Is Poaching Okay???
 

When you need the meat in hard times? Something to provide for the family... Or is poaching still the wrong thing to do no matter what. Your 2 cents?

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Poaching is poaching. . . sorry . . . bend for one and it ends up getting bent for others. Everyone then has a good reason to shoot.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

when and if it ever got that bad, its like hank jr. says , country boy can survive. most do what they have to, if it came to that you'd be suprised at what a person would do and what a person will eat.. food for thought.

anybody need my possum recipe

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I agree with m.t. , if it ever does get that bad and someone has to kill one to keep their family going, i couldnt stand in their way.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

poaching is poaching no matter what. its against the law so hardtimes or not. there are other better, smarter solutions out there than breaking the law.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

young gun and georga, u just went bank rupt and have nothin to sell for money. would u go and cap bambi to feed your kids or are u just to good for that? i personally think that is not poaching in my book thats feeding your family.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I can remember in the recession My dad shot deer out of season on his own land for meat. The option of welfare was not available and How can I critisize a father trying to feed his family when He is doing everything possible to survive. I might be wrong ,but think there is not enough old members posting that can say they went to bed hungry half the time,had no heat and the toilet would have ice in it. had to wear clothes to big or small found in the trash.Go to school hungry and have kids laugh at your clothes. We ate what dad shot and thought of him as a hero for working 3 jobs so we at least had a roof over our heads.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

In this day and age I just don't understand how the "need to feed one's family" excuse can cut it anymore. There's a great deal of assistance out there, and donated meat and food. Would you guys also say it was alright for a man to rob someone so he could buy food?

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

i didn't live during the depression and i'm not sure what your smarter solution would have been, but when it comes to a man providing for his family it changes things, i have never been there and you have propabaly not been there, but if it comes to it, i would trap, kill, or catch, whatever i had to to provide for my family, i'm not much for hand-outs.

yes it would still be poaching, but at this point who would care, i've never had to put a child in the bed that was hungry, and for this i thank God

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I agree with rybohunter, if your in need of help there's alot out there or get another job, if you use it for an excuse then why not for theft and robbery. you can't compare 2005 to the depression era and what our fathers had to do or your grandfathers did. Where i live I hear that same excuse that its ok to poach so they can feed their familys, they think they're liveing 100 years ago and are still in the old west

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Poaching is Poaching and is against the law.
Plus if you happen to have a life-time license in your hip pocket you stand a chance to loose it including your gun also.

I do remember the recession of the 80’s which I think cardeer is referring to and I had to feed my family with no to very little employment. Yes, there are some assistance programs out there for a person to get help like food stamps. But believe me that just isn’t enough, what the government says you can live off of and what your family’s need are don’t always match up.

But a man will do what ever he has to feed his family but this doesn’t mean he has to poach any deer to do it.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

This topic is too deep for me! I hope me and my family never have to make a decision like that! I know I wouldn't starve though!!!!!!!

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I follow these same lines of thinking. Poverty is not an excuse to justify crime. Poaching and robbing are pretty much the same in the eyes of the State of Texas. New laws were enacted some time back because poachers were making a dent in landowner's pockets. It's hard to lease a place for hunting when someone else is shooting all the deer. If we turn our heads to poaching, why not robbery? Why not a single mother that is selling a little heroin every now and then to make ends meet and support her young son? Where do you draw the line?

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

As some others have said, I don't think the choice "poach or starve" is realistic situation. If, and it's a big IF, it ever really did come down to that choice - yes, I would poach. It would still be poaching and it would still be against the law, but I certainly wouldn't starve or let my family starve. I am talking about really starving - not just missing a meal here and there! I expect that there are a lot of things I would do if it came down to that - poaching might be the least of them. I am looking across the road right now at some cattle - lot's more meat on a cow than any deer I know of ;).

