Dang Poachers

[rockrat]

Left the house yesterday and saw a pickup sitting besides the road and it looked like someone had binos out the passenger window. Saw a few deer out in the field bedded down. Hit the mailbox to get my newspaper and heard a noise. Almost sounded like a shot, but not. Ruled out 22lr but unsure. Almost like a truck is driving down the road and runs over a rock with the edge of the tire and it pops out headed for who knows where. Headed into town, hoping to see a deputy and tell them my suspicions as I had forgot my phone. No luck

Headed into town this morning and passed by where the truck had been and had to back up and look twice. Sure enough, there was blood on the road. A patch about the size of a sheet of paper a few feet from the edge of the road.

Biggest buck I have seen around here was a two point (per side). Used to be a lot of big bucks around, but not anymore. Lucky if I see a 4 point

[M-Tecs]

Left the house yesterday and saw a pickup sitting besides the road and it looked like someone had binos out the passenger window. Saw a few deer out in the field bedded down. Hit the mailbox to get my newspaper and heard a noise. Almost sounded like a shot, but not. Ruled out 22lr but unsure. Almost like a truck is driving down the road and runs over a rock with the edge of the tire and it pops out headed for who knows where.

Crossbow??????

[MUSTANG]

Perhaps a Silencer on the Rifle distorted the noise you heard and did not register as a rifle shot.

[Thumbcocker]

I despise game thieves. They steal from everyone who pays their dues and hunts right.

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[megasupermagnum]

Playing the devils advocate, are you absolutely sure they shot a deer, and shot it illegally? It seems odd to me that someone would go out in the middle of the day in plain sight, obviously be made by you, and likely others. Then while you are within earshot, shoot a deer, and drag it out of a what I can only assume is a wide open field since you could see deer from the road. They would have to be some mighty bold and stupid poachers. I have no idea where you are, I'm again making an assumption that you do not have a firearms deer season open including a youth season. I doubt a bow makes that much noise, some are louder. Some crossbows make a decent crack. Maybe they did shoot a bow, and what you heard was a rock from a tire. My mud tires will throw up stones into the body loud enough to make me about knock over my drink. Even if it were a rifle, who's to say they shot a deer, and not some other animal? Turkey season is open right now in a lot of states, and rifle hunting is common in the fall.

All I'm saying is look at all the possibilities, before we lambast some guy you saw with binoculars as a poacher.

[M-Tecs]

Yes some people do have handicap permits to shoot from the vehicle.

[rockrat]

megasupermagnum---sorry if I implied that it was the truck I saw. I don't know who might have done the deed. When I came back from town, the spot wasn't there and I was outside all day after I got home and there wasn't any shooting. It was there this morning and I was up before the sun and no shots heard. I suspect it might have been last night.

Haven't seen a turkey around here since I moved here, about 30 years ago, . Not a wide open field. Russian olive trees and willow brush. Deer are usually bedded down about 100yds from the road. See them most every day. Not the first time someone has been glassing the deer in that field. First time I have seen blood in the road

[CastingFool]

Years ago, when I still bowhunted, I was hunting a friend's property, the day before the deer opener. About 9am, I heard two quick gunshots, very close to where I was sitting. About an hour later, I decided to change locations. As I was walking along a powerline access road, I spied something laying on the grass next to some bushes. It was a gut pile, so fresh it was still steaming. I looked around and found where the guy had been standing, and two empty shotgun shells. You could see the drag marks that led to the road which was only about 50ft away. It sure gave me a funny feeling, finding out there had been someone with a gun, on private property, without permission or morals

[BJK]

Could'a been a poacher, could'a been legal, Could'a been a cross bow too. I have one that sacrifices sound for speed. My neighbor 100 yards away can hear it. Also could'a been a suppressed rifle. I guess we'll never know.

But when I was hunting I played fairly and if I KNEW that it was poaching I would have dropped a dime on the call. Unless I knew it was someone who needed the meat vs wanted the meat.

[BunkTheory]

im so used to hearing .243 and .308 between midnight and 4 am year round its like living in detroit

[megasupermagnum]

im so used to hearing .243 and .308 between midnight and 4 am year round its like living in detroit

I used to hear plenty of shooting day and night. Still doesn't mean poachers. Coyote and coon hunting is quite popular at night. I hear most coyotes at dusk, but I'd guess 95% or better of my trail camera pictures of them are midnight to 4am.

