Poaching in the Midwest

[Ragman]

Just a follow up to my above post. Yesterday Dad and I were heading to my blind to switch out SD cards in the camera and saw a bunch of ravens and magpies gathered close to where the guy told us the deer was. Apparently he played us for suckers making us believe that he had missed the deer. Only 40 yards from where he had us looking I found the buck he had shot. I had asked him if it was a whitetail because there are several mule deer on our property and he assured me that it was. Turns out that he either lied about that as well or couldn’t tell the difference between the two as the dead deer was a very nice mulie buck that I’ve been watching grow for the last three years and hoped to bow hunt next year. Mule deer season was over as well. This time we called the Conservation Officers and the investigation is underway.

 

[Randy F]

Just a follow up to my above post. Yesterday Dad and I were heading to my blind to switch out SD cards in the camera and saw a bunch of ravens and magpies gathered close to where the guy told us the deer was. Apparently he played us for suckers making us believe that he had missed the deer. Only 40 yards from where he had us looking I found the buck he had shot. I had asked him if it was a whitetail because there are several mule deer on our property and he assured me that it was. Turns out that he either lied about that as well or couldn’t tell the difference between the two as the dead deer was a very nice mulie buck that I’ve been watching grow for the last three years and hoped to bow hunt next year. Mule deer season was over as well. This time we called the Conservation Officers and the investigation is underway.
View attachment 376343Awww maaan!! Sorry to see that. I hope he gets pinned down, unfortunately the damage is done.

 

[JimP]

I would start packing a notepad and pencil around and start logging plate numbers. That is if you haven't already started doing that. Even better would be a picture of the plate with a cell phone.

I started packing the notepad and pencil a few years ago when some folks were up hunting in a limited hunting area for deer. I believed their bs when I talked to them but found out that they were lying a couple of days later.

 

[Ragman]

I would start packing a notepad and pencil around and start logging plate numbers. That is if you haven't already started doing that. Even better would be a picture of the plate with a cell phone.

I started packing the notepad and pencil a few years ago when some folks were up hunting in a limited hunting area for deer. I believed their bs when I talked to them but found out that they were lying a couple of days later.

Agreed. And that’s what I did. He was driving his business truck and I took a photo of the plate and the side of the truck with his company name and phone number. The COs have those photos now.

 

[markm]

Can't fix stupid

Warden friend of mine just nabbed a spotlighter he’s been after for years. This idiot actually shot a couple of my neighbors goats, apparently mistaking them for deer.

I hope they throw the book at him.

 

[Firebird]

Not legal to go onto private property in any of the 4-5 states I hunt to retrieve game. I have shot a buck and had to call for permission to look for it when it crossed into private. They simply asked that I wait until lunchtime the next day so they could have a morning hunt without me in it. They also contacted me months later when they found a dead buck skeleton and offered me the head. It was not my buck and I declined. Good folks there in Nebraska. Mostly.
Conversely I have now found three dead elk while hunting grouse on public land in utah with my dogs and have duly reported them to the dwr. Each time the investigating officer said “shot and lost” and would NOT let me have the antlers or any other reward. I even helped one of the officers cut off the antlers when their arms got too tired to finish that task. I’ve quit turning them in to those guys just so they can confiscate and then auction them off later. I do put cameras up in the trees pointing down and have gotten some good cat and bear pics that way.

 

[Firebird]

Here is a mule deer head that had been tied to the base of a tree. Predators had cleaned off the carcass and scattered it but he head remained so the poacher could come back and get it another time. My daughter is in the dwr truck holding the rack-understandably this time is was confiscated to become part of the investigation.

 

[JimP]

Not legal to go onto private property in any of the 4-5 states I hunt to retrieve game. I have shot a buck and had to call for permission to look for it when it crossed into private. They simply asked that I wait until lunchtime the next day so they could have a morning hunt without me in it. They also contacted me months later when they found a dead buck skeleton and offered me the head. It was not my buck and I declined. Good folks there in Nebraska. Mostly.
Conversely I have now found three dead elk while hunting grouse on public land in utah with my dogs and have duly reported them to the dwr. Each time the investigating officer said “shot and lost” and would NOT let me have the antlers or any other reward. I even helped one of the officers cut off the antlers when their arms got too tired to finish that task. I’ve quit turning them in to those guys just so they can confiscate and then auction them off later. I do put cameras up in the trees pointing down and have gotten some good cat and bear pics that way.

If the animal was shot they will hold the antlers for a long time before they sell them at the auction, they do this just to keep evidence. But they realize that after so long that they will never catch the poacher.

As for finding other dead heads and the finder being able to keep the antlers, I know of a number of hunters that have done this. The DWR do their investigation and then once that is complete and they have determined that the animal died of natural causes or a 4 legged predator they ask the finder if they would like the antlers. My nephew is one of them and he has a real nice 6x6 bull elk hanging in his garage from doing it this way.

But if the animal was shot with a arrow or bullet then they will never give you the antlers.

And in 99% of the states that I know of you can not trespass onto private property to retrieve a animal without the owners or caretakers permission.

 

[K E Johnson]

Apparently all parts of the country deal with this differently. The officer I dealt with, was going to write me a disposition to keep the antlers sight unseen. It was only after I texted him a picture that he decided to come look.
Elk are understandably on a whole other level.
I still don’t get letting them go to waste.

 

[jeff]

In Pennsylvania if an animal doesn't go down until it's on property where you don't have the ok to hunt, permission is required to retrieve it.

It's the same in most western states.

