Poaching in Arizona

[CHD]

Believe it or not, the best deterrent to poaching trophy class animals is not me and the threat of being exposed on this forum, lol.

 

Utah has a program where you can receive a tag in the affected unit for turning in a poacher. Colorado has just adopted the same program, after several years of evaluating other programs. Both states also have an 'Operation Game Thief' tip hotline where a monetary award is given for a telephone tip leading to a conviction.

 

How it works in UT and CO is that if you turn in a poacher, testify if necessary, and the poacher is convicted, you receive a tag for the species and unit where this all occurred! A maximum of 20% of the permits issued for a unit may go to this cause.

 

Think about this for a minute. Is there a better way to stop poaching? Is there a better way to encourage friends to report poaching friends (a very common way of catching a poacher)? Is there a better way for wildlife management to pay for itself? How would you like to be a poacher on the Strip, Kaibab, elk or antelope in 9 or 10, or Coues in 36C trying to get away with it? Would you run back to town and brag to your buddy about it?

 

Man, I think I'm gonna spend plenty of time this winter in UT and CO on the classic muley winter range shooting coyotes, looking at big 'ol bucks, and trying for one of those hard-to-draw tags!!! Some of the landowner tags in the top units go for thousands! I may find my way down to Arizona to do some coyote hunting as well!

 

Is a program such as this being considered in Arizona? If not, are you guys pushing for one? Why not????? For you ADA reps, listen closely. This is a good deterrent to poaching! With the incredible trophy animals that Arizona has along with the present-day promotion of trophy animals and $$$$, there has to be some serious poaching going on. Let's preserve those trophy animals for law-abiding, wildlife supporting, legitimate hunters!

 

Chris Darnell

Edited January 1, 1970 by CHD

[.270]

Az. doesn't have a poaching problem. that's a utah tradition.

[Rembrant]

Lark,

When you go to the zoo, are you the guy that rattles a stick across the gorillas cage?

Mike

[.270]

now dat's funny, rembrandt. i get serious about a lotta stuff, but hackin' on dummies is the thing i get seriousest about. Lark.

[recurveman]

I think this is a great idea. I'm going to get my mom to poach an elk in unit 9 every year. Then when the tags come out I can go collect mine.

 

I think I can make this work. What the heck. She doesn't want to hunt anyways. So what does she care if she looses her license.

 

I do know a few people that have turned in poachers in this state and you get nothing for it. Not a thing. It sure would be nice if you did get a tag or some reward.

 

Later,

 

recurveman

[.270]

talk about a cold blooded hunter. recurve would turn in his own mom!?! now that's rough. i once new a highway patrolman that gave his own mom a ticket. it is an interesting concept tho. might cost a few grand for the fines she'd get. but if ya look at what a governors tag goes for, you're still way ahead. but man, recurve, for a guy to even think that one up shows some real deviousness. cool. Lark.

[Manamal]

Do they still shoot poachers on site in Africa? It seems to me that would work well as a deterrant here in AZ. I've heard a couple times that on average, one buck is killed illegally for each one killed legally. Really no way to tell. I spend ALOT of time in the wilds of AZ and rarely do I see AZGFD. In fact it has been years!!! How come the dept. doesn't have enough officers to keep an eye on the animals of AZ?

 

Ive Been to NM deer scouting/hunting for the last couple years, and see the NMGFD officers on a regular basis, some really cool guys with good info. I wonder if NM has less of a poaching problem than AZ.

[falls]

I turned in some guys about 12 years ago when I witnessed them shoot a couple of mulie does in unit 21.

I took pictures of there camp and truck. Called G&F waited all day on sunday for an officer to show up. Went back with him to the site. We drug the deer to the road loaded them in his truck then took him to there camp, where I identified them. He then confiscated their guns and cited them for littering and charged them with the poaching of the deer.

The case never went to court, they ended up pleading no contest to the littering charge were fined a small fee and thats it.

Seemed like a big waste of time to me. Never even got a thankyou from the officer.

 

The only thing the poachers learned was that its ok to poach as long as you always remember to pick up your empty cigarette packs when your done.

[recurveman]

I actually thought it would be a great idea to turn your mom in. If she doesn't hunt then tell her that you willl pay her fines and get your elk tag that way. How great would that be? It might cost you a little more but it would probably be cheaper than going to Nevada or NM and buying one of their tags if you could get drawn.

