The 2017 Poaching Epidemic

[ScottR]

We have talked about poaching quite a bit here, my question is what would it take punishment wise to curb some of this? Growing up in a law enforcement family it's unrealistic to rid the world of evil, but sometimes we do get lucky and see people change. With a ring like this it would be really tough to change behavior, what are your thoughts?

 

[RANGER619]

I think a lifetime ban on hunting and fishing with a felony on their record, so no gun ownership ever would help.

 

[JimP]

With the very term "Poaching" means that the offender doesn't care about the rules and regulations so banning them from hunting and fishing isn't going to do very much. Just perhaps make them have to show up in court a few more times. It is like a drunk driver that doesn't have a driving license, they usually still drive.

I have also wondered about raising the charges up to a felony, and have come to the conclusion that it would depend on the case and what is involved. Legally if a person shoots a animal in the wrong unit it is poaching, but it can be a simple mistake. Should this person be saddled with a felony count on their record. But perhaps let the first one slide a little depending on the factors and then if it happens the second time nail them to the wall.

The bigger problem is that prosecutors will plea bargain the charged down and allow the person involved walk away with a small fine and a slap on the wrist. Wildlife crime is not one of the top things on their agendas.

 

[laxwyo]

There's poaching and then there's violating wildlife laws. Poaching, to me, means they willfully and knowingly breaking regulations. There's a difference and I think in most circumstances you can tell. I've heard good and bad stories about people who've self reported.




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[HuskyMusky]

Find out why most poachers "poach" in the first place!

I know some thrill kill, which I believe are usually people under 25yo...

Is the avg poacher poaching because they see some monster buck?

What do they do with their "poached trophy" then? mount it? show it to who?

I think "turn in a poacher" get that tag... would be an idea to try...


I assume most poachers show their "trophy" off to someone, and if we take away this reward... ie. they can't show it to anyone because they'll get turned in may curb the desire to poach an animal they can't show off.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Loss of a license won't deter a poacher. A meaningful fine, loss of guns & equipment used and loss of the vehicle used and a jail stint may make them think twice before a repeat performance.

 

[kidoggy]

cut off their genitals , give them to the poacher as a last meal ,then give them a pistol with one bullet and leave them to choose , life or death.



may seem a bit extreme but I suspect folks would think before they poached and I doubt there would be many repeat offenders

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Like the post I started on New Mexico's new law where it is now a felony to poach. If you lose your right to own a firearm , can't vote and other civil rights losses, it just might deter some people. I remember several posts were basically defending people right of subsistence....to feed their families as a reason for some poaching. I just can't buy that because in our society today there are lots of ways for families in need to get public assistance. Poachers are scum and need to be in prison.

 

[fackelberry]

It all depends on what the circumstances are! I think if you had a liscense, it was hunting season, you were following all the rules but shot an animal in the wrong area, i don't think that's poaching as was said on here. But i think that it depends on how FAR into the wrong area the offense occured. I know some antelope units out here in Wyoming have a little two track road as a boundary from one unit to the next, so say you were shooting at an antelope from 400 yards away and dropped him and when you got up to him he was 50 yards into the wrong area! Are you a poacher? I don't think so! But if you were 2 miles inside the wrong area then that would be different, but i don't consider that really poaching, just hunting in the wrong unit which i have seen done here in Wyoming more than a few times. I think the person who is 2 miles in should get a decent fine, but don't know about a felony. Now poaching to me is someone who doesn't have a liscense, is hunting in a closed season, and kills the animal in day or night and wastes the meat just for the trophy antlers or horns, but it's also poaching if they shoot does for meat with no liscense and out of season. Or take more animals than their liscense is for. There are alot of factors that go into how bad the fine should be, but i agree that the states need to make an example of them and hit them where it hurts and maybe the poachers will think twice about doing it.

 

[Rich M]

Find out why most poachers "poach" in the first place!

I think we already know the answer to this - most poached animals seem to be "trophy" bucks. There is a large industry built around trophy hunting, QDM, and whatever else there is promoting trophy mature animals only - all others are inferior & so are you type of mentality....

If you remove the status symbol attached to the antlers/horns, then we'll possibly revert back to the poachers who were after meat. Many times it is guys trying to prove manhood and taking advantage of a situation.

As for cutting off the manhood and making them eat it, it goes far to reinforce the above statement.

There are full-time poachers who profit from it.

I don't know if the incidental poachers or the full time ones have the most negative impact.

