poachers

[alanger]

Have you guys ever seen anyone poach a deer? I did this year. It all started when i was looking at some deer from camp. a bunch of does. a spike. and a big 2 point. i saw a guy walk up on the hill i turn away for a drink of aqua and i hear cawhhopp!! i turn around and a deer goes down. i go over talk to the law enforcement see if you can hunt on that land and its leased from the bearu of reclamation to the state park. after the shot the guy tries to cover it up by walking away from the scene but walks straight back down and we corner him. he simply walks accross the bank passed us. i go up on the hill with the guys son. my friend heads over in his truck and cuts the guy off. talks to him. confinscates his equipment and i find the deer. i document the scene and everything. the guy is trying to slip out of town. the game warden cuts him off. brings him to my friends house. they look in the back of his truck he has another 2 point buck in the truck. he left the one he shot infront of me on the hill its still alive. he has another illeagal buck in his truck and things do not look good for him. he got convicted and now the second series starts. i still have videos and proof to show. i just wanted to know if any of you have experienced the same thing.

[fishunt247]

Good for you for handling it like that, sounds like you got the job done

[gasman]

Way to go.

You are the man.


Poachers suck 

[Thenewguy]

 

[elksnout]

Excellent job handling this. We need more hunters to step up and do this !!!! Thank you for caring enough and having the nerve to confront this crook. This is a great example for the rest of us to follow.

[lokidog]

Took a buddy out elk huting in OR's coast range.  Watched a guy come in below us, drop a cow, go over, look at her, and then walk away.  Fortunately, the guy I was with was a local DA and we got cell reception....  He called the warden who was in the area, called his wife who had the truck, she circled below to cut off the guy's way out/get a license number.  The warden caught him.  We helped the warden winch it up to the landing and gut it out.  Later that day we came across the warden.  He told us he happened across a disabled hunter later in the day and the guy was willing to put his tag on it. Win/win.

Yeah, poachers suck!

[Hacksaw]

Yep. I have been witness to a somewhat similar situation. A few years back on the Palouse I was high up on a ridge deer hunting and my partner was way down below working the spotting scope (he'd already tagged out). I had heard shots in front of me early in the morning and thought that they came from a chunk of property where no one can get permission to hunt (not even family). I alerted my partner and after a couple hours we spot two guys on this property, and we start watching these idiots from a distance. They had no clue we were watching them. We watch them hunt around for a while and then walk back over to where I had heard shots coming from. Low and behold, they walk right up to a dead buck that they definitely knew was there the whole time and one guy cuts the head off of it and starts heading for their truck. They leave the rest of the deer behind. Through binos, I could swear the buck was a 2 point. At one point, the guy puts the head down and my partner can see the whole head plain as day through his spotting scope and confirms that it is definitely a 2-point buck (3-pt min unit) so he calls Whitman County Dispatch and reports and describes everything. They say they will have a deputy out in a few minutes (game officer was not in the area apparently). We watched as the deputy pulled in just as these guys got back to their pickup, and I got a feeling of relief thinking that these idiots were busted so I started the long trek back to our pickup. We get back to the pickup and before we can even drive down the road to see what happened the deputy (female) calls my buddies cell phone to tell him that she had to cut them loose because she thought everything was legit. She said she counted all the points and they added up to four points (counting both sides). There was no tag on the deer the whole time we saw it. My only mistake that day was that I should have followed up with the game warden anyway because he may have been able to do something about it later on. I was pissed and frustrated that a deputy would be so naive about game laws, but I was young and stupid and realize now that I should have done more as well. I was also frustrated that WDFW somehow thinks a 3-pt min for whitetails effectively protects yearling bucks in the palouse. Two years before this incident, I had found four dead two points in a two day period following the late rifle hunt within a one mile radius of this place. The "shoot if you see 2 points and look for an eyeguard later" mentality really pisses me off.

[Pathfinder101]

That's why I put all three Game Warden's cell phones in my phone.  If I come across an idiot, I am not putting my 10 draw points in the hands of some sheriff's deputy. 

Had a buddy that accidentally shot a 2 pt this year and turned himself in.  Still got the ticket, still can't hunt next season... I think he learned his lesson... 

[Hacksaw]

Yep. I am older and wiser now, and I have the proper phone numbers in my phone now as well. To be fair to deputies, though, I called Lewis County dispatch this year and had a Lewis County deputy actaully respond way out in the corner of the county to a locked gate with a mix of state and private timber ground behind it. It's clearly marked "No Motorized Vehicles" and some guys kept riding around the gate like they owned the place on their ATV's. That tends to piss you off when you walk in or ride in on a mountain bike all day. The deputy called me within 5 minutes of my call to dispatch and told me he was a hunter and that it pisses him off when guys do this as well and that he was on his way. I thought he might have trouble finding the spot, but he knew right where he was going and made a valiant attempt at trying to catch the guys. Unfortunately, they were able to sneak out around another gate about five miles on the other side before he could contact them. He even called me back later to apologize for not catching up to them. Really nice guy - think his name was Deputy Mauerman (spelling?). FYI - Lewis County dispatch told me they will try to respond to situations like these if it involves state land.

[ribka]

Great job guys.
People will not poach if they know people are watching and are willing to turn them in.

If you see suspicious activity please investigate or call law enforcement. Most of you have been out in the woods enough to know suspicious activity.

That goes for tweekers who cruise around looking to break into hunting fishing camps, vehicles.
If you see a group of skinny guys/kids in a beat-up crappy car slowly driving around or hanging out in parking areas confront them. I do and it works.
Just walk up and ask what there are doing if they act funny tell you called in their plate and took their photo.

[whacker1]

Yes, Jason Mauerman - Went to high school with Jason and am really close friends with his younger sister.  Very nice guy and has his heart in teh right place for his career of choice.  Sheriff's deputy in one of the poorest counties in the state has to be somewhat of a thank less job.  Glad to hear that Jason is doing right by you.

[alanger]

cool. everyone takes part in it. i have reported a few. me and mossback did when we first started going to elk camp. broke like 4 laws. and then fled the state. they are still looking for him. we know where he fled tho. we are pretty sure but its in the law enforcements hands now.

[Hacksaw]

Yes, Jason Mauerman - Went to high school with Jason and am really close friends with his younger sister.  Very nice guy and has his heart in teh right place for his career of choice.  Sheriff's deputy in one of the poorest counties in the state has to be somewhat of a thank less job.  Glad to hear that Jason is doing right by you.

Yeah, that was him. Didn't know if I should have thrown a name out here like that, but I figured I'd give credit where credit is due. The guy was polite, professional, and actually made an effort to help out some frustrated hunters. If he or any of his colleagues see the site, hopefully they will know that some of us really appreciate the job they do.

[Elkstuffer]

alanger, Did you get your ten points for turning him in?

[alanger]

not yet. i havent submitted my information. i have to finish my statement and enter my videos onto my computer.