 

later,

 

recurveman

[.270]

manamal, do you think there's that many deer get shot illegally? seems high, but who knows i guess. you guys are right about azgfd treating poachers lightly. when they do catch someone, it's almost always because a citizen saw it. then they'll usually plea it down to something light. heck, throw the book at em. even if it ain't a deterent, at least make the guy pay a bunch. seems every state and the feds really get serious when they do catch someone and then they all plea down to not much of a fine or penalty. i guess the guys that get caught have to suffer some humiliation and embarassment, but the "serial poachers" don't really care. they'll always argue that they were framed and just keep on doing what they've been doing. had a warden tell me once that some guys get to be like ted bundy. live for poaching. it's a real sickness. said they've had the fbi guys at quantico do that silence of the lambs personallity profile stuff on some different guys and he said that they've been told that the public is lucky these guys got started on animals and not people, because there were real sick individuals. Lark.

[More D]

Friends know that I hunt and ask me from time to time about it. They ask about the rules, dates, game animals one can hunt, etc....

When it comes to poaching....I....elaborate....exagerate....flat out lie. I tell them what I think should be done. I SAY that if you get caught with a illegal taken deer in the wrong area, wrong dates, wrong speices that AZG&D will confiscate your rifle , your truck, and you and all those you have applied with will not be able to hunt for a minimun of 5 years, and be fined up to $5000!! I only wish that were true! I truly wish AZG&F were that tough on caught poachers. I realize that it is hard to actually catch poachers BUT when they do AZG&F should really put it to them. Make an example of poachers!

 

Falls......sorry to here that the WM you dealt with never said thanks but let me tell you now THANK YOU Even if nothing really happend to then in the end, it makes me proud to know that fellow hunters are working against poachers.

 

I was shocked to learn at my hunter ed class two years ago that when a poacher is caugh shooting at those fake deer when AZG&F does those stings that the shooters do not even get there tag pulled. They get a ticket but can STILL LEGALLY HUNT! I thought that was a bunch of BULL$HIT!

 

 

I had better stop now, I can go on and on with this one.

Sorry to go off so much.......poachers have a special"place in my heart"

 

 

 

[.270]

aw man, i gotta couple stories about fake deer that are hilarious. but you're right, if you shoot at one all they can do is give you a ticket for shooting from the road or from a vehicle. it ain't poachin' because it ain't an animal. did you see the g&f video where they were yellin' at the ol' man who stopped his truck, stepped to the side o' the road and proceeded to ventilate their robobuck? they were yellin' at him to stop and he kept shootin'. looked over his shoulder at em and fired some more. he probly tagged it. Lark.

[Manamal]

.270,

Man I sure hope not, but when you hear something from more than one source it kinda makes you wonder. I've seen deer and elk carcases in the field before with their antlers cut off as i'm sure some of you have. Sometimes its a lion kill, natural causes, misplaced bullet or arrow from someone hunting legally that just ditnt take the time to follow up the shot, or sometimes it's a poached animal. Unless it's fresh its hard to tell for sure.

 

Probably the biggest question is "why" someone would poach. Some people just have a general disregaurd for the law, they are probably the guys that haven't been drawn in quite a while and feel the state owes them that buck or bull.

 

Also are those guys that move here from some state with very liberal bag limits for deer. They have been killing multiple bucks every year for their whole life and look past the law to continue what they have been doing. These are the kind of people that just don't understand the problems that AZ deer face every year.

 

Then there is another catergory of poachers I call "Opportunistic Killers". These guys may have a valid tag for whatever unit, and are unable to harvest an animal within the dates for the hunt set by AZGFD. They may be out quail hunting one day see a buck and kill it, and then tell everyone what a great hunter they are. But that person and god will know that they suck at finding bucks. Poaching is not hunting!!! And he who poaches knows he is not a hunter.

[gnoto]

net net poachers are bums. They do not care about anything. I think they should be prosecuted for theft. I have found more deer then I can count on my farm when I lived back East. On more then one occasion I found the carcus field dressed and drying in a tree no tag. Out here its a bit different the law does not seem to care. If you got caught in NY with a illegal bag they took your kill, your gun, your license and you were never going to see them again. Gun sold at auction! Hunters are the reason poachers get caught. See them report them regardless of how much time it takes you. If not your part of the problem not he solution! One thing I will admit is its a lot harder to get a tag here and the hunts are short. Some of these guys just snap I think. Chase a big bruising ghost for a week and find him the next month while pig hunting and it takes some restraint to not take him. heck tell them to get a lion tag and go at it.