cam pictures, don't confront them. Go call the cops. Bring them in and let you know, bring l let the law enforcement do their job. That's what they're there for. And what they're trained to do. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna ask you, have you ever caught a poacher? And I already know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you anyway, because I'm pretty sure I almost witnessed one of these things up there when me and you were hunting together. Sure.
SPEAKER_06Yes, I have. Uh unfortunately, I have. It's not a yeah, I I have, and you know, uh we all get territorial butter spots and especially turtle hunting. That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_02Hey, uh I had to go speak. You know, the game boards have a uh they have a uh convention from year to year, and uh three or four years ago I had to go speak to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife. This was all law enforcement guys too. And I wrote a little thing before I uh started into my talk that was kind of just a tongue-in-cheek uh thing. And I'm gonna I'm gonna read it to you. This is how I started my talk. And if I want you to know when I get to the end of this list, have you ever dealt with any of this? So the way I started was like when I got up, I said, all right, for b for everybody I've ever dealt with that was rude. I know what you've been dealing with out in the woods. And I said, for the guy who told you his corn pile was for pigs only, for the guy who told you he was blood trailing a deer at 2 a.m. with three spotlights, a suppressed rifle and night vision, for the guy who said he thought he only needed a fishing license for bass, for the guy who told you his bullet went through the buck he was aiming at and killed the other two deer behind him, for the guy who said the hen turkey was a gobbler but he shot the beard off, for the guy who forgot about the six ducks stuffed in his waiters and the other five under his motor cover, for the guy who said he didn't need to register his boat because it was aluminum, for the guy who thought it was not against the law to drink and drive if it was a gravel road. And for the guy who said he lost his kid on youth day, let me say from all of us, we are sorry. And if them guys laugh for 15 minutes. Did any of that stuff ring a bell with you?
SPEAKER_06I feel like you've been sitting in my car.
SPEAKER_02It just never ceases to amaze me. You know, one of the best camps I ever shared was with you and Sheriff Canal. My I got a double a second cousin who's a judge here in Mississippi, and we had more fun. And I was talking to one of our cohorts up there, and he says that they have got you talked into running for judge. Is that true?
SPEAKER_06Very true. I am running for circuit court judge, which is a little bit different game than what I'm dealing with right now. Um, if I get elected a circuit judge, I will not be able to have my private law practice anymore. I'll be on the bank 24-7 pretty much, which is the way that works. Um and handling felony felony criminal matters and uh bigger civil cases. That's where you see all of your car wreck cases and uh big contract disputes and that type stuff will be handled in the circuit courtroom. So I'm hoping to make that transition after the first of the year.
SPEAKER_02Well, look, if you don't think it'll hurt you, I'll join that fight with you because I can't think of a better person to sit on the bench. Second Amendment Patriot and all that, and we'll get together and I'll make sure North Mississippi knows about you because I know what your character is. He my dad used to tell me if you really want to know what somebody's like, go fishing with them or play golf with them because it's coming out. And I've I had I hadn't played golf with you yet, that's gonna happen, but I've hunted with you many a time. And I'm for me, I appreciate people like you stepping up because that sometimes that's a lose-lose deal. People get mad and all that kind of stuff. So from everybody in Chickasaw County where I live down there, I want to tell you thank you, and I'm gonna help you with that project.
SPEAKER_06Well, I appreciate it. Chickasaw County is in my district, so I I need all the help I can get down that way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. If you don't remember, too, if you ever see me walking in your courtroom, I'm gonna have on a suit and I'm gonna have a cake for you. So I'm gonna go.
SPEAKER_06Well, I like chocolate cake and caramel cake.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna I'm gonna take care of you. Bart, I cannot wait to go turkey hunting again. And one of these days I may come up there and bring my little video camera and film you duck hunting, because I know that's that's deep down what you love more than anything. You got any thoughts on duck season you think it's gonna be a good one? Do you guys scout? What do you do? What what's your gut for duck season this fall?
SPEAKER_06I am just optimistic as can be. I I'm ever optimistic about duck hunting. You know, we we always get the reports in the summer of the pond counts and all that good stuff, and you know high high counts, low counts. It doesn't matter to me. I'm always optimistic about duck season. I love it. I enjoy it. I do enjoy just getting out there with my friends and especially my boys are old enough to get out there with me and just get away from this office for a little while. I am very optimistic about this year. We've got we do a little bit of we do a lot of crap over our place, and you know, we plant a little bit of food, we try to manage some full of one of the big things we manage for. Man, we've had some good rains early this year, and still getting some of these summer rains to keep everything driving. So I'm super excited about it. Can't wait.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That kind of ain't ever been my thing, you know that. And that's a that's a federal game warden deal there. I may do a podcast about that one day. But I can tell you this, and I'm gonna I'm gonna hold your feet to the fire when this heat wave's over with. We in the middle of a heat zone. Me and you and your boy, we're gonna go play golf down here at the Mal Sea Oak course.
