Legal Definitions - BACK CARRY

Back Carry refers to a historical legal term for the crime of physically transporting unlawfully killed wild game on one's person, typically on the back or shoulders. This offense specifically targeted individuals caught carrying game that had been poached or hunted in violation of established laws, such as hunting without a license, out of season, or on prohibited land.

• Example 1: Imagine a poacher in the 17th century who ventured onto a lord's private estate, where all game was strictly reserved. After successfully killing a deer without permission, the poacher was apprehended by the estate's gamekeepers while attempting to leave the property with the deer's carcass slung over his back. This act would constitute "back carry" because he was physically transporting game that had been unlawfully killed on private, restricted land.

• Example 2: Consider a villager during a historical period when specific hunting seasons were enforced to manage wildlife populations. If this villager secretly snared several pheasants in a common forest during a closed season and was later discovered walking home with the birds tied together and carried on his back, he would be guilty of "back carry." His physical possession and transport of the pheasants, which were killed outside the legal hunting period, directly illustrate the offense.

• Example 3: In a historical context, if a person illegally trapped a wild boar in a designated royal forest, where hunting was forbidden for commoners, and was then caught by forest wardens attempting to carry the animal's butchered parts out of the forest in a large sack on his shoulders, this would also be an instance of "back carry." The act of transporting the game, which was obtained through illegal hunting in a protected area, is the core element of the crime.