Full Disclosure: Can’t say that I have always followed the law when it comes to hunting. But I was young and I soon thereafter got it together.
Like most I do despise me a poacher, it never stops and they are everywhere. It seems every property I have hunted over the past 30+ years had a resident poacher or two lurking about. Below are a few of my favorites.
1. The dude who sits 5 feet off the line and hunts your property.
2. The blatant dude who you catch on your cams but is probably only there for a day or two.
3. The drunk dude who rides the roads shining and shooting.
4. The dipstick dude who just doesn’t have both oars in the water, so maps are useless to him.
5. The wayback dude whose grandpappy’s aunt’s mother owned the property and now feels he is like grandfathered in or something. And you know zero laws apply to this dude…
Read an interesting article by some guy on why poachers do what they do [ http://www.knowhunting.com/article.html?id=124 ] and then saw the paintball poacher video clip [ http://www.wideopenspaces.com/trespassing-hunter-gets-blasted-paint-video/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=WOS%20-%202nd&utm_campaign=WOS_newsletter_5.20%20-%202nd%20list ] and began to mull what can be done to curtail poaching, if anything.
To be effective you gotta be able to enforce whatever laws that are on the books BUT the Game and Fish folks are spread way too thin. I don’t see federal or state budgets increasing to meet this need…ever, ever. So what else can ya do? It’s not like entitlement guy is going to just stop doing his thing. This is where a little vigilantism might just do the trick. *channels my inner Charlie Bronson*
Slow down, you say? I know, I know. What I mean is that we must somehow police ourselves. But to what level and degree is the tricky part.
Perhaps a database of reported/reputed poachers could be formulated…oh my, what fun one could have with this. To begin with, my immaturity and non-existent compassion for poachers would wager that a little public humiliation is called for (although they probably could care less). One might also choose to inform said poacher’s employer or significant other of certain no-no’s if warnings are not heeded. On a side note, you might be surprised what one can discover on them there internets. Also, one could stay on top of things with the right LE folks so that they could focus on where best to put the hurt.
Most of which I speak is legal…most. But seriously, who really cares if a few little poacher’s rights get muddied. Not I.
Anyways, I just wish I knew the right folks to carry such tom foolery off…
Peace out.
@bucksabound
bucksabound 