You know, I think Trushot may be on to something here with his suggestion about the Ethical Hunters Colition. Maybe we should form such a group. It could operate much like the Neighborhood Watch groups accross the country. It would be groups of hunters/landowners forming together to help report illegal hunting actitivty such as poaching, spotlighting, trespassing, standstealing, ect. Think about it, our local game wardens cannot be everywhere at all times. Who better to help patrol the woods than fellow hunters? This group would form relationships with the local game wardens. The groups would meet with the local game police/commissions prior to the seasons to discuss problems and also for the local game police to give tips on what to do should you encounter someone violating the law. For example, a few years ago, while my father and I were outside talking, a car stopped up the road and shot a deer out the window. My father and I ran up the road and scared the guy before he could load the deer into his car. After we called the warden and he arrived, the warden advised us that should we come accross a similar event in the future, we should let the guy load the deer into his car first, then get his tag number and then call the warden. By us running him off, the warden had no evidence to go on other than our word verses the poacher. Now, we know what to do in the future.

I believe this group would not only help cut down on poachers and other illegal activity, it would do alot for our reputations as hunters in general. Now, when someone breaks the game laws, we all look bad as hunters, but if we had a group whose sole function was to police ourselves, we'd ALL look a wholelot better in the eyes of the public.

What do you guys think? Good idea? Bad idea? Wouldn't work?