Poaching..does anyone care anymore?

U

utahboy

Guest
I turned in a so called hunter that was bow hunting in Draper on South Mountain. It was during the extended season this year.

It just so happened, I was with my family in the car looking at a new home in a residential neighborhood when I saw this truck drive past me into this neighborhood and slam on his brakes.

This guy hops out of the passenger seat with his bow in hand and flings an arrow while standing on the asphalt street, across the sidewalk right next to a house at a small 2 point buck about 20 yrds away.

I could not believe it! I called the Draper police and they showed in 5 minutes. When they showed up he was in the brush oak with his head down looking for blood. I told the officer to call me and gave him a report of what I saw. I gave him my number and left. He never called.

On the way home I also called the Poaching Hotline and reported the incident and told them to call me back. After 3 more calls to the Draper police and 2 to the hotline I did not get a call back from anyone. The police said they would look into it and the hotline was clueless. Everytime I talked with them they said they would get back to me. I told them the same story 2 more times.

I told this story to the DWR officer at the booth at the Expo and he just looked at me. He did not give a Sh**!!
I could not believe it. Even my father who was with me laughed in disbelief and said in front of him "I guess he doesn't really care does he" The DWR officer didn't even really respond just acted like I was bothering him by telling him the story.
It was as strange as it was disturbing.

Next time I see a poacher shoot something I will not go to the trouble. What a frustrating waste of time!!!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-26-07 AT 10:14AM (MST)[p]Deer can be a nuisance in some areas, I'd like to see a "neighborhood" season on them in a few places. . . most deer could use a little hunting pressure from time to time. Out of season?s not a good idea, but there are residential areas that need the deer numbers thinned. . . Shame on the guy, but lest figure out a way to have ?local? hunts and get rid of some of the pesky critters. . . Or, you could just say too-bad, and tell people that they move into deer country now deal with it. . .
 
I understand your frustration....was the area open to archery during the incident? If so, what you're describing is not "poaching"......sounds more like "hunter trespass" or "shooting from a roadway", "too close to a dwelling", etc. This might expalin the cavalier response from local law enforcement.

Either way, defintely NOT a behavior that should occur in the area by "bowhunters"......Don't give up, report illegal behavior when encountered.


BOHNTR )))---------->
 
The word "Poaching" is defined by "illegal take". Does it really matter what law was broken during the killing of it? Why is "just shooting from a road" less important than "just shooting after shooting hours" or "just using a spotlight". Illegal is illegal... expecially when this idiot did it in a neighborhood.


-DallanC
 
I have heard a number of stories like this all over the state and have experienced them myself. The results were similar to yours. Nothing was done!I'll bet if you would have said you just saw a guy shoot at a 6 point bull elk in a no hunting zone, the dwr would have open the flood gates.
 
DallanC:

Actually, yes it does matter that the appropriate statute is used when enforcing game laws.....if you want the crime to be successfully prosecuted. Unfortunately "your" definition of "poaching" and when to apply it is not the legal definition and/or appropriate section to use in this particular incident, IMO.

Illegal IS illegal...I agree with you. The "hunter" could and should be charged with several violations I described earlier. I doubt, however, "poaching" would be one of them, based soley on my experience. If "idiot" was an enforceable section.....this guy would definately fit the bill! I'm simply trying to say that "poaching" is a term loosely used for every game violation these days, when in fact, what's described is not "poaching" in terms of defined and enforceable statutes.

Example: If you left your legally issued tag and/or license in your truck (accidently), hunted all morning and killed a buck and discovered you left the tag in your truck....are you a poacher? Should I cite you for poaching? Or are you in violation of not having your legally issued tag in possession while in the field? BIG difference, both in fines and penalties. Of course all of this is just my opinion....:)

BOHNTR )))---------->
 
Well my friends were in Salt Lake City for the hunt expo and their car was stolen, in the middle of the day, from a pay to park lot next to the Salt palace, with an attendant at the gate.

They called the cops and they wouldn't even send someone down. Just took the report over the phone. When someone tried to use their credit cards at Target, they called the police again and they were told that was a crime against Target and the credit card company, not them and again wouldn't respond.

Whats my point? I'm just impressed that you got an officer to even come down in person, within 5 minutes. You got more of a response for shooting across a road than some folks get when their car is stolen.
 
