How prevalent do you suppose year-round poaching really is?

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Obviously it's hard to accurately quantify since the poachers aren't filling out forms documenting their activities, but as spooky as the dang deer are where I usually hunt, makes me think that some people nearby hunt them all year long. Plus on several occasions during the off-seasons, I've heard the "single rifle shot at dusk" thing happen within a mile (what else would that be if not a hunting shot?). Wish they'd open a season on poachers.

 

[NonConformist]

I dont think its at all common!

 

[highorder]

Michigan could use some more herd thinning, but I don't know about year-round.

The pre-rifle season youth and veteran hunts are a step in the right direction.

 

[Art Eatman]

There is a large Asian market for gall bladders of black bear, and for antlers in velvet.

Game wardens periodically catch organized gangs of bear poachers who do commercial operations.

On a few Indian reservations, the low numbers of game wardens enable the killing of deer and elk while the antlers are still in velvet. Again, a commercial operation.

 

[MCgunner]

Depends on the area. My land is near the town of Seadrift, Texas, home of the redneck felon. I swear, I think it's a requirement to have a felony conviction to move there. I've had problems with poachers/trespassers/night hunters there as well as having a couple of tripod stands and a hog trap ripped off. Caught a kid once. He got his Jeep Chrerokee stuck didn't know I was watching him, about 4:30 in the morning, got on stand a might early. He couldn't go anywhere so the game warden got there in time to nab him. That was sweet.

I'll bet in the woods in East Texas, poaching out of season is probably a pretty big problem. Have no way to prove it, just going on my sense of the number of hillbillies that live up there. That whole area of the state is one big Jeff Foxworthy joke. Friend has a picture he took up in the piney woods of a mobile home, about a 1 acre back hard, deer stand on one end and feeder on the other, all in the frame. ROFLMAO!

"Hell, that's not a deer, that's a propane tank! That's OUR propane tank and that's MAMA!" LOL

 

[K3]

Some shots you hear may be predator hunters.

I hunt year round depending on conditions. Not at all uncommon to hear a shot or several at oh-dark-thirty coming from a chair in the back of a truck. With a red spotlight.

Perfectly legal in some areas.

And often free, which is the best part.

 

[Matt-J2]

I know the WI wardens I've talked to(I'm considering becoming one) have told me that they go out periodically to go after poachers, and that it worse in some parts of the state than others. Seems though that the majority is just before or just after legal seasons.

They also mentioned they don't tend to catch the smart ones. Too many dumb ones keeping them busy, especially from some of the stories they've told me!

 

[3pairs12]

I think in some parts of the country it is pretty common. I really think it depends on how rural the area. I met these two old timers last year in Missouri and they both had one turkey tag to fill. Later I found out through word of mouth that they always have a turkey tag to fill. They drive down the dirt roads by their homes and wait to jump some crossing the road. Get otu of the truck shoot em and head home. I imagine thay do the same with deer and probably most of the year.

 

[Old Grump]

Not to many but the ones that do, don't pay any attention to seasons or hours. One of the biggest poaching rings was run by an outfitter just 5 miles from my house. I found a deer carcass on my side of the fence covered with leaves, the head and hide only were gone. That was not a coyote kill. The other side of the fence was DNR land.

 

[MCgunner]

.22 shots at night can be rabbit hunters. Spot lighting 'em is legal in Texas as is hunting on private land from a vehicle. Same for high powered rifles and hogs. No season on either in Texas. And, yeah, coyote/predator hunters, good point.

 

[K3]

.22 shots at night can be rabbit hunters. Spot lighting 'em is legal in Texas as is hunting on private land from a vehicle. Same for high powered rifles and hogs. No season on either in Texas. And, yeah, coyote/predator hunters, good point.

Still, poachers are a good possibility. I've been predator hunting and seen the occasional red or amber light where it doesn't belong. I know they're on property that I have permission on, so I'm about 99-44/100 sure of what they're doing. A quick blast with my spotlight usually sends them on their way. The deer on this property I call are very skittish until dark under the light. Then they become very curious. Thankfully they are easy to distinguish from predators. I did have a fawn that acted a lot like a bobcat. Little booger had the crosshairs right on his/her neck at 75 yards.

