# Poachers



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

My son sent me these pics just a few minutes ago. A couple of local good ol boys killed a gobbler on the TVA reservation just a couple of miles down the road from me. There is quite a few Turkeys on the reservation and it was just too tempting for these 2 knuckleheads to road shoot a big Tom. I hope these two realize that this occurred on Federal lands.,,,I imagine it will be tough making payments on that Ford truck when it is no longer in your possession. Discharging a firearm on Federal land is a major offense. Have a great day fellas!










You can see the Gobbler laying on the ground between them.










That is the Ford truck in the foreground with three Feds in white trucks behind them.

Regards, Mike


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Yepper that turkey poacher will probably help lower the national debt a little bit!! When conservation officers catch a poacher & it aired on TV show the fines are pricey plus hunter will loose hunting rights for a while or possibly permanently.


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

Brilliant move...


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Some real smart guys. I was thinking of picking IQ and their brand of truck, but thought I'd leave that to Stack. 

Seems these types of cases are normally well publicized, but maybe some folks don't read/watch/listen very well.

Larry


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

They should shake their hand and give them a pat on the back. There are so many turkeys around here they do crop damage. A tell my friends who hunt here to take all they can shoot. They always stay legal. If a guy was shooting them to feed a family that would be one thing but those guys probably weren't doing it because they need to eat. And while they are at it they should have open season on sandhill cranes in our area.


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

Had this one taken by a .22 from the road by a couple of teenage kids during bow season. Neighbor saw lights out in the field and called me, they took off before I got to them but DEC caught up to em a couple days later. Of course DEC officer has to take the head


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Poachers suck! Our local county blade operator got caught poaching a nice buck with some long drop tines this winter. Pretty sure he got turned in by a farmer/rancher that does some outfitting on the side. The talk was this outfitter had some pay hunters at the end of our bow season that heard the rifle shot. Our bow season ends the first week of January. Well the guy who shot the buck claimed he wounded it in rifle season which was in November and didnt' find this buck till the end of bow season, about a month and half later. He tagged it with a bow tag though which didn't look good for him. The rumors I heard is that he took the head to a big buck show and the outfitter or someone else that knew of that buck had trail camera pics of that buck still alive days before it got tagged. As far as I know the legal process is still on going.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

IHCman said:


> The rumors I heard is that he took the head to a big buck show and the outfitter or someone else that knew of that buck had trail camera pics of that buck still alive days before it got tagged.


Reminds me of a local guy taking a big buck, his wife posted picture on social media (yea face one) of him and buck several hours BEFORE he bought his hunting license. Good old time stamp got him.

IDK if they are still married or not. 

Larry


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Send some poachers this way to clean up the deer, can’t hardly grow any crop for the deer damage unless you have 12 ft page wire.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

slowzuki said:


> Send some poachers this way to clean up the deer, can't hardly grow any crop for the deer damage unless you have 12 ft page wire.


Do y'all have permits to kill them? More importantly, do you have a gun that will kill them?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

r82230 said:


> Some real smart guys. I was thinking of picking IQ and their brand of truck, but thought I'd leave that to Stack.
> 
> Seems these types of cases are normally well publicized, but maybe some folks don't read/watch/listen very well.
> 
> Larry


You're right, if they were driving a Government Motors I would know they were idiots, they probably stole the Ford....being criminals and all


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Can get gun season deer tag, bow season tag plus up to 4 nuisance tags? There's restrictions on shooting does though.

And yes most rural Canadian homes have firearms in them. 5 round max on detachable mags. Min .22 centre fire cartridge for deer hunting required.



somedevildawg said:


> Do y'all have permits to kill them? More importantly, do you have a gun that will kill them?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> Send some poachers this way to clean up the deer, can't hardly grow any crop for the deer damage unless you have 12 ft page wire.


Deer populations are controlled by harvest of doe's. If there is a restriction on shooting doe's then you have absolutely no hope of controlling the over-population. Your deer/crop problem is self made. You need to educate either the wildlife officials(doubtful) or the lawmakers(probable).

