The morality of poaching

[Kimber7man]

Almost every single friggin one of us breaks the law every day while driving.…

 

[mtwarden]

Almost every single friggin one of us breaks the law every day while driving.…

Ahhh- yeah then by all means go ahead and poach a deer

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Almost every single friggin one of us breaks the law every day while driving.…

Not me, I have never ever done anything wrong, just ask my wife.

 

[Coldtrail]

Almost every single friggin one of us breaks the law every day while driving.…

And the % of those drivers that "need" to break traffic laws to ensure their survival is about the same as the % that "need" to harvest game outside the regulations....do what you can afford, and don't be shocked when the law comes a knockin'

 

[Rob5589]

Almost every single friggin one of us breaks the law every day while driving.…

Exactly. One day it's no turn signal, the next day you're robbing a liquor store. Driving, the gateway to crime.

 

[mtwarden]

yup it all starts with a slight roll through of a stop sign, ask anyone in the pen

 

[wind gypsy]

Whoa dude.

In regards to the spirit of the conversation, I was making the statement that there is a difference in morally wrong and legally wrong.

I don’t think my statement makes me a “huge part of the problem”

Sure, it is the legal definition of poaching, I think that the OP argument is how egregious the offense is.

I am fortunate and not in the position of having to take game out of season to provide. I would not mind doing so if my family was hungry though.

I agree with @Broomd

The post you made contrasted the shooting of a buck from a road and just cutting off it's antlers with illegally shooting a doe in an isolated private area and eating it.

Maybe the way you worded it didn't match the intention but I read it to read that as long as you dont shoot in a precarious manner like from the road, aren't motivated by antlers, and eat the meat, it's not poaching.

 

[Seeleylakehuntr]

So I'm using the bathroom at work. Am I stealing from my boss or Donating.

 

[wind gypsy]

Looting is for personal gain, most likely the looted goods are sold on e-bay, shooting a deer out of hunger is a totally different ball game, I don't see much deer meat being sold on e-bay.

Not hard to construct a similar justification.

Say D'brickashaw "D" grew up dirt poor in the projects. Never saw his parents, aunts/uncles, etc work a day in their life. D never learned life skills because his entire sphere of influence didn't either. He didn't have a pot to piss in. One evening D notices target is getting looted, D is hungry and short on clothes, why shouldn't he get some food or goods that he doesn't have money for? Surely target's insurance will cover the tab. Target doesn't need all that much more $ anyway. Just like Bob doesn't need all them deer on his land.

 

[Broomd]

I agree with @Broomd

The post you made contrasted the shooting of a buck from a road and just cutting off it's antlers with illegally shooting a doe in an isolated private area and eating it.

Maybe the way you worded it didn't match the intention but I read it to read that as long as you dont shoot in a precarious manner like from the road, aren't motivated by antlers, and eat the meat, it's not poaching.

If Buffalo0922 pulls that shit around here he'll be recorded and turned into Idaho Fish and Game. Nothing about his original posting is okay in any way, but rather blatantly justifies breaking the law simply because a it's a non-antlered 'doe' --therefore alright to kill out of season or without a legal tag.
That exact kind of thinking is what really (and literally) kills the resource around here. Our brood stock is poached off and never tagged. Every doe killed is one less future buck or breeder doe.
Really saddened to read of that kind of thinking here at the 'slide. I probably shouldn't be surprised but I am.

 

[Billy Goat]

What if instead of deer it's rabbits?

 

[Buffalo0922]

I agree with @Broomd

The post you made contrasted the shooting of a buck from a road and just cutting off it's antlers with illegally shooting a doe in an isolated private area and eating it.

Maybe the way you worded it didn't match the intention but I read it to read that as long as you dont shoot in a precarious manner like from the road, aren't motivated by antlers, and eat the meat, it's not poaching.

If Buffalo0922 pulls that shit around here he'll be recorded and turned into Idaho Fish and Game. Nothing about his original posting is okay in any way, but rather blatantly justifies breaking the law simply because a it's a non-antlered 'doe' --therefore alright to kill out of season or without a legal tag.
That exact kind of thinking is what really (and literally) kills the resource around here. Our brood stock is poached off and never tagged. Every doe killed is one less future buck or breeder doe.
Really saddened to read of that kind of thinking here at the 'slide. I probably shouldn't be surprised but I am.

Guys,

The OP was regarding the morality of poaching. I was stating, and still am, that I think the two examples are vastly different.

