antlerradar
Well-known member
The worst part of hunting season for me dealing with poachers. Every year I get the pleasure a least once. The rut is the worst. This weekend I got double duty.
The first started with my sister in law. She caught some poachers walking off the road and looking down into a draw. She ran them off. Of course they gave her the "my GPS says this is BLM story" Like I haven't heard that one before. I bet every trespasser I have ever dealt with has claimed they were on public land. She drives back to the house to tell my brother and they hear the shooting. I also hear the shots but thought they might be the outfitter on the neighbors. My brother drives up the road and there they are on the side of the road no more than a mile from where my sister in law ran them off . They take off but a mile up the road they turn around. I have seen that trick a more than once and so has my brother. As soon as he is out of sight he turns around to watch. Sure enough the poachers start driving across our pasture. They see my brother and race back to the county road. He confronts them. Oh no we didn't shoot, we are lost and were just turning around. (as if you need to drive 50 yard off the road to turn around)
I also see them driving off the road. The poachers leave and my brother and I drive to my dads to call the warden and gives him plate numbers. We them went back to look for the deer. It was maybe 200 yards off the road. My brother returns to my fathers house to tell the warden that we found the buck.( pictured) He then returns to wait for the warden and the poachers are back. My brother just drives by, waves and drives to the neighbors to call the warden and tell him that the poachers are back. He no sooner hangs up the phone and there is a knock on the door. It is the poachers looking for a place to hunt. ( shoot first, and then ask. not the first time I have seen that) My brother tells them to wait for the warden and they do. As poachers go they were not pros.
Today I was hunting with a friend and his 14 year old daughter. We were on top of a large hill and we spot a good whitetail buck ( heavy 140 class) 300 yards below us. Two problems. He was 100 yards into the neighbors field and across the county road form us. The poachers in the first pickup shoot him right from the road, drive across the field, through the buck in the back and take off. I race off the hill and confront them. I got license plates and pickup make and model but they didn't stick around. I hope the warden can reconnect with them.
My stories are not that important. This is what is. I have never been interested in outfitter money, but when outfitters talk about patrolling my property and taking over the chore of dealing with slobs. Now that gets my interest.
The rut is the worst. before the rut the older buck are not near the roads in the daylight. During the rut those better bucks are easy pickings.
I would bet the amount of access loss because of people like I had to deal with this weekend is staggering
The first started with my sister in law. She caught some poachers walking off the road and looking down into a draw. She ran them off. Of course they gave her the "my GPS says this is BLM story" Like I haven't heard that one before. I bet every trespasser I have ever dealt with has claimed they were on public land. She drives back to the house to tell my brother and they hear the shooting. I also hear the shots but thought they might be the outfitter on the neighbors. My brother drives up the road and there they are on the side of the road no more than a mile from where my sister in law ran them off . They take off but a mile up the road they turn around. I have seen that trick a more than once and so has my brother. As soon as he is out of sight he turns around to watch. Sure enough the poachers start driving across our pasture. They see my brother and race back to the county road. He confronts them. Oh no we didn't shoot, we are lost and were just turning around. (as if you need to drive 50 yard off the road to turn around)
I also see them driving off the road. The poachers leave and my brother and I drive to my dads to call the warden and gives him plate numbers. We them went back to look for the deer. It was maybe 200 yards off the road. My brother returns to my fathers house to tell the warden that we found the buck.( pictured) He then returns to wait for the warden and the poachers are back. My brother just drives by, waves and drives to the neighbors to call the warden and tell him that the poachers are back. He no sooner hangs up the phone and there is a knock on the door. It is the poachers looking for a place to hunt. ( shoot first, and then ask. not the first time I have seen that) My brother tells them to wait for the warden and they do. As poachers go they were not pros.
Today I was hunting with a friend and his 14 year old daughter. We were on top of a large hill and we spot a good whitetail buck ( heavy 140 class) 300 yards below us. Two problems. He was 100 yards into the neighbors field and across the county road form us. The poachers in the first pickup shoot him right from the road, drive across the field, through the buck in the back and take off. I race off the hill and confront them. I got license plates and pickup make and model but they didn't stick around. I hope the warden can reconnect with them.
My stories are not that important. This is what is. I have never been interested in outfitter money, but when outfitters talk about patrolling my property and taking over the chore of dealing with slobs. Now that gets my interest.
The rut is the worst. before the rut the older buck are not near the roads in the daylight. During the rut those better bucks are easy pickings.
I would bet the amount of access loss because of people like I had to deal with this weekend is staggering
