Nate Strong the Poacher

480/277

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Feb 23, 2013
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we have a family that lives not to far from here that owns a but load of land, and they have some wealth to their name,.... I know most people assume its the rednecks that get out there and do a majority of the poaching but most of it (my opinion based on what ive seen)comes from the people with lots of cash flow and lots of land. not saying they all do but a lot do. seems like they are out there more to impress everyone else that they can get the big one every year, not that its as hard to do on private property... its just easier for them to cover it up. back to first line... this family has always been suspected of doing this but never enough "proof" until a couple years ago he was glassed shooting a large 6x6 bull with rifle during archery season, didn't even have a bow with him! no wonder he allways scores big during archery season! there's this other spot close to where I archery hunt that hugs the Wyoming border that I stopped hunting, I hunted public land adjacent to private land and every year id hear rifle shots and I actually watched these two guys begin dressing a large bull. after talking to a couple other guys that hunt same area they said they do it every year on that priv land and they have been turned in but money speak louder then anything else. my buddy started dating of of the daughters and she told him they don't ever even buy the Idaho tags. their land covers part of Wyoming to and they buy Wyoming tags and kill bulls in both states with the one Wyoming tag and they always kill with rifle cuz its just easier.
No matter what the topic, there are always people that cheat the system. Money makes no difference, residence, religion or lack of, politics, race, etc...

Cheaters cheat. Always have , alway will. Stereotyping never helps .
 

ivorytip

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Mar 24, 2012
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i agree, but just saying that that's what I see around here. point being, its easier for them to do, no fish cops out on their land with a spotting scope. wasn't meaning to stereotype, my bad.
 

480/277

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Feb 23, 2013
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I know, and it is hard for blood pressure to not go ballistic with these news stories and slap on the wrist penalties. I remember when the Maine moose hunt first started . A guy got caught poaching like 3 years in a row. At $300 per animal. And he bragged to the newspaper he could never buy a moose hunt that cheep. Thankfully Maine got thier act together but that left a bad taste in many sportsman's mouths for some time.

These crimes have to have a national standard. With minimum sentencing guidelines.
 

ivorytip

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Mar 24, 2012
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im in awe that all 50 states don't have stricter laws against it. I mean hell, I was facing 6 months in jail and thousands of dollars for shooting a bobcat out of season. I got lucky and got off but still, that's just for a bocat. that guy in main had a point, other than he couldn't keep meat and head it would be a lot cheaper then buying and or getting lucky enough to buy a controlled tag for moose.
 

WY ME

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Feb 4, 2014
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Wyoming
elk
I hope that whatever Judge he gets, gets up on the wrong side of bed the day of Strong's appearance!
He is going to be arraigned in court on April 11th in Pinedale. I'm confident the judge in Pinedale will take this case very seriously. Pinedale is made up of a lot of hunters and outdoorsy types so I wouldn't worry about this poaching getting swept under the rug. This buck lived very, very close to some land I own and was seen daily. Unfortunately this is the 2nd really good deer I know of that was taken illegally by our property. The last guy sent the picture of his buck to Muley Crazy magazine.

Coincidentally this all happened only a few miles from where the wolves killed those 19 elk in one night earlier this month.
 

WY ME

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Feb 4, 2014
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WY ME, what did the other poacher get? Any info on that deer and the situation? Thanks
I don't recall the punishment exactly other than I know he was fined and lost his license and the deer was confiscated. His violation wasn't as serious as this recent one since he was hunting during an open season but on land he didn't have permission to hunt. If I recall correctly he also tagged it with his wife's tag who wasn't with him at the time. That was maybe 10 years ago and I know he still does a lot of hunting these days.

On the positive side I think he learned his lesson and is now on the up and up. I won't mention his name because I really do believe he is now on the straight and narrow and doesn't need to be punished again on the internet.

The Nate Strong deer sounds like pure poaching. I read on a local blog that someone had found a headless deer carcass in the area. If it was from the Nate Strong deer that makes this case even worse.
 