 

[Firebird]

Wyoming has been awesome to work with on a couple occasions when I have reported problems there. Utah let me have a small roadkill bear once while on another occasion and a gorgeous trophy size roadkill bear they were jerks and confiscated that one. Case by case, officer by officer I suppose-

 

[WAB]

IMO WY has the best wildlife officers in the nation. Professional, pragmatic and out to help honest sportsmen, not try to find ways they’ve unwittingly infringed on a law. We had a fellow shoot a 6 pt bull elf south of Rawlins when I lived there. The bull dropped out of sight and jumped back up. He shot again and dropped a second bull beside the first that was laying stone dead. The hunter self reported. The warden investigated, saw the obvious and honest mistake, told the hunter to tag the elk they thought dropped first, and took the second bull to the food bank. No charges. You won’t find that kind of attitude in very many states.

 

[JimP]

Wyoming has been awesome to work with on a couple occasions when I have reported problems there. Utah let me have a small roadkill bear once while on another occasion and a gorgeous trophy size roadkill bear they were jerks and confiscated that one. Case by case, officer by officer I suppose-

Utah had a lot of problems years ago with poachers shooting trophy size animals and then going back later to recover the heads figuring that they were in the clear. They also had problems with people deliberately hitting animals on the roads and then claiming that they were just driving down the road when the animal jumped out in front of them. So they started to get tough on dead heads and salvage permits for road kills.

I saw a Utah Highway patrolman getting ready to dispatch a trophy mule deer buck up on Shoulder Summit one day a number of years ago just before Thanksgiving. I stopped and asked him if I could have the deer since the vehicle that hit it was nowhere around. He said that I could, but that he would have to take the head and that I had to clean the buck somewhere besides the side of the road. I got a lot of meat off of that deer, my brother in law wondered what I wanted when I pulled into his home and asked where his block and tackle was at in his shed. That was until he saw that deer in the back of my truck.

 

[WAB]

Hmmm, just re-read my post, unfortunate about that bull elf!

 

[Ragman]

Another addition to my post. I received a phone call from the investigating Conservation Officer this morning to update me on the case. The offender received fines totalling over $5000 for various wildlife charges. I'm not sure of all of them, but they included:
- Hunting on posted land
- Trespassing on posted land without permission
- Killing a mule deer out of season
- Abandoning/wasting a big game carcass
- Not wearing the legally required coloured outer wear
The real kicker for him is that since he has spent time in prison, he is banned from owning/possessing a firearm and ammunition. The Conservation Officers along with the RCMP carried out a search warrant and found .30-06 ammunition inside the house. The guy had told my Dad that he had been using his father's .30-06 and was worried about losing it if we reported him. They were then able to find a loaded .30-06 hidden outside of the house. Obviously this brought additional charges from the RCMP which will result in, if convicted, a minimum jail sentence of 3 years. It's no wonder he offered to pay us to keep quiet about it.
When they arrived at his house to conduct the search, he had a buddy there with him to help him hide firearms. This buddy happened to have a loaded firearm in his vehicle, so he received charges as well.
His father was issued a written warning to the fact that his rifle was in his son's possession.

This was a difficult decision for me and my parents. As I mentioned before this clown is my cousin's son. His grandmother and my Mom are first cousins and have always been close. We had decided to let this go with a warning of an ass-kicking if we ever saw him around there again. That was when we thought that no animal was killed. Then when we found the carcass of an out-of-season mulie four days later we decided that morally we had to report him. Additionally for my parents is that earlier in the year they had purchased a house in town and will be moving off the farm when the town house is ready. Their next-door neighbors are this guy's parents! I am so hoping that they won't hold a grudge against Mom and Dad and family relations remain good. Especially with his grandma.

 

[WAB]

Yo

Another addition to my post. I received a phone call from the investigating Conservation Officer this morning to update me on the case. The offender received fines totalling over $5000 for various wildlife charges. I'm not sure of all of them, but they included:
- Hunting on posted land
- Trespassing on posted land without permission
- Killing a mule deer out of season
- Abandoning/wasting a big game carcass
- Not wearing the legally required coloured outer wear
The real kicker for him is that since he has spent time in prison, he is banned from owning/possessing a firearm and ammunition. The Conservation Officers along with the RCMP carried out a search warrant and found .30-06 ammunition inside the house. The guy had told my Dad that he had been using his father's .30-06 and was worried about losing it if we reported him. They were then able to find a loaded .30-06 hidden outside of the house. Obviously this brought additional charges from the RCMP which will result in, if convicted, a minimum jail sentence of 3 years. It's no wonder he offered to pay us to keep quiet about it.
When they arrived at his house to conduct the search, he had a buddy there with him to help him hide firearms. This buddy happened to have a loaded firearm in his vehicle, so he received charges as well.
His father was issued a written warning to the fact that his rifle was in his son's possession.

This was a difficult decision for me and my parents. As I mentioned before this clown is my cousin's son. His grandmother and my Mom are first cousins and have always been close. We had decided to let this go with a warning of an ass-kicking if we ever saw him around there again. That was when we thought that no animal was killed. Then when we found the carcass of an out-of-season mulie four days later we decided that morally we had to report him. Additionally for my parents is that earlier in the year they had purchased a house in town and will be moving off the farm when the town house is ready. Their next-door neighbors are this guy's parents! I am so hoping that they won't hold a grudge against Mom and Dad and family relations remain good. Especially with his grandma.

You did the right thing. I hope all involved realize that and let it go.

 

[Ragman]

Yo

You did the right thing. I hope all involved realize that and let it go.

One of the downsides to living in a small town right?

 

[WAB]

Indeed, I know the feeling.