20 slugs

Here in Ontario Canada our GW,s are very few do to the lack of money to pay them and to put gas in their patrol cars trucks.The last warden I seen was 4yrs ago and the other two I have seen were on the news about a petting zoo that was not providing proper care and these 2 were so big that if they had to chase any one it would take them for ever to get out of their cars.I was told by a landowner it took 2 hrs for someone to respond to a poacher . They never did catch the guy the warden had to call the police to get directions to the poachers place thats enough time for him to hide what ever else ware 7 half hrs in total.

halfrack VIII

I have a few sad stories on this subject
1. i went walking around the property adjacent to mine and found buck after buck 8 in total that had their racks capped off and left to rot. they looked to be between 1 and 3 years just lying there.
2. an old man from in town hammered a mega twelve opening day of shotgun. he went back to find someone to help him drag the deer out (he wouldn't have made it out of the feild doing it himself)when he reutrned two hours later the whole head was gone.
3. opening week of shotgun there were three ghuys with their shotguns who encirceledmy neighbors property to push the swamp out towards their buddies in the field.

ducksmoker

I had the fortune of being the son of a game warden an spent many summer days on the back roads and in the woods with my Dad as he did his job.
But he is gone now an i am 51 all that is left is memories an some wonderful stories of hunters dressed in woolrich shirts an hats long before the days of camo an graphite fishing rods. I have never had the pleasure of meeting any hunter or fisherman that at some point in their life has not broken a game law (intended or not) myself included the fact is if a violation is commited taking game no matter how minor the violation is it is poaching.

When your heart is pounding adrenaline is at 90+ that big buck is just about to become a story of the one that got away an he crossed the road to the pond you duck hunt or jumped the fence an is on your buddys place you got a clean shot an dump him in his tracks. He will be hanging on the wall soon But you may have broken a law these kind of things play out every year to some of the best hunters out their. I only look at the hunter an what he did some just make a mistake wile others take from us all. Asfor the hunter that found the baited duck pond he did the right thing an reported it he may have commited a violation or not But he helped to put a stop to a guy that is taking from us all. one baited pond can ruin the duck hunting for a few miles around that pond (I applaud him for what he did)

Lanse couche couche

Poaching is a way overused term. Kind of like calling it a DUI if someone is caught speeding with alcohol on their breath. The only problem with calling every guy that accidentally goes one dove over his limit a poacher is that it kind of weakens the term when you use it in reference to the really bad guys.

ducksmoker

i don't think it is a overused termit is a misunderstood term people have it ingained in their head that a poacher is a person out killing countless deerleave the meattake horns or antlers ect'.Not so poaching means (other than lawful means of taking)

years back my cousin shot a deer that were running with 4 or 5 others in the woods he shot fast an only had a sec to shoot after looking at the deer
it turned out to be a nub buck his ticket poaching (hunting deer out of season) did that make him a bad person no but it was still poaching he still had to say i got a ticket for poaching shooting a antlerless deer in antler only season

thetrue meaning of the word has been lost an coinedto fit a certian type of hunter used in slang ie, he's a poacher an looked down on

mnbirddog

Like it or not, ignorance is no excuse. Fact of the matter is that you were poaching, though unknowingly. You were hunting over a baited swamp, thats illegal. That being said, IMO you still did the right thing. Out of curiosity how would you have felt if the warden had given you a ticket also? Would you have still been glad you called? I still would have, but truth be told, I would not have been so eager to call the next time.

mnbirddog

If he is shooting things and is not sure what they are, he is the worst kind of poacher. He is dangerous! "Oh, I only had a second to react so I shot before I saw the guy standing behind what looked like a buck running through the woods" Shame on him, I hope the ticket was SEVERE and that it made him learn a valueable lesson that he really should have learned before he stepped into the field with a gun.

ducksmoker

you missed the point

Lanse couche couche

I think that the meaning of poaching has been changed and watered down. It meant something pretty specific during the Middle Ages when it was coined. When i was growing up, you didn't hear it used in reference to somebody that didn't have their gun case zipped completely shut or who forgot to keep their legal limit of rabbits separate from everyone else's in the back of the truck. When you go tossing a term like that around and applying it to everyone, then folks may be less inclined to take it seriously.

mnbirddog

Actually I think you missed the point. I got your point, but it was wrong. Doing crap like that DOES make your cousin a bad guy. I stand by saying anyone shooting at things they havent identified is the worst kind of poacher that is. Just because he is your cousin, doesn't mean he isn't an idiot that shouldn't have been in the woods. And still shouldn't be if that experience didn't teach him a lesson.