Possible Poaching

[356]

Today I still hunted for a deer that I have known of for four year—a seven year old six-point that didn’t meet antler-point restriction until last year. Now that
our Missouri county is adjacent to a CWD county, the point restrictions have been lifted. Therefore, I decided I would go after the Big-6 if I saw him on camera or in person.Up until 2022 this deer got a pass by me and neighboring hunters as it was always a five or six point, and never had four points on one side required for point restricted counties. And while he was legal last year, the only encounters my neighbors and I had with the Big-6 were on camera during the rut, and always at night.

The past two nights Big-6 showed up on camera, but on on the south side of the property. The south winds have been wrong for our setups there, so when he showed up at 11:13 this morning 300 yards north of our house, I decided to still hunt downwind of him. At noon I heard a rifle shot from the farm to the north, followed “get the four-wheeler.” By the time I got to the property line they were gone. This is the farm that has an automatic corn feeder in their pasture (Missouri is a no-bait state). My fear is that they poached the deer, as this is still bow season in Missouri.

So, no proof, but it frustrates me to think this wonderful deer might have been taken through poaching.

 

[swat1018]

I would let your Conservation Agent be aware. He can watch the check logs a telecheck and investigate if one shows up. If it's rifle shot, that's kinda hard to pass off as an arrow wound.

 

[Bill]

How have you not already reported the corn feeder?

 

[West_Fork]

For sure poaching. And I just so happen to have 3+ years of photos to capture the license plate and face. Done.

 

[Catscratch]

That sucks man! Would it have put him on red alert if you'd showed up at his place right after the shot and asked a bunch of questions about the deer in the back yard? Heard a rifle shot, ya target practicing? Need any help skinning that deer? etc. You may not catch him red handed but it might put enough fear of getting caught into him to prevent it in the future. Of course if he has an illegal feeder I doubt he cares much about the neighbor poking around.

 

[356]

In August I notified the MDC of the feeder. We currently do not have a warden in our area, but when we do, he or she will be looking into the feeder. The landowners pre-date us by several years, so we are the "newcomers" and they are the "landed gentry."

Catscratch, good insight. I like the "Heard a shot, are you target practicing?" Ironically, both husband and wife have Georgia based phone numbers which is interesting given they have lived here for two decades.

 

[West_Fork]

I got a call from Utah DWR last night informing me that three individuals will be charged with trespass and illegal taking of game and to confirm that they did not have permission. As usual they are known in the community and "are you sure you want to press charges?" Once he told me they had permission to hunt on near by property owned by dirt bags and they said they just got carried away, I explained I have no choice in the matter, they absolutely need to be charged. They knew exactly where they were at and exactly what they were doing. I told him no mercy.

 

[Catscratch]

I got a call from Utah DWR last night informing me that three individuals will be charged with trespass and illegal taking of game and to confirm that they did not have permission. As usual they are known in the community and "are you sure you want to press charges?" Once he told me they had permission to hunt on near by property owned by dirt bags and they said they just got carried away, I explained I have no choice in the matter, they absolutely need to be charged. They knew exactly where they were at and exactly what they were doing. I told him no mercy.

Same people you posted pics of?

 

[West_Fork]

Same people you posted pics of?

Absolutely. It may turn out they are associated with some others that I have already been to court with. If so, they are going to be facing civil action too. I have damaged roads, ruined hunts, and a $70,000 legal bill I am still looking to get compensated for.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Get em!

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Absolutely. It may turn out they are associated with some others that I have already been to court with. If so, they are going to be facing civil action too. I have damaged roads, ruined hunts, and a $70,000 legal bill I am still looking to get compensated for.

Hero!!! Sue the ever loving piss out of them. Don’t forget pain and suffering you’ve endured dealing with this invasion of privacy.

 

[Catscratch]

Absolutely. It may turn out they are associated with some others that I have already been to court with. If so, they are going to be facing civil action too. I have damaged roads, ruined hunts, and a $70,000 legal bill I am still looking to get compensated for.

$70k? Is that one of those things where if you win they have to pay your legal fees?

My In-Laws and I had a huge legal mess with aerial sprayers. They killed a crapload of trees on our places. Through the process I learned that this happens fairly often, but landowners seldom file a claim so they get away with incompetence and/or caviler disregard for property owners.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

$70k? Is that one of those things where if you win they have to pay your legal fees?

My In-Laws and I had a huge legal mess with aerial sprayers. They killed a crapload of trees on our places. Through the process I learned that this happens fairly often, but landowners seldom file a claim so they get away with incompetence and/or caviler disregard for property owners.