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

If it came to the only choice to feed my family then you better believe I would shoot wild game to do so. Its true there are some other options but if those were exhausted and I needed food then I would go hunting. When I was a kid there were very few hunting seasons where I lived. We lived on the farm and deer was on the menu sometimes. My mother would tell me to go get some meat. I would take the old 22 that Grandpa gave me and go get whatever was available. We were poor as hell and usually had to save the livestock to sell. We always did have chickens though. Lots of them. However you can't live on fried chicken all the time. Those were different times and things were not like they are today. I would sure go back though if I could.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

What?!?!?! Not across the road at my cows I hope. I'm gonna have to keep my eye on you.[8D]

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Here we go again.....poaching is poaching no matter the time or situation. My father is over 80 years of age and he always had food on the table. His father raised cows and chickens to feed his family in the backyard. Slaughtered them in the garage but it was legal, not poaching! Poaching to feed your family is a cop out no matter how you look at it!!!!!! JMO!

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

what u guys that our sayin get another job isnt that easy my grandpa had to feed 4 girls including my mom and his wife and he had jobs and they still were poor

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

what's your possum recipe????????????????? i gotta know!!!!!!!!!

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

It is still breaking the law however, I would do it. Reason #1 nobody will ever chatch me running through the woods at dark on my property. #2 I will never take handouts from someone else. If it puts food on the table, it puts food on the table. As for those that say this is not realistic, get out of the suburbs:eek:.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Yea, if me and my family is going hungry you can bet I,m going to knock Bambies dong in the dirt. These jerks that say poaching is poaching would be the first ones to do it if they were going hungry.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, take an average size cleaned possum and take a nail gun and nail him to an oak or hickory 2X6 plank, spread a thin layer of bovine "patay" over the whole possum, bake on the middle rack for 1 hour and 15 minutes, remove from oven take possum off and eat the board.

do not use pine or treated boards, they'll leave a bad taste in you mouth

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Killing an animal in despirate times is not considered poaching. I would do it in a heart beat.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

if you are that bad for money sell your hunting gear.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

K personally, all the guys who are arguing against feeding your family have obviously not had it that hard. So I think that if you were starving to death, I would be quite allright with somebody who really needed the meat to go and shoot a deer.
What do you think Canada and the U.S.A. started on? I don't conservation officer walking around giving tickets to pioneers. So actually think about what you would do if you were starving.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

My father lived threw great depression and no one knows what its like to have nothing till you have been threw that. He and the rest of my family are against hunting and thinks i shouldnt hunt unless i have to, but I see it different then them. Back during the great depression food was the name of the game. My dad says if the great depression happen today with the population of the country and ubanized its become most wouldnt be able to take care of themselves let alone a family. It would be very tough with no supermarkets and farms around. No one would respect posted signs and if it got real bad people would kill each other over a deer or other animals. I am not bragging when i say this but I really think i could support my mom, dad, brother and sister off the land and the lake we live on. When and if it ever came to a time that you needed food to live for survival then hunting seasons would not affect me from taking game to survive. Just my thought on poaching!

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I agree poaching is poaching! And to those who "would never take a hand-out," but you would poach, whats the difference? You would be stealing from the state and from the people of the state!
If you can justify poaching, you probably could justify armed robbery too!
You would have a better chance to pay the bills and feed the family, by spending your time doing odd jobs, than to risk having guns and equipment confiscated and being fined for poaching!
Heres another thought, if you need the money for food, cancel your internet service and sell your computer!

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

If someone truly kills a deer illegally to feed their family; I wouldn't call him a "poacher" or say he is "poaching". I would say he is acting out of nessacity. To me, a poacher is someone who kills a deer for no good reason; i.e. the rack, or just to kill one; whatever the reason may be- they aren't the right ones.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

If it weren't for laws against poaching you wouldn't have any deer to hunt, especially those nice trophies posted on your site. Don't break the law.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I'd admire the man who went out and provided food for his family by harvesting one of Gods gifts to us by whatever means possible much more than I'd admire the man who holds his hands out for charity to provide for his family.:eek:

This might not be the depression , but there sure as hell are alot of folks in some desperate times right now due to lack of jobs etc... I know of two families in northern Wi who fit that bill right now and I dont blame them a bit for providing for their families. Neither do the wardens , they turn their back when they know they've taken a deer and they also drop off road kills whenever possible.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

a country boy can and will servive! by what ever meens.
I personaly hate the fact that it is imposible for a pearson to live off of there own land and live the simple life. you have to follow suite or you are a crimanal. i understand laws and why we have them. i am in law enforcement. but if i could choose to live now or a hundred years ago i would not be here. would you? prably not.
you cant just go live off of the land out in the mountains if you want because your tresspasing or poaching.
i would love to do that. now that is free.
what hapened too the harder you work the further you get? now it is the most ass you kiss the further you get. and that doesnt work for me.
just my 2cents


but yes i would hunt legal or not if i had too to servive and feed my family.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

HELL NO !!!!

