Poached 4-pt in back yard!

skein · 11-07-2002, 08:11 AM

Okay, here's one for you. I live in Sweet Home near the edge of town, and night before last someone gut-shot a beautiful 4-pt buck - about midnight . At least two neighbors said they heard a shot around that time, but you never really know. It jumped the fence into the back yard of my rental, which is currently vacant, and died. The next door neighbor called last night while I was at a meeting and let my wife know. She said a city police officer had been out to look at it, but left.

Obviously I'm without experience in a situation like this.

Here's what I've done so far, and I wanted to share the "experience" with you folks.

Looked up the Poacher Hot-Line Number - just try to find that number on the ODFW website (Jen, maybe you could give a new Northriver sled to the first person to find that info. Don't worry, I don't think anyone will be able to.)

Talked to a cheery little lady on the other end who told me NOTHING could be done and that it was my responsibility to dispose of the animal. Oh, okay. I thought about it for about 4 seconds and called her back and told her that I wasn't going to bury it in my back yard, and what was going to happen if I loaded it in my truck and headed off somewhere and had someone stop me and say, "Wow, nice deer. Where's the tag?"

"Gee," she said, "that could be a problem, couldn't it. Let me put you through to Andy's voice mail." I got a recording, and explained the situation, and am waiting for a call back. I'll let you know what he tells me to do.

Obviously, I'm saddened by the theft of this beautiful buck, I'm saddened to see it go completely to waste - meat and rack, and I'm frustrated by the response I got from those who I thought (hoped) would be as indignant as I.

Right now I'm going to call the city police and see what they know and/or want me to do.

I'll keep you posted as the saga unfolds. Damn! Damn! Damn!

Skein

Myles · 11-07-2002, 08:26 AM

It may not be on their website but in the regs on page 11 at the bottom in red is a number to report wildlife violators 800-452-7888. Too bad they didn't get caught. Probably nothing can be done without a license number or some description.
What's my prize? A new Willie?

If the police made out a report maybe you could get a copy to carry with you to dump it.

How was the elk hunt??

myles

Gus Orviston · 11-07-2002, 08:36 AM

Their website has does not have much of a search engine. I have tried to find things and it takes forever. I have provided them feedback...no improvements.

Bummer on the buck, hurts to see them waste.

skein · 11-07-2002, 08:43 AM

Update #1

The city cops did a pretty good job. They wrote up a report (naturally) that will cover my tail if I do have to take it off somewhere, and they also contacted OSP's Game Division and ODFW. An OSP officer is coming out today to check it out and do what investigation he can, and they think maybe they can get ODOT's clean-up crew to come haul it away. We'll see. All in all, I was pretty pleased with the way they handled it.

The officer was as sick about it as I am.

This is not the way I wanted to start my day. :depressed:

Skein

Miss B Haven · 11-07-2002, 09:10 AM

skein - drag it out onto the county/city right of way. Farmers do that with cars around here all the time. Folks run off the road into the fields and abandon their cars. No one will touch them until the framers push them into the ditch! Then the county is glad to come and get them. Doesn't seem to raise any eybrows, just an accepted practice. I'm sure it's a combo of liability and responsibility.

11-07-2002, 10:24 AM

You should have kept the evidence in your freezer. :smile:

skein · 11-07-2002, 10:45 AM

Yeah, Keta, the meat in my freezer and the rack on my wall. But by the time I got notified, the meat was ruined. It was a three-way loss: some *real* hunter didn't get the chance to take him in fair chase, the rack can't count as a trophy, and the meat is wasted. What a loss.

Myles, thanks for the number. I did find it in the on-line version of the regs, but since it's embedded as a graphic the "find" option in Acrobat Reader couldn't locate it. I knew it was there, but I wasn't sure where. I just scrolled page after page until I found it.

Skein

Lured In · 11-07-2002, 12:04 PM

Skein...I too agree this is a real bummer. My two cents on this (less a two cent discount)...is that it is possible that this is not the first time they have been out poaching and may not be the last. Depending on your time, write up a flyer and pass it around to neighbors, etc to see if anyone actually saw anything. Perhaps a vehicle driving to fast or some other suspicous activity. Also let them know to be on the look out for a poacher. At the very least this may discourage those who did this from doing it again.

Good luck and you did the right thing.

skein · 11-07-2002, 01:22 PM

Update #2

"Andy" from enforcement called and said he would take care of getting it out of there. He wanted to check things out and would haul it away. I guess it'll be gone by the time I get off work.

All in all the system worked pretty well. Other than the receptionist who just wanted to hand the whole thing back to me, all other parties seemed to be on top of it and worked together in a professional, courteous, and competent manner. My thanks to all of them.

Like I said at the start, this isn't something I do every day.

Lured-In, good idea on asking other neighbors and putting up posters. I agree, someone will brag or try to do it again. Sure would be nice to catch them.

Skein

KingFisher85 · 11-07-2002, 04:37 PM

We have had this stuff happen all the time over my way. Once was over 20 head elk out here, mostly cows but a few really nice BIG bulls. One 7x7, 5x5, 4x4, and two spikes. Next year it went down to 15 elk. I know that 2 of them were shot fair but the other 3 were most likely poached. The 7x7 and the 5x5 were shot fair.
The next year after that the number went down to 12 elk and only one was shot fair and the rest were spotlighted and shot.
Last year the number went down to 7 cows and one spike bull. This year the number was down to 6 and there were elk bones in the clear cut 2 months before hunting season.
The last time I seen the elk, someone popped a shot off at them. This guy that popped the shot off is some big tree hugger animal lover, so that's what he says. Ya I seen it, I watched him drive out into this field by his house, take a shot off, drive over were the elk were and get out and look around scratch his bald head and then drive back to his house were he parked his little gray Nissan pickup truck and went back to his house.

The first year that they logged this clear cut up over my way, so many bucks were poached out of it.
Last year my little big 3x3 had some poacher take a shot at it 2 in the morning and shot its antler off. What really ticked me and a few other people off is that this guy that did it, was out driving around for a good 20 min and the cops would not come out. And this guy is out driving up and down the road spotlighting while someone is on the phone. Nothing happened.

This is BS

and they should sell rock salt and make it a hunting season open year round on big game poachers.

[ 11-07-2002, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: KingFisher85 ]

blacktail · 11-07-2002, 05:19 PM

I think part of the punishment for this kind of crime should be some sort of public humiliation.

Like have the guilty party spend a day in a crowded public area wearing a big sign that says what they did.

Mike

Chum King · 11-07-2002, 07:49 PM

I'd like to say that there is little in this world that is as low as a poacher, but unfortunately they have a lot of company with the burglars, drug dealers, rapists, et al.

A few years back, while hunting in a September cow elk rifle hunt, I ran across a forked horn mule deer that had been poached. It was less than a week before the deer season opened. Whoever shot it, just stripped out the back straps and left the rest to rot. I was so mad, it really ruined the rest of the hunt for me.

Skein: Try to not let it get to you. People like that will eventually get nailed, they almost always do.

Trick · 11-07-2002, 08:14 PM

Bunch of pigs......lowlife scumbags in my book. It was really a tough season for me with all the hot dry weather. Of the four legal bucks I saw all season, one was an hour before legal light, one was in a graveyard, one was next to a logging road near a house and one I ran out of a creek bottom towards the highway and passed on it because of the angle in relation to the highway (I was probally still 50 yards from the road).

Didn't want to endanger, upset anyone or break any laws.

Why are there so many scumbags out there? Why is this such a problem? Why are people shooting around houses and endangering life and property?

Hopefully something posistive comes of this......wish you luck!