Deer hunters on VHF marine

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wbswetnam

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I live in NW Arkansas, and this is the height of doe season. I monitor a variety of radio services on VHF / UHF (such as local public service, ham radio, MURS/GMRS/FRS, CB, maritime) and I'm sure hearing a lot of hunters illegally using VHF marine radios to coordinate their activities. Has anyone ever heard of hunters getting busted for using marine radios in violation of FCC rules?
 

Seven-Delta-FortyOne

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I've heard of 2.

If I remember correctly, 1 was Nebraska, and 1 was Pennsylvania.

I guess it's pretty common. VHF is gonna work a whole lot better in the woods than UHF (GMRS), but some of those frequencies are for Federal use ONLY, even if you were on the water, so it's gonna hurt when they bust you.


Delta
 

wbswetnam

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.... some of those frequencies are for Federal use ONLY, even if you were on the water, so it's gonna hurt when they bust you.


Delta

As I write this, I'm listening to hunters talk to each other on maritime channel 82A (157.125) which is listed as US Government Only.Some other group is using channel 65A which is supposed to be for Port Operations.
 

cmdrwill

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And the Game wardens know this as thy monitor the hunters and get them on a game/hunting violation.
 

wbswetnam

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And the Game wardens know this as thy monitor the hunters and get them on a game/hunting violation.

As long as I were within cell phone / data range, I'd think Zello would be a better choice - no chance of any eves-dropping. If out of range of cell towers, then I'd use MURS... or if all of the other hunters in my party were also licensed for amateur radio, then a 2m simplex frequency. But risking a $10,000 fine for illegal use of marine radios is just not worth it for easy communications.
 

wa4yur

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Deer hunters on VHF marine freqs

Not to mention these freqs are regularly monitored by the US Coast Guard ,the US Coast Guard AUX the FCC and the US Corp of engineers law enforcement division just to name a few government agencys that are using them. Using these freqs illegally is just asking to be caught.First time fine is $7000 min and could be much more including jail time. Take this advice from someone who knows what can happen. I have a friend that is fcc engineer in charge at a monitoring station.
 

W8RMH

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Unauthorized use of the VHF marine band is nothing new. The radios are cheap and of good quality. The offenders figure if the are far enough away from a lake, river, etc. they can get away with it, and if they are and don't cause any interference they probably will.

I am unaware that using radios is a game/hunting violation but I am no expert. Of course he is in CA so anything is possible.
 

com501

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In many states you have to be very careful HOW you use radios while hunting. Keeping track of each other is OK, but spotting, maneuvering or flushing game is forbidden.
 

paulears

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Thank God the UK banned hunting, banned guns, AND banned marine on land many years ago. With the UK being smaller than many of your States, only a central slice of the country would allow illegal use of Marine to go un-noticed. I've got a marine license for some of the radio installs I do, and the coastguard around our coast has a nice DF facility showing where a calling station is - and they smile when it very clearly shows the origin as many miles on land. If they are on an important channel, they may instigate action, but on any of the non-safety channels, they don't really pay any interest. Radio to radio, on land, performance is limited enough to not really make it worth worrying about. Using Marine VHF in an inland state in the US, is hardly going to trouble people at sea - so probably not high on your agencies priority list, until they get caught for something else, then the radio charge gets added for good measure!
 

W8RMH

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In many states you have to be very careful HOW you use radios while hunting. Keeping track of each other is OK, but spotting, maneuvering or flushing game is forbidden.
It's been over 30 years since I have hunted and we never even considered using radios. I always liked the nature and the peace and quiet too much.
 

wbswetnam

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It's been over 30 years since I have hunted and we never even considered using radios. I always liked the nature and the peace and quiet too much.

Thirty years ago I was working at a Radio Shack store in Missouri. We had a "no return" policy on hand-held CB radios. Why? Because so often, some guy would come in on a Thursday or Friday, buy a bunch of hand-held CBs for his hunting party, then bring them back on Monday for a refund.
 

buddrousa

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You have the same type people using ham radios and think they have a right to talk on them because they bought the radio and they have no class of license. The big problem is several people think it is their right to do things that are a privilege to do like drive a car, talk on a comercial radio system and talk on a ham radio.
 

WQPW689

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106.5 WSFL - The Coast Guard Needs Your Help kinda interesting read as the article never states that they don't let you use them

The article is written from the Coast Guard perspective of cutting down on false and/or accidental distress calls.

It's the FCC rules that state unequivocally that they're illegal to use on land for hunting or any other purpose unless you have a Coast Station License.
 

ElroyJetson

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DO NOT ASK ME FOR HELP PROGRAMMING YOUR RADIO. NO.
The FCC is probably more aggressive about tracking down misuse of the VHF marine channels than any radio service short of public safety. Reason being, the marine channels are essential to life and safety on the waterways. The FCC will track down marine VHF violations even if they're in a desert 200 miles from any body of open water big enough to float an ant. Seriously, if you need to communicate on a channel you're not licensed for, don't do it on a marine channel. Or a railway channel, for that matter.
 

reconrider8

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The article is written from the Coast Guard perspective of cutting down on false and/or accidental distress calls.

It's the FCC rules that state unequivocally that they're illegal to use on land for hunting or any other purpose unless you have a Coast Station License.

But you would have thought that they would have said something about it being an illegal practice anyway
 

K5MPH

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I live in NW Arkansas, and this is the height of doe season. I monitor a variety of radio services on VHF / UHF (such as local public service, ham radio, MURS/GMRS/FRS, CB, maritime) and I'm sure hearing a lot of hunters illegally using VHF marine radios to coordinate their activities. Has anyone ever heard of hunters getting busted for using marine radios in violation of FCC rules?
We have the same here in Brownsville texas with the people in mexico just across the river using VHF Marine radios for everyday use,as far as hunters using MURS the Vhf Marine radios are cheaper to buy....
 

PACNWDude

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Here in my corner of Washington State, it is the same thing. People that have boats take their handheld VHF Marine radio and use it in the shopping malls, hunting and in road convoys with their family members. I have a neighbor who can't be told anything about the law, who uses any radio he can purchase any way he pleases.
Since enforcement is not very pro active, nothing has ever happened.
CB, GMRS, Marine VHF and even surplus commercial radios sold on Craigslist with the old users frequencies still in them get used often.
I previous employer of mine sold hundred of mobile and handheld radios on local auction sites when they replaced them with something newer. Then I began to hear people on those frequencies that were not company employees. This previous employer didn't even attempt to wipe the programming in their hardware.
 
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