Posted By: 10 Gauge
Experiences with poachers? - 03/17/19 02:21 PM
I have one. Hunting Fort Bragg, I walked up on two fresh deer carcasses where I had planned to hunt myself, at a clearing adjacent to a tributary to one of the on post lakes. One was a doe, with backstraps and hindquarters removed, the other presumably a buck but the head and obviously any other proof of sex had been removed with the hind quarters, along with backstraps. The rest of the deer had not even been skinned out. Other than that, the animals were completely intact and not even skinned or gutted past the point they needed to cut for the meat. I could hear ATV's and offroad trucks close nearby tearing up the land and just playing out there by the lake too. Very close by, but out of view due to the terrain and vegetation.
Anyway, every animal has to be taken to the weigh station and checked in, and examined by a wildife biologist for age. So there was law number one. Also removed proof of sex, number two. Dumped the carcasses in the training area, number three, and finally illegal to drive like that in there, number four. There was a main trail coming from a nearby public road a half mile out from the lake too. I would bet they weren't even legal to hunt Fort Bragg at all. So obviously I reported it and took pictures.
I reported it to the wildlife department and spent the rest of my day talking to the MP's. They disptched one MP, in a dang car that wouldn't even make it off the hardball road, who refused to even get out and walk to the dam on the lake to meet me or look at the carcasses. My truck was a good two miles away downwind from the spot, I explained to him I couldn't just jump in my truck and run to see him. Not to mention it took them like three hours to even come out, and by then I had the woods to myself. I'd dropped pins on the carcasses and my location at the dam, right off the main trail. He never dropped me any pins and my phone died because he kept calling, asking me to go back and take more/better pictures to ehich I obliged. He asked if it could have been coyotes or somethjng etc he obviously didn't want to deal with it. So I showed him where the lower leg had been sawed off for proof it was poachers. Anyway with about 8 different trails to access this lake, I had my work cut out for me trying to find his tail. I got lucky and found him at the first acces point coming off the main road.
They had initially tried to get the game warden out but he was taking care of something else. Several calls were made, and I had to wait for him out there with the mp until about 8PM. It was dark by 5:30. They made several calls game warden but he never showed, or even have the decency to say he wasn't coming until it was that late.
Anyway, anybody got a story about catching a poachers? Hopefully yours ended better than mine. After that experience, I would be hard pressed not to SSS.
Anyway, every animal has to be taken to the weigh station and checked in, and examined by a wildife biologist for age. So there was law number one. Also removed proof of sex, number two. Dumped the carcasses in the training area, number three, and finally illegal to drive like that in there, number four. There was a main trail coming from a nearby public road a half mile out from the lake too. I would bet they weren't even legal to hunt Fort Bragg at all. So obviously I reported it and took pictures.
I reported it to the wildlife department and spent the rest of my day talking to the MP's. They disptched one MP, in a dang car that wouldn't even make it off the hardball road, who refused to even get out and walk to the dam on the lake to meet me or look at the carcasses. My truck was a good two miles away downwind from the spot, I explained to him I couldn't just jump in my truck and run to see him. Not to mention it took them like three hours to even come out, and by then I had the woods to myself. I'd dropped pins on the carcasses and my location at the dam, right off the main trail. He never dropped me any pins and my phone died because he kept calling, asking me to go back and take more/better pictures to ehich I obliged. He asked if it could have been coyotes or somethjng etc he obviously didn't want to deal with it. So I showed him where the lower leg had been sawed off for proof it was poachers. Anyway with about 8 different trails to access this lake, I had my work cut out for me trying to find his tail. I got lucky and found him at the first acces point coming off the main road.
They had initially tried to get the game warden out but he was taking care of something else. Several calls were made, and I had to wait for him out there with the mp until about 8PM. It was dark by 5:30. They made several calls game warden but he never showed, or even have the decency to say he wasn't coming until it was that late.
Anyway, anybody got a story about catching a poachers? Hopefully yours ended better than mine. After that experience, I would be hard pressed not to SSS.