The Prince of Poachers

[shootbrownelk]

Turns out it is real, wtf is right. Found a picture of him and Nugent, give me a break.

View attachment 92050

Birds of a feather I'd say.

 

[tarheel]

My experience has shown them to be in the Southeast and whitetail hunters (no offense if you are in that demographic, as I am sure there are upstanding hunters in there).

And just what is your experience? Why should the people of an entire region of the country not be offended by such an accusation by someone who sits on their lofty perch in Montana and makes it sound as though they have their finger on the pulse of a part of the country so far removed geographically???

I did a little data mining this morning and had a great deal of difficulty finding any data to reinforce or refute your claim so here is just a little info along those lines. Yes, we have poaching, we have many otherwise legal kills which go unreported, and there are many who belong in jail for their activities, but you'll find that everything in life is proportionate and while Montana has just barely over 1 million population the ten (10) states commonly thought of as being in the SE have a grand total of over 56 million souls combined with an explosive whitetail population so there is ample opportunity for poaching considering the minuscule amount of public land available. Proportionately I seriously doubt it is any worse here than in any other area of the country so disparaging remarks aren't going to be too well received from this quarter.

 

[Mountainguide]

How can this even be a thing? Pure garbage, it’s sickening how dumb people like this get any attention

 

[Schaaf]

Yeah, but what are his thoughts on wolves?

 

[The Hedgehog]

Not gonna lie, I'm highly tempted to buy several copies, one for my den and several as white elephant gifts.

 

[PrairieHunter]

Great use of a knife in that pic. Not sure if there is a purpose other than looking like a badass but that is the way to take pics with people.

Looks like the type of booth you would see at a gun show.

 

[noharleyyet]

My experience has shown them to be in the Southeast and whitetail hunters (no offense if you are in that demographic, as I am sure there are upstanding hunters in there).-406LIFE

Unfortunate statement...

 

[oldillini]

"This is the best book I've ever read aside from the Bible."

Maybe he never got past "Dick and Jane" books.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Maybe he never got past "Dick and Jane" books.

My guess is the reader never got to that " Thou shalt not steal" part.

 

[MNElkNut]

I would like to read it out of curiosity and a look into the mind of a criminal, but no way am I going to pay one penny to that fella. If I can get it at the library I will, if not, I will survive pretty well without reading it.

 

[PrairieHunter]

Saw this on another page regarding this fella.

The guy who had calf hoofs screwed on a set of football cleats actually taught me science in high school. I saw some of the huge Bucks he killed off the King Ranch. He told me how he got caught when the vaqueros tracked him down since there was suppose to be no cattle in that pasture.

I must say that spending weeks on these ranches running from vaqueros with football cleats made to look like cow hooves sounds more interesting than the average poaching story.

 

[blb078]

My experience has shown them to be in the Southeast and whitetail hunters (no offense if you are in that demographic, as I am sure there are upstanding hunters in there).

I don't live in the SE but MT is far from squeaky clean in the poaching department. Fact is every state has poachers, just like every state has various other crimes and they all have people who are outstanding hunters and outstanding citizens in general. To single out a region or group or people and act as if you area is perfect shows real ignorance on your part. There may be more poaching in the SE or even a higher percentage of poaching(I have no idea if either is true) but that is not what you said nor implied.
https://billingsgazette.com/news/st...ion_1926f71a-d3ba-11e7-93b8-b7f342afe17d.html
http://fwp.mt.gov/enforcement/crimes/poaching.html

 

[Sytes]

Yeah, but what are his thoughts on wolves?

High fenced wolves remove the "fair chase" ethics of the criminal poacher... Besides, when he was arrested for the poaching, he shared the fear of dustation by rainbow farting wolves.

 

[Southern Elk]

My experience has shown them to be in the Southeast and whitetail hunters (no offense if you are in that demographic, as I am sure there are upstanding hunters in there).

I’d like to hear more about your “experience” as well. I grew up and lived most of my life in the SE and I’ve seen just as much poaching since moving to SW Montana. It’s everywhere and always will be. To blanketly label an entire region of the country with that comment is irresponsible.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I would like to read it out of curiosity and a look into the mind of a criminal, but no way am I going to pay one penny to that fella. If I can get it at the library I will, if not, I will survive pretty well without reading it.

I agree with this. I am curious about this guy, his story, justification or lack thereof. But, although interesting, I don't want him or his estate to receive a nickel of my $.

 

[wytex]

Get in line to tread the book on Texas Bowhunter Forum. One guy has it and is passing it around for some to read without buying it to support him.

 

[TheJason]

I’d like to hear more about your “experience” as well. I grew up and lived most of my life in the SE and I’ve seen just as much poaching since moving to SW Montana. It’s everywhere and always will be. To blanketly label an entire region of the country with that comment is irresponsible.

Probably just as prevalent in small town MT as it is anywhere else.

 

[406LIFE]

I should offer some clarification, as my original post did not quite convey what I wanted to:

1. I did not mean to infer that MT is without poaching at all. In fact, I am very familiar with a few of our more egregious cases out of the Seely-Swan valley. Any and all poaching is loathsome, and none of it should be discounted or elevated in anyway.
2. What the focus of my post was regarding was the whitetail world and how it can compromise and corrupt those in search of being in the records books. There are numerous scandals that can be found about "record" deer that were falsified, tame and entered as fair chase, and breeding operations for larger antlers. There is what seems to be an insatiable drive for more inches on a deer and that the score is the end game.
3. My experience has been that the majority of issues I have seen have come mainly from a certain area, I'd estimate half. That is not to say they don't come from other areas or specifically my homestate. Indeed they do. I think it is because whitetail in the western states are not as popular as mule deer or elk, and possibly not as plentiful (although that is changing too.). Whitetail deer are extremely popular and plentiful on the eastern seaboard. That was what Beaty's target species was, that's why I spoke to it.

For those offended, I meant no offense and offer my apologies. Hopefully this offer some clarification on my thoughts.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I went duck hunting with my boys this afternoon. We were racing the end of shooting hours when we pulled in to a favorite bay in hopes of jump shooting a few last minute ducks or geese. Several dead coots in the water and a dead juvenile swan laying out on the ice was pretty convincing evidence that poaching is not confined any specific region. We skipped the hunt and drove up the canyon to let the dog romp in the snow and chase a stick. Disgusting.

 

[belly-deep]

I went duck hunting with my boys this afternoon. We were racing the end of shooting hours when we pulled in to a favorite bay in hopes of jump shooting a few last minute ducks or geese. Several dead coots in the water and a dead juvenile swan laying out on the ice was pretty convincing evidence that poaching is not confined any specific region. We skipped the hunt and drove up the canyon to let the dog romp in the snow and chase a stick. Disgusting.

I don’t think he ever said there were no poachers anywhere else, just that more seemed to be whitetail hunters in the south.

Given population densities and their overlap with whitetail herds, I’d tend to agree on sheer numbers. Per capita, not so much.