Poachers caught

[Coldfeet]

Good news and bad news. The bad news is that there is a trophy buck that is no longer available for anyone to legally take during the deer season. The good news is that the poachers who shot it were caught. As some of you might remember from an earlier thread that I posted, I was hunting in an area with a monster buck. A shed was found this spring that had 10 scorable tines (and that was only half of the rack). There was a 28 point buck shot in this area on either Monday or Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the poachers, there was a bow hunter who had just returned to his truck and was watching the buck from across the corn field that it was feeding in. He heard the shot and saw the buck go down. He then saw the poacher's truck and called the DNR on his cell phone as he chased them. They turned down a dead end road and the bow hunter turned his truck sideways in the road and blocked the way out. The DNR arrived and took posession of their truck and later found the gun which they had tossed in the ditch. Lucky that the bow hunter who was chasing them noticed that they had tossed something and pointed out where it was to the DNR. The gun was an AR-15 with a night vision scope on it. Apparently it is worth several thousand dollars. I know the people that were caught poaching (I went to high school with them) and they are denying the charges, so I am not going to mention any names. This happened up by Leanard, Minnesota which is about a 30 minute drive west of Bemidji. This happened right in the same area as the buck that I was after, so I'm thinking that he is no more and I am extremely P****D OFF!

[Mark Christianson]

Great end to the story.
The sad thing though, is just to think of how many people are pulling these stunts and getting away with it? Lots of miles of turf out there.

I was bowhunting a few weeks ago, and about 15 minutes after sunset I heard 2 rifle shots. Not shotgun blasts, the distinct rifle crack.
Hmmm, sighting in a rifle? Doubt it.

[Johnny B]

Coldfeet,
Sorry to hear about this. I recall your previous post about hunting for this particular buck and could tell that you were pretty exited about the opportunity. It is truly a shame that it ended this way. For your sake, I hope there’s another one out there that measures up.

I turned in a poacher last year that had shot a nice eight-pointer near where I hunt (135-green score). The DNR allowed me to keep the head and cape and said that I would be given a tip reward as well. I told them to keep the money and but it back into the system.

[can it be luck?]

Coldfeet, that sucks! Not just the poaching part but that could've been your deer! Sort of takes away all the excitement anymore knowing that the deer you've been after is gone. Hopefully he left his genes to carry on for future trophys. Being king of the swamp, I'm sure he's had plenty of dates.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Guest]

Gee, are the Poachers Citiots or Hicks?

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Chells

[BDR]

Coldfeet I remember your past and excitement over chasing this deer.Definately there's others out there worth chasing, but that does stink.Hopefully the courts will start to really penalize these poachers and not just give them a slap and keep their gun. The courts rarely give max. penalties for violations.WHY? Especially when the violator knows he is poaching.

Good luck on you fall hunting!

[jlm]

I had a similar incident happen to me early in the bow season. A chevy truck pulls into the middle of the field I am hunting in and starts shooting deer. I saw the buck go down on the very first shot. They attempted to shoot several other deer as well. I chased them down and caught them. I did not intend to turn them in(I had other plans for them) but when I finally saw them, they were teen age kids. I decided at that point to turn them in. One plead guilty and the other is pleading not guilty. I have to testify against the little waste of a life the day before the rifle opener. THis happens a lot so everyone keep your eyes open!

[Steve Foss]

Coldfeet:

Sorry to hear about that. It happens a lot. We have a cabin near Bemidji on Lake Beltrami, and I've occasionally heard rifle shots after dark around there while I'm fishing.

What encourages me most about this thread is the response from hunters who have turned in poachers. The DNR C.O.s are stretched thin, and with only a couple sets of eyes on big expanses of land, they rely on people who not only keep their eyes and ears open, but their fingers on the phone dial.

Good for all of you, and keep it up.

Also, you might look at a new book by retired DNR C.O. Tom Chapin. It's called "Poachers Caught!" It's a bunch of tales about nailing poachers from Chapin's 30 years in the game. You should be able to find it in stores all across northern Minnesota. It's just come out. I reviewed it for the paper I work for, and it's pretty good. I don't know where specifically you can get the book, but it should be out there.

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]