SPEAKER_06Sounds sounds good. Cole does not, he has not forgotten that invitation and has asked me about it a couple of times this summer.
SPEAKER_02So you you tell him it's on the top of my bucket list.
SPEAKER_06I will make sure and do that.
SPEAKER_02All right, Barb. Hey, look, I appreciate your time. Can't wait to spend some turkey time with you. God bless you, brother, and we'll be back in touch before that election gets kicked off.
SPEAKER_06Thank you, cuz. I appreciate you for having me on and appreciate all your support, buddy. God bless you, brother. Thanks.
SPEAKER_01If you enjoy listening to Fistful of Dirt Podcast, then you've probably heard. Give us a rating, leave us a review if you like it. Well, if you like it, here's what you can do. Open your iTunes Podcast app available in the app store if you don't already have it on your phone, and type in Fistful of Dirt. Make sure you're following us, scroll down through the episodes until you see ratings and reviews. Tap the stars to rate the show, and click write a review if you'd like to leave us a comment. The good ratings help us out and ensure that more people will be able to discover the podcast. Thanks for listening. We'll see you in seven days.
SPEAKER_03God bless America. It's Uncle Ted reporting for duty. My life is a fistful of dirt, and I'm a Mossy Oak celebrant of truth, logic, and common sense right here on the Mossy Oak Fistful of Dirt broadcast. God bless the Spirit Bloodbrothers.
SPEAKER_00You're listening to Fistful of Dirt, the official podcast of Mossy Oak Properties. Find your favorite place. Visit Mossyok Properties.com.
SPEAKER_02So did you learn anything?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm not gonna break any laws. You don't have to worry about me.
SPEAKER_02Well, if I do and I gotta go to court, you and your mama wants baking me a chocolate cake.
SPEAKER_01Or a caramel cake.
SPEAKER_02Or a caramel cake, because he's gonna be our judge, I hope, by the end of November. So yeah, he uh I I thought that was interesting. I I learned uh I learned a lot. You know, you're talking about the best answer he got, I was talking about can you get sued for that?
SPEAKER_01And he's like, cuz somebody'll sue you for anything anytime.
SPEAKER_02That's coming, man. You know, talking about signing disclaimers and all that kind of stuff. I enjoyed that and I kept it kind of uh generic because he's uh very active in what he does and you can't talk about specific cases, which me and you would love to do.
SPEAKER_01Uh uh I got cornered him at a crawfish boy one time and I was like, you know this missing person and such and such and I rattled off and he was like, We need you up here solving this case.
SPEAKER_02He is uh not your typical guy, but he's so smart. Even when we're turkey hunting, sometimes he'll have to stop and get on a call and he'll walk way back down there and then I was like, What was that about? And he'll start rattling stuff off. I was like, Good great. Anybody makes it through law schools they you know, but uh yeah, they got a lot of gray matter up there that's firing on all cylinders. So that's right. Uh that's a good one to have.
SPEAKER_01That's a good that was really interesting.
SPEAKER_02I thought it was, and I couldn't hold him long. He I've been trying to run him down for a couple of weeks. He says, 'Cause I got an hour and ten minutes between this thing and this thing on that. I said, All right, I'm gonna call you. So that's uh that was fun. I I enjoyed and like I say, I learned a lot. And uh you just uh you just never know when you may need some good advice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I really enjoyed the part too about cameras. And like used back in the day they would just pull the card and try to get away with something. He's like, now that's about hanging on somebody's cell phone almost immediately. I hope that would deter some people knowing that that technology exists.
SPEAKER_02I read that thing about how I opened my page up at the game horse and made him laugh so hard. He sent me a text and said because I had a guy in my courtroom that said he didn't think drinking and driving was an issue if it was a gravel road. And that was an actual defense. How cool is that?
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm not surprised, I guess.
SPEAKER_02If he calls me back and tells me he had some guy in there who said he lost his kid on Youth Day of Turkey season, I'm gonna roll over.
SPEAKER_01I lost my kid.
SPEAKER_02But anyway, that yeah, that was a good subject, a good topic, and all that. So I hope y'all enjoyed it. I got a ton of comments about the kid stuff, and I one of the last posts I made, I said, Hey, I know y'all are tired of looking at this and hearing about it, and I may be beating a dead horse. But at some point, if you get one tip in there that'll make you say, Well, maybe I ought to do that. And remember, it doesn't have to be your kid, it can be your neighbor, it can be your whoever. If you uh that's the way you gotta get people interested in it. And I'm not going down the road of there's too many hunters out there and all that kind of stuff. I'm just saying if somebody passed it on to you, pass it on to them. Just play it forward. So from me and Laureen up in the camel cave from Mossy Oak and Mossy Oak Properties, God bless each and every one of you.
SPEAKER_01We'll see you in seven days.