NE69

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Jan 6, 2013
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Southwest Nebraska
Thanks, I wouldn't want his name brought up either. Just the situation. Good for him if he turned it around. Few do that. Poaching goes on everywhere and more often than most realize.
 

shootbrownelk

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Apr 11, 2011
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elk

He is going to be arraigned in court on April 11th in Pinedale. I'm confident the judge in Pinedale will take this case very seriously. Pinedale is made up of a lot of hunters and outdoorsy types so I wouldn't worry about this poaching getting swept under the rug. This buck lived very, very close to some land I own and was seen daily. Unfortunately this is the 2nd really good deer I know of that was taken illegally by our property. The last guy sent the picture of his buck to Muley Crazy magazine.

Coincidentally this all happened only a few miles from where the wolves killed those 19 elk in one night earlier this month.
Are you headed to the courthouse on the 11th Wy Me? That's going to be an interesting case. I hope his being a teacher/coach doesn't work in his favor with the Judge....when his lawyer pleads for leniency for Strong. His being a teacher should work against him in sentencing. The Judge needs to make an example of him. Lower the boom.
 

480/277

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Feb 23, 2013
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Imho
Who he is
What he does
How much money he has
Should have no bearing
Everyone should pay the same penalty as everyone else.
 

WY ME

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Feb 4, 2014
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Are you headed to the courthouse on the 11th Wy Me? That's going to be an interesting case. I hope his being a teacher/coach doesn't work in his favor with the Judge....when his lawyer pleads for leniency for Strong. His being a teacher should work against him in sentencing. The Judge needs to make an example of him. Lower the boom.
No, I won't be there but I can't imagine that he would voluntarily (or otherwise) continue teaching in Big Piney after all of this. Piney is a really small town.
 

Montana

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Nov 3, 2011
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Bitterroot Valley, MT.
Poaching is WAY more serious than I ever thought. Locally we collared 5 trophy bulls 2 years ago. 1 lives, 1 harvested legally 3 were poached in their winter range. I was floored when I heard this data. Didn't know it was this bad. Makes me want to volunteer my time during the off season and have check stations. Wow that would piss off a lot of people :)

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Bonecollector

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Mar 9, 2014
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Montana, this is truly unbelievable and sad. These cowards make me sick.

Crime should be punishable by castration,,,,,,,,without anesthetics. :cool:
 

mallardsx2

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Jul 8, 2015
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Poaching is WAY more serious than I ever thought. Locally we collared 5 trophy bulls 2 years ago. 1 lives, 1 harvested legally 3 were poached in their winter range. I was floored when I heard this data. Didn't know it was this bad. Makes me want to volunteer my time during the off season and have check stations. Wow that would piss off a lot of people :)

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I agree with this statement.

Poaching (No matter what state you live in) is a HUGE problem and it is waaaaay more prevalent than what people think. It happens all the time.


I know a guy who I always found to be a law abiding friend. I was hunting coyotes the day after deer season closed and I was walking in the woods and spotted a huge 10 point bedded down. I told him my findings and he requested that I shoot it in the eyeball with my .17 I was carrying so he could tag it. At first I though he was joking but then I figured out he was dead serious. He is one of those local guys who always shoots a big buck and his walls are full of trophy's.... I lost a friend and a lot of respect for that guy on that day. All so he could tell people he shot a big buck that year.... Generally, It would really truly surprise you types of people who do the poaching. It truly would.

Another guy who I worked with on the pipeline Bragged all the time about how they used to kill BIG bucks at night in Missouri.... I hated hearing about them.
 

buckbull

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Jun 20, 2011
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It really surprised me as well concerning the amount of poaching that is happening today. When I was researching check stations, specifically call in systems vs. physical on site stations, the numbers of unreported deer shot during the season was unbelievable. At the time, the State of New York had a call in compliance rate of 45%. Louisiana had a compliance rate around 50% if I remember correctly. Hard to imagine that only half the deer taken in the state are actually called in.
 
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ivorytip

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Mar 24, 2012
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Poaching is WAY more serious than I ever thought. Locally we collared 5 trophy bulls 2 years ago. 1 lives, 1 harvested legally 3 were poached in their winter range. I was floored when I heard this data. Didn't know it was this bad. Makes me want to volunteer my time during the off season and have check stations. Wow that would piss off a lot of people :)

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
this is a fantastic idea. I bet there are lots of deputized people out there that would be more than happy to vol time doing random checks like you speak of during off season. id become deputized just to do that.
 

480/277

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Feb 23, 2013
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It's such a sad state. I don't want to shoot a trophy now just because of the anal exam. From now on spikes, forks, rag bulls and diver ducks....