Then they get a pass and a severe azz-beating.

Bought coffee for the warden at Cracker Barrel, gave him the pics and picense number of the truck. To not report is to be complicit.

Every time

First, it has to be obvious. I can't guess that maybe it happened. I have to have seen it myself. Stories are stories. Poaching hurts all hunters. For those who say by being honest I'm not much of a friend, I say by being a liar or accepting criminal behavior you aren't much of a man. My rule of thumb is what would I want to happen if I was the wronged party. Lets say you were feeding and managing trophy whitetail. Would you care who poached them? 8 or 80, pastor or Papa, I'd want them caught. Locked up? Don't know, but I'd want them punished. I don't have a habit of calling the police, but I also don't have a habit of hanging out with dope heads and criminals. Have I done wrong? Yes. But I never asked anyone to accept or condone my actions.

So because I have broke the speed limit, I should let someone shoot deer with a spotlight and let them lay

Some of these arguments posted on this topic confuse me

I think you don't understand. I am also not taking a side. But if you shoot a 12 3/4 " deer in an AR county, will you call on yourself? If it was your dad, would you call? If your best friend shows up at your home after a rough day (family issue/job loss) and he is drunk, do you call DPS and turn him in for drunk driving? I seriously doubt it.

Oh, I understand. I just think that logic and common sense needs to come into play. Hell, even LEO's take the situation and environment into account before deciding what to write the ticket for or how many to write that would relate to that one incident.

My point was that I don't think running a stop sign is equivalent to poaching deer. Guess that puts me on the side of the argument with the others that said it would depend.

I think it's actually against the law to not turn someone in if you know of ilegal activity. Read the outdoor anual, it's in there.

I'd turn my pastor, dad, brother, wife, ect... in if he/she broke a game law.

X2

One of my friends shot 2 redheads this year with one shot when he already killed one. (Limits 2 for those who don't know) He kept the bird not wanting to waste it and immediately told the GW about it when stopped. GW said "thanks for not stommping it or throwing it in the mangroves" as he wrote him a ticket. It cost him somewhere around 500 dollars.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to do the right thing.

bet you dnt have many friends... and the ones you do would turn on your a$$ in a heartbeat

Goosh, I and friends have been in that situation a few times with killing an extra duck on accident (usually the result of finding a cripple after done with our limits). The only thing to do to save yourself is to leave one of them for the yotes. It sucks, it really does. To many people out there doing bad on purpose and it makes it hard for the warden to let us "slide" with a truthful admission. I have strong ethics, but my value for my money is stronger.

I agree, this thread is of no use. To many different situations that would call for a different answer. Anyone that has hunted as much as I have has broken a game law in some sort or fashion. Usually not on purpose, it just happens for varoius reasons.

That's cold right there.

Absolutely!!

Yeah, it happens. Hes not mad. Just mud stomps now.

The difference I read in our two stories is I immediately contacted the warden, I didn't wait on him to stop me. I'm sure if I had taken off with the bird and then got stopped taking it out the back gate and he was waiting for me I would have gotten a ticket, regardless of how good my story was.

I'd rather see a person kill a wild animal and eat it than take anything from the Govt..but that's my personal beliefs.Don

True.

I try to avoid bringing the law into the equation if I'm confident I can bury their body somewhere it won't be found.

Someone who knowingly and repeatedly violates game laws should be turned in. That is the only way they will learn. Example: Guy brings his 23 year old daughter out youth weekend and she shoots a button buck. He cleans it, quarters it and has it in the cooler before returning to camp. A call to the game warden is the right thing to do, if you know that it happened. Same guy has his BIL from out of state come down for a visit. They go hunting and the BIL shoots a fawn(his 1st deer) and never purchased an out of state license. Again, a call to the game warden is the right thing to do, if you know it happened. Another example: Guy has a pond behind his house and he shoots ducks and geese off of it year round with a .22. He shoots dove with a pellet gun all year also. He should be called in on as well.

If you do nothing you might as well jump on board with the thief and do what they do. You're just as guilty as they are.

Turned one in this year. Guy shot a 183" buck I hunted hard all year in an archery only county (shot it from his truck with a rifle)

20k replacement fine, 4 or 5 other tickets to top it off and he got his 5th DWI. I hope he has fun in Jail!! I'd do it again tomorrow.