Utahboy:

You did the right thing - end of story - even if nobody listens or seems to care. I am sure if the buck you saw were a 4x4 giant somewhere other than in the Wasatch extended area they woulda cared more. Also, if it woulda been a firearm, at least the cops probably would have cared more. But, that doesn't change the fact that you did the right thing.

Fundamentally, I think people just don't like being told to work.
 
I assure you if it were Calif. they see $$$, they would have confiscated the deer and his equipment and a ticket would have been issued period...
 
utahboy - I care. I am glad you did what you did. Investigations into incidents like this take a lot of time and often enough lead to arrest and conviction of the offenders. They may have used your info to get good evidence and are subsequently building a case against this guy that will stick and be worth it. The DWR guy you saw at the BIG SHOW probably was a little stand-offish because he either wasn't there to work or since he didn't have all the info on the case, he decided to play it cool. Still though, it sounds like he could have at least acknowledged your complaint. Be patient though and don't give up if you see something like it again.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
ID, sorry to hear about your car....but what would an officer at the scene have done that was any different than one on the phone? Was there any evidence other than broken glass to investigate or photograph or fingerprint?

Trust me, you would have waited HOURS for one in person for what is considered an investigation. As for the Target credit card use, guess what, they are right. The merchant is the victim and is the one who must report the crime. And again, your wait for an officer in person would have been, literally, hours.

What kind of car? Has it been recovered? That I can try to help you with, if it has not.

Pred
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-26-07 AT 05:14PM (MST)[p]Pred-sorry to hit a nerve. It wasn't my car, just some good friends. It was a 99 suburban and has not been recovered. Neither has the credit cards or checkbook.

I believe you about the response time and what, if any evidence would be there(Maybe they could have talked to the parking lot "attendant"), and also know who the "victim" of the credit card fraud was.

But you see, we are from rural Idaho. Hell a car theft in this town would have made the front page of the paper.

Why bring up the credit card deal? Well, doesn't Target have cameras in the parking lot and store? Maybe the perps got caught on camera? We'll never know, no-one ever went to look.

Hey anyway the only reason I shared the story was that I was quite impressed Utahboy got a unit to respond to this incident within 5 minutes (not hours!).

Sorry to hijack the thread-keep reporting the slob hunters and poachers.

Pred-ever need info on idaho feel free to holler.
 
South (Traverse) Mountain IS NOT in the extended archery unit. This is a crime equal to some guy shooting at a deer in Southern Utah with his bow in November. He was not in an open unit and just in a subdivision, he was in a closed area and in a subdivision.

I too have turned in numerous people for bowhunting Northern Utah county in November, and pretty much got the same response.

Thanks for pursueing it like you did, at least you showed a couple of people that poaching is a big deal to someone.

-RPinenut
 
Sometimes a case isn't as simple as we think. First, there's the judge to consider and what evidence officers need to get a meaningful prosecution and sentence. There's also restrictions on officers speaking to anybody about pending cases.

On the flip side, I hear a lot of stories on the Net from guys whining about getting nailed for offenses that they think they should get away with - shooting from the highway, shooting out of bounds, etc.
 
I dont know how many wildlife officers you have in your state, up here we have very few. Maybe they are too understaffed to fulley investigate. In 25 years of hunting I've ran into about 5 while out in the bush during hunting and fishing season. 2 years ago, I lost my hunting licence in the bush and had to drive into town to see a government agent to get a duplicate. I mentioned to the CO that there was a group of hunters illegally using quads. He drove out over an hour to investigate and after the season emailed me to let me know he couldn't charge them as they were behaving at the time.(law is no quads before 10 am). Although no charges were laid, the fact that the CO confronted and warned them will hopefully keep this group honest in the future.

It is never a waste of time to report violators! Hunters have a bad enough name and it is up to us to ensure we do not give the antis any more fuel for there fight.
 
I drive to Lehi from Tooele everyday on sr-36 and sr-71, the other day some knuckleheads were out chasing some bull elk around out by the Army property so I called the sheriff I got a call back about 15 minutes after from a deputy who was out investigating it but the perps had already left. He told me they only had one DWR for the county and they had to cover for them sometimes. It was nice to hear that they were atleast following up on it. Tooele county has responded a few times on calls from me, about deer that were wounded by cars, they called to find the exact location to euthanize the animal.
 

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