Poaching Solutions

Other...all of the above!

States get tough on poachers | PHIL POTTER COLUMN
By Phil Potter

Sunday, March 28, 2010

If you think poaching isn't being taken seriously, you'd better think again.

Due to a national spate of illegal hunting and fishing crimes, 32 states have banded together to form a consortium which denies any convicted poacher the right to hunt or fish in any of those states for as long as he is banned in one.

While big game is usually the targeted species, small game also gets illegally whacked. Technically, if you get convicted for small game violations in Indiana you will be denied the right to hunt any small or big game species in Wyoming, Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky or any of the other 26 consortium states.

During your hunting rights suspension, you cannot enter into any license lottery or accumulate preference points for special hunts. Western states have some of the most dogged enforcement, but some of this e-muscle is trickling eastward with the Internet.

Along with fines, game animal/bird replacement costs, court costs and possible jail time the specter of not being able to hunt hangs over all poachers.

Unlike Indiana, where juvenile violators usually go unpunished, consortium states like Wyoming exact convictions against violators of any age. Wyoming's youngest prosecution was against a 15 year old who rigged his truck with heavy duty bumpers in order to deliberately run over two mule deer grazing inside a city cemetery. He paid a $500 fine, got 40 hours of community service work and a one-year hunting license suspension.

Kids aren't the only ones who do wildlife crimes because poachers as old as 89 have been caught and fined. However, 50 percent of the hardcore violators being cyber tracked were born in the 1960s and '70s, proving hunting ethics may have hit a low point in these age groups. With Tri-State turkey seasons about to start this is a good time to "drop a dime on wildlife crime."

Up the $$ penalties, confiscation, Increase the Jailtime, revoke hunting rights, AND add community service on public hunting lands.

BTW - DEFINITELY do not want these POS mentoring kids!!!!!!!!!

Taking away the right to hunt from a poacher is useless considering game laws mean nothing to them anyway.

First of all the CO's need to actually be proactive in hunting these guys down..instead of waiting on a call from someone reporting poachers..In illinois on my lease the Garme Warden stops and check us and everyone else hunting in the area every year, check license's, guns,ask questions etc...(ie.proactive)..

I've hunted Indiana 30 years and have never been checked by a Game Warden...Never!...The only time they do check is when they get a report, and then half the time they don't follow through...Tresspassing complaints are a joke...I've called many times, and they show up three hours later, if at all...

When they do stumble on/catch a poacher, the prosecutor needs to follow through and make sure the individuals get punished, most time they don't...there need to be Manditory sentence's for poacher's and tresspasser's...We aslo need more Game Warden's per county, there is no way one person can do an effective job enforcing game laws in alot of our County's in Indiana...No way you can stop it in Indiana..99% of poachers likely go un noticed because we don't have enough CO's per county to even make a small dent in poaching..They might catch 1% of em..

I disagree. Not only take away their hunting, but also ALL equipment they would use to commit this crime of poaching. Also stamp something like "Not legally allowed to buy hunting licenses or hunting equipment" on their driver's licenses.

simple take away there LIGHT if a light is shining a field your breaking the law , no looking for guns or any thing else YOUR BUSTED 90% of poaching is done at night with a spot light simple take away the LIGHT AT NIGHT

tickman, I hear what you are saying about poachers and licenses but if something was posted on their ID and a law enforcement officer of any kind stopped the individual it would be pretty quick and easy to verify a violation.

Sorry but we were refering ti deer poachers and to be honest the method of poaching is as varied as hunters but is usually determined by the amount of human activity and amount of cover in a given area . In areas like north central indiana the wood lots are sparce and lots of houses and farms with tons of other hunters and just plain old eyes watching hunters . So tresspassing /poaching is very rare up through here but with the cover of nite durring season the lights come out by the hundreds up here and almost all poaching busts up here are from the road i.e. road hunters getting caught shooting decoys or real deer on camera or the most pravalent is spotlighting as all normal people are asleep and the nite covers thier dirty deeds and the are rarely seen since there is not one road up here with out houses or farms .

I would guess the big woods areas of southern Indiana see more varried ways such as tresspassing and party hunting. It is just way way too easy to get caught up here by every hunter in the area doing those type things way way too many eyes up here. I still say stop all shineing durring open deer season and watch the number of big bucks taken drop all over the state.