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Poachers and Trespassers!

gunrunr

gunrunr

Life Member
I HATE SHOTGUN SEASON!

Why is it that so many people think that donning an orange vest and carrying around a slug gun gives them license to go anywhere they please? I'm sure the vast majority of shotgun hunters are just as ethical as the average guy and maybe I am in the minority, but there seems to be a bunch of losers running around my neighborhood!

Every year it's the same thing, finding pictures on the trail cams of trespassers, seeing unauthorized boot and tire tracks in the mud or snow and finding lots of dead deer shot and left lay. Boy was I upset when my Dad found 2 dead deer laying around the farm, shot and left to lay - probably too small for whoever shot them as both appeared to be good shots that would not have gotten away. Then I pulled a trail cam yesterday down on the edge of one of my sanctuary areas. I put the camera out in mid october and just pulled it now because I don't want to invade the area during the good hunting times, its a special area we leave alone so the deer have a safe haven and then I hunt it's far perimeters. I pull cameras during the two day "No-Hunt" time so I don't get shot! Low and Behold I find 10 pictures of men I don't recognize in orange vests carrying shotguns! It wasn't a simple "wrong side of the fence" infraction, but rather it was probly 300 yards from any fence - and the fence near there is in really good condition and welll posted! We've had quite a bit of trouble with people cutting fences and driving through chasing coyotes and now this!

A nice gift certificate or something special will be in order for anyone who can positively identify the culprits. Unfortunately, the pics aren't great for IDing anyone and two of them didn't manage to show their face. Thankfully I use the tiny bushnell cams and have them hidden so the cameras weren't stolen as well. Are the circumstances going to require me to don a ghilly suit and lay low with a long range camera and the DNR on speed dial from now on?

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i would take the pic to the local cop to see what they say.... i know what u mean open day of first season shotgun i was taking my stand down on an old railroad track anyway had my son hes 8 helping me hes on the ground then about 5 deer ran right pass us all does and then a pickup can fliing by they must have n ot seen us i called the dnr and got them right at the field drive .. my son asked ywhy ppl have to do that are the stupid and do the know how to hunt... the dnr just couldnt hold it in and stated laughing .. the look on the 2 guys faces was priceless...
 
You're real lucky they didn't shoot or take your camera! It must be hidden really well, because those guys are right on top of it. I had tresspassers shoot the cable lock off my camera and steal it in November. I'm still pissed about that.
 
I feel your pain Boyd but hate the players not the game. Its the dirtbags who were trespassing not shotgun season. Hope you find out who they are and they get whats coming to them.
 
Its amazing what people will do for a deer, chasing them in trucks trespassing on land they know they are not supposed to be on. How frustrating for the guys who put so much time & effort into their properties to have it cleared by the orange army in Dec. with the usual excuse of "we must have got turned around when we were pushing" or "I thought so & so owned this" Its disgusting because they know exactly what they are doing & who they are screwing!! And this is why I no longer shutgun hunt to dangerous and most people just dont care!:mad:
 
I would be pissed if I was the guy in the front who has a shotgun pointed at the back of my legs. I would post in all the local shops and ask the neighbors who they have hunting. looks like you could Identify at least one guy and go from there.
 
Our gun seasons are when 90% of people who never pick up a gun the whole year........pick up a gun.:way::rolleyes:

A friend was telling me about a drive they put on last week. A couple deer squirted out the side of the small draw they were pushing. Some jack@ss stops on the road and starts shooting at the deer from the ditch. Slugs were bouncing off the ground and hitting the trees 50 yards ahead of the drivers.

Another good local story. Some guys knock on a farmers door and ask permission to shoot a doe that's laid up next to some hay bails out in his field. Farmer says yes, later the farmer hears the shots, the farmer goes to check how they did and they were loading a 170" plus buck in to the back of the truck without a tag. They tell the farmer they didn't notice the rack behind the hay bale.:rolleyes::D They then tagged the deer, with noticable reluctance. This story was told to me by the guys who regularly hunt the farmers ground, they were a little irritated with the situation.

As I type this, I'm sure the group that pushes (tresspasses) through my father in laws small piece every year, have come and gone by now.

Apparently a statewide shotgun tag meens we can hunt.....statewide.:rolleyes:


Ya gotta love Iowa gun seasons. I love them so much....I quit.
 
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I would post whatever pictures you have around that area in gas stations, grocery stores, etc, and offer a reward of some kind for their identity. You may not catch this group this time, but if they know there is a real possibility of being caught it might change their actions next year.

Somebody will recognize them.
 
Boyd, I don't think you are in the minority. Seems like every year I watch guys jump on to properties they don't have permission to be on in our area too. Pisses me off to no end. We have a good relationship with our local CO and saw him 2 days of the 7 while in IL which was promising. He is well aware of there actions, but it seems like a few little tickets won't stop these a-holes. Not sure what has to be done to get them to stop this BS once and for all. Post the pics, offer rewards like you are doing, maybe it will deter them from your ground at least.

Kratz
 
Since I've lived in Iowa, I've come to realize that the CO's don't do much as far as tresspassing, people go where they want, when they want, for whatever reason they want, and nobody does a thing to them (law wise). Back where I'm from in the sticks of southeast MO, nobody tresspass for the fear of the landowner catching them. Back there, a tire iron up side the head of a tresspasser would be letting them off easy.
 
You have to gain a reputation of being more crazy than they are. "Hunt coyotes" when shotgun season starts. One land owner in Plymouth County started firing rounds from a rifle at two guys that were clearly trespassing. His intent wasn't to shoot them, just scare them. It appears to have worked. What are they going to do, go to the police and admit they were trespassing?
 
I pressed charges on a couple guys last year think it ended up costing them $350 apiece point being when you catch them nail them and get the word out that there is no excuses
 
Hell look at the DNR website. 7 caught poaching. What really sucks is one was taken 1/2 mile from where I bow hunt. I got him on cam. That SUCKS!!!
 
I like the idea that I read on ones of these sites where the owner put an harrow upside down in some weeds by a gate and the trespasser had 4 flat tires out in his field. That'll teach em and cost em.
 
Hey Boyd, here is an idea, buy a truck load of cheap slugs, sell them for 99¢ a box and have cameras in your shop to take pics of everyone that buys them. Then you can compare pics of your trespassers to the people who bought the cheap slugs and I bet you will eventually be able to identify your trespassers.

Just a though and if it works I will expect a gift certificate.

The ‘Bonker
 
Too many people have no respect. I was out and about Friday afternoon talking to landowners trying to gain permission to hunt ground this weekend so I could take a few guys. All were very, VERY, appreciative that I asked but weren't letting people hunt. Apparently in this particular area there is a very well known group of rascals (all related) that think they own everything, cut fences, threaten landowners, shoot deer for sport and leave them lay. Probably 10/15 people I talked to mentioned them. Ruined it for everyone. Owners were scared! I may not be the baddest dude around but hope I don't cross paths with them because I refuse to be intimidated, regardless and things probably wouldn't end well. Pisses me off!
 
Maybe if you would let me hunt your sanctuary i could keep a really good eye on things for ya.... :D

Send me a pm with which farm it was and i might be able to help identifying them.

Im right there with ya....hate tresspassers!
 
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