Post by: Alpine Mojo on December 13, 2018, 02:53:33 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 13, 2018, 03:03:25 PM
Poaching is a huge problem in Washington.
Post by: elkboy on December 13, 2018, 03:18:03 PM
Post by: Alpine Mojo on December 13, 2018, 03:26:50 PM
Post by: WSU on December 13, 2018, 03:28:58 PM
And, courts don't care. They care far more about drugs and DUI than some deer that got shot in the woods.
Post by: bigtex on December 13, 2018, 03:30:25 PM
We also need to out pressure on the Legislature to earmark funding for wildlife enforcement. And I do mean earmark funding, so that DFW has no choice but to allocate those funds to wildlife officers, vehicles, etc.Already done in WA
Post by: Rainier10 on December 13, 2018, 03:40:24 PM
It wouldn't be that hard and like others have said if you get caught it's a slap on the wrist.
The rules keep the honest people honest.
Poaching is a huge issue with everything from clams and shrimp to moose.
Post by: Gringo31 on December 13, 2018, 03:45:56 PM
Post by: bigtex on December 13, 2018, 03:47:08 PM
Poaching is a huge issue with everything from clams and shrimp to moose.And that's the truth in every state. Only Florida has 24/7/365 statewide game warden coverage, and as a result they are the state with the most game wardens. However, even with that many officers poaching is still a big problem in Florida.
About 10 years ago a staffing study was conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) that found just to provide adequate coverage WDFW needed to double the amount of officers it has. Notice I said adequate and not 24/7/365 coverage. Since that time the number of officers has risen slightly (less than 10). There are several counties in WA that do not have a WDFW Officer residing in them, and haven't for some time. This requires officers in neighboring counties to patrol them as well.
Post by: PolarBear on December 13, 2018, 03:53:20 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 13, 2018, 04:03:12 PM
Throw trespass in there as well......I told Scott to go for it if he was on cat tracks next week. :chuckle: Leave those dogs for us and our new years shoot. :tup:
Post by: Griiz on December 13, 2018, 04:04:53 PM
Those are insane numbers! There can't be that many dishonest people in this world. But I have been wrong before.One dishonest person or group can harvest a lot of animals.
Post by: Mtnwalker on December 13, 2018, 04:19:02 PM
I am guessing that I have been involved in at least 40 deer harvested and 20 elk harvested and only had 3 checked by a game warden. That's 57 animals that never needed to be tagged. Could have just got them out of the woods, butchered at home and beenhuntingpoaching the next weekend.
It wouldn't be that hard and like others have said if you get caught it's a slap on the wrist.
The rules keep the honest people honest.
Poaching is a huge issue with everything from clams and shrimp to moose.
I’d almost guess that more poachers are caught through word of mouth than by LEO in the field at the time of the incident. Seems like the blatant poachers always get off easy and the guys making honest mistakes get hammered
Post by: Rainier10 on December 13, 2018, 04:24:50 PM
:yeah:Those are insane numbers! There can't be that many dishonest people in this world. But I have been wrong before.One dishonest person or group can harvest a lot of animals.
Post by: elkboy on December 13, 2018, 04:45:45 PM
We also need to out pressure on the Legislature to earmark funding for wildlife enforcement. And I do mean earmark funding, so that DFW has no choice but to allocate those funds to wildlife officers, vehicles, etc.Already done in WA
Thanks for weighing in, Bigtex. Is it having an effect? Is there room for additional advocacy? If you can point me to some more information, I'd appreciate it.
Post by: bigmacc on December 13, 2018, 05:03:38 PM
Post by: fishngamereaper on December 13, 2018, 05:35:13 PM
Sad. The punishments never fit the crime.
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on December 13, 2018, 05:50:15 PM
I have heard estimates of 2 poached for every 1 taken legally in Washington in some areas. I don't have a study to back that up, just rumblings I have heard.One Washington state elk study, I want to say 20 years ago, showed a 50% illegal kill rate, with most occurring from 3 weeks prior to modern to 3 weeks post. 25% of radio-tagged hen turkeys in Chelan and Kittitas counties were poached during the 2 years the radio transmitters were active. It is very significant.
Poaching is a huge problem in Washington.
I did a synthesis paper in college 30+ years ago looking at the published poaching studies at that time from around the US. Poaching DETECTION rates ranged from 1-10%, and illegal deer harvest rates ranged from 50%-200% of the legal harvest. Poaching rates on hen pheasants were 30% of total rooster harvest in a multi-state study in the Midwest.
One of my LE instructors had started as a Wisconsin Game Warden in the 1950s after his Korean War service; while not a published study it showed the effect of LE in the field. He was assigned a district that had never had a game warden, his first year he made over 200 night hunting/spotlighting cases. The second year, less than 50; and the third and subsequent years less than 20/year. He was assigned 100% to deer night hunting, any other enforcement he did was incidental.
If you accept that there is a harvestable surplus of game every year, the legal hunter's portion is that surplus less poaching losses. Poachers steal opportunity from law abiding hunters, this comes in the form of less desirable season timing (pre-migration, pre and post rut, etc); reduced harvest (antler point restrictions, male vs any animal, etc); reduced bag limits; poorer draw odds etc. It is not just the reduction in legal harvest, poaching takes away time in the field and opportunity to hunt.
TURN THEM IN. They are stealing quality opportunities from you, your kids and all law abiding hunters.