If you're too proud to flip a burger you deserve to starve . I haven't passed too many restaurants lately that didn't have a "help wanted" message on their marquee , get a job ! There is not and never has been a reasonable excuse for poaching , and as long as shelters and food banks exist there never will be .

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

kevin1, so you are saying that a burger flipping job will suport a family of five? i dont think so. but what ever you think dude.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Obviously some on here think there is no hungry and starving people in the us. Take a road trip to the appalachain (spelling) mountains in Virginia you will see youg and old familys living in busses, shacks and trailers with no electricity, running water and the only heat is wood. There is no work or welfare for these people they dont have cars or anything else cause they sold everything trying to feed their familys. Yes they are eating possoms, rats, skunks anything they can get to feed their familys and yes they poach a deer when they can and to me thats not poaching thats feeding your family! Some of us get so caught up in our comfy little world that we refuse to think or see whats going on in America. Flipping burgers yep that will take care of a starving America these people live more than 100 miles from any burger place, they are way back in the mountains and forgotten by people like some on this board who refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem. I have seen this first hand and The show 20-20 did a piece on this several years ago and yes they are still there. Jimmy

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Poaching is not ok, Even If somone has a hard time getting food!

Spend the time that it takes to go hunting a deer, and go hunting for a frickin job like everyone else.

If there is no jobs in your area pack your sh*t and get yourself to where there is work.

Simple as that.

Some people make exuses why they can't. Some poeple get off their ass and make things happen!

HT

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Without going in to too much detail, I would do anything I needed to feed my family. Do I think there are other ways to do it besides breaking any laws? You bet, but if all else fails i would kill a deer out of season in a heartbeat.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Some of you say move to find jobs or sell stuff that you have. When people are out of work and have no $$$ who will buy your stuff? If people have no money who will pay you and give you a job with no consumers? This is 2005 and the great depression happen back in the late 20's and early 30's. Becuase it was 70 years ago dont mean it can never happen again. You people who think you can just pack up and move to another state for a job. This country dont have enough jobs for the nearly 300 million people out there now but if hardtimes hit there should be enough jobs for everyone to make enough $$$ to where they wouldnt have to poach? I'm not trying to pick a fight with you who think there is no justice to take animals for survival out of season by no means but when and if this country was ever hit with hard times there would be more to survival then packing up and moving to find a job to survive and especially at what pay would become.

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

If you were so poor that you could not find food or a job, How the hell could you afford to move to a different part of the country. What would you use for rent and deposits and moving costs? I am not promoting poaching but If one had to then have at it. I for one think the good lord would forgive and who the heck cares if someone who has not seen a hard time and wouldn't know what one was if it hit them on the head thinks its somehow wrong?

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

I live in Appalachia, so I see some of this stuff first hand...

There are virtually no jobs here, and while the cost of living is low, it is on the rise.
Lots of the residents have no marketable skills, a 9th grade education and a raft of kids. There are welfare programs in place that feed them and heat their homes. These people lead a very different way of life than all of us are accustomed to. They have grown up raising chickens and shooting deer. I just don't get too bent out of shape when one of the hillbillies shoots a deer to eat or picks up a roadkill (also illegal). In the grand scheme of things, it's no big deal. I know a lot of the yocals, and donate them 90 percent of my deer. I think that does my part to control poaching, in a roundabout way.

They don't have much going for them, and if some fresh deer meat is the difference between these kids getting a good meal or having to wait until their free school lunch the following day, it's okay with me.

Most of the blame is attributable to the parents' history of making bad educational and financial decisions, but blaming them doesn't put food on the table, ya know?

RE: Is Poaching Okay???
 

Lot of folks on here that have obviously never been hungry.