Post by Woody Williams on Feb 26, 2006 17:33:45 GMT -5
Poachers are taking huge toll on southern Illinois wildlife
By PHIL POTTER, Tri-State Outdoors
February 26, 2006
MOUNT ERIE, Ill. -Sometimes disturbing pictures find their way into the news. Such a photo ran on Jan.19 when the Wayne County Press published a picture of a poacher's dump site. Strewn beneath a river bridge were the remains of at least 18 whitetail bucks. The only thing missing were the antlers.
Shortly afterward, a "war council" of incensed landowners contacted me requesting further details be made public.
I was taken to other body dumps. Carcasses, cut fences and crisscrossed tire ruts cut through area crop fields, proving the poachers are continuing to boldly pursue their mayhem.
Vehicles, license plates and names have been turned in to law agencies. But conservation and police agents can't seem to catch the crew in action.
"We think the poachers have friends in high places. We know they operate on their own FM radio bands and have police scanners," said one landowner. "What they do is never get out of their trucks or off their four wheelers. They shoot and scat ahead of the law."
They count on coyotes and other scavengers to tear up the carcass and spare the antlers.
"They cruise around watching the area. They know where the bodies are and if they're in deep cover they use GPS units to mark the area," said a second landowner. "Eventually, they 'salvage' the head. The laws regarding who owns such antlers seem to have loopholes."
The pursuit of trophy class bucks is relentless. "The only time a buck is safe is when he's dropped his antlers. They're shooting them non-stop from August through April."
Deer aren't the only victims - turkeys bear the brunt also.
"Poachers stage area drive-throughs. They cruise through your property or use dogs to push deer and turkeys near the roads where shooters are stationed. They leave the deer but cut turkey tails, beards and feet, then skedaddle," said a farmer.
Landowners who have confronted the truckloads of outlaws have been threatened. But farmers are fed up.
"What's gonna happen is somebody will get shot, like when the Shelton gang ran roughshod here," said a land-owner, referring to notorious bootleggers in "Bloody Williamson County" in the 1920s. "What ran the Sheltons out were irate neighbors who decided to shoot first and say nothing."
So why are deer antlers and turkey parts desired items - so much to encourage poaching?
"I hear two things. One is a knife maker buys them. The other is they're going for big money on the Internet and at Kentucky flea markets."
If that's true, bring in the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife to enforce the Lacey Act which makes crossing borders or sale of illegal fish and game a felony.
Anyone with any information is urged to call the Illinois Department of Conservation, Law Enforcement Division TIP line toll-free at 877-236-7529. All reports are kept confidential and rewards are given for information resulting in conviction.
www.courierpress.com/ecp/local_sports/article/0,1626,ECP_749_4496729,00.html
By PHIL POTTER, Tri-State Outdoors
February 26, 2006
MOUNT ERIE, Ill. -Sometimes disturbing pictures find their way into the news. Such a photo ran on Jan.19 when the Wayne County Press published a picture of a poacher's dump site. Strewn beneath a river bridge were the remains of at least 18 whitetail bucks. The only thing missing were the antlers.
Shortly afterward, a "war council" of incensed landowners contacted me requesting further details be made public.
I was taken to other body dumps. Carcasses, cut fences and crisscrossed tire ruts cut through area crop fields, proving the poachers are continuing to boldly pursue their mayhem.
Vehicles, license plates and names have been turned in to law agencies. But conservation and police agents can't seem to catch the crew in action.
"We think the poachers have friends in high places. We know they operate on their own FM radio bands and have police scanners," said one landowner. "What they do is never get out of their trucks or off their four wheelers. They shoot and scat ahead of the law."
They count on coyotes and other scavengers to tear up the carcass and spare the antlers.
"They cruise around watching the area. They know where the bodies are and if they're in deep cover they use GPS units to mark the area," said a second landowner. "Eventually, they 'salvage' the head. The laws regarding who owns such antlers seem to have loopholes."
The pursuit of trophy class bucks is relentless. "The only time a buck is safe is when he's dropped his antlers. They're shooting them non-stop from August through April."
Deer aren't the only victims - turkeys bear the brunt also.
"Poachers stage area drive-throughs. They cruise through your property or use dogs to push deer and turkeys near the roads where shooters are stationed. They leave the deer but cut turkey tails, beards and feet, then skedaddle," said a farmer.
Landowners who have confronted the truckloads of outlaws have been threatened. But farmers are fed up.
"What's gonna happen is somebody will get shot, like when the Shelton gang ran roughshod here," said a land-owner, referring to notorious bootleggers in "Bloody Williamson County" in the 1920s. "What ran the Sheltons out were irate neighbors who decided to shoot first and say nothing."
So why are deer antlers and turkey parts desired items - so much to encourage poaching?
"I hear two things. One is a knife maker buys them. The other is they're going for big money on the Internet and at Kentucky flea markets."
If that's true, bring in the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife to enforce the Lacey Act which makes crossing borders or sale of illegal fish and game a felony.
Anyone with any information is urged to call the Illinois Department of Conservation, Law Enforcement Division TIP line toll-free at 877-236-7529. All reports are kept confidential and rewards are given for information resulting in conviction.
www.courierpress.com/ecp/local_sports/article/0,1626,ECP_749_4496729,00.html