Regards, Mike


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

Vol said:


> Deer populations are controlled by harvest of doe's. If there is a restriction on shooting doe's then you have absolutely no hope of controlling the over-population. Your deer/crop problem is self made. You need to educate either the wildlife officials(doubtful) or the lawmakers(probable).
> 
> Regards, Mike


We have the same deer problem here and ODNR is not interested in solving it. Why would they. I mean, we feed their livestock and then they sell them(tags, licenses, ect). I wish I could get that set up with my cows. If deer population gets to low, hunting groups complain hunting is to hard.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

There is a lotto to get doe tags but in local hunting culture you are considered a poor hunter if you take one. Further north where the employment situation isn’t as good and deer are a food bank of sorts there is much less issue with friends if you shoot does.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> There is a lotto to get doe tags but in local hunting culture you are considered a poor hunter if you take one.


Then the culture is a large part of the problem and is in dire need of wildlife education. The proper buck to doe ratio is approximately 1:1. Anything much outside of this ratio results in an imbalance in nature due to mankind which results in high crop depradation and habitat destruction. Mother nature will eventually bring over-population in check with outbreaks of various disease.....mainly hemorrhagic disease. Your local hunting culture is hurting the quality of the whitetail and the perception of hunting and wildlife by others that are not involved in hunting and wildlife like the ag sector.

Regards, Mike


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

The constant “buck fever” pressure already seems to be causing a downward pressure on the size of bucks the last 30 years. White tails only have been common in our area about 100 years or so. Moose are still here but the woodland caribou were pushed out as the white tails moved in.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Vol said:


> The proper buck to doe ratio is approximately 1:1. Anything much outside of this ratio results in an imbalance in nature due to mankind which results in high crop depradation and habitat destruction. Mother nature will eventually bring over-population in check with outbreaks of various disease.....mainly hemorrhagic disease.
> Regards, Mike


Here in Michigan we have both CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) and TB, in our deer herd and I don't think we come close to trying to have 2:1, let alone 1:1 ratios. Perhaps when our stay at home orders are dropped, we can send some decision makers to your neck of the woods for a little education. 

Larry


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

At least 5-1 here does to bucks.Most bucks are harvested at 1.5 - 2.5 yrs

Very few trophy type bucks around because they get dead before then.

And they don't give out many doe tags unless for a youth tag.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

That’s crazy....we have a doe a day here. Problem is, the modern quality deer management is all focused towards big bucks....sure they TALK about killing does, but the reality is, very few do....they don’t want to “mess up their hunting” don’t ya know, morons...they go jump in their big brand new 4x4 with their Sako topped with a swavorski and head home to eat beef. They never get the true joy of hunting....


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

There are always some everywhere that have that "if it's brown it's down" mentality when it comes to bucks. They shoot little bucks just because they have some sort of antler. Once a whitetail buck reaches 4 years old it evolves into a totally different creature.....mostly nocturnal. They really get their mature antlers about the 4th to 5th year. Not many people can kill them (legally) when they get to this stage as they become like ghosts. And if it wasn't for the rut period there would hardly be any mature bucks harvested. I take one about every 3 years....and pass on many others. i do take a few doe's along the way as to do my part in keeping things in balance.

Regards, Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> Send some poachers this way to clean up the deer, can't hardly grow any crop for the deer damage unless you have 12 ft page wire.


Yep, been there done that. First hunt they had across the road in the state park they took over 900 deer off 6 square miles.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> There are always some everywhere that have that "if it's brown it's down" mentality when it comes to bucks. They shoot little bucks just because they have some sort of antler. Once a whitetail buck reaches 4 years old it evolves into a totally different creature.....mostly nocturnal. They really get their mature antlers about the 4th to 5th year. Not many people can kill them (legally) when they get to this stage as they become like ghosts. And if it wasn't for the rut period there would hardly be any mature bucks harvested. I take one about every 3 years....and pass on many others. i do take a few doe's along the way as to do my part in keeping things in balance.
> 
> Regards, Mike


