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It's kind of a loaded question. Are you talking about someone that totally disregards the rules and regs while hunting (ie hunting/fishing during closed seasons, no license, etc.) or someone that may be one grouse over their limit? Would you ride with someone that does 115 km/hr in a 100 km/hr zone? Would you ride with someone that is always impaired? Even though both are illegal, there is a big difference IMHO.
There's different types/degrees of poaching. Poaching to me is doing something intentional. Taking overlimits, fishing/hunting out of season, swapping tags, etc.
Then, for example you have the guys coming out from a duck pond after dark unencased. There is no intent to take more ducks or drop an animal after dark(night hunt). Or the guy who legitimately forgets his licence on the kitchen table but heads out anyway.
Don't label a guy who makes a mistake a poacher.
Delmer, I'd consider a guy who takes one grouse over, or one laker over to be a poacher. If given the chance would that same guy take 2 over or 3 over? His actions are intentional when the opportunities are presented.
Over the years I spent in law enforcement,I met lots of poachers. Some were in it commercially that I helped nail their testicles to the wall every chance I got. Honestly,even though I haven't been in law enforcement for quite a long time and I'm now retired,I'd do it again,in a heart beat. I didn't feel the least bit sorry,either. Human compassion has it's limits. Other's I met,were family guys out of work,backs to the wall,families to feed (I mean like scratchin' dollars for groceries and the wolf was at the door) so,they'd jack light Deer or take more than their limit of fish. We knew who they were and why they did what they did. Blind eyes were turned,all the time. We also knew who the "players" were and who weren't. This is the one reason I always advise to never judge too harshly. Things are never "black and white".
trimmer seems to have the idea.
personally, i hate to hunt or fish (or do anything) with someone who is hellbent on making sure every "I" is dotted and "t" is crossed. but then again, i can't stand jerks who know what they are doing is wrong and continually do it. a bass falling into the fry pan during a icefish is one thing, shooting a deer in the spring or even tresspassing... not so much.
[QUOTE= Other's I met,were family guys out of work,backs to the wall,families to feed (I mean like scratchin' dollars for groceries and the wolf was at the door) so,they'd jack light Deer or take more than their limit of fish. We knew who they were and why they did what they did. Things are never "black and white".[/QUOTE]
And this of course is the other consideration in determining whether the individual is worth hunting/fishing with.
by reading the posts I would suggest you define poaching before asking this question
Never judge a book by its cover, or unless you've walked in their shoes. Good response Trimmer.
Most of us, have done something in our lives. Am I the same person I was 10 or 20 years ago? Would I hunt with someone that poached a WT on private property last year? Same guy, but it was 5-10 years ago, and he took responsibilty, and hasn't crosses the line since.
The Devil is always in the details.
That wasn't the best example I could give, was it. I was trying to make the point that even though the law may be broken, there are extremes between infractions. Your example of forgetting your license would have been a better choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by sawbill
My grandmother was a self admitted poacher and single mom. She never had a license but she had her own set of rules. If there was a deer in her yard and less than half a deer in her freezer and she could take the shot from her porch then she took it. She also required that everyone else was either in the house or away in town. I asked her once if she ever missed. With a big grin she responded " just once"
She stopped in her eighties when she lived alone and her eyesight started failing.