Poacher got what was coming to him.

Hopefully these fines get the attention of others and deters poaching. Unfortunately there are so few wardens that getting caught is rare. I chased trespassers and spotlighters off of my place many times.

Good on that warden.

Not the first big trophy buck killed in Sac County out of season. A BIG buck was killed and posted in the internet. Problem was the grape vines in the background had no leaves on them. Season in the area ends before leaves fall off the vines. He was caught and heavily fined also.

Interesting case, but it’s kind of like saying a good looking person should pay more for a ticket.

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
Interesting case, but it’s kind of like saying a good looking person should pay more for a ticket.

If I understand you correctly, I have to disagree with your analogy.

I would say that higher fines for trophy animals is similar to higher fines for excessive speeding(100+mph for example).

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
Interesting case, but it’s kind of like saying a good looking person should pay more for a ticket.

If I understand you correctly, I have to disagree with your analogy.

I would say that higher fines for trophy animals is similar to higher fines for excessive speeding(100+mph for example).

I consider my fist 2x2 buck a trophy. Who decides weather an animal is a trophy?

quote:

Originally posted by samir:

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
Interesting case, but it’s kind of like saying a good looking person should pay more for a ticket.

If I understand you correctly, I have to disagree with your analogy.

I would say that higher fines for trophy animals is similar to higher fines for excessive speeding(100+mph for example).

I consider my fist 2x2 buck a trophy. Who decides weather an animal is a trophy?

The deer poacher pulling the trigger, obviously....

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by samir:

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
Interesting case, but it’s kind of like saying a good looking person should pay more for a ticket.

If I understand you correctly, I have to disagree with your analogy.

I would say that higher fines for trophy animals is similar to higher fines for excessive speeding(100+mph for example).

I consider my fist 2x2 buck a trophy. Who decides weather an animal is a trophy?

The deer poacher pulling the trigger, obviously....

You win

That is a BEAST of a mulie for central CA.

Too bad he didn't get to spend a few more years breeding every doe in the area.

MUCH of the time, around here we never see the big guys until the rut is on (and the season is closed). I'm always happy to see a big one running does on my property... means more big ones for the future!

This all occurred near my home. That buck is a giant for this area. I don’t know any of the parties involved, but the guy who was baiting has to be a complete idiot to get caught with a feeder in view of the highway. That area isn’t all that open, so a feeder would be easy to hide. But, there are many residences on small 5-10 acres parcels, so these big bucks tend to be photographed as they wander from property to property, and when one gets poached there are usually plenty of witnesses with after season photos of the buck alive, which brings me to MeMe’s post above...

MeMe refers to another giant buck that lived locally and was poached out of season a few years ago. That poacher was just as big an idiot. The game warden who investigated that case is a very long time, close friend of mine and the ‘rest of the story’ was quite interesting. This particular buck was 37” wide, a giant for anywhere even though he didn’t carry mass that most mule deer from other states have. The guy who poached this buck owned a wine grape vineyard the buck frequented, and had been after it for a while. He wasn’t able to kill it during our deer season, which would have been legal and just fine. So, he kept after it well beyond the end of the season. Neighbors had photographed the buck, alive, several weeks after the season closed. The guy killed it something like 4-5 weeks after our season ended. He reported the kill in accordance with regulations, but said he’d killed it during the last few days of our deer season. IIRC, he also posted about it on social media and someone who’d photographed the buck after the season saw his post and turned him in. My warden buddy told me some of the best evidence he gathered was date stamped photos of the living buck after the season ended. That guy was easily convicted and got the book thrown at him.

We’ve leased and hunted some of the best ranches for deer in our area for nearly 40 years and have never seen any buck nearly as nice as either of these 2 poached bucks. For our region, they’re both exceptional bucks.