[Thundarstick]

Thank God!

One less deer to hit! I wish some one would kill every deer in the county! Really, how do we justify having free range livestock in the eastern USA? Wrecking cars, damaging crops and spreading livestock disease! Hopefully chronic wasting disease will wipe the vermin out soon!

Power to the poachers!

[Bmi48219]

Before moving south we lived in a rural area of private property. I was amazed how many hunters sighted in their firearms at dusk in the weeks leading up to deer season. Also that most only needed one or two rounds to confirm they were zeroed in.

[contender1]

"Thank God!

One less deer to hit! I wish some one would kill every deer in the county! Really, how do we justify having free range livestock in the eastern USA? Wrecking cars, damaging crops and spreading livestock disease! Hopefully chronic wasting disease will wipe the vermin out soon!

Power to the poachers! "

I'm sure you feel justified in your feelings. I was at a State Wildlife meeting a few years back when a farmer was complaining loudly about his problems with deer eating too much of his crops. Again,, very understandable.

But just because a person doesn't agree with the laws,, doesn't mean you should break them. If so,, I'd have already killed the guy & his wife who prey on elderly people, their estates, and steal their children's inheritance. Locally, we have a couple, who have been doing just that. And, it included my mother. Lawsuits, & a lot of grief, my brother having a Stroke, etc,, all made us quite upset. But the laws are there for everybody. Murder is illegal.
Total destruction of deer populations because you have a negative view isn't the answer either.

I'm not saying deer do not have their problems for us either.

But the Native Americans lived with the land,, and white people changed a lot of that.

And remember,, you can always go back to walking or riding horses,, that will stop vehicle collisions. We can all go back to planting just enough food for our own consumption & not to feed the rest of the population,, so crop damage can be mitigated. We can also let mother nature kill livestock by other methods,, & not just CWD.

Oh wait,, we can't,, because white people changed the country. And modernization of the Country has allow greed & profiting be the driving factor.

Yes,, there are vehicle & deer collisions. But a lot more people are killed by speeding, drunk driving, texting & driving, etc,, as well as many damaged vehicles by the same things.
Crops are eaten by deer,, but I also see a lot of produce wasted by pickers etc because the produce isn't "perfect looking" to sell. And diseases,, well, diseases of all kinds are a result of things designed by Mother Nature to help control populations. That includes humans as well. (Cancer, AIDs, Covid, Flu,)

No,, I don't see a positive side to the total destruction of any species, especially when the most destructive & harmful species is Man.

[bedbugbilly]

we put up with crap like that on the farm for years. yea, you'd think it would be an "after dark/spotlight" poaching but it happened at all times of the day. In those days, there weren't the suppressors out there like there re today and I have to believe there are there are those who poach that utilize the a lot. By the time we would notify the DNR LEO, who might have to come miles to get there, they would be gone along with the fruits of their poaching. It got to the point where if we found a pick-up or vehicle parked anywhere on our property, we wouldn't bother trying to track down those trespassing or hunting (or poaching) . . . but they would have a long walk home. Oh . . . did i mention what a nice collection of tire valve core stems I had at one time? :-)

We sold the farm in 2019 and that's one thing I don't miss.

[dverna]

I know people who poach. None use suppressors. When "in their area" they feel completely safe. Turning them in is not a good idea as you will suffer consequences. Their families have poached for generations.

I have no use for them. In the past, these folks did it to survive but that is not necessary today. IMO they do it for fun and for the "tradition"...is not for need.

[fiberoptik]

We had 1o acres of woods in Michigan. My “neighbor” would poach in our woods late night with night vision scopes. He clear cut a road right up to our property line and plopped down his ice fishing shanty facing into our land 29 feet short of the line. DNR told time and again— nada.


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[Thundarstick]

Guess I pecked a nerve there!

The only reason they where ever reintroduced was to generate revenue for the game departments! So people harvesting deer do so at the expense of the damage deer cause to other peoples personal property! Wildlife officers here could not care less, they are trying desperately to reduce the herd size by super generous bag limits, because people who don't hunt are sick of them! Lord knows I've killed my fair share of them, but if I took all my legal limit here it would be near or over 100 a season. At least the "poachers" are perhaps utilizing the meat, unlike the farmers here that shot them like groundhogs in the bean fields so we can grow an ever larger vulture and coyote population.