I'm not sure we have that problem here Mike....I've always been a BGD type hunter, doesn't mean I shoot everything, but if the time is right, the weather is right, the shot is right, and the freezer is low, I'm gonna shoot whatever I deem necessary to me. I don't need a group or the State telling me what to shoot. It's always interesting when these type measures get put into practice. For every action there's an opposite re-action. Along with QDM hunters were able to petition the state to allow baiting....that's something that I've never knowingly done with whitetail deer. It's always been illegal (and unethical to me) in the State of Georgia. I grew up hunting and couldn't believe it when the state gave up their reliance on wildlife biologists and bowed to the political pressure of the QDM groups. The predominate focus in deer hunting seems to be antler size. It's always been a source of pride for the hunter, but not the focus.....i know guys that will not even go in the woods without a pile of corn on the ground, it makes me just shake my head. The excitement of finding a mature animal and figuring his early season movements is unmistakable. Nothing quite as addictive from a hunters standpoint I thought...that is, until they brought baiting into the mainstream by legalizing it. A few years ago one would get a ticket and a $200 fine for baiting within 200 yds and in sight of their stand. Now you can have a pile as big as your car, it makes no sense. It's akin to the fox guarding the hen house....
Road riders and night hunters are much worse now as a result of these measures....I mean, if shooting (hard time calling it hunting) the deer is necessary in a state with a huge population like ours, perhaps hunting at night or shooting three bucks instead of two or riding roads and poaching is more acceptable as well....it's all in the mindset of the modern QDM shooter. I know a lot of folks down here (and I'm sure elsewhere) that find it very difficult to harvest a doe....they didn't spend all that money on that rifle, scope, camo, corn, to harvest a lowly doe....you can just hear the disappointment in their voice sometimes if they happen to take one. But we've perpetrated that in our hype and enthusiasm to harvest the "big boy". The flawed theory runs contrary to the laws of nature, the biggest and baddest usually are the least culled, we seem to be doing our damned best to change it. Even with this change to allow the hunter to be the wildlife biologist and dictate laws, the biggest bucks have the odds. Idk how much the insurance companies are gonna take before they get involved....it's unbelievable what they pay out every year in claims because of the overcrowding of the deer population. I personally knew a man that was killed while riding down the road the day after Christmas 7 years ago, had his wife in the passenger seat....three girls in the back. 2-3 yr old buck decided to chase a doe and leaped into the front seat via the windshield and took his life in front of them all.....it had an effect on me. If I'm anywhere near a road, I may shoot a doe and think...I may have just saved a humans life, not killed a deer. A big help would be more drop off points for Hunter for the Hungry projects, maybe even a free license next year after X number of drop-offs....idk. 
I always tell younger folk that our job as hunters is to take a good shot with a quick kill capability, leave little behind and enjoy what nature has provided for us. It really has nothing to do with the size of the horns, the weight of the fish, etc... It's not the norm around here, that's for sure


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

We don't have a lot of QDM type management here. We have a few people doing it on their own, but no real organized concentrated efforts. I am really not sure why it hasn't taken off here but we do have a few clubs that institute a point management or a width management but not many.

If I am looking for venison for my freezer, I always take doe's. I just don't care for the taste(gaminess) of bucks during the rut. If I take a nice antlered buck, I almost always have it processed and I donate it. But on occasion someone might ask for the deer.

I have taken enough of the younger bucks when I was young that I really don't have any interest in taking them at this point in time. I just really enjoy pursuing the older mature buck and when I take one it is still a great feeling.

I took this main frame 9 point that had 10 total points last November. It was a thrill and made a nice European mount.










Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

By European mount I assume your talking about the skull mount we do by placing it in a fire ant bed? That's the way I roll...lol. My wife wouldn't tolerate a "dead animal" on the wall so I adorn the shop  
She loves to go "hunting" with me tho....I give her one bullet and she puts it in her gun shen she gets to the stand, but I'm purty sure she never really does chamber the round...if she was to shoot one I'd have to call my vet to meet us at the gate to see if we could "save" it....but she really enjoys just sitting in the stand and watching the wildlife. I usually sit her very close to me, so she can be another set of eyes don't ya know....texting in the stand is allowed in my book although it may run contrary to the law of the land


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

That’s a really nice buck btw, it rare to see them that size here....a real trophy


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

That is a darn nice deer anywhere.


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