Sunday, January 19, 2014

Poachers

     Those of you that follow my blog know I’ve mentioned the lack of the usual big buck sightings and pictures last fall. Well it turns out there was a reason for that…poachers. There have been numerous reports of the poachers spotlighting and shooting deer along the stretch of roads that ran for many miles along the base of the mountain most of last fall. The same vehicle had been seen many times and final someone got the full license plate number. This was given to the Virginia Conservation Officers that patrol our area and they made an arrest the end of December. Turned out to be two 18 year olds and after a little pressure from the officers one of them apparently sang like canary. According to the one that sang they had been doing it three to four nights a week since early fall. The officers found numerous 10, 9, and 8 point racks in their possession with the many coming from the area we hunt in. The officers confiscated the vehicle, their guns, and other related items.
     This made us feel a little better that we hadn’t become bad hunters since the season before it was just the bucks were being killed before the season even started. While poaching has always been and will continue to be a problem but I don’t think the area has had that many bucks illegally take from it before in such a short period of time. Like I’ve noted before even where there is a lot of big bucks there aren’t very many.
     On the bright side. I did get some pics of a group of small bucks that make it through the hunting season. One look like a pretty nice 8 point that should be a nice one next year.









12 comments:

Nitas said...

So sad with poaching but good that they finally arrested. But one thing is for sure I really love these pictures you added. So Beautiful / / Anita

TexWisGirl said...

i'm guessing they were just shooting them for the trophies and not utilizing the meat? glad they were caught!

Fjällripan said...

So good that they could take the poachers...

Great photos of these beautiful deers! :))

Linda said...

Glad they caught those guys. A lot of people don't realize it, but Virginia's hunting regulations are carefully designed so that they deer population stays in balance. This helps the deer stay healthy without depleting them more than necessary. A few poachers like that can really mess up the system.

Michelle said...

Glad they were caught!

Long Ridge Deer Camp said...

Nothing lower on earth than animal poachers. So glad they were apprehended! Good luck next season! Jack

KB said...

I think that poachers are scum. I'm so glad that they were caught. We have an ongoing circle of poachers in our area that the authorities haven't caught yet. I hate the whole thing!

Those are wonderful photos. The young bucks will take over!

Leah said...

Maddening..... only good thing is that they were caught! Unbelievable that it could go on that long but it takes time for them to make a mistake... We are not exempt from poachers and those that feel they have the right to drive around and take anything "big".. We had a very large buck shot and taken right out of our field as our hunters hunted on opening day a few years ago. It really stinks!

Kirk Mantay said...

Ugh. Unacceptable. The problem in your case is that these kids learned from somewhere that this type of behavior is acceptable. And whoever taught them is still out there in your community. Maybe at least they'll be more hesitant to pull the trigger during their next illegal hunt.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

A fellow blogger here in CA decided not to blog about her big racks (eh-hem, bucks), because she was warned that poachers could use her blog sighting information to track them down. It is sad. What did those kids do with all the meat? What are the penalties for poaching?

Michaele said...

So glad they were identified! Love these shots of the deer in the trees

Lindsjö taxar said...

Great shots!
Our roe hunting is over with this weekend.
Long for 1st October :-)
Time for our dogs again