[MaryB]

I hate poachers because one dang near killed me. I heard a bullet hit the tree 2 feet over my head. I hollered, heard someone take off running towards the parking area. This was on out deer lease that is covered with no trespassing signs. I hollered to a friend who was close to the trucks and he went and parked in the poachers truck and used the farm phone to call the game warden. My friend was also a MN Hwy patrol officer... I get up to the parking spot and the dude had an AR-15 in MN's shotgun slug only zone. He pointed the rifle at me and told me to move the truck, friend racked his shotgun and told him to put the rifle down, he had quietly came up behind him.He lost hos truck, gun, hunting privileges for life, and served time for careless discharge of a gun and for pointing a gun at me. Dude got all irate at the game warden saying we were trespassing and he just laughed. He told the dude to shut up, he was going to make him late to our dinner/pool playing after the sun went down. Game warden always came to our get together. Along with the guys with leases to our west and across from the house where we also hunted(kitchen stool stand got a buck almost every year! Deck off the kitchen looked down into a ravine the deer used.)

[BJK]

Mary, that's a heck of a story. At the very least he'd have had a few broken bones from me for pointing a gun at me. Something for him to think about in the lockup with other people there who might think he was cute. Nothing gets me riled up more than to have a gun pointed at me. I don't do it to others and I expect others to treat me with the same courtesy, but to do it and back it up with a threat constitutes deadly force. I hope he lost the ability to legally possess any firearm for life also. What a scumbag!

[Shawlerbrook]

A suppressed 22 or other gun. Around here they do it at night. And yes, they are the scum of the earth.

[RogerDat]

They say over 550,000 people will be in Michigan, largely in the northern half of the state, to hunt deer. Huge impact on the economies of many areas. Not to mention since most hunters are fairly good about valuing the woods and waters in general they add to the economic value of preserving those areas for all outdoor activities.

While deer can and do jump out of nowhere into cars or their paths I'm not going to be totally sympathetic as long as I see people doing 60 mph at dusk on the roads around here. You drive fast at dawn or dusk, or at night in deer country you sort of invite problems. I do know of cases where the deer hit the side of the car, literally jumping over a fence into the side of a passing car. However people also fail to take precautions which accounts for at least some of the car deer collisions.

If you drive back roads make note of where you see road kill deer. I'm sure it wasn't the only one in the area or the only one using that route to get someplace deer want to go. I have seen deer in the locations of past road kill many times. I'm that annoying guy doing 43 mph at dusk through those areas. Now you know why.

Poachers are mostly cheaters by another name. If a man will cheat then it is a good bet he will lie and steal. Not seeing much upside to folks that act that way. There are some folks for whom bagging game is the difference between meat on the menu or not but that is rare compared to the amount of poaching that takes place. Some pretty nice vehicles and firearms getting confiscated from folks that make it hard to believe they are just trying to eat. Noise suppressor and night vision scope could cover a lot of hamburger and hot dogs for sure.

As for disease vector how much of that is from machine driven bait piles that have deer eating nose to nose all in one spot from multiple herds? People did that, not the deer. Always was a bit skeptical of bait bins. Admired the fellows that planted random patches of grazing plants to help encourage deer and provide a normal grazing experience.

[sparky45]

Playing the devils advocate, are you absolutely sure they shot a deer, and shot it illegally? It seems odd to me that someone would go out in the middle of the day in plain sight, obviously be made by you, and likely others. Then while you are within earshot, shoot a deer, and drag it out of a what I can only assume is a wide open field since you could see deer from the road. They would have to be some mighty bold and stupid poachers. I have no idea where you are, I'm again making an assumption that you do not have a firearms deer season open including a youth season. I doubt a bow makes that much noise, some are louder. Some crossbows make a decent crack. Maybe they did shoot a bow, and what you heard was a rock from a tire. My mud tires will throw up stones into the body loud enough to make me about knock over my drink. Even if it were a rifle, who's to say they shot a deer, and not some other animal? Turkey season is open right now in a lot of states, and rifle hunting is common in the fall.

All I'm saying is look at all the possibilities, before we lambast some guy you saw with binoculars as a poacher.

Around here it's illegal to shoot from a vehicle. If caught you loose your firearm, a bunch of money AND your vehicle. These perps were up to no good and you know it!

[bayjoe]

We have some poachers around here. Last couple years around late November early December I'll see a white 4x4 go hauling it across the top of the hill across from my house. It will slam on the brakes i hear 2 or 3 shots and then they go pick up a deer or two and gas it out of there. From the time they come across the top of the ridge till they drive off is maybe 2 minutes. They know their business.