I think it is worse to kill an animal (for sport or antlers), than it is to kill an animal to provide meat.

Nothing about that means I don’t buy tags or follow hunting laws.

 

[mtwarden]

the likelihood of being on moral high ground if you're poaching is very (very) slim; doe or buck, cow or bull doesn't really matter

 

[wind gypsy]

Guys,

The OP was regarding the morality of poaching. I was stating, and still am, that I think the two examples are vastly different.

I think it is worse to kill an animal (for sport or antlers), than it is to kill an animal to provide meat.

Nothing about that means I don’t buy tags or follow hunting laws.

I'm not accusing you of not buying tags or following laws but this is what you said:

Taking a doe to eat, in an isolated area, most likely on private land…that’s not really poaching IMHO.

How is that not poaching? I'll agree that shooting a buck from the road and taking his antlers is more egregious but eating the meat and "most likely being on private land" are pretty poor qualifiers to make something "not poaching".

 

[bsnedeker]

I am reluctant to even bring this up but ---. I have always looked at poaching as an activity done purposely outside of the normal season restraints. How about those situations where things just happen?

You spot a herd of elk walking through a dense jungle. A bull following 5 cows. The exposure is very brief so you can observe or shoot. You watch them through 4 openings and then you find a hole for a shot and wait. You count the elk passing through and you shoot the sixth one. When you get there it's a cow.

The choices are 1) leave it, 2) ride out 5 miles to find a warden and turn yourself in, 3) or pack it out and eat your mistake. Oh -- I forgot the more common option -- high grade it for the best cuts and leave the rest. ( Personally I find the later almost as disgusting as choice 1. ) I have to admit over 50 years I have eaten a couple of my mistakes. Legal? No. Ethical? A question. Poaching? Not in my world.

Sometimes life isn't as simple as it seems.

If you ever wonder how dudes get shot during hunting season...here's your guy!

I would be reluctant to bring this up too if I was just randomly blasting at everything that is brown in the woods. Your ethics went out the window when you pulled that trigger, so no surprise to me that you would follow up that unethical action by hiding from the authorities and not taking responsibility for your "mistake".

 

[Buffalo0922]

I'm not accusing you of not buying tags or following laws but this is what you said:


How is that not poaching? I'll agree that shooting a buck from the road and taking his antlers is more egregious but eating the meat and "most likely being on private land" are pretty poor qualifiers to make something "not poaching".

Fair enough statement.

I guess the best way I can explain it is that I don’t really care if somebody shoots a deer on their ground because they are genuinely trying to fill the freezer. I live in an area where there is an absolute abundance of deer. If I was standing at the pearly gates, I don’t think this would be much of an issue for St.Peter

With that being said, I only archery hunt. I spent about 16 days in the stand this season and got 1 lousy doe. I would be a pretty shitty “poacher”. If I needed meat I would be far better off getting a second job than trying to shoot something.

Happy Hunting

 

[dtrkyman]

You can call it whatever you like, if it came down to it I would kill something to feed myself, It is extremely unlikely to have that happen so I am not concerned.

 

[RedTimber]

You can call it whatever you like, if it came down to it I would kill something to feed myself, It is extremely unlikely to have that happen so I am not concerned.

no one else is really concerned either. the boyscouts just need something to argue about to keep them entertained lol

 

[Super tag]

Poaching is poaching, it’s illegal, if your a true sportsman then you respect and obey the laws. The line isn’t blurry.

One of the most important character traits a man can possess is moral integrity. Integrity is what you do when no one is watching; it's doing the right thing all the time, even when it may work to your disadvantage. Integrity is keeping your word.

 

[pk_]

What if instead of deer it's rabbits?

Doesn’t matter. It’s a law. Laws are perfect and life has no nuance.

Except for traffic violations apparently. Those seem to be ok with everybody. Despite the fact that they have lead to far more injury and death than illegally killing animals for sustenance ever could…

Laws are made to limit freedom. That is a fundamental truth. More people equals more laws which equals less freedom.

Everyone draws an arbitrary ‘line in the sand’ of what laws are insignificant enough to break and what freedoms they are willing to compromise on and what consequences make it no longer worth the trouble. Then we stand around and judge where everyone else has drawn their line, from our personal, infinitesimal point of view.

Speed limits
Bag limits
Masks
Vaccines
Guns

You choose where you will not comply and if you haven’t had to choose yet, you will or your kids will. Because the free world has been dying a slow death since the second that Columbus hit the shore.