Post by: Hilltop123 on December 13, 2018, 06:25:18 PM
Turn them in? I have grown tired of the lax almost non caring, responses I get when I used to call in suspicious activity. He'll on any given night you can watch rigs drive around up here, at all hours of the night. The one time WDFW did do a night operation up here, they pulled out at 10pm, they said it was getting late. Hell, the boys doing the poaching have just left the quickly Mart getting their box of beer at 10 pm, on their way to get up here. JMTCWI have heard estimates of 2 poached for every 1 taken legally in Washington in some areas. I don't have a study to back that up, just rumblings I have heard.One Washington state elk study, I want to say 20 years ago, showed a 50% illegal kill rate, with most occurring from 3 weeks prior to modern to 3 weeks post. 25% of radio-tagged hen turkeys in Chelan and Kittitas counties were poached during the 2 years the radio transmitters were active. It is very significant.
Poaching is a huge problem in Washington.
I did a synthesis paper in college 30+ years ago looking at the published poaching studies at that time from around the US. Poaching DETECTION rates ranged from 1-10%, and illegal deer harvest rates ranged from 50%-200% of the legal harvest. Poaching rates on hen pheasants were 30% of total rooster harvest in a multi-state study in the Midwest.
One of my LE instructors had started as a Wisconsin Game Warden in the 1950s after his Korean War service; while not a published study it showed the effect of LE in the field. He was assigned a district that had never had a game warden, his first year he made over 200 night hunting/spotlighting cases. The second year, less than 50; and the third and subsequent years less than 20/year. He was assigned 100% to deer night hunting, any other enforcement he did was incidental.
If you accept that there is a harvestable surplus of game every year, the legal hunter's portion is that surplus less poaching losses. Poachers steal opportunity from law abiding hunters, this comes in the form of less desirable season timing (pre-migration, pre and post rut, etc); reduced harvest (antler point restrictions, male vs any animal, etc); reduced bag limits; poorer draw odds etc. It is not just the reduction in legal harvest, poaching takes away time in the field and opportunity to hunt.
TURN THEM IN. They are stealing quality opportunities from you, your kids and all law abiding hunters.
Post by: jstone on December 13, 2018, 08:17:38 PM
Post by: Hilltop123 on December 14, 2018, 07:05:55 AM
Gate the roads from November 30th to the spring. No trucks no snowmobile.Agreed
Post by: cb1989 on December 14, 2018, 08:48:57 AM
Turn them in? I have grown tired of the lax almost non caring, responses I get when I used to call in suspicious activity.
x2. Called about some dudes I saw in Umtanum couple weeks back riding off road with their side by sides and carrying crossbows, got a "thanks" I was out there for another two days never saw a state truck roll through even looking. Other than the fact that it helps me feel better knowing I called, I don't expect anything to come of it.
Post by: DeArBuCK4me on December 14, 2018, 11:48:01 AM
Post by: singleshot12 on December 14, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
When you talk to redneck hunters, and unethical ones as well, you realized how much meat goes to freezers from poaching. They also resent the fish and game department because according to them this people are only interested in regulating everything to do with hunting and fishing. So lots of them decided to go underground and we the fee paying hunters, pay the price cause there's less for us to be had. How about actually having a department who like the police have many officers-- and not just a few who drink coffee and eat doughnuts while the poachers chip away our animals--there's an idea. :tup: :tup: :tup:
So what you are saying is that the game dept. is responsible for the poaching? or creating more poachers? If so you may have a point.
Post by: Mr Mykiss on December 14, 2018, 12:53:48 PM
I have heard estimates of 2 poached for every 1 taken legally in WashingtonWait are you saying that Washington owes me like 24 deers!! Or is that not how it works??
Post by: Rainier10 on December 14, 2018, 01:13:17 PM
No that's not how it works. Every time you shoot a deer someone else gets to shoot two for free. They shoot two every time I shoot a deer also. They have to double up because @Karl Blanchard hunts almost exclusively out of state now and those don't count towards the 2 for 1 quota here in Washington. :chuckle:I have heard estimates of 2 poached for every 1 taken legally in WashingtonWait are you saying that Washington owes me like 24 deers!! Or is that not how it works??
Post by: NOCK NOCK on December 14, 2018, 03:26:12 PM
:sry: seems to be all the rage on here. :twocents:
and yes I do realize that wolves have an impact, and no, I am not a wolf hugger.
Post by: JeffRaines on December 14, 2018, 04:11:16 PM
Start by confiscating everything used to poach the animal, even the vehicle. Every time. Got 4 wheelers with you? Take those too. Theres some funding for your officers.
Now, make it a felony. Its senseless to ban these people from hunting, just like gun free zones - it doesn't do anything... but you can take their right to legally own firearms away.
Post by: Lumpy Taters on December 16, 2018, 08:46:27 PM
Post by: actionshooter on December 16, 2018, 08:55:22 PM
Post by: Thehowler on December 16, 2018, 10:18:02 PM
I, with out a doubt believe that more deer come out of Capitol Forest under salal brush than during deer season and have yet to hear of anyone getting caught. Its one of those crimes that is easy to get away with and then the light punishment is worth the risk to those who do it.
Couple months worth of taco meat.
Post by: PolarBear on December 17, 2018, 03:24:09 PM
I, with out a doubt believe that more deer come out of Capitol Forest under salal brush than during deer season and have yet to hear of anyone getting caught. Its one of those crimes that is easy to get away with and then the light punishment is worth the risk to those who do it.
:yeah:
And Vail as well!! I've seen it numerous times in Vail. Bloody bumpers with salal piled to the roof.