[megasupermagnum]

Around here it's illegal to shoot from a vehicle. If caught you loose your firearm, a bunch of money AND your vehicle. These perps were up to no good and you know it!

There is absolutely no evidence that they shot from a vehicle. Rockrat did not even hint at such a thing. He saw someone looking out a window at a field with binoculars. Heard an odd noise some time later that he admits did not sound like a gun shot, and then found blood where the truck was parked. That's the entirety of what we know. Nobody can even be sure it was deer blood, or even animal blood. I pray you never end up on my jury.

[Gator 45/70]

Caught 2 on the game camera, Sent the pictures to the local Diary Queen, 15 minutes later I had names and some background dirt.

Shop you're local D.Q. for information.

[BunkTheory]

I used to hear plenty of shooting day and night. Still doesn't mean poachers. Coyote and coon hunting is quite popular at night. I hear most coyotes at dusk, but I'd guess 95% or better of my trail camera pictures of them are midnight to 4am.

yeahhh everyone knows the best way to hunt a raccoon is with a .243 or .308... sure yeah,,, wanna buy some bridge stocks i have?

[M-Tecs]

yeahhh everyone knows the best way to hunt a raccoon is with a .243 or .308... sure yeah,,, wanna buy some bridge stocks i have?

In my home state centerfire rifles have been legal for night hunting coyotes since the mid 80's. With snow and a clear night, a fully moon and a 50mm scope I have killed many coyotes using a .243 in the middle of the night. With the advent of affordable night vision scopes it is very common now. Racoons still only can be taken with traps or rimfires at night.

[megasupermagnum]

yeahhh everyone knows the best way to hunt a raccoon is with a .243 or .308... sure yeah,,, wanna buy some bridge stocks i have?

I've only ever used 3 guns to shoot racoon and coyote. A 6mm Remington, a 308 Winchester, and a 12 gauge shotgun. You can throw fox in that mix too. I can't imagine a better night or day varmint gun than a 243/6mm Remington, along with a 12 gauge for close shots. Mind you hunting with dogs, generally have special regulations. I've only ever shot raccoon as varmint on private land, and never in a tree. Growing up in rural MN, you hear shooting day and night, it's just the way things are. I think it is a great thing. I hear night shooting from time to time here in SD, but we are so much more spread out, I can barely hear the neighbor shooting, and the next guy over is out of hearing range except on dead calm days.

[redneck1]

Times are getting tough , a person can imagine poaching is going to be on the rise , not everyone out there is keen on signing up for the dole .
I'm not gonna hold a grudge against those trying to keep food on the table ... take a circle around a grocery store if you haven't been inside one for awhile .

[barnabus]

Playing the devils advocate, are you absolutely sure they shot a deer, and shot it illegally? It seems odd to me that someone would go out in the middle of the day in plain sight, obviously be made by you, and likely others. Then while you are within earshot, shoot a deer, and drag it out of a what I can only assume is a wide open field since you could see deer from the road. They would have to be some mighty bold and stupid poachers. I have no idea where you are, I'm again making an assumption that you do not have a firearms deer season open including a youth season. I doubt a bow makes that much noise, some are louder. Some crossbows make a decent crack. Maybe they did shoot a bow, and what you heard was a rock from a tire. My mud tires will throw up stones into the body loud enough to make me about knock over my drink. Even if it were a rifle, who's to say they shot a deer, and not some other animal? Turkey season is open right now in a lot of states, and rifle hunting is common in the fall.

All I'm saying is look at all the possibilities, before we lambast some guy you saw with binoculars as a poacher.

yea seems some folks think the worst of others especially if they aint getting their share of game.

[Gator 45/70]

I fail to see how one can ride around all night with high fuel cost's and then claim poaching due to financial hardship???

They two don't go together....Unless the poacher has an E.V ? Or the poacher has an unlimited fuel supply from a tank or pipeline.

[bedbugbilly]

redneck1 - Agree with you that as the times get tougher, there is bound to be more poaching . . . and I have no gouda for a man having to put food on the table for his family. My wife was born and raised in thee UP - her Dad was a DNR Forester - my Wife's God Father was the DNR LEO. Taking deer out of season was not uncommon by those who were struggling to make ends meet and trying to put food on the table . . . those things were understood and a blind eye was often turned to it. We all know how the prices are raising on food and everything else . . . my wife went to the store the other day looking for a roast to fix . . she came home shaking her head android it wold be a cold day in hell before she paid $40 for a roast . . . we had fish instead.

