Question on poaching

[bigtex]

I dont think they care more about fish than game. Its definitely easier to regulate since theres only so many places to fish. Ive been checked once when hunting in over 20 years. Ive probably been checked 20 times in 25 years of fishing. Realistically there needs to be more wardens if poaching accounts for this much mortality

It depends on where and when you recreate. I know guys like you who have been checked once while hunting in 20 years. I also know guys who are checked every deer season.

[bigtex]

I tried talking to fish and game to become a warden and was told they wouldn’t put me back here everyone has to go to the port of Seattle first usually.

Not sure who you talked to but that is blatantly false.

[Boss .300 winmag]

I tried talking to fish and game to become a warden and was told they wouldn’t put me back here everyone has to go to the port of Seattle first usually.

Not sure who you talked to but that is blatantly false.

🤣

[hunter399]

I will say this anytime I see certain thing I assume poaching.

No Hunter Orange is a red flag to me
Coming or going from the woods once it's dark or early mourning before light.
Two to three people hunting,one beat up rifle .

I guess when I see people doing stuff that's not legal or breaking some game regs ,im gonna just have to wonder if they have a tag or should be hunting at all.

[Bango skank]

I will say this anytime I see certain thing I assume poaching.


Coming or going from the woods once it's dark or early mourning before light.

Are you kidding me wuth that?  Im always going into the woods well before daylight and/or coming out well after dark.

[frazierw]

I will say this anytime I see certain thing I assume poaching.


Coming or going from the woods once it's dark or early mourning before light.

Are you kidding me wuth that?  Im always going into the woods well before daylight and/or coming out well after dark.

I think he meant going into the woods late at night, or coming out of the woods early in the morning in the dark.  Otherwise most hunters would be suspected as poachers lol

[7mmfan]

I will say this anytime I see certain thing I assume poaching.

No Hunter Orange is a red flag to me
Coming or going from the woods once it's dark or early mourning before light.
Two to three people hunting,one beat up rifle .

I guess when I see people doing stuff that's not legal or breaking some game regs ,im gonna just have to wonder if they have a tag or should be hunting at all.

I'm going to agree with Bango on this one. I don't wear my hunter orange everywhere, or while I'm driving from A-B. I am usually driving into or out of the woods hours before and after dark, hell I'm walking into and out of the woods hours before and after dark. There's no rule that everyone has to have their own rifle is there? 3 tag holders can walk together with 1 rifle as long as 1 guy isn't shooting for the other 2. Back country hunters do this sometimes to cut down on pack weight. Might seem weird, but certainly isn't illegal, or makes a guy a poacher.

[cb1989]

Poaching is a big part of why western game populations as we know them (or knew them) wont survive the current rapid population growth in the rockies/pnw. Large human populations and game animals flat out do not mix and never will (unless you're talking about non migratory animals in very urban areas that don't allow shooting). There is always a certain % of folks in any population who are selfish and sh$tty so as population goes up, that % goes up, plain and simple. Especially as our great new tech economy continues to widen the wage gap and "living off the grid" gets more common. Its only going to get worse. Poaching will never be stopped or even slowed down with the enforcement agencies so brutally underfunded - if you want to talk about some secret conspiracy to end hunting, the destruction of game agency budgets is one that's right out there in the open for you but nobody seems to care. Yet we all like to complain that they dont enforce enough, dont perform thorough game surveys, dont hire good people, dont do this and that. None of that is free

At least blacktail have some place thick to hide. I'd wager mule deer and elk get hit much harder than blacktails. The fact that all of the east side winter habitat is shot through with roads doesnt help.

[Tracker0721]

I tried talking to fish and game to become a warden and was told they wouldn’t put me back here everyone has to go to the port of Seattle first usually.

Not sure who you talked to but that is blatantly false.

I’ve talked to a woman twice in Olympia and both times she said that most warden start their career in the Sound. Also our Warden that was out of Colville patrolling this area in 2015 when I left the military told me that as well. And when I’ve sent emails specifically asking about it the response is “you must be willing to accept whatever position is offered”. So for you to call it out as false than I’m assuming you’re a warden and maybe you should call the HR and see what they’re telling people these days. I can send you the email I just got 1.5 weeks ago.

