CountingCoo
Well-known member
I drew a late muzzy tag for mule deer here in Idaho. Saturday morning I spotted a golden eagle and some crows in a draw and decided to check it out. I found this buck at the end of an incredibly obvious blood trail. After a bit of investigating I figured out that the buck had been shot at about 175 yards from a forest road. There were ATV tracks in the fresh snow, and it was clear that the shooter never left the road to check if the buck was hit. This really pissed me off and I decided to call the local G&F which was closed and I was redirected to the poaching tip line. I wasn't really expecting much, and was pleasantly surprised when the game warden called me back within 3 minutes. I explained what I'd seen and he said he was about 90 minutes away and would head my direction. I texted him a couple pics and the GPS coordinates of the buck and moved to another area to glass. I ran into him a couple hours later and he had found the buck, removed the head and said he was going to start looking for the hunters. It was pretty obvious the deer was shot the day before, and I figured the odds of finding the guys that did it were slim to none. As I was driving out in the dark a few hours later the warden called me to let me know he had found the hunters, and they had admitted to shooting the deer and not following up. The warden had followed the ATV tracks to where they had trailered up. He then followed the trailer tracks for several miles to another canyon. He spotted the two ATV's driving down the road and was glassing them when they stopped and shot at yet ANOTHER deer before, once again, driving away without any attempt to follow up. When confronted they admitted to shooting at the buck I found, and not bothering to climb the hill to look for blood.
I am incredibly impressed with this warden. He could have just picked up the head and moved on. It also feels good knowing that at least one despicable road hunter got what was coming to him. Even a cursory search for blood would have led directly to this deer. I spent weeks preparing for this hunt, and several days hiking and glassing in freezing cold and never saw a buck of this caliber.
I am incredibly impressed with this warden. He could have just picked up the head and moved on. It also feels good knowing that at least one despicable road hunter got what was coming to him. Even a cursory search for blood would have led directly to this deer. I spent weeks preparing for this hunt, and several days hiking and glassing in freezing cold and never saw a buck of this caliber.
Last edited:
