How many are poached a year?

Not sure how you would find out. My guess would be to start with the DNR head quarters or centralized point. They might already keep those records someplace??? It would be good information to track I would think. We just have to remember there is lots of good info to track and only so many employees. Not sure what type of system the tickets/arrest get logged into but a good database would be able to extract those number in seconds.

As far as how many deer get poached or how many arrest are made due to poached deer I have not the slightest clue. I hear of a few cases each year where they bust a poacher or poaching ring.

Poachers are not only the guys spotlighting and wacking 100s of deer, but the guy who buys his wife a tag to fill I'd say there are more of those then we think

I did call the DNR office 2 years ago and the only answer I could get was to few arrest for all violations.

I have no idea how many poachers are arrested per year. But, I would bet a very very very very low percentage of poachers actually get arrested. I would estimate that the # of deer being poached is easily in the 1000's and maybe 10,000's. I would also be willing to bet a high percentage of those arrested are done so through T.I.P. Lets face it, CO's have a tough job and are severly under-staffed. To make an arrest by walking through a random woods and hoping to find a guy loading a deer in a pick-up without a tag is virtually impossible.

I know some states do this, and I'm all for it, especially those who process their own deer, is to call in your harvest. Heck, some people have to drive about an hour to get their deer checked-in. Not, that I condone this, but, I can see why there are alot of deer that don't get checked in.

ALSO, those individuals that take two or more Bucks when the limit is one Buck per year. Then we have those who don't check in their Deer Harvest plus there is lots of "Party" hunting. THIS IS POACHING!

I've been told by more than one person who would know, that this is the main reason for the huge increase in female "hunters"


;D ;D ;D

As far as hard core jack lighters shooting deer, I don't feel there is all that much of that that goes on, but there are a lot of deerthat get poached. The law is the law, and any breach in the law is "poaching", plain and simple.
I think there are a whole lot of deer that get poached via "bending the rules"; shooting one for the wife, not checking one in, claiming to hunt as a landowner w/ out license then shooting one on ground you don't own, shooting one on ground where you don't have permission, etc., etc.

I agree, the above examples are widespread in my area and I can't stand it. Landowner tags are only an excuse to poach in my opinion and yes my family owns ground and I only shoot one buck.

That is sickening!

I think there was a lot more road/light hunting going on in the 80's then there is now but there is still a fair amount going on today. All you need to do is spend a little time in the HNF and you are bound to runs across a few of these guys.