 I’m born and raised ferry county and I’d say Kram was a d-head but poaching has skyrocketed since he left. And the wardens that are responsible now for our entire county are pretty much unheard of. Why do you think the sheriffs department has taken on forest patrol. No training on rules or regs and just told to go drive and be a show of force. A wealthy guy I know who owns a nice chunk of land took 27 BUCKS in 2017. But the last warden I dealt with who actually showed up in a timely manner was Anderson(believe that’s the one) in like 2012. He was able to make the arrest and found parts of at least a dozen deer in the guys freezers. So while it is a economic’s game like Pianoman had said- 101 has been featured in outdoor life for mule deer hunting, the number of people claiming they hunted it on the report is double the population and the deer hunters is even higher and the amount of traffic through republic alone sets records at all restaurants and gas stations yet no warden full time. Or even during season. I start with archery In September, bear in August actually, end my fur season in March and start turkey in April every year so constantly in the woods and I saw 1 warden this year with my truck full of cage traps and I didn’t get stopped. Stricter and more frequent enforcement is what’s needed to reduce poaching. Not more or less laws but more enforcement of what’s already in place. Or else more of us that follow the rules will have less opportunity and the herds will continue to shrink. But honestly counting up right now for my area alone as I have no experience in another area so I shouldn’t voice my uneducated opinion I’d say yeah, 2-4 poached per legal harvest. And I’m talking no tags, spot lights, multiple animals, rifles in archery, out of season etc.

[bigtex]

I tried talking to fish and game to become a warden and was told they wouldn’t put me back here everyone has to go to the port of Seattle first usually.

Not sure who you talked to but that is blatantly false.

I’ve talked to a woman twice in Olympia and both times she said that most warden start their career in the Sound. Also our Warden that was out of Colville patrolling this area in 2015 when I left the military told me that as well. And when I’ve sent emails specifically asking about it the response is “you must be willing to accept whatever position is offered”. So for you to call it out as false than I’m assuming you’re a warden and maybe you should call the HR and see what they’re telling people these days. I can send you the email I just got 1.5 weeks ago.

Yes you must be willing to accept whatever position is offered. But that does not mean everybody starts in Seattle, that's not even feasible considering there is just one officer stationed for Seattle.

There are plenty of officers who have started their career in eastern Washington or the more rural parts of western Washington. In your first statement you said most officers start at the port of Seattle, well that's false because there's only one marine officer assigned to Seattle. There's a difference between "assigned to the port of seattle" and "working the sound" there's 11 counties that touch the sound, you could start in one of those counties and any of the other 28.

The fact is WDFW Enforcement wants people who want to be a WDFW Officer, and not just the game warden for Ferry County. If you come in saying you only want to work in Ferry, Stevens, Okanogan, etc then sorry you won't get the job. But if you go in saying you want to just be a WDFW Officer and will take any position, you'll be surprised at the list of positions that are available, and one may be very close to home. With the amount of retirements, promotions, transfers, etc. there are always duty stations opening up across the state.

[swanderek]

Wow
So more deer are poached then legal harvest?

[Rainier10]

Wow
So more deer are poached then legal harvest?

Yep and I have heard that it is more than 1:1 as some have stated.  I have heard 2 or 3 poached for every 1 taken legally.  You stop poaching and you massively increase opportunity for everyone.

[RileyH]

Social media and becoming "Instafamous" are two contributors that can't be discounted.

There's an entire group (two families) of shady hunters near our property. Never wear orange, tell people they can't hunt on public land and get in your face about it, drive ATV's through wherever/whoever's property they want, regularly scope anyone wearing orange, shoot outside of legal hours or seasons, name a rule and they've broken it. Reporting has never had any apparent impact on them.

Yet they got their Hunting Washington Instagram feature this week and thousands of likes. I'm not a betting man but I'd put money down it'll happen again next year, like every year...

 

[hunter399]

Let's take wearing Hunter Orange ,I'm just a betting man that if you will break one rule you will break many more.
I almost never wear it in the truck,but as soon as I get out I put it on.

If your driving up at dusk to go hunting the next mourning without camping gear and such ,seem a little out of place

[swanderek]

I had no idea it was that bad. It’s amazing some deer get as big as they do.