Poacher on the farm I lease...

[roundball]

Left a hunting spot after dark yesterday afternoon...I drive out to the road on the tractor path, unlock my cable gate, go through, lock it back, etc.

Returned today at 3:00pm, saw huge 4WD tire tracks that had driven down into the ditch and up around my cable gate onto the tractor path...a couple hundred yards further down the path, in a section of the path out of sight from the road lay a deer carcass...head, cape, hams, straps, and loins gone.

Somebody had spot-lighted / killed the deer during the night in the big fields visible from the road, drove in / trespassed on the farm property to get it, did their work and left the mess in the path.

I stopped right there and called 911 on the cellphone for two reasons:
1) I wanted it reported for the record so nobody would come along and think I had done it;
2) Had them get a message to the county GW who I'd previously discussed the poaching problem with.

(He had previously said he'd try to set up their 'robo-deer' and catch some good old boys...maybe this will push him to do it...they're terribly understaffed and this is there absolute busiest time of year of course...911 said they'd have him call me back tonight)

 

[RC]

gees Roundball maybe you should've started this post with "saw a shooter today"! I'll never understand why they do it......but on the good side,we have two of them around here,,,been ticketed numerous times fer years..pay the fines and right back at...our local conservation officer,said he'd had enough, fines didn't work,so he asked the state to revoke their hunting privileges...AND they did! one guy for 4 years the other for 3 years....sorta opens it up if the C.O. catches them "hunting" or riding around "looking" won't solve the problem totally but I'll tell ya this,there were two very sad boys last saturday morning on N.Y. opening day! I know they loved to hunt...just doin it "in excess" maybe they'll learn,,seems everyone is watchin for them now that they know the C.O. means business! good luck with your situation...may take time but it seems it always comes out in the end! RC

 

[roundball]

I don't know either...there are just some people who don't believe they have to live by laws like the rest of us do.

And I agree fines are nothing by themselves...they need to fine them, take away their firarms, take away their vehicle, and take away their hunting privilegs

 

[playfarmers]

This kind of thing makes me sick. I too found a carcass with the head, hams and backstaps gone, and I know they didn't have permission to be there.

 

[Wehrmacht]

Welcome to the "Club"! I've come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is just kill 'em and let somebody find 'em. I just bought a Gilley Suit :shocked2:.

 

[spitfire]

Sounds good der Forester.I think they should also make the 19th century victorian "mantrap"legal also :winking: (well I can dream can't I).

 

[spitfire]

Poachers caught without proper permits on the U.S.ARMY Fort Rucker property are not only fined :grin: !But the Vehicle & Firearms are confiscated not to be returned! :applause:

 

[cowpoke1955]

People like this makes alot of us sick. Everyone I've ever met with a traditional black powder firearm have always been likable people. Like everyone in this forum, we show respect for the ways, respect for the game, respect for the law and respect for each other. Poachers on the other hand...........

 

[bob1961]

I don't know either...there are just some people who don't believe they have to live by laws like the rest of us do.

And I agree fines are nothing by themselves...they need to fine them, take away their firarms, take away their vehicle, and take away their hunting privilegs

and toss there sorry butts in jail too fer at least 6 mouths....now that'll slow um down a bit....with the second offence a year in jail with bubba better yet :rotf: :v ...........bob

 

[jethro224]

Got one where I hunt too. He was out 3 nights before firearm deer season. I was out at the farm working on a truck @ 8;30 and heard a shot. The lady on the next property found a dead deer with a bullet hole thru it in her back yard the next morning. :shake:
She called the CPO. I hope they catch the sleazy cheatin no-good dirty rotten scum. I'll be watchin' for him.

 

And silly me with not a single claymore left to share. Seriously though, these people deserve what ever they get. :cursing:

 

[jdixon]

You guys have it all wrong - in keeping with the great contemporary social trend of blame shifting you have to understand, its the deer's fault. If they were not so hard to kill legally these good 'ol boys wouldn't have to resort to illegal means to take them. :youcrazy:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I still think its always the poacher's fault, but most poachers are killing because they have customers for the meat. We had a guy here some years ago who was selling the meat to employees at a local food distribution center, at $100.00 per deer, and he was killing deer every night of the year! He made the mistake of recruiting my buddy to help him, and my friend contacted the DNR, and set him up for the arrest. The poacher was prosecuted, lost his gun, and his truck, and had his hunting privileges suspended for 5 years. He had a previous conviction for the same thing in California! The neighbor kid he had recruited to help him was placed on Probation, paid fines, and did community service work.

