Indiana-Eric

i have a cousin who has a family to take care of, they dont have any money, but they have guns. my cousin shoots deer any time of the year which is bad, but, he told me that a game warden told him that he knew they didnt have any money, and he didnt care if my cousin shot deer, just as long as they ate it and kept secret about it., and trust me, ive stayed at my cousins house, and he dont have any food lol, and his kids are like 6, 4, and 2 i think, heres my question, what do you have to say about that???

bfnc2003

If your cousin doesnt have food....thats one thing but poaching is another. Hell he could go ask a farmer for some chickens or something......not shoot big rack bucks on the side of the road......poaching......whether hungry or not is not something I will ever justify doing myself or your starving cousin. Tell him get food stamps.......hell my taxes pay for half of NC to eat for free might as well pay for your cousin too.

Charlie P

Why doesn't he take advantage of any of the programs available. Please don't tell me it's pride cause if your too proud to take a dvantage of something to help your kids you should be too proud to break a law to do the same thing.

Charlie P

Do they have crop damage programs down there? He could very easily have his name given to land owners that are having a problem and not have to poach.

Rack-attack

Depends on why he doesnt have any money to me..........

If he is a hard working man - with limited income and a family - in the middle of some real tough times he is trying to get out of - shoot whatever he wants - I won't take food from a childs mouth.............

If he is a drunk, or lazy slob, with no ambition - and has led his family down a path of destruction - I have a problem with him abusing resorces I pay for.

adams

IMO there are other ways, stealing wildlife is not the answer. Poaching looks bad for all hunters. Also IMO why someone poaches dosn't change the fact that they have. Hunters feeding the hungary, Crop damage permits. food banks, food stamps can all be utilized as well as contacting the local police to get roadkill. I know it's not glamorous but this is not the Great Depression. There are safety nets in place to help people in his situation.

Some day if the warden opts not to look the other way, then what? He looses his guns, his right to hunt, his truck, possibly his home and spends some time in jail. This dosen't help the family either.

Nope, Poaching is not the answer.

Moose_Maximus

I think if it were maybe a one-time thing--family shivering in the dark with nothing to eat--any one of us would understand (or at least be able to rationalize) shooting a deer to feed the wife & kids.

But it's a slippery slope. It doesn't take long for someone to think that it's not only okay to do it, but that he's *entitled* to do it. Let's face it, none of us wants to walk around saying to himself, "Yeah, I'm a game thief, all right." Instead, we soon think we're some kind of heroes for defying an evil system that's trying to keep food from our kids' mouths.

Given the availability of government programs and the incredily cheap food here in America, I simply have trouble believing that someone is forced to resort to regular poaching to feed his family.

(And don't give me that "too proud to take charity" line. The guy in question is already taking charity from the game warden who knows what he's up to and hasn't arrested him.)

JagMagMan

Poaching is poaching, and hunting is hunting! As others have said, if its a one time thing, to make it through a tough period, MAYBE! If its a habitual, year around thing, NO, thats just poaching!
I also agree that its bull to talk of pride, while you are taking the charity of the Game Warden and other legal hunters at the same time!

TheBassMan

i had a friend who i thought was a great hunter, and was an ethical one too. Then one day he showed me a beautiful picture of a really nice 8 pt. He said he shot it out of his truck....and what really pissed me off was that he left it there...he has done this on numerous ocasions. i moved and never had a chance to fo anything about it. Also in Southern Mo they have hasd some poachers killing deer on my grandparents land...they just leave them on the side of the road. And the people down there eat them, and consider even when they get a doe a blessing. I guess i am just saying what everyone else is saying, but wrote a novel in rying so....poaching is poaching...IT WRONG...there are other ways to get food

PacNWhunter

Poaching is stealing pure and simple. Same as going to the groc. store and stealing food. You did not say if your cousin is working or not, also is his wife working. There are alot of programs that can help him. If he is working and it does not pay enough well as much as we all hate to sometimes we have to move where the work is. I work 2 jobs and my wife works as well so we can have the life we want. It looks like he has 3 kids, I have 2 so one more will put alittle more strain on him then me but not alot. Does he have pets, i.e. dogs, etc. If he does as much as one cares about their pets that money that could go to the family. As far as a game warden telling him I know and don't tell, hmmm no matter what the wardens personal feelings are he is not doing the job the tax payers are paying him for.