NY Conservation Officers
Do you think we should have more conservation officers roaming around? I find it odd that I've hunted a ton of different pieces of property in all different regions and have NEVER seen 1 single officer around. Not once driving up and down the roads, not once been checked, not once at the boat launch, etc.....
I know it would cost the taxpayers more money, but come on!! What's the sense of even having any then. I talked to one the other day about a poaching problem I'm having. He pretty much admitted it would be like an act of congress to have anything done. You pretty much need some real hard evidence (video, pictures) for anything to even be implemented. He said they are so thinly spread that it's tough to cover everything. He covers 300 square miles of territory!! How can you monitor anything with one officer covering that much ground?
It just irritates me that I know for a 100% fact of a few poachers around my area. One guy has shot 9 bucks between bow and gun (last I knew a week ago). I could hand this guy on a silver platter to the DEC but there's nothing they can do because they evidently dont' have the manpower.
So what's to stop it from happening? It's pretty easy for someone to shoot as many deer as they want to and just keep hauling them out of the woods and to their garages to butcher. Why even buy a license? If I were a poacher I'd be in heaven. Heck save the $70 and go slay 10 deer a season without any worries.
Maybe it's a regional thing and I'm my hunting area is a little different. But, 17 years in the woods 60-70 days a season between bow and gun without coming across ONE single officer is a little strange.
This isn't another DEC slam because they are doing what they can do with what is given to them. It just bothers me.