Was pulling out onto a gravel county road last night when two doe ran out in front of me. Since the rut is still on-going I stopped to see if anything was chasing the deer. When behold a large 8 point came running out after the doe. As soon as the buck appeared on the county road truck lights suddenly lit up and drove like mad towards the buck. Then I see a scumbag leaning out the window with a shotgun in hand. I floored it and honked and then the two idiots in the old pickup saw me and took off in the opposite direction. Needless to say, I have absolutely no time or use for crap like this. Road hunting is illegal, not to mention hunting after dark in Arkansas. Nonetheless, it is alive and well unfortunately. Maybe it's the bad economy and people are really hungry, but it seems most rampant this year around here. Thoughts?
My sister works with the DNR doing research down in southern Illinois. They set up the fake decoys to catch people like this and I am shocked everytime at the number of people they catch. We grew up in Michigan and see the same illegal activity here. As to saying they might need the food, tell they to shoot a doe........becasue we both know that wont happen. Glad you were there!
Yep, I would have tried to get a plate # if possible, but would at a minimum call the game warden and report it
Exactly...how come they never get caught shooting does? Very few are poaching for the food - it's much easier and cheaper to utilize a food pantry in that case - there is always people/groups willing to help the hungry.
Great work, it makes me sick seeing people like this. We spend all this time and effort to harvest our deer legally, and these people are just out to "KILL" something for the thrill. What kind of gratification can they really get from not earning their deer? They seem like the people who would shoot a deer, take the antlers and leave the deer to the coyotes.
They're everywhere, they're everywhere.....unfortunately. Good work, sucks that we have to even have these kind of discussions but it's gone on for years and won't stop. I used to teach hunter safety courses and it was amazing how many kids would "tell on their parents" not realizing what they were doing. Many of the adults would become disinterested when we discussed ethics and the law. Sad.
Another man on our lease said he saw a different truck in the same area doing some road hunting with his young son in the cab. I guess he's passing the trade down to the next generation of poachers. ....and yes, I called the game warden with a very good description of the truck and individuals inside it. Good "legal" hunting all!
Losers! That's what I call em. That's kind of a scary position to be in tho. Glad you didn't get hurt or anything. Good job calling the wardens
Report it for sure. Seems some people get really stupid when antlers are involved. I won't call them hunters because they aren't hunting. They are just out to kill.
Everytime I hear these stories my stomach drops. Idiots like that give hunting such a bad rep. If you reported the area you saw this, sometimes they will set up a sting. They'll use electronic deer decoys and as soon as they stop and pull out a firearm, WOOP WOOP they are surrounded by police. My co-worker was on his way hunting with a friend and they stopped to look at a deer, and thats what happened to them. They didnt have a firearm but they still stopped. He said the Environmental police officer grilled them a little and when he realized they were ethical hunters he just said "Ok, hurry and get outta here. We gotta catch some poachers."
A guy who has a gun and a running car can probably afford a McDouble. Hunting for food is kind of a joke, and hunting chasing down a nice buck in a truck is even worse. Report this guy!
I actually witnessed this sitting in tree stand this year. Was getting jus about dark and could see a atv or something driving around in field a ways off, then started hearing shooting and at first didn't know what to think until looked with binos and could see deer running across field and vehicle in pursuit. A phone call was made and don't know what ever came of it. Thankfully they didn't decide to shoot your way for for trying to stop them.
I've had 2 individuals arrested on my property. Call the Sheriff is what I do. Let a professional search it out. They gonna look harder for a dude reported brandishing a weapon. Forget interjecting what you think they were up to when reporting.