What does tick me off though are poachers who do it for fun. I can't begin to tell you how many times i found deer carcasses on the farm where someone shot a big buck, obviously had a saw with them and they would cut off the skull cap and horns and leave the deer to rot. In a local community, it doesn't take long to find out who is doing such things. The guy who was doing this was a fellow that everyone thought was a big 'sportsman" . guess it depends on your definition of what a sportsman is.

[Idaho45guy]

My neighbor asked to borrow my UTV to go retrieve a deer he shot during muzzleloader season. I said sure and told him to return it when I was off of work.

He sent me pictures of the deer and I was a bit upset. In our area, it is bucks only and they have to have 3-points per side or better. His was clearly a 2-point. He said he couldn't tell how many points it had when it was looking straight at him.

The DNR folks are very pro-active out here and like to go after hunters. Had one happened to come across him transporting an illegal buck with my UTV, they would have seized his rifle and my UTV and gone after me for aiding and abetting a poacher.

I won't be loaning him my UTV ever again. I don't respect slob hunters.

[MaryB]

Mary, that's a heck of a story. At the very least he'd have had a few broken bones from me for pointing a gun at me. Something for him to think about in the lockup with other people there who might think he was cute. Nothing gets me riled up more than to have a gun pointed at me. I don't do it to others and I expect others to treat me with the same courtesy, but to do it and back it up with a threat constitutes deadly force. I hope he lost the ability to legally possess any firearm for life also. What a scumbag!

2-3 years later he murdered a dude in WI in an argument over a tree stand, he was a trespasser again... that case made national news

[MaryB]

One local family that works hard but all minimum wage jobs(all they are capable of) is known for taking a 2-3 deer a year to feed the family. They stick to their own farm site(20 acres, mostly swamp) and most turn a blind eye to it. they pad it with a couple hogs and chickens plus legal small game hunting that they do buy licenses for. They run trap lines but fur prices barely make that worth it anymore, big thing is trapping out nuisance beaver for farmers and they charge $10 a beaver plus keep and eat the beaver in cold weather. Simple hard working folks who don't have much of anything.. no cell phones, they do have a landline via that low income program(I told them about Obamaphones but they said cell phones are to complicated), they have 1 old tube type TV with a converter box and get 3 off the air channels... you could plop them into the 50's and they would fit in! They have 2 old beat up pickups they scavenge parts form from local wrecking yards... they define poor yet are to proud to do welfare, they grow a huge garden(and make a little cash selling excess produce), hunt, grow a few animals, heat with wood and will come remove a dead tree if you ask and it is decent firewood, they took some ash down for me that borer beetles killed.

[Shawlerbrook]

I have no problem with someone poaching a deer out of need, but that is a low percentage of poaching around here. Most are poaching for antlers either too brag about or sell. i will say I wonder why pride interferes with the poor taking legal help, but doesn’t count when they are breaking the law( poaching or stealing). We also have a poaching problem from a group that won’t drive/own a car or own a phone, but not hesitate to use their neighbors.

[rockrat]

To me at least, its one thing to have meat on the table, like MaryB's story above, but another thing to shoot a buck and just take the horns and leave the rest to rot. We have had that happen not too far away. People could use that meat, heck, give the meat to a food bank and keep the horns if thats all you want. Don't let it go to waste.

[MaryB]

Local sheriff will take an anonymous tip of a deer carcass that can be harvested and call the closest person on their roadkill deer list(I am on the list, got a nice doe last fall, car hit it and broke 3 legs, sheriff told me to go shoot it and bring it home, he would drop off a possession tag in 2 hours). Poacher could tell a friend who could tell a friend to make the call so not traceable. They don't want it going to waste when there are plenty of people in this county(one of the poorest in MN, only a couple iron range counties are worse) who need the help and free meat is a massive help!

[BJK]

2-3 years later he murdered a dude in WI in an argument over a tree stand, he was a trespasser again... that case made national news

Thanks for the update. That's exactly what I would have expected. No surprise. Hopefully he's keeping bubba happy for a very long time. I hope every day is a lifetime of hell for him.

[armoredman]

Look him up in what facility he resides in. Subscribe to midget gay porn with his cell block and name.

[BJK]

Now that is too funny!