Interesting/Amusing story:

Years ago, my buddy who shall remain nameless had a 'situation' with some poachers. For weeks he kept hearing shots in locations where he knew nobody should be shooting, unless they were one of the guys on the lease. As it was during the week when he went, it had to be poachers. He found the occasional headless deer carcass too. So, he set up on a rim and watched the likely area. Sure enough, an Oldsmobile pulls up to the gate and a couple of Meskins with rifles get out. This is near Sheffield, Texas during the 80s, so they were prolly real by-God Meskins.

Anyhow, as soon as they undid the loop gate, he sent 5 shots from his .30-06 into the caliche about 5 yards behind them. He was about 250 yards out and tucked away in some cedars. Doubtful they ever figured out where he was. According to him, he's never seen anybody move so fast. No more poaching problems on that lease.

Disclaimer: Now, this was really a buddy of mine, because I was only 10 or 11 when this happened. I can't say if I would have done the same thing, but honestly, I got a chuckle out of the story. Still do.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but any time the discussion turns to poaching, I always think of this story. Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, I've shot both hogs and rabbits at night. Not really into predators. Just like eating rabbits and hogs. In my old age, though, I just let the trap do the hog hunting. I'll take one if it comes along when I'm deer hunting in the morning or evening.

 

[K3]

Well, I've shot both hogs and rabbits at night. Not really into predators. Just like eating rabbits and hogs.

Only hogs I killed had abscess. I still don't know what good wild hog tastes like.

I shoot predators for the pelts. I'd only eat a 'yote if there was no other option.

 

[Bezoar]

year round poaching is a big thing in my neck of the woods. soooo normal to hear that short magnum bark once at 11pm, etc.

normally here that right when you know the deer are moving through the woods at night. lost alot of deer that way sadly.
nobody can tell me they need to use, or can legally use a 30-06 or a .270 on raccoon here at michigan at 1am in the middle of summer.

 

[Shawnee]

As others have noted, it's likely common in rural "pockets" where there is a lot more land than people. My place is at the westernmost tip of Appalachia - lot of coon-hunters out and a moderate number of coyote hunters so shots after dark don't necessarily mean anything illegal. But I know there is some poaching going on because some of the families here have been more or less living on wild game since the time of Daniel Boone. Many of these familes also depend on the produce of their gardens, and deer and other critters can put a real hurt on a garden in a few nights so some of the "poaching" is more rightly called "garden defense". Judging from the number of deer here though, whatever poaching is being done can't possibly be a serious threat to the herd(s).

 

[waterhill]

McGunn, man you nailed E. Tx.! Im not quite in the pines, though!
The MethCrowd has all but extinguished themselves or have been killed stealing ( a local neighbor bagged one in his barn 2 years back ).

Now, if the INBREEDERS were that easy......Was working on the fenceline on a day off, had a small-headed one drive by in a 4 door sedan all the while lookin at me in a way that sent chills down my spine and my equalizer was in the truck about 10 yds away... It kept driving ( must have been Auntmommas car as it had handicapped plates ). When the wheels left the gravel. I knew IT was headed for the bottoms. Most of them continue on, leaving empty beer cans.

I calmed down a little, thinking he probably had a trunkfull of trash to dump.

Completing my repairs some 20 mins. later, I head for the truck, KABLAM!KABLAM!KABLAM!!.....KABLAM11 I got that chill again..... Jump in the truck head for the interior of the property towards the cabin I was building at the time. I am shaking....park truck, arm myself, and sneek back toward the fence... Sure enough, 10-15 mins. later, Smallskull drves back by stickin his little head out , lookin for me I suppose... I guess I was going to try and get some numbers off the car, I don't know, I was scared! I stayed hidden for a good 30 minutes... I called the GW as soon as I felt safe.. That was a scary freaking episode in this life of mine.....

This happened in April of '99. I think it is common among folks who ain't done nothin but each other since Lincoln was shot.....

 

[308win]

Shawnee is on target here in Ohio; I believe poaching for deer trophies, hides, and meat is pretty common in sparsely populated rural areas accessible to smaller towns/cities. Ohio has a lot of deer so the overall effect is negligible but Ohio doesn't have the number of trophy bucks I would expect (or at least they don't get much publicity if they are being taken). I also think some non-game species are subject to heavy poaching.