I think they both got what they deserved, but I do wish they had taken it one step further and set up the folks at the plant to nail the people who were buying the meat every night. Catching a thief, without getting his fence just leaves the area open for a new thief: Catching his fence can close the entire enterprise down in a hurry, and for a long time. It also sends a message to everyone out there who buys hot goods that they are not invulnerable.

 

[ke4usl]

A college buddy in Tx had a problem with poachers spotlighting deer on his dad's land. He went out one night and put a round thru their engine block at 3 a.m. and went back home(@ 3 miles) and had the law waiting on 'em when they showed up wanting to use the phone. :rotf:

 

[Halftail]

I still think its always the poacher's fault, but most poachers are killing because they have customers for the meat. We had a guy here some years ago who was selling the meat to employees at a local food distribution center, at $100.00 per deer, and he was killing deer every night of the year! He made the mistake of recruiting my buddy to help him, and my friend contacted the DNR, and set him up for the arrest. The poacher was prosecuted, lost his gun, and his truck, and had his hunting privileges suspended for 5 years. He had a previous conviction for the same thing in California!

I'm sure all he done was go buy another gun and Truck and repeat the same thing all over again.You'll never stop most of these skumbags,especially the ones that are doing it for money.We have the same problem around here with one bunch in particular I know of kill as many as 20+ deer a year.Not a horn to show in the lot and not a speck of mud on their Boots either.Drink Rum all day and Drive the back roads all night with their rifles. :shake: They have been reported but the wardens seem like they have better things to do. :shake:

 

[rabjr]

Any idea where this jerk might have parked to shoot? Might be worth making a quick search of the ground there, just may turn up an empty cartridge...finger prints.

 

[bramble]

A nailboard beneath the leaves where they go around gates is always effective. If nothing else, they end up buying a new set of tires.
bramble

 

[tom hargrove]

Poachers caught without proper permits on the U.S.ARMY Fort Rucker property are not only fined :grin: !But the Vehicle & Firearms are confiscated not to be returned! :applause:

:hmm: i wasnt aware you could get a permit for poaching,on any military base :winking:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Bramble: Please. You don't want to do something like that which will hurt someone who might step on it. They might end up owning your land, your home, and your car and gun! No booby traps, please. You can put out a motion detector and camera to take pictures of trespassers and poachers, and turn the pictures over to authorities. And, you can lay in wait for them, and let the air out of their tires, or remove the distributor cap if you can get under the hood. And, you can unscrew their license plate to give to the police. If you actually catch them on your land you can hold them for the police, but you can't use the threat of deadly force unless you believe they are armed or pose a threat of violence to you based on their words or actions. You can also take their wallets, IDs, car keys and guns, and turn them over to the cops as evidence of the crime. It might also be therapeutic if you were to make them walk all the way to the police station, or to meet a responding officer in front of your own vehicle, You will probably discover open liquor or drugs, or both on them, or in the vehicle, and those can be held for the cops, too. Only in Texas is it legal to drink in a moving car.

My way, you teach them that they can be hunted down just like they poach deer, and if you can get them once, you can do it again! Destroying their sense of invincibility is one of the best ways to sober up thieves.

 

[jbg]

It appears as if we have a subject we may all agree on. We have a local yahoo in the town I live by, he kills as many deer as he can find, leaves them lay. Last year I found 8 dead deer left along the road I live on. While local law enforcement has not yet been able to catch him in the act, they have nailed him for DWI several times. How he stays out of prison for multiple felony DWIs amazes me.
They did catch a loal guy 2 years ago who admitted to killing 250 bucks over a 3 year period. Rumor has it he killed way more than that, one estimate I heard was over 1500 in a 10 year period. He wasn't looking to sell any of his kills,and only kept the largest racks. He just felt he had a right to kill deer whenever he wanted. He got 3 years in the state pen, got out in 14 months. And he is right back at it.
One well placed bullet will go a long way to improving the numbers of our deer herd.