We had those two kids (from KY?) shooting elk in the wrong unit and then trying to sell videos. They fall into the stupid kids, incidental, and profiteering. Revoking of licenses for a good while will probably work with them.

 

[AKaviator]

Trying to define "poaching" is like trying to explain to opposite sex! There are a million reasons why folks poach. Some really good people who would never think of stealing a piece of bubblegum, just completely lose it if they see a 50 pound King Salmon in a closed area and try and catch it, or a 70" moose the day before season and shoot it.
Others are career criminal types that flat don't care about laws, wildlife or otherwise, and just poach for the fun of trying to get away with it.
Some just more or less accidentally break laws, whom I don't really consider as "poachers". They still need a little justice sent their way but nothing as harsh as real poachers.
A few will break the laws that they don't agree with but generally stay within most of the laws as long as they agree with them.

Personally, I would like to see more special prosecutors, that deal specifically with fish and wildlife related crimes. that can decipher who to go after the hardest and who can have leniency. And good judges that would back them up.

 

[WY ME]

Trying to define "poaching" is like trying to explain to opposite sex! There are a million reasons why folks poach. Some really good people who would never think of stealing a piece of bubblegum, just completely lose it if they see a 50 pound King Salmon in a closed area and try and catch it, or a 70" moose the day before season and shoot it.
Others are career criminal types that flat don't care about laws, wildlife or otherwise, and just poach for the fun of trying to get away with it.
Some just more or less accidentally break laws, whom I don't really consider as "poachers". They still need a little justice sent their way but nothing as harsh as real poachers.
A few will break the laws that they don't agree with but generally stay within most of the laws as long as they agree with them.

Personally, I would like to see more special prosecutors, that deal specifically with fish and wildlife related crimes. that can decipher who to go after the hardest and who can have leniency. And good judges that would back them up.

Well said.

 

[RICMIC]

Wardens have a great deal of discretion, and in my experience most of them do a supurb job using it. There are so many nuances in the situations in the field that are hard to address with the letter of the law. A young man making a mistake is a far cry from someone profiting from long term law breaking. As a 30 year LE veteran, I also recognize that there is an inherent danger in making the penalties too harsh, where a "professional poacher" such as Claud Dallas feel that they have to kill someone to "protect" themselves. Fortunately, most of the big bust type cases involve a lot of investigation after the fact, and don't involve a direct confrontation in the field.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I just googled the New Mexico anti poaching law and tried to find the language of it. AK is right about the definition of poaching. I couldn't find the exact wording, but several articles say that "wasting of game" has been elevated to a felony. That is really vague and really does give law enforcement a lot of latitude. I am sure the new law's language would be somewhat different. I'll keep looking.

 

[xtreme]

I telling my local game warden, who I consider friend, about a trophy buck that I had not found lately. He said if it had been poached he would know about it by now because poacher would have to show it. He tagged it about a year later. I think it was 236. It was killed four miles away.

 

[MtnBuck]

What I don't get is why many judges are so lenient. I've read too many articles where the poacher has been caught red-handed after a year long investigation turning up multiple trophies and they only get probation?

 

[JimP]

After watching a lot of court cases I have seen that the majority of judges will try to get the convicted defendant into probation instead of jail. It just seams that is the direction that we are going. I guess that they figure that if they are out they might contribute something instead of just costing the system money.

But it would be nice to see some of them jailed for a year or two just to make a example out of them.

 

[Hilltop]

I'm not a fan of jail time unless someone is a threat to others. I hate the thought of paying that person's room and board for however long they are in there. I would rather see life altering punishments in other ways- thinking out of the box- higher tax brackets, significant community service spent benefiting wildlife, a CONVICTED POACHER sign in their front yard for life...etc.

 

[Blackdawg]

I suggest reading the article about/definition of Poacher on Wikipedia, rather interesting history,, the more VALUE we place on wildlife the closer the "KINGS" are to getting their game back from us peasants. I personally do not like the idea of Felonies for shooting animals, it could be a slippery slope that the influential aka "wealthy" use to eliminate the public.


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[Wyoming Hart]

Loss of a license won't deter a poacher. A meaningful fine, loss of guns & equipment used and loss of the vehicle used and a jail stint may make them think twice before a repeat performance.

I agree. A significant fine that needs to be fully paid and in a reasonable time would do wonders. Poaching will never be stopped completely, unfortunately. A poached animal is not just "an animal." Some people (murders, etc.) don't respect another person, so what is a deer to a poacher? There are reasons why laws and regulations are in place and once those are even slightly respected, only then will there be progress. Unfortunately, I don't see this happening.