Poaching in Your Hunting Area

[PAbowhunter10]

Recently in the past five years I have seen a large increase in the # of bucks poached before season begins. Mostly out of bean fields. This morning I received some bad news on a really nice buck that was taken close to public and private that I have access to hunt. This was one of the nicer bucks in our area.
Last year there was a few kids from the local high school that poached 5 respectable bucks and shot a farmers cow before being caught by the game commission. This is frustrating for the guys that put a lot of effort into the scouting, prep work, and glassing/shining just to have a bunch of kids drive by at night and shoot one of your target bucks.
How many other guys deal with poaching in your hunting area and to what extent?

[jhenrich]

Yup, it's an issue where I hunt in northern WI for sure.

https://www.apg-wi.com/spooner_advocate ... e14f2.html

[PAbowhunter10]

My opinion, at least in PA, is that the fines and legal repercussions aren’t steep enough to make guys think twice before shooting a deer out of season or legal hunting hours. $5,000 Per deer and 5 years with a suspended licenses and maybe guys would start thinking twice. And if the fine isn’t paid off after 5 years then your licenses would stay suspended until paid off.

[jhenrich]

And then there's this guy... bet his wife was real happy about that one

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states ... -mule-deer

[PAbowhunter10]

And then there's this guy... bet his wife was real happy about that one

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states ... -mule-deer

Holy smokes! That’s one he will regret forever.

[rfickes87]

My opinion, at least in PA, is that the fines and legal repercussions aren’t steep enough to make guys think twice before shooting a deer out of season or legal hunting hours. $5,000 Per deer and 5 years with a suspended licenses and maybe guys would start thinking twice. And if the fine isn’t paid off after 5 years then your licenses would stay suspended until paid off.

I'm a PA hunter too and yeah it makes me mad. The fines are steeper than they used to be but I know it still goes on. You always hear about high school kids getting busted but I know the older crowd does it too. I know guys on the farms that neighbor our family farm take more than their share. That used to make me so mad but now I just ignore it. I gave up hunting my 100 acre family farm partly because of that to go hunt the big public game lands. It seems to me guys are far less likely to pull that kind of crap on game lands. My years of scouting have proved that the game lands produce better bucks and I think that has a lot to do with it. You said about those big bucks getting shot in bean fields... around here, even if that buck isn't poached before season in a bean field, there are still so many guys spotting that buck at night and telling everyone in town that he'll be so pressured once the season starts. So I just stay away from those scenarios and do my own work, that's why spotting doesn't really appeal to me as a form of scouting. Because if you've seen that buck while spotting so has every other Joe schmo. I've got some really nice bucks on camera this year that are deep in the big woods no where near a field that they can be spotted and I've pre-scouted the bedding areas. That's the style hunting I go for these days. I don't need to worry about what deer was poached or even hit on the road for the most part. Hunting on remote public land seems to keep people honest and lets the bucks live a year or two longer.

[<DK>]

Iv made a few posts about poaching over the years. Its the same as trespassing which the punishments are barely worth talking about. Here in the past few years, they have upped the ante in some states. I will never understand the attraction of shooting velvet bucks either.

Speaking of - has anyone listened to that TX outlaw poacher interview? I look down on it bc it sort of glorifies poaching but hands down one of the most interesting things iv ever heard. I look at it like a crime novel type of thing. Crazy, insane stories for sure.

[brancher147]

It’s pretty bad in WV but most counties I hunt are mostly wooded so it’s harder for the poachers. I found 3 deer poached from the road last year and had someone shoot one by my truck while I was in the woods hunting last year. All gun season. The one they shot by my truck they drug out in the snow right past my truck on the road.

[UntouchableNess]

Google search "George Waters Iowa Poacher". He haunted the river bottoms around us as well as the Army Ammunition plant and Colorado. Things have calmed down a little on the poaching front from what it used to be. More people buying rec ground and having a presence on it.

[milkweed-militia]

I've caught my neighbor shooting a fork horn from his porch on my property with another neighbor's house in the direct line of his shot if he missed. It's a pain for sure and a lot more dangerous than most people realize. Sorry you're having to deal with it.

[Hawthorne]

There was a local in one of my areas that got busted at night after he shot a big buck.They got the driver but he took off on foot. They stuck the k9s on him and caught him like 3 miles from the crime scene. He was banned from hunting in like 42 states and had some prior violations in Alaska. He claimed he got a wall full of big bucks all on his farm with his bow. I knew his next door neighbor and he said he never saw the guy practice with his bow and he never saw the size of bucks in the area he claimed he shot. He was traveling far and wide to shoot them at night because he got busted in Indiana and was from Michigan

[NYBackcountry]

My opinion, at least in PA, is that the fines and legal repercussions aren’t steep enough to make guys think twice before shooting a deer out of season or legal hunting hours. $5,000 Per deer and 5 years with a suspended licenses and maybe guys would start thinking twice. And if the fine isn’t paid off after 5 years then your licenses would stay suspended until paid off.

