Reporting Other Hunters

[Evanszach7]

2 years ago I reported bait/mineral sites, permanent stands, and excessive trimming of a bedding area. I never heard back from the DNR. Bumped into an officer the other day. Unfortunately he shared theres only 1 DNR per county and theyre mostly tied up with trespassing and poaching. I also personally rank those offenses over the latter, so ive accepted it as part of the public.

I changed my mindset and its helped put me on overlooked spots and overlooked travel cooridoors. Im hunting heavily pressured state ground. Similar to primary bedding, if a big buck moves out, another fills the void. I typically find the illegal issues in classic areas most guys would pick from an ariel or topo. Kinda like walking a field edge and finding a scrape where it should be- same with permanent stands here.

Knowing where the pressure is and how they access it, is as important as knowing the bedding here. I like keeping the pressure consistent and knowing I can pass deer and these guys dont have a great chance at them outside the rut. It also keeps my good spots unpressured, because most guys that have a permanent set arent looking to change it, at least that season.

[Motivated]

I've reported illegal bait stations on our public lands here in Indiana. The DNR was happy for the intel and took care of it.

If you don't report it, then you are giving them permission to continue. Would you give them permission to start doing this in the first place?

[brancher147]

Some stuff I don’t report. Baiting or hunting out of season with a gun I am reporting.

[Kraftd]

I've never been able to bring myself to report stands that I find that aren't supposed t be there. Many look like they have been there a while, part of me always wonders if its keeping and older person out hunting longer (probably not), and there are just frankly too many of them.

I've called in a couple of large bait piles in. Would certainly report out of season hunting, the guy not hunting when he's supposed to and the gun during bow season though.

[Horizontal Hunter]

If you dont report violators you're not doing your job as a land owner. Public lands belong to everyone, that means its your land as much as it is anyones. If you see something wrong you have every right and more importantly a responsibility to report it.

I used to feel the same way. I didn’t bother with petty crap only bigger things. Baiting, an illegal trap that had a fisher in it, that kind of stuff. I felt that I was doing my part and doing the right thing.

The last time I called it was to report a gun hunter hunting in the middle of a 1200 acre bow hunting only area during the last week of bow season. I guess He wanted to get a jump on gun season.

I offered to meet the warden on the trail, which I did. The warden was a new guy trying to make a name for himself, he succeeded, and proceeded to give me a colonoscopy. He didn’t give a rats about the guy I called about. I didn’t get a ticket but it was a most unpleasant experience.

Never again will I call, neither will anyone of the guys I hunt with after the crap he put me through.

Invite the man into your life at your own risk. It is the luck of the draw.

We were checked later that season when we were hunting the same parcel by an experienced warden who was retiring the following year. He knew exactly who we were talking about when we told him what had happened to me and that none of use would ever call again. He was upset that none of us would ever call again but it is what it is. Hopefully it got back to the original warden.

None of us have ever called again and that was years ago.

I guess I'm part of the problem. I'm not comfortable calling the law on people. Judge all you want, that's how I feel about it.

Me too. They can do their job without my help.

Bob

[moondoondude]

This can be a tender topic because there's sometimes more to it than there seems to be at first - a landowner who doesn't want to be bothered with anything, possible personal relationships, uncompromising your own permission to access or hunt the ground. This year more than any other I have begun to report just about any illegal activity I find or hear about. I think of the properties I hunt as investments, and even if it's not the best short-term option, in the long-term I believe it will pay off.

I found a huge, I mean like 500 pounds huge, baiting site in a safety area of a public area that I hunt with a well brushed in ground blind and a trail leading back to private property where the guy had stashed a couple more hundred pounds of corn underneath some leaves and logs. Deer activity in that area had been very strange throughout this year, especially with the lack of acorns, and two guys I know who shot bucks there said they were full of corn. They are lighting this guy up with a ton of citations and I couldn't be happier!

[Dewey]

Always good to have the contact info of your local warden. Put it in your phone so it’s always available when you need it. It’s as simple as taking a pic of the violation, record the gps coordinates and then text or email the info to your warden. I do this often and never once had one get upset or hassle me in any way. Every single time I have been thanked for the help and can tell they really appreciate the tips to help them do their job. They simply cannot be everywhere so it’s up to us as sportsmen to do the right thing and assist them when we can.

I don’t look at it as tattling on a fellow hunter because I don’t look at violators as being on the same side as those of us that do things fairly and according to the rules. Cheaters make all of us look bad to the non-hunting community so it’s in our best interest to eliminate this stuff before it gets way out of control. When people look the other way it gets out of control very quickly and can ruin the experience for all the honest hunters out there. Be part of the solution. It’s no different than picking up garbage that people leave laying around. Your just cleaning up a different type of trash.

