Dam Poachers

[caelkhnter]

Information needed to solve bull elk poaching near Williams

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking for the public?s help in finding a poacher that killed a large bull elk sometime during the weekend of Sept. 6. The poaching occurred near Scholz Lake and Garland Prairie along Forest Road 141, just east of Williams.

The elk was shot with archery equipment and was left in the field to waste. The poaching took place a week prior to the opening weekend of the legal archery elk season. A field investigation also discovered that the animal had been shot several times in the head. Game and Fish officials believe that someone may have come across the wounded elk and put the animal down by shooting it.

?This is a blatant example of poachers? disrespect for wildlife, and the laws and seasons that are established to protect our wildlife resources,? says Wildlife Manager Mike Rice. ?We need help from the public to catch the poacher. If you were in the area recently, please try to recall anything you might have seen or heard, or any conversations you may have had. Maybe someone doesn't realize he or she has the key to solving this case. Poaching of wildlife is considered a major loss for the residents of Arizona and our wildlife resources.?

Anyone with information about this poaching can call the department's Operation Game Thief hotline toll-free at (800) 352-0700. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $350 in this case. All calls may remain confidential upon request.

 

[WapitiBob]

$350 ??
That's a joke. Should be $10,000.

 

[venada_blanca]

I don't think there should be any reimbursement for someone to turn in the lousy poacher! I would hope by your statement that you actually meant that the fine for the poacher should be $10000 not $10,000 to the law abiding wildlife concerned citizen that turned the low life scum sucking poacher in!!!

It is our personal responsibilty as outdoorsman that if we see the law being broken in our public/or private lands to notify the fish and wildlife/sheriff/ or whoever, to turn them in and hope that the fines and consequences are high enough to keep them from ever doing what they did again.

 

[highPlains]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-26-08 AT 08:43PM (MST)[p]Do they believe that shooting it in the head and the archery poacher are separate incidents?

If somebody found a wounded animal and put it down out of compassion, then is it poaching?

Letter of the law, or intent of the law? I hope I never come across a wounded animal while I have a gun on me. I don't want to face the decision of putting it out of its misery and possibly being hung as a poacher, versus walking away and letting the animal suffer.

 

[Elmacho]

I feel that the person who reports the poacher, which leads to conviction, should be awarded a tag in the unit for the following year, so long as it is a trophy offense.

We've got to penlize the ego chasers and reward those who help stop the loss of our resource.

Mark

 

[stealth_archer]

If I remember right, there was a guy who poached a "trophy elk" over in the Show Low area a couple years ago. A trophy bull is considered 6 X 6 regardless of size. He was fined over $15,000, hunting privileges revoked, and I think he had to do some jail time. His wife did not participate in the actually shootings, but she was also fined and her hunting privileges were also revoked because she had knowledge of the poaching. As for the $350 reward, if it leads to some scum bag being arrested for poaching, then make it $500 and increase the fines over $20K..

 

[bigbone]

I agree, poachers suck and the needless waste of a magnificent elk is enough to make a guy sick.

I don't want to downplay the severity of this particular situation in any way its horrible, but,

What about the thousands of elk that are consistantly chased and terrorized, year around? Many are ran in belly deep snow during brutal mid-winter conditions. Ran for sport until overcome by total exahustion only to have their insides ripped out and carcass then just knawed on a little here and there, often left living to suffer and die slowly from their injuries?

The survivors of this assult are not too lucky as their "poachers" will be back often within 8 hours to run them all again. Is it not hard to winter out and have a healthy calf come spring when this is what you live with day-to-day all winter.

Should we not be sickened by this? Should not these poachers be also brought to justice? Or should they be protected as endangered species?

This is the reality for most of the elk in the greater Yellowstone area.


^BIGBONE^

 

[264X300]

I wonder how many more poachers would get caught if half or more of the fine went to the person that turned them in?

Just a thought.
264X300

 

[BrowningRage]

>I agree, poachers suck and the needless waste of a magnificent elk is enough to make a guy sick.
>
>I don't want to downplay the severity of this particular situation in any way its horrible, but,
>
>What about the thousands of elk that are consistantly chased and terrorized, year around? Many are ran in belly deep snow during brutal mid-winter conditions. Ran for sport until overcome by total exahustion only to have their insides ripped out and carcass then just knawed on a little here and there, often left living to suffer and die slowly from their injuries?
>
>The survivors of this assult are not too lucky as their "poachers" will be back often within 8 hours to run them all again. Is it not hard to winter out and have a healthy calf come spring when this is what you live with day-to-day all winter.
>
>Should we not be sickened by this? Should not these poachers be also brought to justice? Or should they be protected as endangered species?
>
>This is the reality for most of the elk in the greater Yellowstone area.
>
>
>^BIGBONE^

LOVE THIS POST!!! If you are talking about the "poachers" I think you are talking about anyway... Endangered Species is a sickening term for these now flourishing "poachers". We need open hunting of these "poachers" to minimize the detriment they are on the elk herds of the area.
The difference between these "poachers" and say... A Grizz are that they will not eat meat that is not fresh. They have to kill to eat. They won't eat off of a rotting carcass. They won't forage for other things in logs. They kill and eat. Can you imagine if your family went out and slaughtered an elk everytime you were hungry???
These "poachers" need to be taken off the top of the food chain by the number one predator: MAN!!!

 

[BrowningRage]

As far as the original thread, I am sorry to hear about such a thing. I hope they catch the people who did it. I think punishments and rewards need to be increased. If a poacher pays $10,000 and i caught them, why shouldn't I get a fat share of that fine???