I'm a PA hunter too and yeah it makes me mad. The fines are steeper than they used to be but I know it still goes on. You always hear about high school kids getting busted but I know the older crowd does it too. I know guys on the farms that neighbor our family farm take more than their share. That used to make me so mad but now I just ignore it. I gave up hunting my 100 acre family farm partly because of that to go hunt the big public game lands. It seems to me guys are far less likely to pull that kind of crap on game lands. My years of scouting have proved that the game lands produce better bucks and I think that has a lot to do with it. You said about those big bucks getting shot in bean fields... around here, even if that buck isn't poached before season in a bean field, there are still so many guys spotting that buck at night and telling everyone in town that he'll be so pressured once the season starts. So I just stay away from those scenarios and do my own work, that's why spotting doesn't really appeal to me as a form of scouting. Because if you've seen that buck while spotting so has every other Joe schmo. I've got some really nice bucks on camera this year that are deep in the big woods no where near a field that they can be spotted and I've pre-scouted the bedding areas. That's the style hunting I go for these days. I don't need to worry about what deer was poached or even hit on the road for the most part. Hunting on remote public land seems to keep people honest and lets the bucks live a year or two longer.

This take is spot on around me. Last season I listened to gunshots all around me during archery season, to the point I had to do a triple take at the season dates and the zones I was in. Sure enough, guys shooting deer with guns, well before gun season on private land. They dont care, some of them have hundreds of acres and probably just go sit their stands like they would any other time. I wouldnt doubt that the mindset is - "who are you to tell me what I can and cant do on my own land". I dont see it nearly as much on public.

[AppalachianArcher]

My opinion, at least in PA, is that the fines and legal repercussions aren’t steep enough to make guys think twice before shooting a deer out of season or legal hunting hours. $5,000 Per deer and 5 years with a suspended licenses and maybe guys would start thinking twice. And if the fine isn’t paid off after 5 years then your licenses would stay suspended until paid off.

I'm a PA hunter too and yeah it makes me mad. The fines are steeper than they used to be but I know it still goes on. You always hear about high school kids getting busted but I know the older crowd does it too. I know guys on the farms that neighbor our family farm take more than their share. That used to make me so mad but now I just ignore it. I gave up hunting my 100 acre family farm partly because of that to go hunt the big public game lands. It seems to me guys are far less likely to pull that kind of crap on game lands. My years of scouting have proved that the game lands produce better bucks and I think that has a lot to do with it. You said about those big bucks getting shot in bean fields... around here, even if that buck isn't poached before season in a bean field, there are still so many guys spotting that buck at night and telling everyone in town that he'll be so pressured once the season starts. So I just stay away from those scenarios and do my own work, that's why spotting doesn't really appeal to me as a form of scouting. Because if you've seen that buck while spotting so has every other Joe schmo. I've got some really nice bucks on camera this year that are deep in the big woods no where near a field that they can be spotted and I've pre-scouted the bedding areas. That's the style hunting I go for these days. I don't need to worry about what deer was poached or even hit on the road for the most part. Hunting on remote public land seems to keep people honest and lets the bucks live a year or two longer.

This is why I love hunting public land here as well. In some of the areas I hunt, I never see another hunter or sign of them. Rough terrain and access that isn't for the weak hearted. Most of the bucks here are dieing of old age because I'm not the greatest shot. We are also lucky that shining light on wildlife for viewing is illegal. There also isn't very much agriculture in my area, but in the southern part of the state it's a different story. I've been hunting WMAs in the southern part and hear gunshots in the distance at night, and then see the wardens leaving their station heading to the area the shots came from. It seems to be a more common problem there.

[PaPublicLandHunter]

My opinion, at least in PA, is that the fines and legal repercussions aren’t steep enough to make guys think twice before shooting a deer out of season or legal hunting hours. $5,000 Per deer and 5 years with a suspended licenses and maybe guys would start thinking twice. And if the fine isn’t paid off after 5 years then your licenses would stay suspended until paid off.

I'm a PA hunter too and yeah it makes me mad. The fines are steeper than they used to be but I know it still goes on. You always hear about high school kids getting busted but I know the older crowd does it too. I know guys on the farms that neighbor our family farm take more than their share. That used to make me so mad but now I just ignore it. I gave up hunting my 100 acre family farm partly because of that to go hunt the big public game lands. It seems to me guys are far less likely to pull that kind of crap on game lands. My years of scouting have proved that the game lands produce better bucks and I think that has a lot to do with it. You said about those big bucks getting shot in bean fields... around here, even if that buck isn't poached before season in a bean field, there are still so many guys spotting that buck at night and telling everyone in town that he'll be so pressured once the season starts. So I just stay away from those scenarios and do my own work, that's why spotting doesn't really appeal to me as a form of scouting. Because if you've seen that buck while spotting so has every other Joe schmo. I've got some really nice bucks on camera this year that are deep in the big woods no where near a field that they can be spotted and I've pre-scouted the bedding areas. That's the style hunting I go for these days. I don't need to worry about what deer was poached or even hit on the road for the most part. Hunting on remote public land seems to keep people honest and lets the bucks live a year or two longer.

This take is spot on around me. Last season I listened to gunshots all around me during archery season, to the point I had to do a triple take at the season dates and the zones I was in. Sure enough, guys shooting deer with guns, well before gun season on private land. They dont care, some of them have hundreds of acres and probably just go sit their stands like they would any other time. I wouldnt doubt that the mindset is - "who are you to tell me what I can and cant do on my own land". I dont see it nearly as much on public.

I couldn’t agree more with the areas I hunt in Pa

[Marshbuster89]

Unfortunately it is common around my area as well. More common than one would think/like to believe as well. Living next to a game warden, I see and hear about it every year and it’s pretty disappointing