[matt1336]

Report what concerns you. I will warn you to avoid drama. I’m in the middle of a mess on public land by me. Two landowners trying to lock the public down, the warden in my area and the sheriffs department. It’s almost not worth it.
I’d rather have everyone mind their business. All I want to do is legally access the public land.
Drama creates animosity. These hard feeling lead to pettiness. I can tell you that in my situation the warden, the deputies and me are all sick of these landowners’ lies and constant calls.
I could have helped the situation by not engaging with the Landowners when I was confronted by them. I don’t respond well while getting yelled at and accused of crap I didn’t do...he even flashed his 9mm while it was holstered. Law enforcement could have helped by charging them when they deserved to be charged. But they didn’t.
I think I’d have done better for myself if I’d just not engage and not get law enforcement involved. Just hunt and drive away without engagement. My .02.

[Dewey]

Report what concerns you. I will warn you to avoid drama. I’m in the middle of a mess on public land by me. Two landowners trying to lock the public down, the warden in my area and the sheriffs department. It’s almost not worth it.
I’d rather have everyone mind their business. All I want to do is legally access the public land.
Drama creates animosity. These hard feeling lead to pettiness. I can tell you that in my situation the warden, the deputies and me are all sick of these landowners’ lies and constant calls.
I could have helped the situation by not engaging with the Landowners when I was confronted by them. I don’t respond well while getting yelled at and accused of crap I didn’t do...he even flashed his 9mm while it was holstered. Law enforcement could have helped by charging them when they deserved to be charged. But they didn’t.
I think I’d have done better for myself if I’d just not engage and not get law enforcement involved. Just hunt and drive away without engagement. My .02.

Never engage. Just be nice and go on your way. Once you engage that’s when the back and forth starts and a warden will look negatively at both parties.

[PAbowhunter10]

Recently in the area I hunt in PA I heard that a few teenagers from the local high school have been poaching bucks on public and private land during this hunting season. Supposedly, from what the source told me, when the game commission went to the house of these kids they found multiple bucks, one which would of been a wall hanger by anyone’s standards and several respectable bucks. It’s a real disappointment to hear in our neck of the woods because the buck to doe ratio is so lop-sided and locals take whitetail hunting very seriously. I’m glad someone decided to do the right thing and turn these kids but as the same time the damage is done. I am a firm believer that poaching, baiting, or any other form of breaking the law should have greater punishment and it’s the duty of every hunter to report these violations for the greater good of fellow hunters(the brotherhood). I’m sure if the fines were steeper then less people would do it. Hope these kids get what’s coming for them!

[DhD]

I'm not going to say that I would never call anyone in. If you are flat out poaching or something else egregious I would call if I had to. It will be done anonymously, and I will be vacating the area before any LEO arrives.

[Buckshot20]

I never call the game wardens. Way to many negative encounters. I’ve had my vehicle searched because “nobody kills deer here without bait”. I’ve had my boat ravaged and torn apart only to find 0 infractions and I’m left with the mess of putting things away. I’ve had 3 boxes of steel shot dumped and magnets put on every one and left for me(brand new boxes). It seems the mindset is everybody is guilty, they just have to find out why. I can’t see me inviting them into my space. Just saying.

[ThePreBanMan]

Sounds like the OP is asking if he should report poaching. The answer is yes...

[ThePreBanMan]

Always good to have the contact info of your local warden. Put it in your phone so it’s always available when you need it. It’s as simple as taking a pic of the violation, record the gps coordinates and then text or email the info to your warden. I do this often and never once had one get upset or hassle me in any way. Every single time I have been thanked for the help and can tell they really appreciate the tips to help them do their job. They simply cannot be everywhere so it’s up to us as sportsmen to do the right thing and assist them when we can.

I don’t look at it as tattling on a fellow hunter because I don’t look at violators as being on the same side as those of us that do things fairly and according to the rules. Cheaters make all of us look bad to the non-hunting community so it’s in our best interest to eliminate this stuff before it gets way out of control. When people look the other way it gets out of control very quickly and can ruin the experience for all the honest hunters out there. Be part of the solution. It’s no different than picking up garbage that people leave laying around. Your just cleaning up a different type of trash.

My thoughts exactly. You don't have to hang around for them to show up either. Call it in and beat feet.

[Racks&Beards]

...so most of our public lands look like ladderstand junkyards.

this sounds like an opportunity to make some easy money off craigslist