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Poacher

HighNoon
On the last day of hunting season, last year, I had 3 guys no more than 100 feet from my back door firing 3 shots at a buck (with a .243) while my wife was yelling at them from the back deck to stop shooting.

We pressed charges with the Division of Wildlife and it went to court. This guy got off with a $50 fine and 10 points against his license. I'll bet money I will have a problem with him this year. Since the Division of Wildlife seems a bit on the impotent side of things should I go with the County Sheriff or the State Patrol (Colorado). I wasn't home at the time of the incident but the wildlife officer and I found 3 spent casings on our property about 100 ft from the back door and my wife got pictures of the 3 poachers in the yard standing by the wounded deer. I was obviously worried about her getting hit with a richochet but am glad I wasn't home or else I'd probably be in jail right now.

So who should I call next time?
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Comments

13 comments

Date Votes
  • Colt Super
    Call upon the Lord.

    Doug
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  • ljwrench
    Are they trespassing? Next time they do that get your gun out and shoot in their general direction. That'll learn 'em.
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  • HighNoon
    ljwrench,

    They were actually leaning on a tree with a brand new POSTED sign on it when they took the shots not to mention it's clearly against the law to fire a weapon within 1000 ft of a dwelling.
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  • beneteau
    I'd call the Sheriff or the State Patrol. If they were on your property, that's trespassing, among other things.
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  • duckhunter
    Don't shoot. Guy here in Nebraska just went to jail for doing just that. Start with your Local LEO>
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  • woodshermit
    Not familiar at all with game laws in other states, but, I would think that who responds will depend on the jurisdiction. Is someone violating a game law or a criminal law?

    The incident as described sounds more like illegal discharge of a firearm (being too close to a residence) or trespassing than poaching. 100 feet is way too close!
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  • LOKO383
    I don't know about Colorado,but here in Ohio the state patrol will do the most to help you in a situation like this and be there quick..our local sheriff force will probably call you back twice or tell you to call the warden and by the time the sheriff would show up,they could have butchered and smoked the deer meat..call ahead and ask the state patrol where they stand on the issue,before things get out of hand this year..Loko
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  • spryor
    It would be great if you could get pictures of them, especially when leaning up againt the posted tree.[:D]
    And then pictures of their vehicle, lic. #, etc. and turn it over to every agency you can think of...
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  • Mercury
    A LOT of how the police respond is how you call it in.

    A hunter trespassing is a VERY low priority.

    A man with a gun by my house is a HIGH priority.

    Don't lie, of course, just tell it how you see it. Some people see it differently than others.

    Figure it out. [;)]

    Merc
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  • HighNoon
    I don't put a lot of trust in the local sheriff. Last year a part-time resident had his cabin ransacked. He saw it on a Saturday with fresh footprints in the snow along with tire tracks. He called the sheriff's office and they said the earliest they could get out there was the following Tuesday....no joke. By then, of course, everything was melted and someone got away with a couple of nice rifles among other things. And peole wonder why we have to take things into our own hands.
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  • HighNoon
    Merc,

    It was a 911 call.....shots fired on private property while tresspassing. It's literally always an argument among the agencies as to who has to respond because we're so far from town.
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  • GUNFUNCO
    Don't necessarily blame the game warden.

    If it got to court, the prosecutor is involved no matter who the arresting agency was. There was probably a plea bargain that was set up by the prosecutor and he agrees what the charge will be that they plead to and the judge intimately set the fine no matter who made the arrest.

    That would be my guess as to what happened. Prosecutors don't like to spend a lot of time on poaching cases so they frequently plea bargain them away to something minor.
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  • HighNoon
    Gunfunco, you are absolutely correct. I even contacted the DA because I was told that a plea bargain would probably happen. I sent him the pictures and the wildlife officer gave him the spent cartridges. The DA called me and said " I'm a hunter too and this guys is giving all of us a bad name. We're going after him." So does a $50 fine mean you're going after someone? It was bargained down to hunting without wearing orange. What about reckless endangermeant of my wife?
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