Would you hunt with a poacher or been seen with one

[DanO]

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".

That about sums it up. And that situation is more common than many people think. I knew an old CO in the Ottawa Valley that used that philosophy and he was respected for his discretion. When I was much younger, things were always "Black and White".

[MikePal]

Some the the best times in my life have been sitting around at the hunt camp laughing, telling stories and drinking with a bunch of guys, who over 35 yrs as a camp, have all been a poacher (by definition) at one time or the other. Most of the best stories are around the situations that caused the infraction

None of the 'crimes' were done intentionally and in the grander scheme of things...no harm no foul.

So to answer the OP's question YES !

[seabast]

Some the the best times in my live have been sitting around at the hunt camp laughing, telling stories and drinking with a bunch of guys who over 35 yrs as a camp have all been a poacher (by definition) at one time or the other. Most of the best stories are around the situations that caused the infraction

None of the 'crimes' were done intentionally and in the grander scheme of things...no harm no foul.

So to answer the OP's question YES !

Thanks, that's what I was trying to say but couldn't find the right worlds. If I wasn't hunting with few time poachers, I would have no one to hunt with.....

[heronk]

I would never hunt with anyone who I knew was going to break the law (hunting over a baited area for example). And I have no desire to hunt with any legend in their own mind TV personalities either for that matter.

[Oddmott]

My best friend of 29 years is a poacher, raised by a family of subsistence poachers.

They're great, down to earth people. But the dad became disabled in his 40s, the mom only ever had part time bus driving and para-med jobs and with 4 boys to feed... they did what they had to do.

As a result, my friend just looks at hunting whatever, whenever he needs to fill a freezer as totally acceptable.

I often invite him for a legal turkey hunt... but he always immediately makes a joke "What, there's a season for them?!" and that's as far as the invite goes. It sucks, I'd love to share a good hunt with my best friend... but I'm not interested in potentially risking my own licence as an accomplice to something foolish he may do.

[Farmin n huntin]

If it was my own blood family poaching I wouldn't be hunting with them... I probably wouldn't report them though

[Bluebulldog]

Boils down to ethics.

Very few of us can say we'd starve if we didn't get a deer, grouse, duck...etc. There are a few out there who would.

For me, it's about the activity, less about the spoils, which means I can afford a licence, I can also make time during the legal season to go out. I set the example for my son, including the safe handling of guns, observing the laws of the land, etc. No one wants to spend their time looking over their shoulder because of past mis-deeds.

An older fellow who is now retired took me through my apprenticeships, and spent a bit of time "bending" the rules while hunting. He also took me hunting when I first stared out, and knew off the bat that I don't, nor would I ever go out with him if he did while I was there. We get along just fine.....and I enjoy my hunts on his properties because at least while I'm there, we're both legal.

[DGearyFTE]

Long time ago I hunted with a friend. We were both in the military at the time and his family was from a very rural area near Pugwash NS. There we no roads and the area was simply a collection of people the were dirt poor like you have never seen. Hunting my first two deer with him was 'bending' the rules at the time but I took the moral high ground since all that meat went in the freezer for his dad and the kids.

I think we all try to stay on the right side of the rules but I would say that there are times when we need to remember 'let he who has not sinned cast the first stone."
How easy is it when you are well north on a good morning with a full moon to forget to check the time. I have another friend that is upset to this day that he shot a deer about 1/2 before legal start time in that exact scenario.

We tend to have a connotation of the word 'poacher' as evil people that go out and blatantly break the rules. Fair to say they are a very small minority and I think we all would avoid those situations. Lets be clear, asking would you go hunting with a poacher is analogous to asking would you break the law, but there are grey areas IMO since we all like to think we are law abiding despite the fact we speed, run stop signs in remote areas and otherwise shave the edge of it.

[iHuntz]

Define poaching. Easy in regards to others. Tougher in regards to yourself.

[GW11]

How easy is it when you are well north on a good morning with a full moon to forget to check the time. I have another friend that is upset to this day that he shot a deer about 1/2 before legal start time in that exact scenario.

That's a law that could be adjusted for the time of year but probably would make things too confusing. "1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset" just makes it easy to enforce. In reality, it's pretty hard to see on the outside edges of that 1/2 hour in early October when the sun rises and sets on a steeper angle. On the other hand, in late December you can see quite well outside that half hour when the angle of the sunrise/set makes for a longer dawn and dusk, even without snow on the ground. Latitude makes a difference as well, as you mentioned in your post.