I was going to post this under the "Texas Mule Hunt" thread but that was getting old. I thought I might share a picture of a west Texas deer that was in fact harvested illegally this past season. I can not and will not post the locality of where the deer was killed other than it was west Texas. Poaching is a huge problem and we lose many trophy quality animals every year as well as animals that would be incredible if allowed to mature. This deer is the widest deer from main beam to main beam ever harvested according to all of the record books. The inside spread of this deer is 45 6/8" and his H4 measurement on his right side is over 6". The deer grosses 222". I hope that everyone that sees this gets pissed and does their part to try and eliminate such needless waste.


Drummond Lindsey

Simply amazing. Those are the guys that give all hunters a bad name. Thanks so much for posting that!!

Hope we can teach some of these guys a lesson.

This may be picky, but I don't think they give hunters a bad name unless we let them. Fact is, they aren't hunters.

Do car thieves give drivers a bad name? Do hijackers give pilots a bad name?

I don't own these bastards. They cheat because they can't compete.

Not hunters. Nope. Just mutant criminals likely too cowardly to even compete against other criminals in an environment where they might get caught.

kk

I hear what you're saying kk, but unfortunately deer poachers are not much different than most of us on these forums.

In the business I've been in the last 35 years I've known a lot of poachers. They wouldn't call themselves that, just like a lot of alcoholics won't accept their problem either.

Poachers see themselves as hunters. In fact most I've known thought they were great hunters. They hunted legally, and when it suited them they hunted illegally. They weren't just oilfield trash. They were ranchers, police officers, teachers, etc.

So what have I personally done about it over 35 years, not much. I've reported three cases where the situation was so blatant you couldn't let it pass. The rest I kept at arms length, never associated with them again. It cost me some personal relationships and some business relationships, but I was comfortable with that. I wasn't comfortable being around habitual poachers.

I don't want to appear holier-than-thou. Have I ever poached big game? Never. Have I ever overshot my limit of game birds? A bunch of times. Have I ever caught more than my limit of fish? Yes Sir, but not in a long time. So I fit the definition.

Poaching is a tough practice to stop in some locales. It's still considered "normal". I've known some people who almost felt it was some right of passage as you grew up. (I never could quite understand that.)

I think I developed a reputation over time, to where people knew to be careful around me. I don't believe it's my duty to save your ass. If you want to screw-around on your wife; do it, but don't expect me to lie for you when the shit hits the fan. Want to poach big game or hunt illegally, better not do it around me, because I'll let you hang. I'm not your mama.

I never saw a crook that couln't rationalize it. I used to investigate welfare fraud, and everybody I caught had a reason. I used to talk a lot about ethics. Then a used car salesman explained to me that everybody has ethics. His ethic was that whenever a chump walked onto his lot, it was his duty to take that guy's money for his own wife and children. The reason? Because he was a chump and was going to lose his money anway, likely to the next used car lot down the road, and it was morally imperative that the salesman put his own wife's and kids' interests ahead of those of the guy at the next car lot.

I have violated many rules and many laws. I even shoplifted a bottle of hair color when I was in jr. high. Shoplifting was "the thing." I felt so shitty I went and turned myself in.

People know the difference between right and wrong. It's hard-wired in us. Some try to do right; some try to rationalize; some just say, "what the hell; I deserve it."

You do the crime, you do the time. Poachers are not hunters, and I don't give a shit what they say. They are mutant violators.

kk

We have the same problem on our ranch in Missouri.
They get a case or 2 of beer and drive the roads throwing out cans as they go and shoot at whatever depending how drunk they are. We even have a group that has night vision glasses so they can drive without lights. They have been at this for years and the Game wardens have about given up on trying to catch them. They never hit the same area two nights in a row and they cover two or three counties in their search for big deer. One of these guys has 5 B&C deer.

I think that Kensco hit the nail on the head. As for the analagy about the car thieves and poachers, I just dont see it. I think that it is important that we as outdoorsmen and women realize that anyone that is harvesting animals whether legal or not will be perceived by the anti or non hunters as a "hunter". There is no question that we know the difference but thats not whats important, its trying to get those anti and non hunters to realize that. Getting back to the car analagy, most americans own a car, therefore we can all be affected by a car thief, there is a common ground there so to speak. We as hunters are getting butchered by a few greedy, lazy bastards because no matter how hard we will try to distance ourselves from those type of people we can not get far enough away. I think that this is the reason why we should all take ownership in the situation and try to put away as many of these people as we can. What do you think?