Far too often, casually striking up a hunting conversation with aquaintences, strangers, guys at the range, or friends of friends will lead to some sort of poaching admission. In just the last year, I've had this happen all too often. Below are just a few examples off the top of my head:
-Guy at a holiday party showing off pictures of some elk and mule deer he took that season. He shows me a great buck he killed, tells the story of scouting it but struggling to find it after season opened. With a smile he says, "Well, I do cheat a little..." He then tells me how he uses a thermal monocular to spot large heat signatures to "find the big ones" and was able to relocate and kill the buck.
-A corporate guy at work who told me he hunts several different trophy mule deer units across the state by having his ex-wife, girlfriend, both children, and brother all apply (none of whom hunt). When any of these people draw a tag, he hunts and uses their tag and pre-signed proxy statement.
-A friend of the above corporate guy who freely admits to baiting bear illegally... Close to roads, wrong time of year, using prohibited substances, and has at least one unpermitted bait location. A few years ago this guy also made FB posts about him and another guy each killing cow elk in a certain unit, but offline admitted he shot both cows himself in a completely different unit, hundreds of miles away (a different coworker actually reported this and the bear baits to IDFG, nothing has come of it thus far).
-A guy I hunted with a few years back told me he usually kills cow elk during muzzleloader season with a rifle because "it's easier, and you can just say you're wolf hunting if anyone asks." Needless to say I do not hunt with this guy anymore. He also once filled his one and only deer tag, then shot another buck later that season and attached a bear tag to it. He actually got checked at a checkstation on the way home, portrayed it like some big mistake and made it out of there with some sort of a verbal warning and his (second, illegal) buck.
-Brother of the above guy told me he killed a 180" MD buck in a draw-only trophy unit, with an OTC tag for a neighboring unit. He said it was fine because he was "still pretty close to the unit the tag was for."
-this past season, after getting skunked on the draw, I hunted on a general OTC bull tag in a very busy unit with lots of roads (most of which close specifically for this elk season). There were side-by-sides EVERYWHERE, going completely off-trail and tearing up closed roads. More than once my hunting partner and I had hunts blown by people taking 4-wheelers and SxS past us on a closed road. We ran into a guy hunting with his kids, who said he likes bringing the kids because he's "pretty sure that youth can shoot either sex." Spoiler alert, that's not true.
-lots of party-hunting/herd shooting/"oops we shot too many" stories, not to mention the rodeos and making unethical shots at distances outside of hunter capabilities... all stories told with a laugh and excitement to do it again next year.
Is this new? Has it always been this way? I'm ignorant to the "good old days." I am a long time shooter but admittedly a late-ish onset hunter. What I lack in experience I make up for in passion for the wildlife, a love for the outdoors and the hunting experience, care for conservation, and a thirst for knowledge and skills (I always try to contribute to this forum and ask questions humbly and honestly). I hunt the West, and sometimes am lucky enough to take 1, or God willing, maybe 2 game animals a year. I'm not a rich guy. Hunting is not cheap for me. I make financial and social sacrifices to make it happen. To hear guys bragging about taking more than they should just floors me.
TL;DR
Is poaching gradually becoming more prevalent? Has it always been prevalent? Do people just feel more emboldened to share their poaching than they used to?
Thanks for the space to vent.
-Guy at a holiday party showing off pictures of some elk and mule deer he took that season. He shows me a great buck he killed, tells the story of scouting it but struggling to find it after season opened. With a smile he says, "Well, I do cheat a little..." He then tells me how he uses a thermal monocular to spot large heat signatures to "find the big ones" and was able to relocate and kill the buck.
-A corporate guy at work who told me he hunts several different trophy mule deer units across the state by having his ex-wife, girlfriend, both children, and brother all apply (none of whom hunt). When any of these people draw a tag, he hunts and uses their tag and pre-signed proxy statement.
-A friend of the above corporate guy who freely admits to baiting bear illegally... Close to roads, wrong time of year, using prohibited substances, and has at least one unpermitted bait location. A few years ago this guy also made FB posts about him and another guy each killing cow elk in a certain unit, but offline admitted he shot both cows himself in a completely different unit, hundreds of miles away (a different coworker actually reported this and the bear baits to IDFG, nothing has come of it thus far).
-A guy I hunted with a few years back told me he usually kills cow elk during muzzleloader season with a rifle because "it's easier, and you can just say you're wolf hunting if anyone asks." Needless to say I do not hunt with this guy anymore. He also once filled his one and only deer tag, then shot another buck later that season and attached a bear tag to it. He actually got checked at a checkstation on the way home, portrayed it like some big mistake and made it out of there with some sort of a verbal warning and his (second, illegal) buck.
-Brother of the above guy told me he killed a 180" MD buck in a draw-only trophy unit, with an OTC tag for a neighboring unit. He said it was fine because he was "still pretty close to the unit the tag was for."
-this past season, after getting skunked on the draw, I hunted on a general OTC bull tag in a very busy unit with lots of roads (most of which close specifically for this elk season). There were side-by-sides EVERYWHERE, going completely off-trail and tearing up closed roads. More than once my hunting partner and I had hunts blown by people taking 4-wheelers and SxS past us on a closed road. We ran into a guy hunting with his kids, who said he likes bringing the kids because he's "pretty sure that youth can shoot either sex." Spoiler alert, that's not true.
-lots of party-hunting/herd shooting/"oops we shot too many" stories, not to mention the rodeos and making unethical shots at distances outside of hunter capabilities... all stories told with a laugh and excitement to do it again next year.
Is this new? Has it always been this way? I'm ignorant to the "good old days." I am a long time shooter but admittedly a late-ish onset hunter. What I lack in experience I make up for in passion for the wildlife, a love for the outdoors and the hunting experience, care for conservation, and a thirst for knowledge and skills (I always try to contribute to this forum and ask questions humbly and honestly). I hunt the West, and sometimes am lucky enough to take 1, or God willing, maybe 2 game animals a year. I'm not a rich guy. Hunting is not cheap for me. I make financial and social sacrifices to make it happen. To hear guys bragging about taking more than they should just floors me.
TL;DR
Is poaching gradually becoming more prevalent? Has it always been prevalent? Do people just feel more emboldened to share their poaching than they used to?
Thanks for the space to vent.
