Cuffs and Collars in NYON

[First-light]

For those of you who read NYON I just find it unbelievable how far people will go to shoot a deer, illegally. From using another persons tag to baiting deer. I would also guess for every poacher caught there must be a dozen that get away with it, maybe even more?

[Doc]

It's difficult to understand the mentality of a poacher, and what it is that drives them to break the laws. There seems to be some kind of pressure on some people to impress people with their hunting achievements that makes them try to cheat in any way possible. I don't get it.

[bkln]

They are all NE Patriots fans...:-)

[phade]

Addiction and poor decision-making skills.

Add that to power, love, money, sex, and anger/jealousy...and you have the root cause of all crimes.

[Doc]

Do you think that some of it is a result of today's pressure to have success? You know what I mean? Everything today has to do with rack score, and constant success. Could it be that it has kind of coerced a win at all costs kind of mentality? I know that quite a few hunting public personalities have succumbed to bending, or breaking the laws just for an extra edge to maintain their public image of being infallible hunters. That kind of got me to thinking how much some of that might be involved in your average poacher mind-set. I'm trying to imagine what frame of mind would make hunting success so important that these guys would go to some of the illegal extents that they do. And I'm not talking about the market poachers who have a money motive. I'm talking about the average guy who will break whatever law he thinks will give him an edge in a hunt (more than likely the majority of poachers).

Yeah I know, I'm probably just overthinking it a bunch and the truth is probably more like they are just a bunch of dirt-bags with no real reason for their poacher-mentality ....... lol.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I think there are too many reasons why people poach deer. Its nothing new, so I dont believe most of it would have anything to do with today's pressure. For some, sure, and to go along with that, maybe those guys are trying to make a name for themselves, you know, to try and get into the Outdoor Industry or something like that. Think of the TV personalities. Others, they may just want something to brag about, or feel that is the only way they can get their "dream buck". Some may just be lazy, and still others may have been brought up to beleive there is nothing wrong with baiting or shooting from a truck. Then there are still others that have no idea that baiting and some of the other less severe (you know, not spotlighting, shooting from a vehicle, in peoples yards, etc) are even against the law. I know of people that feed deer in their yards, have salt licks, etc because they like to watch the deer, etc. A couple people I know that do it, I have mentioned to them that it is illegal, and they dont really care. They arent hunting or shooting the deer, so I dont bother reporting them. Then, you have people that shoot deer for food, or try to live off of the land, so they take their chances and sometimes get caught.

My little list probably doesnt even scratch the surface as to the reasoning people use when they do these things. Alot of them probably are just people that dont care and figure they will never get caught.

[phade]

From my talks with ECOs, and a good chat with the Region 9 K9 ECO handler, most are usually crimes of opportunity. As in, seeing a buck in an open field out of season while passing by in your truck coming home from the rifle range...or encountering a bear out of season (when it wasn't aligned) and shooting it...or shooting the cub as well...

There's plenty of premeditated poaching, but just as many are taken by opportunists that make a bad decision on the spot. One story that I remember being told from one ECO was busting a three teens (which included a girl) flattening deer on random fields. Ended up it was just being done "because." The deer let lay rotting...simply shot for the shooting. The kids had been screwing around with a gun at one of their houses and amidst going from one to the other's house came upon a deer, shot it, and then went out the next few nights doing that til they got caught.

[Fletch]

They are all NE Patriots fans...:-)

lol

It really is alarming how many of them there are and figure just a fraction are even caught. I kinda believe it is more common to run in groups, families, friends..... The more the rest of us keep our eyes open and use TIP DEC the better off for all of us. I hate when one of these yahoos makes the paper and they always put hunter on it even if they don't have a license!!

[Doc]

That TIP DEC is probably something that all hunters should be using. It seems like there is some extreme financial hardships with the DEC these days that is making the law enforcement branch all but totally ineffective. Yes, they do make some occasional high-profile, highly publicized, enforcement campaigns, but they are really too infrequent, in a too localized area to have much of an impact on poacher activities. Really, how many COs have you actually seen more than a few feet from their car? There's a reason for that. They know that that is the best way to reach the greatest number of law-breakers with the least amount of resources expended. However I don't imagine for a second that just about everyone understands the limitations that they have. And there are some that take advantage of those limitations. So, if we witness a violation, or know of some illegal activity going on, we probably should be lending a hand here.

[bubba]

And when they are committing these crimes, I am sure they are identifying their target and what is well beyond it. I think it has more to do with the entitlement mentality. I am entitled to that deer regardless of how I get it. I bought a license so I can use it wherever and however I want to. And if the cops catch me, they should be chasing real criminals. Oh I shot a guy over there, well he should not have been there and he was not wearing orange, so it was his fault. In todays world of participation trophies and no one is a winner or loser we are all equal, there is no pressure to work hard to do anything

Edited February 3, 2012 by bubba