Is poaching truly this prevalent?

[HairyScandinavian]

I think you need your own sub forum where you just tell us weekly stories about your career as a GW!

I did my senior project in 2007 with a local legend game warden here in WA State. In one day with him, I had the most incredible experience. I think about it weekly almost 20 years later. I cant imagine an entire career....

YouTube channel where he tells his stories, sort of like a Donut Operator style. I'd watch them.

 

[bluetick78]

That's an interesting take. Rokslide is honestly the first place I've ever heard the term "poaching" applied to more than shooting an animal on land you weren't supposed to be hunting.
Q made a good post about this a few pages back from a legal perspective, but it's hard to say that speeding 1mph over and drunk driving are the same thing. It's hard to say that shooting a turkey with a bow the one year it happens to be rifle-only (another previous example) is the same as shooting a bull in a closed area without a tag.
I don't really buy the "holier than thou" responses in this thread. Remember, we have established over 10 pages that game violations are actually pretty common, and we were all stupid teenagers once. All we can do is try to be better and push our friends and neighbors to be better and call in the real egregious stuff.

I agree that there are different levels of severity in any type of crime, that's why there's differing min/max penalties for committing them. Do I feel like shooting a bird 3 minutes early (or late) on a WMA is the same as poaching an elk in a closed area with no tag are the same crime. Hell no. But they are both crimes. The point I was intending to get across is that it's human nature to test limits. Used in a positive manner, testing limits has lead to incredible innovation. Used negatively, it results in problems for everyone trying to partake of that particular resource.
I asked a warden one time how he would define poaching. His response was simple, "Any illegal act that would result in having your game confiscated". Those acts might vary from state to state, but it's a simple way to define poaching.

 

[gbflyer]

Like using a .224 in a 6mm state?

 

[ganguscows]

Like using a .224 in a 6mm state?

 

[The Ri Guy]

I think there are A LOT more "poachers" (now broadly used for anyone that breaks the law hunting in my circles) than people realize. Especially as tags get harder to come by, access shrinks, and everything gets more restricted overall.

Every year in Washington for as long as I can remember I have watched people shoot does on the last night of season.

In rural communities there seems to be a prevailing sentiment that "these are our lands, our animals, we can do what we want with them". Not sure how you ever stop that natural but self-entitled opinion from finding its way into peoples heads.

As long as wild animals roam the hills there will be poachers.

 

[Broomd]

If everyone calls on everyone else, then it is a pointing screaming match.

I called once on a guy that i warned during a fish closure. They took his boat. Im not doing that to someone again unless it is really worthy of them taking someone’s stuff.

So he lost his boat for illegally fishing after being personally warned....is that correct? Or am I missing something. Stupid should hurt.
Mistakes are one thing, they happen. Deliberately breaking the law with poaching is another.

 

[IDbrushswimmer]

Pretty common I’d think. Found this last weekend. Definitely not from last fall… called IDFG in case they were dumb enough to leave anything identifiable with their garbage. Haven’t heard a word back.