I’ve got a good buddy who is in aviation insurance and right now he is dealing with a case where one of their sprayers accidentally sprayed a deer farm and the low flying plane cause a bunch of deer to panic and killed a handful. I told him they should give the pilot a medal for killing those mutants

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I work for a contractor that builds a fair bit of stuff in agricultural areas. Have had people on my projects get sprayed 3 times from aerial spraying that I can recall.

 

[Catscratch]

I work for a contractor that builds a fair bit of stuff in agricultural areas. Have had people on my projects get sprayed 3 times from aerial spraying that I can recall.

My boys and I got sprayed while standing in my yard. Lost a good chunk of my orchard and every single broadleaf plant we had in our flowerbeds. We also lost over a thousand trees on the place, including some huge old trees that we'll simply not live long enough to see come back. Insurance didn't want to pay for their damages so we had to file in court. It was settled but what a pain to get there. We had video of them spraying our place and it was still difficult.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

My boys and I got sprayed while standing in my yard. Lost a good chunk of my orchard and every single broadleaf plant we had in our flowerbeds. We also lost over a thousand trees on the place, including some huge old trees that we'll simply not live long enough to see come back. Insurance didn't want to pay for their damages so we had to file in court. It was settled but what a pain to get there. We had video of them spraying our place and it was still difficult.

Losing that stuff that is not replaceable or so dependent on time would be maddening. Glad you kept after them.

 

[West_Fork]

$70k? Is that one of those things where if you win they have to pay your legal fees?

My In-Laws and I had a huge legal mess with aerial sprayers. They killed a crapload of trees on our places. Through the process I learned that this happens fairly often, but landowners seldom file a claim so they get away with incompetence and/or caviler disregard for property owners.

You would think after proving in court they were lying and had complete disregard for laws and private property the judge would have awarded us fees, but no. Yes, you can take someone to court under false pretenses, cost them many thousands of dollars, with just a fraction of that paid to a hack atty. I think ethics is suppose to play a role in there somewhere, but attorneys.
The ringleader of the group is a former USFS District Ranger, who felt he was pretty savvy with easement law and real-estate deals.

 

[gjs4]

Forgive this if it is a derail to your thread intent (and I will start another); What are you all finding as poaching clues aside from game parts, oddly timed shots , odd tracks or vehicles? Ive got a local guy, who has rumors around him, have heard the shots and notified the state but no real evidence has come up. Put cams all over to support my gut instinct....still nothing.

It seems poaching is becoming a bigger thing in general. Maybe due to a lack of enforcement, price of access.....the Ohio kid getting slapped is good publicity for stopping it but it is also the most extreme of examples with a world record typical whitetail contender.

 

[TWIG]

This season has me continuously feeling like someone keeps letting the air out of my tires. Headed into the woods this fall in pursuit of 2 of the biggest bucks I've ever seen in PA. Anybody guess what happened to them!?!

The buck pictured below just had me all sorts of excited. Spent the opener watching him for about an hour feeding in my neighbor's field. Could have cracked him with crossbow in hand but I try to do things ethically. The next day, Sunday, a non-hunting day in PA was the last time I ever got a picture of him. The other buck I was after disappeared 4 days later. Basically, spent all fall sitting and waiting on ghosts. Where I'm located, nobody can keep quiet about shooting anything so it just seems really strange that secrecy would suddenly surround two giants. About a month later, as I was heading home, I watched several wardens drive back into a neighbor's field after sunset. Given the neighbor I can basically close the chapter on these deer and attribute their demise to poaching. I've been trying to run into a warden to see if I can assist with building a stronger case but our paths haven't crossed.

Kinda takes the wind outta your sails...

 

[West_Fork]

Forgive this if it is a derail to your thread intent (and I will start another); What are you all finding as poaching clues aside from game parts, oddly timed shots , odd tracks or vehicles? Ive got a local guy, who has rumors around him, have heard the shots and notified the state but no real evidence has come up. Put cams all over to support my gut instinct....still nothing.

It seems poaching is becoming a bigger thing in general. Maybe due to a lack of enforcement, price of access.....the Ohio kid getting slapped is good publicity for stopping it but it is also the most extreme of examples with a world record typical whitetail contender.

Tire tracks and cameras are probably the biggest ones, but it can be anything; the way the gate is closed or chained, trespass signs lying on the ground, candy wrappers, beer cans, brass, hunting blinds you never knew about, tree stands magically appearing, etc.

The unique one for me which has subsided over the past few years, phone calls with no one on the other end. Suspects would get my cell number, call my phone to see if I answer, if I do they know I am not on the property and they have a free for all. I learned to use it to my advantage, I would get one of those calls and immediately head over to my place or send someone up. That seems to have put an end to that practice.