 

[Shawnee]

Hi .308...

"...Ohio doesn't have the number of trophy bucks I would expect (or at least they don't get much publicity if they are being taken"

Actually Ohio, especially north central and southwest, have plenty of huge bucks (I promise). The small town newspapers usually give them plenty of press but the big city papers are quite consistant in NOT printing photos and stories about deer harvested by hunters. I've just figured the big city editors would rather NOT encourage anyone.... or maybe they are too sophisticated (though their crime rate compared to small towns doesn't show it)

 

[Wildfire]

Depends on where.

Hey There;
For years we would hear a shot at night now and then. We knew what was going on. No big deal they were poor.
Then it got to be a lot more then that. Someone must have caught on. 1/2 mile away The State police set up a sting and caught the guy. He had 32 deer ahnging in his barn and his son in law had 30 some. They were selling the meat some where in the Chicago area.

They got fined and that was the last we heard about it. We still hear the shots.
Out west I think they take this a little more serious then we do here.
Tresspassing is also a major problem and with it comes the poaching.

A while back we saw 7 very nice bucks all in the same field. A few were real wall hangers... But it just wouldn't be the same and how could you ever feel right about a poached deer hanging on your wall ?

 

[trickyasafox]

I don't know how bad it is by me. always hear of someone getting ticketed for shooting from the road during season. I swear a handful of gomers in the hunting world give us all crap names sometimes.

 

[deerhunter61]

In East Texas...IT IS BAD!

I have hunted it off and on for over 20 years and I can tell you that there is a lot of poaching...how do I know? Well a lot of it is the behavior of the deer. As PremiumSauces says the deer are extremely skittish. My father-in-law owned a 100 acres for 4 years we hunted in E TX and EVERY year we would find garbage left behind during deer season around one of our stands from a poacher. We suspect the people living around his property were hunting year around.

Now I will say that my father-in-law is hunting on a place now not 30 miles from where he used to own his own place and talk about a difference...he has been out working on his deer stand more than once and deer would come out in his food plot and just start eating away...every once in a while they would turn toward him and stare at him for a little while and then just go back to eating...

So I think it all depends on the area. I think where there are a lot of lower end places there are a lot more poaching going on. Where my father-in-law hunts all of the land around it is privately owned and we are talking about thousands of acres so I think this is the reason they are not experiencing it.

 

[wankerjake]

Whenever you talk to a game warden, they tell you it happens all the time (at least in AZ). One year on a deer hunt someone shot a nice bull elk from the road, there were footprints around it so they culprits walked up to it, probably decided it wasn't a deer, and left. What a waste. We were questioned about it because we were in the area and heard the shot, the antlers were in the game wardens truck. A few years later during a cow elk hunt (same unit, unit 9 for az hunters) my dad was watching a heard of 7 mule deer does when an old couple drove up, the old man jumped up a started shooting at the deer. When he came over to look for a blood trail, he saw my dad and asked him if he had seen the elk. My dad said he had seen a herd of DEER. The old man was adament, "no no those were elk, there were seven of them, all cows":banghead: Poaching is a frustrating thing, just like people who go on shooting sprees, trying to ruin things for those of us who do things legally by the book. For Shame!!!

 

[Ranger J]

Poaching is rampant here in the Missouri Ozarks. It isn't poor people shooting an occasional deer for food it is people in expensive 4W pickups with banks of lights that you could hold a baseball under and guns that are probably worth several grand. One of the largest land holders in our area is one of the worst poachers and he is always poaching off someone elses land. The wardens know who these low lives are but have a hard time catching them in the act. Ours is about the only habitat in the state that could support more deer and turkeys and the difference is poaching.

RJ

 

[Jeff F]

Theres poaching and then theres poaching. I do know that there are some really poor parts of the country where people feed their family off the land when times are hard. I know its still illegal but to those people I would look the other way.

 

[TCB in TN]

"Poachers" just like the deer they hunt come in all shapes and sizes. Still plenty of poor folks here local who take the opportunity to put one in the freezers, especially when they are putting a hurtin on the family garden. (Hogs, deer, rabbits, etc). Plenty of other folks just huntin for a set of horns. Neither is my cup of tea, but I have far less problem with the 1st bunch than the 2nd.